Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 26 - Day 3

Word List
  • jettison [jet´ ə sən]
    throw overboard, discard
    → “He refused to jettison any of the manners and behavior that made him seem so odd.” William Connor, Daily Mirror, London, 1956
  • inevitable [in ev´ ə tə bəl]
    sure, certain, unavoidable
    → “The ‘High Occupancy Vehicle’ lanes were an attempt to avoid the otherwise inevitable traffic delays on the Expressway.” Newsday, 9/23/99
  • lucrative [lü´ krə tiv]
    profitable
    → “Very quickly it became a surprisingly lucrative property.” David McCullough, The Great Bridge
  • tussle [tus´ əl]
    a rough struggle
    → “It often doesn’t pay to tussle with your child to take music lessons.” Working Mother, 5/96
  • intrinsic [in trin´ sik]
    essential, natural, inborn
    → “We appear to have lost the belief that honesty is an intrinsic aspect of political leadership.” Editorial, Christian Science Monitor, 5/17/98

The average newspaper office receives many times the amount of foreign news than it has space to print. The editor must include or jettison items as he sees fit. It is inevitable that his ideas of what the reader want to know, or should know, are decisive. Because the newspaper owners do not want to endanger a lucrative business, there is the constant tussle between personal opinion and the desire not to offend too many readers or advertisers. It is intrinsic to the operation of all mass media that they avoid being extremist in their news coverage or editorials.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in these sentences.

  1. Our conscience must always __________ against our yearning for what we know is taboo.*
  2. Man sets the price of gold; it has no __________ value.
  3. The pilot decided it would be imprudent* to __________ his fuel over the populated area.
  4. It is __________ that children question what their elders accept as tradition.*
  5. Each year the contracts offered to star sports figures become more __________ .

Definitions Match the new words with their definitions.

  1. a. sure, certain, unavoidable
  2. b. essential, natural, inborn
  3. c. a rough struggle
  4. d. profitable
  5. e. throw overboard, discard
  1. jettison __________
  2. inevitable __________
  3. lucrative __________
  4. tussle (n.) __________
  5. intrinsic __________

Answer Key
once in a blue moon—on a very rare occasion
His wife complained that they go out to dinner and a show once in a blue moon.

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