1)Perrault put moccasins on Buck's feet to alleviate the pain in his paws after walking on ice.

Based on the context of the sentence, what does the word alleviate mean?
to celebrate
to analyze
to purchase
to make better

2)We avoided talking about politics and sports because we did not want to escalate the tension in the room.

Based on the context of the sentence, what does escalate mean?
to make difficult
to increase
to throw downwards
to escape

3)The gist of the article was that beavers are impacting many local waterways.

Based on the context of the sentence, what does gist mean?
the opposite idea
the speech
the humor
the main point