Vocabulary Builder: Some NY School Children Were Forced To Do An Exercise Based on a Slave-Owner's Perspective

There is no vocabulary section on the SHSAT, but the better your vocabulary is, the better you'll do on the test.  Also, it's good to have an amazing vocabulary so that you can express your insights with subtlety and power. :)

Included in the following link is an intro to an article from NY1 and an article from NY1.  Following the article is a list of useful vocabulary words (to help you understand the article). 

The posting from which these vocabulary words were taken is here (you can find the definitions of the words here):

http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/02/some-new-york-school-children-were.html

Words to be used (answers are below the exercise):

to be based on something, a curriculum, common sense,
to be appalled by something, inappropriate, nonchalant,
to be ticked off by something, a whistleblower, to haggle over

{By the way: to be ticked off by something means you are a little upset. To be appalled by something means you are shocked.}

Exercise:

In some foreign countries there are no price tags on products sold in markets.  People are expected to ________________ the price of the item.  In America, most people dislike this type of negotiation - they want to see a price tag and will either accept or reject that final offer.

In the 1800s a man named Horace Mann worked hard to create a public school system in the United States.  He thought this would help ensure equality of opportunity for everyone.  A central aspect of his public school system idea was to have a uniform _____________, or, in other words, to make sure that every child in the system studied the same educational materials. (uniform means 'the same')

By the expression on Bob's face I could see that he had been _______________ by someone or something.  It turned out that a clerk at a Starbucks had been rude to him and he was a little upset.

Although it is _______________ that a person should carry an umbrella when it rains, Bob just hated carrying an umbrella. Therefore, the last time it rained he got soaked and caught a cold.

Many visitors to New York City are _________________ how dirty and disgusting the subway system is.  It is a very old and ugly system that often runs unpredictably.

The current economic policies that the Obama administration is using seem to be ___________________ the suggestions made by John Maynard Keynes to president Roosevelt in the 1930s.

Although women have gained a great deal of equality to men in America, they are still sometimes subjected to ________________ comments about their 'beauty' or 'attractiveness' by male workers. 

Often when an honest person sees something wrong and complains about it, the wrongdoer will try to get revenge against the ___________________.  There are now laws in America that attempt to protect these concerned and honest people from the reprisals (revenge) of those who are guilty.

Bob was an easy-going guy who smiled a lot and who was quite friendly.  Yet, despite his apparently _______________ attitude, he was a hard worker who never missed a deadline.


Answers are below:







Answers:

1. haggle over
2. curriculum
3. ticked off
4. common sense
5. appalled by
6. based on
7. inappropriate
8. whistleblower
9. nonchalant