Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 26 - Day 2

Word List
  • rebuke [ri byük´]
    criticize, reproach, reprimand
    → “The defeat of the charter revision was viewed as a rebuke of his policies.” Editorial, New York Times, 11/7/99
  • aversion [ə ver´ zhən]
    strong dislike, opposition
    → “During the last years of his administration the mayor showed an aversion to taking political risks.” Jewell Bellush and Dick Netzer, Urban Politics
  • evince [i vins´]
    show plainly, exhibit
    → “The vote on Roe vs. Wade will show whether enough senators evince an interest in overturning the 1973 Supreme Court decision.” Elaine Povich, “Abortion Politics,” Newsday, 10/22/99
  • vogue [vōg]
    fashion
    → “Examining the private lives of our political leaders is in vogue this election period.” New York, 9/4/99
  • superficial [sü´ pər fish´ əl]
    on the surface, slight
    → “His teachings had only a superficial relationship to the orthodox religion he advocated.” Carl Dreyer, “The Roots of Anti-Semitism”

The critics rebuke the press for the fact that most newspapers devote somewhat less than 10 percent of their news space to foreign items. In many hundreds of papers this falls below two percent. Why is there this aversion to foreign news? Newsmen claim that readers evince no interest in foreign affairs. In order to increase reader interest in foreign news, the vogue among editors is to sensationalize it to the point of distortion. Many other papers do only the most superficial kind of reporting in this area.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in these sentences.

  1. The female __________ to mice is considered absurd* by boys.
  2. After a __________ examination of the injured motorist, the doctor said that hospitalization was imperative.*
  3. Many a husband has been given a __________ for having imbibed* too fully at an office party.
  4. Youngsters often do not __________ any curiosity about the lives of their parents or grandparents.
  5. Good manners are always in __________.

Definitions Match the new words with their definitions.

  1. a. on the surface, slight
  2. b. criticize, reproach, reprimand
  3. c. strong dislike, opposition
  4. d. fashion
  5. e. show plainly, exhibit
  1. rebuke (v.) __________
  2. aversion __________
  3. evince __________
  4. vogue __________
  5. superficial __________

Answer Key
to strike while the iron is hot—to take an action at the right moment
As soon as John heard that his father had won in the lottery, he struck while the iron was hot and asked for an increase in his allowance.

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