5 at a time - see whether you can get these!!! :)

a fiasco - a disaster, something that goes very badly

 

to demote or to be demoted - this is the opposite of to promote or to be promoted.  For instance, when I was younger, it was possible for students to be demoted to lower grades if they were not doing well in their particular classes.  If someone has a supervisory position but does not perform satisfactorily, he/she might be demoted.

 

a probe - an investigation.  To probe can mean to investigate.  A doctor will sometimes do a medical probe on a patient...a device with a little camera might be inserted into the patient, through the patient's mouth or whatnot, and this will allow the doctor to see inside the patient.

 

a shakeup - a sudden change to an organization due to poor performance.  Usually some people are demoted, some are promoted, some might be fired and some newly hired.  A CEO might say that he needs to shakeup his organization because people have become too corrupt or lazy.

 

to hoard - to collect some type of thing or differing things and store those things even though you do not need them or might not ever need them.  Animals, for instance, tend to hoard food in case the weather turns bad.

 

 

answers to the exercises are way at the bottom of this message

 

 

Because the huge amount of snow that fell during the recent blizzard was not plowed from the streets promptly, the newspapers demanded a __________________ at the Department of Sanitation.  Several high-ranking officials were later fired.  to plow - to push the snow, using a type of vehicle with a huge shovel on the front of it, toward the side of the road.  promptly - in a timely manner.  If you are a prompt person, you are generally on time.  The Department of Sanitation is basically the department that has to pick up garbage and plow snow.

 

It was discovered that when the city government began its program of distributing free food in poor neighborhoods, some residents would take food they really didn't need and _______________ it, while others who truly needed the food could not gain access to it once the city ran out of supplies.

 

Once it was learned that Governor Jim McGreavy of New Jersey was giving high-ranking government positions to handsome men who were not qualified for the positions, a newspaper launched (initiated or started) a _________________.  They discovered that McGreavy was secretly gay and was giving out important jobs to various lovers.  McGreavy resigned from office and is now studying to become a Protestant minister.

 

When David Patterson became Governor of New York State, after Governor Spitzer was caught secretly visiting prostitutes (women who sell their bodies for sex), many people had high hopes for him.  However, his term as Governor was a complete and total _________________.  The government became more corrupt and ineffective and taxes and MTA fares rose greatly.

 

Because Bob had been such an excellent journalist, he was promoted to the position of editor.  However, the skills required for being an editor were different from the skills required for being a journalist and he was shortly ________________ back to journalist, where he was quite happy again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

answers:

 

shakeup

hoard

probe

fiasco

demoted  

6 adjectives, 2 verbs, 2 nouns

parochial - narrow minded, having a limited perspective, not open-minded

heedless - not taking enough care while doing something, careless, reckless

libidinous - being motivated by one's sex drive, slang: being 'horny'

duplicity - dishonesty

to parry - to defend oneself from an attack (this word comes from the sport of fencing - to parry a thrust is to stop one's opponent from hitting you with his sword tip by using your sword to deflect his thrust away)

overweening - too confident, too filled with pride, smug, arrogant

conciliatory - trying to make another happy or satisfied instead of making the person angrier; pacifying

to disabuse - to show someone that what he/she believed was inaccurate or false

a martinet - someone who values discipline excessively; someone who is super strict when it comes to leadership

prudish - someone who is too easily offended or embarrassed by sexual discussions or topics


Answers are below the exercise:


1. After the Civil War President Lincoln's policy toward the South was quite _________________. He indicated that he did not want to seek revenge but, instead, he wanted to welcome the South back into the Union and to help develop the South economically.

2. It was Icarus and not Daedalus who had been ________________; Daedalus knew that flying too high or too quickly would bring disaster, but Icarus failed to show this type of humble self-restraint.

3. Some parents have been complaining that the Diary of Anne Frank contains references to an adolescent's curiosity concerning the development of one's own sexual organs. They feel this book should not be read by young students. Other parents feel these parents are being ____________ and that there is no harm in reading the Diary of Anne Frank.

4. Do you think that a person who does not travel much will have a _______________ outlook on the world? Or, can a person be open-minded and intelligent without visiting other countries?

5. When she saw the child fall into the lake, Mary was ______________ of all risk and jumped in to save him. 

6. During the Middle Ages there was much corruption in the Catholic Church and you see this in the tales of _________________ priests in Boccaccio's book Il Decameron.

7. A young officer in the military should try to avoid excessive discipline in regard to his squad lest he acquire the reputation for being a _________________.

8. Bob was able to ____________ Mary's criticism that he was not a strong disciplinarian by saying that he felt positive reinforcement was more effective in regard to raising a child than punishment.

