Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 37 - Day 3

Word List
  • motivate [mō´ tə vāt]
    inspire, stimulate, provoke
    → “The loss of our star quarterback seemed to motivate the team to play even harder.” Bill Parcells quoted in Sports Illustrated, 9/12/98
  • rationalize [rash´ ə nə līz]
    use or give a reason other than the real one
    → “It is the task of the scientist to rationalize the remains of extinct civilizations to discover their histories.” Brian Fagan, Time Detective
  • therapy [ther´ ə pē]
    healing or curing process
    → “He will have to undergo long-term therapy before considering playing baseball again.” The Washington Post, 7/9/99
  • nascent [nas´ nt]
    beginning to exist or develop
    → “The once nascent Women’s National Basketball Association has arrived and is healthy and prosperous.” New York Times, 7/17/99
  • iconoclast [ī kon´ ə klast]
    image-breaker, attacker of beliefs
    → “He was an iconoclast about everything, except his love of money.” Garry Wills, syndicated newspaper column, 3/8/79

The study of the human mind and behavior has had many prominent practitioners, but no one is more revered* than Sigmund Freud. An Austrian physician, he is said to be the father of psychoanalysis. He taught that man has a subconscious mind in which he keeps repugnant* memories that come to the surface surreptitiously* and motivate behavior. Man often tries to rationalize his actions, when, in reality, they are really the result of suppressed memories coming to the surface. Freud’s approach to the disturbed person was to attempt therapy by examining the dreams that make cognizant* what the cause of the illness might be. Only with the airing of deleterious*, buried emotions can the person move from the nascent stage to that of full health. Freud was considered an iconoclast in the field of psychology when his ideas first appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in these sentences.

  1. The __________ was in favor of jettisoning* one of the traditions that had become an intrinsic* part of his life.
  2. In order to complete the __________ , the doctor said a trip to a warm, dry climate was mandatory.*
  3. Complacent* people are difficult to __________ to altruistic* actions.
  4. It is pathetic* the way some citizens __________ their apathy* during election years.
  5. His beard was in its __________ state; it would soon be a hirsute* masterpiece.

Definitions Match the new words with their definitions.

  1. a. beginning to exist or develop
  2. b. use or give a reason other than the real one
  3. c. inspire, stimulate, provoke
  4. d. image-breaker, attacker of beliefs
  5. e. healing or curing process
  1. motivate __________
  2. rationalize __________
  3. therapy __________
  4. nascent __________
  5. iconoclast __________

Answer Key
a square peg in a round hole—an able man in the wrong job
It was a bitter pill to swallow* when they had to fire him because he was a square peg in a round hole.

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