Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant arborescent ferns intermingled with the commoner types of a primeval tropical forest. huge creepers depended in great loops from tree to tree, dense under-brush overgrew a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches. upon the outer verge we could see the same splendid coloring of countless blossoms that glorified the islands, but within the dense shadows all seemed dark and gloomy as the grave. in this paragraph, the word "forbidding" means the same as a) controversial. b) promising. c) forgotten. d) ominous.

D) Ominous

Explanation:

Omninious is defined as something that is or exhibits an omen. Omen refers to a sign a person believes shows good or bad things could happen in the future. The way the author describes the forest makes us think that it is mysterious. Although it is beautifil and filled with vegetation, the phrase "dense shadows" gives us the sensation that something could easily emerge from there. The use of the words "dark" and "gloomy" make reference to a scary place where people would be frigthened.

We can see that ominious refers then to the belief of the author that something bad could happen in that forest. The same thing happens with the word forbidding, as it describes something dangerous or hostile.

answer: from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under god shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people

explanation:

the answer to "what does the narrator realize by the end of the story" is b.