Vocab in Context: "Angela's Ashes"

Guess the meaning of the bold word:

Laughing? There’s to be NO laughing, for you could be doing serious damage to your internal apparatus.

Pick the BEST clue that reveals the meaning of apparatus.

Guess the meaning of the bold word:

Diphtheria is never allowed to talk to typhoid and visa versa. I warned ye. Sister Rita said one more word out of him and upstairs with him. We gave ye a warning to stop the blathering but ye wouldn’t.

Pick TWO clues that revealed the meaning of blathering.

Guess the meaning of the bold word:

I should beg God’s forgiveness for my disobedience reciting a pagan English poem about a thief on a horse and a maiden with red lips who commits a terrible sin when I could have been praying...

Which clue revealed the meaning of "pagan" to mean "non-religious"?

Guess the meaning of the bold word:

"...little children with their mouths all green from trying to eat the grass in the fields beyond, God bless us and save us and guard us from future famines."

How did you do on this Skill Practice?

BE HONEST!