Question

In 1987, the average U.S. household received 1.6 pieces of personal correspondence each week, but by 2012 that number had dropped to 0.7 pieces. Most significantly, in that same time period, the number of handwritten letters plummeted 80 percent (Mazzone and Rehman). It's not just personal correspondence that has dwindled; more financial statements, bills, and the checks that follow them have become digital every year. In 2002, about 75 percent of all bills were paid by mail; by 2012, that number had decreased to 40 percent and the trend continues (Mazzone and Rehman). Most Americans pay at least one bill each month online. As many businesses offer incentives such as gift cards or discounts for going paperless, the paper bill, paper check, and paper bank statement are becoming fossils of a bygone age.

Which word could best replace dwindled in paragraph 7 of the passage?


collapsed


fractured


broken


shrunk

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

shrunk