9. You seem to believe that the Persian Empire was run by a series of inhuman dictators, but I would like to _____________ you of that misconception by pointing out that Cyrus was loved by his people and admired around the Mediterranean area.

10. Bob was a straight-forward and honest guy and any form of ________________ bothered him deeply.

Answers are below:







Answers:

1. conciliatory
2. overweening
3. prudish
4. parochial
5. heedless
6. libidinous
7. martinet
8. parry
9. disabuse
10. duplicity

-----------------

http://djg51qu.wix.com/gauss

5 adjectives, 3 nouns (2 non-countable, 1 countable)

a milieu - a surrounding environment

pious - very devoted to one's religious beliefs

dingy - dirty, shabby, old and discolored

astute - to be sharp or very clever or very discerning

despicable - disgusting, shameful, something that appalls you because it is so bad

fidelity - faithfulness

reverence - extreme respect for a person or thing

blithe - carefree, showing little concern for things


Answers are below the exercise:


I prefer reading the Economist magazine because of its _______________ analysis of world events.

Because she was very young and came from a wealthy background, Victoria had a ______________ attitude toward life in general.

Is a person born a genius or does his/her childhood ________________ have to do with his/her intellectual development?

I once knew a remarkable woman named Estelle who had been married to her husband for over 50 years. Indeed, when I knew her they still loved each other and their _______________ was beyond question.

Bob goes to church each Sunday and observes all the religious holidays and even prays before he eats.  He is one of the most _______________ people I know.

The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibet, but many people around the world treat him with _______________ since he seems to be a man who represents peace and mercy. 

I used to do volunteer work in which I delivered meals to senior citizens (people over 65) who could not leave their homes easily.  It was sometimes sad to see the _______________ apartments with the very old and torn furniture where some of these poor elderly people lived.

Many people were upset that the basketball player, Dennis Rodman, recently traveled to North Korea and sang "Happy Birthday" to Kim Jong Un.  Almost everybody in the world recognizes Kim as a __________________ dictator who enjoys life while his people suffer. (a dictator is a leader of a country who controls everything in the country)

Answers are below:



Answers:

astute
blithe
milieu
fidelity
pious
reverence
dingy

13 higher-level words. Do you know them? :)

obsolete - out of date, no longer used
elusive - hard to catch, hard to get
to plummet - to fall or decrease sharply or quickly
dogmatic - a dogmatic person refuses to ever change his/her beliefs, even if you prove something to the person
phlegmatic - apathetic, not active, passive
morose - depressed, sad, in a bad (rotten) mood
incongruous - it doesn't fit, it is out of place, it doesn't make sense
laggard - to fall behind, to be behind where you should be
redoubtable - hard to deafeat, hard to beat
stoic - not showing emotion, able to control your emotions
austere - very severe, very strict
ostentatious - showy, flamboyant
cordial - very kind or nice

1) I knew that something rotten (bad) had happened to Bill. He was usually quite gregarious (outgoing) and cordial (nice) but he was now ______________ and a little rude.

2) Do you remember the Chicago Bulls basketball team of the 1990s with Michael Jordan?  This was one of the most _____________ sports teams ever.  One year they won 72 games and only lost 10.

3) A fashion designer is supposed to dress in an _______________ manner.  This shows that he is dedicated to a life of creativity.

4) Just a few years ago I recall buying a CD player.  Now CD players are totally ___________ and have been replaced by iPods and other products.

5) Although Professor Higgins had a reputation for being morose and somewhat irritable, when I met him he was quite ____________ and open.

6) Osama bin Laden had been quite ____________.  It took the US government over 10 years to hunt him down because he regularly changed locations and took methods to maintain his secrecy. 

7)  A Buddhist monk agrees to live a very ____________ life in which he tends to deny himself the pleasures that many people live for.

8)  The 1920s were good times for investors, until one day when the stock prices suddenly ___________ and many investors lost their life savings.

9)  Some people just seem to have been born with certain types of personalities.  Jim, for instance, is ______________.  His house could be burning down and he wouldn't seem to care that much.

10) Reporters were surprised to see how __________ the criminal responded to hearing his death sentence.  The murderer did not even change his facial expression and just looked directly at the judge.

11)  It's important for students to attend every day of classes or they might become ____________ and fall behind.

12) A good student is never ______________. It's important to keep an open-mind and to examine every argument on its own merits.

13) His story was _______________ with the facts.  Although he stated he was working on the night of the murder, it turned out he had taken that day off.

Answers are below:






Answers:

1. morose
2. redoubtable
3. ostentatious
4. obsolete
5. cordial
6. elusive
7. austere
8. plummetted
9. phlegmatic
10. stoic
11. laggard
12. dogmatic
13. incongruous