Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 17 - Day 5

Major Martin, if he had lived, would have used the word “bonnet” to refer to the hood of his auto, and he might have referred to a truck as a “lorry.” As you can see, there are differences between American and British English. But Major Martin, undoubtedly, would have known all the words below—do you?

Match the twenty words with their meanings. *Reminder: Record answers on a sheet of paper.
(Note the similarity between numbers 13 and 20.)

Review Words

DEFINITIONS

  1. a. spread out in battle formation
  2. b. a trick
  3. c. busy, attentive
  4. d. confirm as accurate, vouch for
  5. e. devise
  6. f. a riddle, puzzle
  7. g. element, part
  8. h. able to meet any situation
  9. i. perfect, complete
  10. j. filled
  11. k. misleading, false
  12. l. rejoice greatly
  13. m. faultless
  14. n. easily fooled
  15. o. winding passages
  16. p. find the value of, review
  17. q. many
  18. r. deception
  19. s. commit
  20. t. dark, obscure
  21. u. restrain oneself
  22. v. turn a situation to one’s own advantage
  23. w. do things backwards
  24. x. son who is like his father

REVIEW WORDS

  1. assiduous __________
  2. attest __________
  3. component __________
  4. concoct __________
  5. consummate __________
  6. deploy __________
  7. enigma __________
  8. evaluate __________
  9. exult __________
  10. fallacious __________
  11. fraught __________
  12. gullible __________
  13. hoax __________
  14. impeccable __________
  15. labyrinth __________
  16. manifold __________
  17. murky __________
  18. perpetrate __________
  19. resourceful __________
  20. subterfuge __________

Idioms

IDIOMS

  1. draw in one’s horns __________
  2. put the cart before the horse __________
  3. turn the tables __________
  4. chip off the old block __________

Make a record of those words you missed.

WORDSEARCH 17

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

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in a (1)__________ review of Social Security disability payments, focused on Jack Benson, a (2)__________ Seattle panhandler. Mr. Benson had claimed that whatever money he collects on the street can be compared to the funds raised by legitimate charities, and, therefore, he is entitled to a federal deduction. Government officials regard his analogy as (3)__________ and disagree. It is their contention that, since Benson’s income is unearned, it should be subtracted from his disability payments.

Mr. Benson may not be highly regarded as a street beggar but that didn’t stop him from going into the Federal District Court in Oregon to plead that his appeals for cash are an art form, thereby making him eligible for most of the $472 a month that he had been receiving. Not so, declared the government, quoting from a 1990 ruling that found that “money received through begging is better classified as ‘gifts’ rather than as ‘wages’ or ‘net earnings from self-employment.’”

Mr. Benson’s lawyer, plunging into the legal (4)__________ , has not given up. She countered that, if Jack merely sat on a street corner with his hand out, the government had a good case. However, in her words, “Jack Benson is a (5)__________ professional who has elevated begging to a respectable level because of his skill in actively seeking contributions.”

It may take all of Benson’s talent as a salesman to get the government to put some money in his collection basket.

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