Read the excerpt from “a century ride.” it seemed to coax her, to whisper of the long, lonely stretch ahead, of the indians in their tepees, in the hollow; of a host of vague and nameless terrors; of how lonely and weary and defenseless she was, on that vast plain, twenty-five miles—twenty-five miles—and the half-way house flashed past and was soon left far behind! which word in the excerpt the reader to determine the meaning of “vague”? a. whisper b. lonely c. nameless d. far

Read this excerpt from "edward jenner and the history of smallpox and vaccination.” smallpox was introduced to europe sometime between the fifth and seventh centuries and was frequently epidemic during the middle ages. the disease greatly affected the development of western civilization. the first stages of the decline of the roman empire (ad 108) coincided with a large-scale epidemic: the plague of antonine, which accounted for the deaths of almost 7 million people. the arab expansion, the crusades, and the discovery of the west indies all contributed to the spread of the disease. unknown in the new world, smallpox was introduced by the spanish and portuguese conquistadors. the disease decimated the local population and was instrumental in the fall of the empires of the aztecs and the incas. similarly, on the eastern coast of north america, the disease was introduced by the early settlers and led to a decline in the native population. before it reached the new world, smallpox played a role in