OE


Though people used to believe the boy was "less than clever," the "but" indicates that he actually was clever. In fact, he wrote a "complex and beautiful symphony" at the young age of 16 , which suggests he is a prodigy, or child genius. "Precocious," meaning advanced for his age, and "exceptional," or extraordinary, are good descriptions for a child prodigy. "Musical" is a tempting answer, but the word doesn't have anything to do with his cleverness, nor does it have a matching answer choice. "Monastic" and "hermetic" might appeal as answer choices, due to his "reclusive" nature, but they do not fit with other clues in the sentence. Note that "hermetic" doesn't actually mean "like a hermit"; it means "airtight."