Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 1 - Day 4

Word List
  • badger [baj´ər]
    to pester, nag, annoy persistently
    → “There are other do’s and don’ts: don’t threaten your children, don’t badger them.” Newspaper ad for Partnership for a Drug-Free America, New York Times, 11/4/99
  • implore [im plôr´]
    to plead urgently for aid or mercy
    → “No beggars implored Scrooge to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock.” Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
  • drudgery [druj´ ər ē]
    unpleasant, dull, or hard work
    → “And then she came to find the paralytic aunt—housework—janitor’s drudgery.” Anzia Yezierska, “Hunger”
  • interminable [in ter´ mə nə bəl]
    unending
    → “In his clean white shirt and blue jeans, with one hand resting carelessly on the black box, he seemed very proper and important as he talked interminably to Mr. Graves and the Martins.” Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery”
  • perceive [pər sēv´]
    to understand, know, become aware of
    → “The subjects, as you perceive, were alarming but very agreeable.” Anton Chekhov, “A Slander”

It is difficult to change someone’s opinion by badgering him. The child who begs his mother to “get off his back” when she implores him for some assistance with the household drudgery, may very well plead interminably for some special privilege when he wants something for himself. How paradoxical* that neither is able to perceive that no one likes being nagged.

Sample Sentences Getting the hang of it? Now go on to use the five new words in the following sentences—remember, past tenses may be required.

  1. She does her homework on Fridays to save herself from the __________ of having to do it during the weekend.
  2. The teacher continually __________ the pupil for the missing assignments.
  3. The eminent scientist __________ difficulties in putting the invention into practice.
  4. The sick child’s mother __________ the doctor to come immediately.
  5. I listened to the boring lecture for what seemed an __________ fifty minutes.

Definitions Pick the letter of the definition that matches your new word.

  1. a. unpleasant, dull, or hard work
  2. b. unending
  3. c. to plead urgently for aid or mercy
  4. d. to understand, know, become aware of
  5. e. to pester, nag, annoy persistently
  1. badger (v.) __________
  2. implore __________
  3. drudgery __________
  4. interminable __________
  5. perceive __________

Answer Key
to pour oil on troubled waters—to make peace, to calm someone down
When I tried to pour oil on troubled waters, both the angry husband and his wife stopped their quarrel and began to attack me.

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