Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 4 - Day 5

Let’s see how many of the new words studied during the course of this week you remember. Incidentally, try to keep a record of the many times you find your new words in magazines, newspapers, and books. Before you knew the meanings of those words you probably skipped right over them.

Review Words

In the following quiz, match the best possible definition with the word you have studied. *Reminder: Record answers on a sheet of paper.

DEFINITIONS

  1. a. scorn
  2. b. to make afraid
  3. c. frantic outburst
  4. d. person of eighty
  5. e. to mock
  6. f. make public, proclaim
  7. g. pretense, sham
  8. h. combative
  9. i. candidate for better job
  10. j. seeking war, hostile
  11. k. speak of as unimportant
  12. l. vulgar, using indecent language
  13. m. insolent
  14. n. punish, chastise
  15. o. comfort
  16. p. most worthless part
  17. q. able to be touched
  18. r. rough cut
  19. s. filthy, ignoble
  20. t. quick willingness
  21. u. be the boss, lay down the laws
  22. v. under the influence of alcohol
  23. w. to offer a challenge
  24. x. to have no say in a matter

REVIEW WORDS

  1. alacrity __________
  2. aspirant __________
  3. belligerent __________
  4. belittle __________
  5. brash __________
  6. castigate __________
  7. disdain __________
  8. dregs __________
  9. feint __________
  10. frenzy __________
  11. intimidate __________
  12. laceration __________
  13. octogenarian __________
  14. promulgate __________
  15. pugnacious __________
  16. scoff __________
  17. scurrilous __________
  18. solace __________
  19. sordid __________
  20. tangible __________

Idioms

IDIOMS

  1. to throw down the gauntlet __________
  2. feeling no pain __________
  3. Hobson’s choice __________
  4. to rule the roost __________

Make a record of those words you missed. You can master them with additional review.

SENSIBLE SENTENCES? (From Week 4)

Choose the word that makes sense in each of the sentences below.

  1. .We were impressed with the new maid because she cleaned the house with (alacrity, solace).
    • alacrity
    • solace
  2. All (aspirants, lacerations) for the basketball team must come to practice today.
    • aspirants
    • lacerations
  3. Once he was a millionaire, but today he can be found among the (dregs, octogenarians) of society.
    • dregs
    • octogenarians
  4. The newspaper specialized in printing the (sordid, brash) details of crime in the city.
    • sordid
    • brash
  5. After finding the (pugnacious, tangible) evidence in his drawer, Roger took it to the police.
    • pugnacious
    • tangible
  6. The normally (scurrilous, belligerent) police dog was unusually quiet this morning.
    • scurrilous
    • belligerent
  7. Bobby, who was extremely modest, always (belittled, castigated) his own achievements.
    • belittled
    • castigated
  8. Treated with (frenzy, disdain) by his stepfather, Artie grew closer to his natural father.
    • frenzy
    • disdain
  9. When the results of the bar exam were (intimidated, promulgated) Adele saw that she had passed handsomely.
    • intimidated
    • promulgated
  10. I used to (scoff, feint) at Hank’s stories of the fish he had caught, but he made a believer out of me.
    • scoff
    • feint

WORDSEARCH 4

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

Want to Run for Office?

In recent years, we have seen the phenomenon of incumbent politicians retiring in record numbers. When interviewed, many of them admitted that they had lost their taste for the job because of the abuse to which an (1)__________ for office is subjected.

“My last campaign was a (2)__________ affair in which my opponents did everything to (3)__________ my record and air (4)__________ charges about my private life,” said one congressman. “I don’t have to stand still for such treatment,” he added, “which was terribly embarrassing to me and my entire family.”

Citizen groups, appalled by the candidates’ mudslinging, have sought to do something about the situation. Committees have been formed in a number of states to study ways to elevate the tone of the process, reduce the emotionalism, and eliminate (5)__________ the of name calling that is generated as election day draws near.

“Unless we clean up this mess,” said the chairman of an Illinois caucus, “we will lose the best and the brightest from the political arena. After all, who but a masochist wants to be a punching bag, the subject of daily vilification in the media, and a target for every malcontent in town?”

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