Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 12 - Day 5

How many of the new words have now become a part of your “working vocabulary”? At first, their use may be conscious, even studied. However, the squeaks will soon disappear. Try a few this weekend.

Match the twenty words with their meanings. *Reminder: Record answers on a sheet of paper.
(Note the resemblance between flamboyant and ostentatious).

Review Words

DEFINITIONS

  1. a. well-known
  2. b. quarrelsome
  3. c. kind, sort
  4. d. poster
  5. e. disjointed
  6. f. sprightly
  7. g. accidental
  8. h. in name only, slight
  9. i. restraint
  10. j. reward
  11. k. a curse
  12. l. bitter criticism
  13. m. erase
  14. n. colorful
  15. o. cut short
  16. p. essential
  17. q. fearful
  18. r. showy
  19. s. split
  20. t. place of perfection
  21. u. make one’s feelings evident
  22. v. warm autumn weather
  23. w. to avoid disgrace
  24. x. openly discuss private affairs

REVIEW WORDS

  1. anathema __________
  2. diatribe __________
  3. expunge __________
  4. flamboyant __________
  5. fortuitous __________
  6. fractious __________
  7. ilk __________
  8. incoherent __________
  9. inhibition __________
  10. integral __________
  11. jaunty __________
  12. nominal __________
  13. ostentatious __________
  14. placard __________
  15. prestigious __________
  16. remuneration __________
  17. schism __________
  18. timorous __________
  19. truncated __________
  20. utopia __________

Idioms

IDIOMS

  1. wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve __________
  2. wash dirty linen in public __________
  3. save face __________
  4. Indian summer __________

Make a record of those words you missed.

SENSIBLE SENTENCES? (From Week 12)

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

  1. The senator went into a lengthy (diatribe, remuneration) about government waste in the military budget.
    • diatribe
    • remuneration
  2. Most reformers are seeking to create a (schism, utopia).
    • schism
    • utopia
  3. Lorraine was criticized sharply for the (ostentatious, nominal) way in which she furnished her apartment.
    • ostentatious
    • nominal
  4. Anyone so (ilk, timorous) should not have been selected to guard the castle.
    • ilk
    • timorous
  5. My brother was promoted to a (prestigious, flamboyant) job in his company
    • prestigious
    • flamboyant
  6. Although his speech was (anathema, jaunty) we were able to sense its underlying seriousness.
    • anathema
    • jaunty
  7. The failing grade was (expunged, truncated) from her record when she submitted the excellent term paper.
    • expunged
    • truncated
  8. I got my job as a result of a (fractious, fortuitous) meeting with the director of personnel.
    • fractious
    • fortuitous
  9. The bookkeeper is such an (integral, incoherent) part of our organization that we pay her a very high salary.
    • integral
    • incoherent
  10. We marched in front of the embassy with (placards, inhibitions) held high.
    • placards
    • inhibitions
  11. Don’t (save face, wash your dirty linen in public) if you plan to run for office.
    • save face
    • wash your dirty linen in public

WORDSEARCH 12

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

Regis, Oprah, Ellen, et al.

The television talk shows of our era, featuring such (1)__________ public figures as Regis Philbin, Oprah Winfrey, and Ellen De Generes, attract millions of daytime viewers and constitute a powerful influence on the American scene. When the media can hold the attention of so sizable a chunk of couch potatoes, it pays to scrutinize it closely.

A student at Stanford University, doing her doctoral thesis on the unusual popularity of the afternoon talk shows, noted the fierce competition among those programs for guests who are off the beaten track. According to her:

“Almost every irregular, (2)__________ life-style you can think of has already been featured on one of the shows and probably on all of them, when you add Montel Williams, Jerry Springer, and others of that (3)__________ who serve as network hosts. They have shown teenagers who marry people in their sixties, daughters and mothers who date the same man, men who have gone through a marriage ceremony with other men, women with prominent tattoos, and other people who are totally free of (4)__________ .”

“ (5)__________ for our guests is so small,” said a producer, “that these shows are inexpensive to put on. And say what you want about good taste, millions watch us every day, and as long as the ratings are that healthy, sponsors will pay good money to be identified with us.”

Answer Key
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