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

Word List
  • elicit [i lis´ it]
    to draw forth
    → “The experimental animal obviously hoped to elicit a reproduction of the pleasurable sensations he had experienced under laboratory conditions.” Loren Eiseley, “Man and Porpoise”
  • pernicious [pər nish´ əs]
    harmful, causing injury
    → “This chapter exposes a pernicious obstacle to students and teachers engaging in serious work together.” Robert L. Fried, The Passionate Teacher
  • tolerate [tol´ ər āt]
    to put up with, to bear
    → “They despise anyone who hasn’t had the luck to be born Masai, but for one reason and another, they tolerated me.” Robert W. Krepps, “Pride of Seven”
  • construe [kən strü´]
    to make a deduction, to infer
    → “Hemingway’s simple approach was construed as mysticism.” Robert Ruark, “Ernest Was Very Simple”
  • impunity [im pyū´ nə tē]
    freedom from punishment
    → “Swaraj means that not a single Hindu or Mussulman shall for a moment crush with impunity meek Hindus or Mussulmans.” Mohandas K. Gandhi, “The Untouchables”

Mr. Dorsey summoned a representative group of teachers and student leaders to his office in order to elicit their reactions to the suspension of the football captain. He told them that cheating was a pernicious disease that could not be tolerated at our school. He loathed* having to discipline Art Krause so severely, but unless strict measures were taken, the student body would construe the incident as an open invitation to cheat with impunity. “We may lose a football game,” the principal said, “but we can salvage our self-respect.”

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

  1. The border guards allowed the doctor to cross the frontier with __________.
  2. It isn’t easy to __________ answers from a sleepy class on Monday morning.
  3. Dentists appreciate patients who can __________ pain.
  4. She hoped that we would not __________ her decision to run for office as a thirst for power.
  5. The dictator’s __________ rules failed to intimidate* the leaders of the underground.

Definitions Match the new words with their dictionary meanings.

  1. a. freedom from punishment
  2. b. to make a deduction, to infer
  3. c. to put up with, to bear
  4. d. to draw forth
  5. e. harmful, causing injury
  1. elicit __________
  2. pernicious __________
  3. tolerate __________
  4. construe __________
  5. impunity __________

Answer Key
to lionize a person—to make a big fuss over someone (the lions at the Tower of London were considered its main attraction)
When the famous poet Dylan Thomas visited the United States, he was lionized wherever he lectured.

Favorite Books
Table of Contents