Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 18 - Day 1

Word List
  • abortive [ə bôr´ tiv]
    fruitless,* useless, failing
    → “His company made an abortive attempt to circle the enemy position but they fell back under fire.” Captain Ron Herbert, Keep Your Medals
  • modify [mod´ ə fī]
    to change
    → “Some schools claimed that the standard test was a lot harder than a modified version.” Ching-Cheng Ni, “Fewer Rumbles on Earth Test,” Newsday, 6/23/99
  • accommodate [ə kom´ ə dāt]
    to make fit, adjust to
    → “The awards will be given out at a place that will accommodate C-Span.” James Barron, “Public Lives,” New York Times, 6/10/99
  • spontaneous [spon tā´ nē əs]
    without preparation, unrehearsed
    → “Professor Einstein burst out in spontaneous candidness.” Thomas Lee Bucky, “Einstein: An Intimate Memoir”
  • innate [i nāt´ or in´ āt]
    natural
    → “Nothing makes the weak strong or the fearful brave as much as our bodies’ innate drive to stay alive.” William Safire, “Why Die?,” New York Times, 1/1/00

Two resourceful* psychologists at the University of Nevada have made splendid progress in vocabulary development in chimpanzees. Following a number of abortive attempts to teach French, German, or English to chimps, the researchers persevered* until they hit upon the American Sign Language system that is often used by deaf persons. They have had to modify the language somewhat in order to accommodate the animals’ spontaneous gestures. With a mixture of innate movements and learned ones, some laboratory chimps now have an extensive vocabulary.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

  1. His __________ cunning allowed him to see through the spy’s subterfuge.*
  2. The divers made an __________ attempt to rescue the dog from the murky* waters.
  3. Because Phil refused to __________ his philosophy, the directors were forced to invalidate* his appointment.
  4. My English teacher admonished* me: “I realize that the speech was to be __________, but it was not supposed to be incoherent* or fraught* with fallacious* statements.”
  5. A quarrel was precipitated* when the dietician refused to __________ the patient’s special needs.

Definitions If vocabulary is getting to be your stock in trade,* you should have no trouble in matching the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. fruitless,* useless, failing
  2. b. to make fit, adjust to
  3. c. natural
  4. d. without preparation, unrehearsed
  5. e. to change
  1. abortive __________
  2. modify __________
  3. accommodate __________
  4. spontaneous __________
  5. innate __________

Answer Key
under the wire—just in time
Hank hesitated about his term paper for two months and finally submitted it just under the wire.

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