DIRECTIONS: Read the selection to help you better understand the meaning of the word "simplified". Then write a paragraph explaining how you used context clues to find meaning.

Full Louis Braille text by Noah Remnick linked here
"One day Louis learned about the work of a former French army captain named Charles Barbier. Captain Barbier had invented something called "night writing," a code of 12 raised dots and dashes that allowed soldiers to communicate with one another at night without using lights that would alert the enemy to their location. The soldiers could "feel" the messages with their fingers, and keep safe. The code turned out to be too complex for the soldiers, but it inspired Louis Braille. Louis simplified the system, reduced the series of dots from twelve to six and eliminated the dashes. By the time he was 20, Louis published his first alphabet for the blind, a system he continued to work on and perfect."
3 points: one point for the meaning, one point for the explanation, one point for mechanics. One sentence

From the context clues in the passage, it can be inferred that "simplified" means to make something simpler or easier to understand or use. In the passage, it states that Louis Braille simplified Captain Barbier's code by reducing the series of dots from twelve to six and eliminating the dashes. This suggests that Louis made the code easier and more accessible for the soldiers to use. Additionally, the passage mentions that Louis published his first alphabet for the blind, indicating that he simplified the system to help blind individuals read and communicate more easily. Thus, the context clues suggest that "simplified" means to make something less complex or complicated.