Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 1 - Day 5

You have accomplished something worthwhile this week. In learning twenty useful words and four idioms, you have taken a step toward a greater mastery of our language. As a result of today’s lesson, you will become aware of those words that require greater study on your part for complete success in these first lessons.

Review Words

Take the following quiz by matching the best possible definition with the word you have studied. *Reminder: Record answers on a sheet of paper.

DEFINITIONS

  1. a. to be completely soaked in something
  2. b. to be able to tell what will happen in the future
  3. c. someone’s special field
  4. d. to continually nag
  5. e. carelessly chosen
  6. f. related to science of engineering
  7. g. to add to
  8. h. beg for assistance
  9. i. of outstanding reputation
  10. j. a mature woman
  11. k. small amount of
  12. l. dull, difficult work
  13. m. desiring huge amount
  14. n. existing in great number
  15. o. historical records
  16. p. to come to have an understanding of
  17. q. completely filled with
  18. r. machine that behaves like a person
  19. s. seemingly self-contradictory situation
  20. t. unending
  21. u. a blind item; poor purchase
  22. v. admit to defeat
  23. w. a star today, a flop tomorrow
  24. x. to try to make peace

REVIEW WORDS

  1. abound __________
  2. annals __________
  3. automaton __________
  4. badger __________
  5. compound __________
  6. drudgery __________
  7. eminent __________
  8. implore __________
  9. indiscriminate __________
  10. interminable __________
  11. matron __________
  12. paradox __________
  13. perceive __________
  14. prognosticate __________
  15. realm __________
  16. replete __________
  17. steeped __________
  18. technology __________
  19. tinge __________
  20. voracious __________

Idioms

IDIOMS

  1. to eat humble pie __________
  2. a pig in a poke __________
  3. a flash in the pan __________
  4. to pour oil on troubled waters __________

Make a record of those words you missed. You can learn them successfully by studying them and using them in your own original sentences. If you neglect them, then the effort you have expended in building up your vocabulary may be wasted.

SENSIBLE SENTENCES? (From Week 1)

Choose the word that makes sense in each of the sentences below.

  1. The huge football player had a (voracious, replete) appetite.
    • voracious
    • replete
  2. After a seemingly (interminable, indiscriminate) wait, the surgeon came to give us the news.
    • interminable
    • indiscriminate
  3. Without a (paradox, tinge) of evidence, the coroner could not solve the murder.
    • paradox
    • tinge
  4. In the (realm, annals) of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
    • realm
    • annals
  5. We invited the (eminent, steeped) engineer to address our club.
    • eminent
    • steeped
  6. In the Catskill Mountains, the woods (abound, implore) with deer.
    • abound
    • implore
  7. I cannot (perceive, prognosticate) why people voted for the corrupt senator.
    • perceive
    • prognosticate
  8. Night and day my kid brother (badgers, compounds) me for money.
    • badgers
    • compounds
  9. Science fiction movies usually feature (annals, automatons).
    • annals
    • automatons
  10. With his expertise in (drudgery, technology), my uncle is able to earn a good salary.
    • drudgery
    • technology

Do these sentences make sense? Explain why.

  1. The rookie was amazing during spring training but he turned out to be a flash in the pan.
    • Yes
    • No
  2. I complained to the salesperson because he had sold me a pig in a poke.
    • Yes
    • No
  3. When I tried to pour oil on troubled waters, I only made matters worse.
    • Yes
    • No
  4. After the election, when my candidate conceded his loss, I had to eat humble pie.
    • Yes
    • No

WORDSEARCH 1

Using the clues listed below, record separately using one of the new words you learned this week for each blank in the following story.

Clues
  1. 3rd Day
  2. 1st Day
  3. 2nd Day
  4. 4th Day
  5. 4th Day

Reggie the Con Man

In the (1)__________ of crime, there are few scoundrels who could match the exploits of Reggie Hayes, who also used the names of Reginald Haven, Ricardo Hermosa, Father Harris, and dozens of other aliases. Reggie’s police record, principally in Chicago and Baltimore, is (2)__________ with scams that he perpetrated upon gullible people. Generally, his favorite target was a (3)__________ who should have known better.

Dressed as a priest (“Father Harris”), he was most convincing, however. His method of operation was to “find” a wallet stuffed with hundred dollar bills outside a supermarket and then (4)__________ an unsuspecting woman to share his good fortune, since there was no identification in the wallet. But first, to establish her credibility, his victim had to put up a sum of money as a testimonial to her good faith. Mrs. Emma Schultz, age 72, tearfully told the police that she had withdrawn $14,000 from her bank and placed it in a shopping bag supplied by the helpful priest. He told her to hold onto the bag while he went next door to a lawyer’s office to make the sharing of their good fortune legal.

After a seemingly (5)__________ wait, Mrs. Schultz discovered to her chagrin that the heartless thief had skipped out the back way, leaving her “holding the bag”—a switched bag containing shredded newspaper—while he made his getaway with her life savings.

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