Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 13 - Day 3

Word List
  • premise [prem´ is]
    grounds for a conclusion
    → “That train of reasoning has all the various parts and terms—its major premise and its conclusion.” T. H. Huxley, “We Are All Scientists”
  • jeopardize [jep´ ər dīz]
    endanger
    → “Cancellation of the event would have jeopardized the financial survival of the organization.” Nat Hentoff, “Picket Lines are Labor’s Free Speech,” Village Voice, 6/15/99
  • incredulous [in krej´ ə ləs]
    skeptical
    → “The Nazi war on cancer?—other readers may be as incredulous as I was when this book came to my attention.” Michael Sherry, New York Times, 5/23/99
  • permeate [pėr´ mē āt]
    to spread through
    → “The play is permeated with scriptural imagery, notably a Last Supper.” Robert Brustein, New Republic, 6/7/99
  • propitious [prə pish´]
    favorable
    → “Sometime later, I will find a propitious ground and bury you there in the same grave.” Shen Chunlieh, “In Memory of a Child,” 1619

As the pile grew, so did the entire project. Fermi moved his materials to an abandoned squash court under a football stadium at the University of Chicago. His pace accelerated because they were proceeding on the premise that the Germans were close to atomic success. Six weeks after the pile had been started, its critical size was reached. Three brave young men jeopardized their lives by ascending* the pile, ready to cover it with liquid cadmium if anything went wrong. Almost fifty scientists and several incredulous observers mounted a balcony to watch. One physicist remained on the floor; it was his job to extract the final cadmium control rod. Unbearable tension permeated the atmosphere. Fermi completed his calculations, waited for a propitious moment, and then gave the signal.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

  1. Acting on the __________ that there were no burglars around, the police became quite lax.*
  2. After I had perused* the Yankee lineup, I was __________ about their chances of winning.
  3. The trapeze artist was squeamish* about having to __________ his life.
  4. A terrible odor that was impossible to expunge* __________ the skunk handler’s clothing.
  5. At a __________ moment the flamboyant* movie star made her grand entrance.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. favorable
  2. b. endanger
  3. c. to spread through
  4. d. skeptical
  5. e. grounds for a conclusion
  1. premise __________
  2. jeopardize __________
  3. incredulous __________
  4. permeate __________
  5. propitious __________

Answer Key
out of the frying pan into the fire—to go from a difficult situation to a worse one
I thought I had escaped, but actually I went out of the frying pan into the fire.

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