Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Bonus Week B - Day 1

Word List
  • dolorous [dō la rəs]
    sad
    → “Diabetic patients are constantly tormented by dolorous sensations.” William Roberts
  • enervated [en´ ər vā tid]
    worn out
    → “I have had one of my many spasms which has almost enervated me.” Lord Nelson, Letters
  • suffrage [suf´ rij]
    right to vote
    → “My successor was chosen by general suffrage.” John Marsden
  • cabal [ka bal´]
    secret group of plotters
    → “If a cabal’s secrets are revealed to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.” Kahlil Gibran
  • odious [o´ dē əs]
    despicable
    → “You told a lie, an odious damned lie.” Shakespeare, Othello

On Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant sent a terse* dispatch to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. It contained the long-awaited sentence that the Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered. The dolorous Civil War that had crippled the young nation was finally over.

President Lincoln was only 56 at the time, but he looked twenty years older. The burden of being a wartime president had so enervated Lincoln that Surgeon General Barnes feared an imminent* nervous breakdown. When Grant’s news reached Lincoln, he went to the front windows of the White House and waved to the crowd below. He proceeded to make a brief speech about the problems of Reconstruction and advocated* the granting of suffrage to Negro soldiers.

Among the listeners was a Southern patriot, the popular actor John Wilkes Booth, almost as famous in the theater as his father, Junius. “That’s the last speech he will ever make,” said Booth to a fellow member of his cabal of conspirators. Booth’s odious plan was to assassinate Lincoln whom he hated passionately, while an associate, George Atzerodt, would do the same to Vice-President Andrew Johnson.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

  1. The dictator lied when he claimed he favored __________ for women.
  2. We were surprised when Ted’s happy expression turned into a __________ one.
  3. The members of the revolutionary __________ were arrested and jailed.
  4. Sylvia’s __________ remarks caused the audience to turn against her.
  5. __________ by his long walk, Jose took to his bed.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. right to vote
  2. b. secret group of plotters
  3. c. worn out
  4. d. sad
  5. e. despicable
  1. dolorous __________
  2. enervated __________
  3. suffrage __________
  4. cabal __________
  5. odious __________

Answer Key
to kill the goose that laid the golden egg—to spoil a good deal
By being greedy, the accountant killed the goose that laid the golden egg.

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