Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 7 - Day 1

Word List
  • implacable [im plā´ ke bəl]
    cannot be pacified, inexorable*
    → “It seemed folly for this young man to hope to create a self-supporting farm in such an implacable environment.” Leland Stowe, Crusoe of Lonesome Lake
  • paroxysm [par´ ək siz əm]
    a fit, sudden outburst
    → “The coughing did not even come out in paroxysms, but was just a feeble, dreadful welling up of the juices of organic dissolution.” Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain
  • reprehensible [rep´ ri hen´ sə bəl]
    worthy of blame
    → “She thought that the prisoners, no matter how morally reprehensible their crimes, still should have the benefit of pretrial representation.” Jimmy Breslin’s syndicated column, Newsday, 6/15/99
  • jurisdiction [jür´ is dik´ shən]
    power, range of authority
    → “Lee’s jurisdiction included the monitoring of boxing within New Jersey.” Timothy Smith, “A Sport’s Credibility,” New York Times, 6/20/99
  • skirmish [sker´ mish]
    small fight, brief encounter
    → “They never meet but there’s a skirmish of wit between them.” William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

Perhaps you read about our school in the newspapers? We were one of the first to have a showdown on the topic of long hair for boys. Two honor students, Ron Harris and Len Chester, were sent to the principal by their French teacher, an implacable foe of nonconformists, who went into a paroxysm of anger when she spied the boys in the hall. At first it seemed like a simple case. The school would reprimand* the boys for their reprehensible appearance and order them to cut their hair or be suspended. But the boys’ parents decided that the school had overstepped its jurisdiction; they took their case to the newspapers. What had started as a local skirmish now began to take on the appearance of a full-scale war.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

  1. The detective was __________ in his search for the murder weapon.
  2. Saying that it was beyond his __________, Judge Klein refused to rule on the case.
  3. In a __________ of rage, the tenant stormed out of the landlord’s office.
  4. The precocious* boy enjoyed an intellectual __________ with his elders.
  5. The brash* student was forced to apologize for her __________ conduct.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. a fit, sudden outburst
  2. b. cannot be pacified, inexorable*
  3. c. small fight, brief encounter
  4. d. worthy of blame
  5. e. power, range of authority
  1. implacable __________
  2. paroxysm __________
  3. reprehensible __________
  4. jurisdiction __________
  5. skirmish __________

Answer Key
cause célèbre—a famous law case or controversy
It was a minor dispute, but the ambitious lawyer sought to turn it into a cause célèbre.

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