Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 22 - Day 3

Word List
  • escalation [es´ kə lā´ shən]
    an increase, intensification
    → “There is a dangerous escalation in Kashmir as India and Pakistan are engaged in the worst fighting in decades.” Editorial, New York Times, 6/22/99
  • indifference [in dif´ ər əns]
    lack of concern
    → “David sees Ham who, although now shows indifference to life, swims out to save people from a shipwreck.” Holly Hughes, Barron’s Book Notes, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
  • potential [pə ten´ shəl]
    possible
    → “We realized that this system had worked because the potential targets were so many that the Germans could not get a definite idea of where we would strike.” Ewen Montagu, The Man Who Never Was
  • cumulative [kyü´ myə lə tiv]
    accumulated
    → “There can be an extraordinary cumulative strength in Mr. Foote’s plays.” Ben Brantley, New York Times, 6/18/99
  • recondite [rek´ ən dīt]
    secret, hidden, obscure
    → “If it seems too recondite for anyone but dwellers in the groves of Academe, one must consider rhyming slang which originated in the underworld.” Bergen Evans, “Now Everyone Is Hip About Slang”

Aside from the reasons offered earlier, doctors have other interesting reasons for the escalation in female drinking. They also indict* social acceptance and indifference to alcohol’s potential danger as contributory factors. If women realized the harmful extent of the cumulative effect of alcohol, they might taper off in their public and recondite drinking. Forty-three percent of the female alcoholics in a survey showed evidence of liver damage, and a quarter of the whole group had a high white-blood-cell count. Almost five percent of the patients died shortly after their release from the hospital.

Sample Sentences If you can still see clearly after all the references to liquor, use the new words in the following sentences.

  1. Many derogatory* statements were heard from those who were opposed to further __________ of the conflict.
  2. With complete __________ toward his personal safety, Lt. Regan openly challenged the puissant* forces of the enemy.
  3. When destitution* grips an area, there is excellent __________ for trouble.
  4. The __________ effect of the summer’s sultry* weather was to shorten everyone’s temper.
  5. The poet’s __________ language precluded* any understanding of her theme

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. possible
  2. b. accumulated
  3. c. secret, hidden, obscure
  4. d. an increase, intensification
  5. e. lack of concern
  1. escalation __________
  2. indifference __________
  3. potential (adj.) __________
  4. cumulative __________
  5. recondite __________

Answer Key
apple polishing—trying to gain favor by gifts or flattery
If the way to advancement in this company is through apple polishing, I quit!

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