Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 7 - Day 5

Pupils want to be individuals these days, and many of them refuse to conform to regulations unless there are good reasons for such rules. In the area of vocabulary study, however, the only rule that makes sense to all is that true mastery derives from continuous practice.

Review Words

Match the twenty words with their meanings. *Reminder: Record answers on a sheet of paper. (Which two review words are almost synonymous?)

DEFINITIONS

  1. a. having a massive structure
  2. b. to hinder
  3. c. a conflict, fight
  4. d. relentless, unappeasable
  5. e. immediately
  6. f. blameworthy
  7. g. range of authority
  8. h. to show contempt
  9. i. poverty-stricken
  10. j. to irritate
  11. k. violent outburst
  12. l. to end
  13. m. a likeness
  14. n. go back
  15. o. to torment
  16. p. riotous
  17. q. eject
  18. r. small battle
  19. s. aware
  20. t. based on whim
  21. u. having a selfish motive
  22. v. a humiliating defeat
  23. w. don’t jump to conclusions
  24. x. famous law case

REVIEW WORDS

  1. arbitrary __________
  2. cognizant __________
  3. effigy __________
  4. exacerbate __________
  5. flout __________
  6. forthwith __________
  7. fray __________
  8. harass __________
  9. implacable __________
  10. indigent __________
  11. jurisdiction __________
  12. monolithic __________
  13. oust __________
  14. paroxysm __________
  15. reprehensible __________
  16. revert __________
  17. skirmish __________
  18. stymie __________
  19. terminate __________
  20. turbulent __________

Idioms

IDIOMS

  1. cause célèbre __________
  2. one swallow doesn’t make a summer __________
  3. bitter pill to swallow __________
  4. an ax to grind __________

Make a record of those words you missed.
Note: fray and skirmish are almost synonymous.

WORDSEARCH 7

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. 1st Day
  2. 3rd Day
  3. 3rd Day
  4. 2nd Day
  5. 1st Day

The Reading of the Will

One full week after the funeral, the immediate family of millionaire Charles Hudson was gathered in a law office to hear the reading of the deceased’s will. Mr. Hudson’s wife, thirty years his junior, was prepared for a bitter (1)__________ with his former wife and her son. The lawyer, Don Rollins, anticipated a (2)__________ session because he was the only one who was (3)__________ of the contents of the revised will that Hudson had ordered drawn up six months prior to his death.

The current Mrs. Hudson, attired in her smart widow’s weeds, expected that she would receive the lion’s share of the estate. The former Mrs. Hudson felt that she was entitled to most of the estate since she was practically (4)__________ at the present time, despite her substantial alimony payments.

Lawyer Rollins cleared his throat and began to read:

“To my present spouse I leave my town house where she can continue to store the jewels, shoes, dresses, and furs she accumulated in two years of shopping and marriage.

“To my son, who has put off finding a career until my estate would enrich him, I leave the sum of ten dollars for cab fare to the unemployment office.

“To my former wife whose (5)__________ behavior I tolerated for three decades, I leave my beach house where she can continue to work on her tan, something that she prized above our happiness.

“To the Society For the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals I leave the remainder of my entire estate, knowing they will put it to better use than anyone in this room.”

The lawyer was wrong. No outcries. Silence, supreme silence, reigned among the shocked audience.

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