Read the story about John's toothache. Which phrase in the passage helps identify the meaning of the word aggravated?
John had an extremely bad toothache. However, he wanted to avoid going to the dentist. So, as a means of achieving this end John decided to
hide his toothache from his parents. He went about his usual way, playing and going to school, and his parents never suspected anything. His
toothache, however, only grew worse with time. When alone, John would moan and cry about the horrible pain that was slowly making it
difficult for him to eat, and he knew that his parents would find out about his wretched state and would definitely scold him.
One evening during dinner, John chewed on something hard, which aggravated his toothache. John suddenly cried out in pain. His parents
looked at him anxiously as John dropped the food that he was eating. He clutched at his cheek and howled with pain, not bothering to conceal
his discomfort this time.
"Do you have a toothache, John?" his mom asked.
John, in his miserable state, could only nod.
His mom gave him an earful: "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier? If we had visited the doctor earlier, you wouldn't have to suffer so now."
As he and his parents drove to the dentist the next day, he reflected on how fooli was to wait so long to tell them about it.
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