Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 1 - Day 3

Word List
  • paradox [par´ ə doks]
    a statement that at first seems to be absurd or self-contradictory but which may in fact turn out to be true
    → “Here was a paradox like the stellar universe that fitted one’s mental faults.” Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams
  • realm [relm]
    special field of something or someone; kingdom
    → “In all the churches of the realm the Blessed Sacrament is exposed night and day, and tall candles are burning for the recovery of the royal child.” Alphonse Daudet, “The Death of the Dauphin”
  • annals [an´ nəlz]
    historical records
    → “He would begin these annals with Columbus, and he would keep on with them until his hand was too palsied to hold a pen.” Catherine Drinker Bowen, Yankee from Olympus
  • compound [kom pound´]
    to increase or add to
    → “The match between England and Argentina, always a blood feud, was compounded by the memory of the Falklands crisis.” Henry Kissinger, “Pele,” TIME, 6/14/99
  • tinge [tinj]
    a trace, smattering, or slight degree
    → “The sermon was tinged, rather more darkly than usual, with the gentle gloom of Mr. Hooper’s temperament.” Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Minister’s Black Veil”

How paradoxical that the world’s greatest chefs have all been men! Cooking would clearly seem to be a field that lies exclusively within women’s realm, yet the annals of cookery are replete* with masculine names: Brillat Savarin, Ritz, Diat, Larousse. To compound the puzzle, there has rarely been a tinge of rumor or scandal casting doubts on the masculinity of these heroes of cuisine.

Sample Sentences Try your hand now at using your new words by writing them in their correct form (change endings if necessary) in these sentences:

  1. His gloom was now __________ by the failing mark on his geometry test.
  2. The __________ of sports are replete* with the names of great black athletes.
  3. One of the great __________ of American life is that though minority groups have suffered injustices, nowhere in the world have so many varied groups lived together so harmoniously.
  4. A __________ of garlic is all that’s necessary in most recipes.
  5. The cruel king would not allow the prince to enter his __________, restricting him to the forest, which abounded* with wild animals.

Definitions If you are having trouble in picking the right definitions, it may be best not to do them in the order given, but to do the ones you are surest of first.

  1. a. a trace, smattering, or slight degree
  2. b. a statement that at first seems to be absurd or self-contradictory but which may in fact turn out to be true
  3. c. to increase or add to
  4. d. historical records
  5. e. special field of something or someone; kingdom
  1. paradox __________
  2. realm __________
  3. annals __________
  4. compound (v.) __________
  5. tinge (n.) __________

Answer Key
a flash in the pan—promising at the start but then disappointing
The rookie hit many home runs in spring training, but once the season began he proved to be a flash in the pan.

Favorite Books
Table of Contents