Sentence:  The dweller at p <WSD>is</WSD> last to hear about a new cure , the slowest to announce to his neighbors his urgent distresses , the one who goes the farthest to trade , and the one with the greatest difficulty of all in putting over an idea or getting people to join him in a cooperative effort . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)