Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 21 - Day 5

For the past twenty weeks, each of these review exercises has contained a bit of propaganda to point up the need for you to expand your vocabulary. This week is no exception.

Match the twenty words with their meanings. *Reminder: Record answers on a sheet of paper.

Review Words

DEFINITIONS

  1. a. one who practices self-denial
  2. b. wealth
  3. c. concern with possessions
  4. d. luxurious
  5. e. decay
  6. f. disconnected, random
  7. g. deliverance from ruin
  8. h. extreme poverty
  9. i. to teach certain principles
  10. j. excessive
  11. k. nourish
  12. l. heavenly place
  13. m. descendant
  14. n. earnest prayer
  15. o. consider carefully
  16. p. follower
  17. q. atonement for sin
  18. r. seeking favor
  19. s. change
  20. t. genuine
  21. u. in a state of anxiety
  22. v. two means to achieve one’s aim
  23. w. above suspicion
  24. x. the mischief is done

REVIEW WORDS

  1. ascetic __________
  2. bona fide __________
  3. decadence __________
  4. destitution __________
  5. desultory __________
  6. disciple __________
  7. fulsome __________
  8. indoctrinate __________
  9. lush __________
  10. materialism __________
  11. metamorphosis __________
  12. nirvana __________
  13. nurture __________
  14. obsequious __________
  15. opulence __________
  16. penance __________
  17. ponder __________
  18. salvation __________
  19. scion __________
  20. supplication __________

Idioms

IDIOMS

  1. two strings to one’s bow __________
  2. on tenter hooks __________
  3. fat is in the fire __________
  4. like Caesar’s wife __________

Make a record of those words you missed.

WORDSEARCH 21

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. 3rd Day
  3. 4th Day
  4. 4th Day
  5. 2nd Day

History’s Most Extraordinary Person?

In a celebrated essay about Joan of Arc, Mark Twain wrote movingly of her brief moment in the spotlight—two short years in which she made an indelible mark on world history. At age 16 she was illiterate, had never strayed from her sleepy little village, knew nothing of military combat, or courts of law. But at age 17, in a complete (1)__________ she was named Commanderin-Chief of the French army, vowing to restore her king to his throne. Joan attracted many fervent followers, and a (2)__________ called her “France’s (3)__________ .”

After much gallantry in battle, this (4)__________ heroine was brought low by treachery at the French court and captured by the enemy. Joan defended herself brilliantly at a court trial, although she could neither read nor write. She was able to forecast future events with remarkable accuracy, correctly predicting her own martyrdom.

Mark Twain understood how geniuses such as Napoleon, Edison, and Wagner could develop but one could (5)__________ the facts for a lifetime without being able to explain how this humble peasant girl could display the qualities of a mature statesman, a learned jurist, and a military wizard. He concluded:

“Taking into account her origin, youth, sex, illiteracy, early environment, and the obstructing conditions under which she exploited her high gifts and made her conquests in the field and before the courts that tried her for her life—she is easily and by far the most extraordinary person the human race has ever produced.”

Answer Key
Favorite Books
Table of Contents