Tuesday, October 29, 2013

9 intermediate level words

Word Bank:

hereditary, to be offended by something, to be slain, deliberately, to collaborate with, abundant, to plummet, to emit something, to accommodate someone, 

Exercise:

1. The difference between murder and manslaughter depends on whether a person was killed _______________ or accidentally.  If it was an accident but the death was caused through carelessness, a person can be charged with manslaughter.

2. The two political parties in the USA rarely ________________ each other.  This is why the US government recently had to shut down for several days.

3. There are two types of the disease called diabetes.  Type one diabetes is _____________ while type two is acquired through bad eating habits and other factors a person can control.

4. A supervisor has to make it clear to an employee that he/she should not be ________________ by any type of job evaluation.  An evaluation is meant to help an employee assess how he/she has been doing and to also allow the employee to provide some feedback on what he/she might need in the future.

5. Everyone read some terrible news over the weekend in New York City.  A mother and her four children were ________________ by a mentally ill relative in Brooklyn.  He killed the entire family.  

6. The air in Los Angeles is polluted because of all the carbon monoxide gas that is ____________ by all the cars in that city every day.

7. The waiter was very kind.  Even though we were a large group and we had very specific and hard to meet requests, he was able to ___________________ us and give us the types of  meals we wanted.

8. The stock market can often be quite unstable.  If investors are confident in the government, stock prices can soar.  If investors lose confidence at any time, stock prices can _________________.

9. Many people think there is hunger throughout the world because we lack food.  No. Food is actually __________________.  But, even though there is more than enough food, political and economic systems are not efficient enough to distribute the food adequately.

Answers are below:





Answers:

1. deliberately
2. collaborate with
3. hereditary
4. offended
5. slain
6. emitted
7. accommodate
8. plummet
9. abundant

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Intermediate-level English vocabulary challenge

to abandon – to get rid of, to leave behind
abundant – more than enough
an optimist – someone who always sees the bright side of things
to plummet – to drop quickly, to fall
a quest – a search for something important or meaningful
chronological order – to order a set from earliest to latest
to collaborate – to work together with others instead of competing
retaliation – getting revenge
unanimous – everyone agrees
to dissent – to disagree with what a majority of people believe
domestic – dealing with your home
to vow – to promise
meager – not much
a controversy – a topic or issue that causes people to argue
an innovation – something new

 
King Arthur and his knights were never bored – each of them was constantly engaged in some type of ___________ and they all sought to find the Holy Grail.  
 
When students learn US History they often go through it in _________________, although some teachers like to teach ‘themes’ instead. 
 
Are our schools too competitive?  Might it not be better if students _______________ with each other and learned better social skills? 
 
A jury’s decision has to be ________________.  If even one person dissents, there can be no real verdict. 
 
This will be my first international flight, although I have taken many ____________ flights around the USA. 
 
I loved my old Converse All Stars but they were getting old and I needed a new pair of casual shoes, so I _______________ them for some cool new running shoes.
 
The internet seems to have been around forever, but I can still remember in the 90s when this was an ___________________ and people were thinking about what might be possible from it. 
 
Capital punishment remains a huge ______________.  Should the state have the right to execute criminals if they have killed others? 
 
Many economists have pointed out that there should not be any cases of world hunger since the amount of food being produced now is ___________________. 
 
Many world religions do not believe in the morality of _________________. They recommend that a person should show mercy and forgive others.


Answers are below: 




Answers:

quest
chronological order
cooperated
unanimous
domestic
abandoned
innovation
controversy
abundant
retaliation

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

10 SAT-level words and fill-in-the-blanks

to usurp - to take power away from someone who should have it
liberated - freed
to appease - to make someone happy, to satisfy someone even though they might be wrong
brevity - briefness, something lasting a short time
to be intrigued by something/someone - to become deeply interested in something
a detractor - someone who believes that something is wrong; a critic
to exhort - to forcefully encourage
frantically - panicky; to something nervously and quickly because of pressure or fear
sluggish - slow moving
to be rash - to do something impulsively or without thinking about it too much


Answers are below the fill-in-the-blanks:


1.  A perfect example of the _____________ of life is the Mayfly, which only exists for one day before dying.

2.  In his essay "Common Sense,"  Thomas Paine ____________ the American people to continue fighting against the English king and to not stop until they had created a better system of government.

3.  Although Bob was generally reticent and did not speak much about his life, there was something about him that ____________ Irene. 

4.  Because the deadline for his paper was approaching, Bob _____________collected all of his sources and tried to organize them as quickly as possible.

5.  Although the capitol of Afghanistan was ___________ by American forces, who overthrew the Taliban in 2002, the war in Afghanistan has lingered (continued slowly) to this present day.

6.  When Bob wakes up in the morning, he goes about his morning routine somewhat ______________. Yet, by the time he gets to work he is a dynamo! (a dynamo is like a little powerful engine)

7.  Many people feel that the US entered the war against Iraq too ____________.  It would have been better if the Congress had shown more courage and asked more questions. 

8.  Even though American independence is celebrated each year, many people do not realize that there were many ________________ of the concept of independence. Indeed, many people in many states wished to remain English subjects and thought the American Revolution was wrong.

9.  After the military coup in Burma, the power of the president was ____________ by a military junta (a group of generals).

10. Everyone who studies diplomacy knows that Neville Chamberlain's attempt to ___________ Adolph Hitler backfired (it had the opposite effect).  Instead of making Hitler satisfied, Chamberlain's apparent weakness encouraged Hitler to pursue military conquest.

Answers are below:







Answers:

1. brevity
2. exhorted
3. intrigued
4. frantically
5. liberated
6. sluggishly
7. rashly
8. detractors
9. usurped
10. appease