Read this excerpt below from little women and answer the question. when they had laughed at beth's story, they asked their mother for one, and after a moment’s thought, she said soberly, "as i sat cutting out blue flannel jackets today at the rooms, i felt very anxious about father, and thought how lonely and we should be, if anything happened to him. it was not a wise thing to do, but i kept on worrying till an old man came in with an order for some clothes. which of the following sentences uses a word with a similar meaning to soberly as used in the passage above? my family abstains from eating chocolate during lent. lacking a sense of humor, our math teacher takes all of our jokes literally. nichole showed maturity and composure beyond her fourteen years at the awards reception. unbeknownst to the theater-goers, the film’s star made an impromptu appearance at the premiere.