1. innocuous - harmless, not bothering anyone
2. miserly - cheap, parsimonious
3. nonchalant - easy going, not in a hurry, casual, very relaxed
4. ostentatious - very flamboyant, showy, deliberately showy to draw attention
5. a quandary - a dilemma, being unable decide what to do next (to be in a quandary)
6. to repudiate something - to turn away from something, to refuse to be associated with something
7. surreptitiously - secretly, in a sneaky way
8. trite - an expression which is used too commonly, a cliche
9. to venerate - to respect highly, to worship
10. a zealot - someone who is extraordinarily passionate about something (usually a cause)
1. I'm in a bit of a _______________. I am not sure whether to go to graduate school or take this new job.
2. As a young man the politician had belonged to a club that did not allow women members. He, of course, _________________ his membership in that club and stated it was a youthful mistake.
3. Foreigners have to realize that in Thailand they do not just respect their king, they _______________ him and a person can be thrown in jail for showing disrespect to the Thai king.
4. The security guard threw the homeless man out of the public library because he had been sleeping. I felt that this was wrong - the homeless guy was ____________________; he wasn't really bothering anyone.
5. One of the reasons Americans have turned against the Tea Party is that members of that political party often seemed to act like ________________. They were very emotional, aggressive and passionate in expressing their hatred for Obama and for liberal government policies.
6. Bob is getting married and I want to write something meaningful in the card I am going to give him. Can you help me think of something that won't sound ______________? I don't want to write, "Congratulations on your marriage!" or "Best of luck in the coming years!" Those expressions have been used too many times before.
7. Our boss is OK but his big problem is that he seems to be a bit ________________. He tries to save money in regard to everything we do and this makes it hard to operate effectively.
8. The American people were shocked to learn that their president, Bill Clinton, had been ___________________ seeing and having an affair with one of his interns in the 1990s. He was married but secretly pursuing this affair.
9. The attitude of some clerks at coffee houses really bothers me. In the morning I am always in a hurry and need to get my cup of coffee quickly. But the clerks are often quite ____________________ and they take their sweet time.
10. I am getting sick of seeing all the women in New York walking around with these big __________________ Louis Vuitton bags. Oh my God! Whom are they trying to impress!? I don't care whether a woman owns such a bag.
answers are below:
answers:
1. quandary
2. repudiated
3. venerate
4. innocuous
5. zealots
6. trite
7. miserly
8. surreptitiously
9. nonchalant
10. ostentatious
Showing posts with label sat vocabulary builder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sat vocabulary builder. Show all posts
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Test your higher-level English vocabulary
resentment - the way you feel if a person hurts you and you can't forget it; a grudge
fortitude - strength
elation - extreme joy
eloquence - being able to speak beautifully
elite - among the very top or best
colloquial - conversational
peripatetic - moving around a lot
remunerative - receiving money for a service
vivacious - lively
garrulous - talking too much
amiable - friendly
reticent - not speaking much
symbiotic - a relationship in which two organisms benefit each other
regressive - going backwards
empirical - that which can be sensed, touched, heard etc.
to coerce - to force
intuitive - a feeling that something is right or wrong which cannot be verified
to retract - to take back
to consolidate - to bring a bunch of things together
to disseminate - to spread out
1) Many educators believe that a child will not learn anything that he/she is __________ into learning. To learn, a child needs to be motivated by something other than fear.
2) Although many state universities are not considered to be as selective as the ________ Ivy League schools, they are less expensive and provide excellent educational opportunities, perhaps as excellent as the Ivy schools.
3) We don't often think of the bacteria in our stomachs as being our friends, but we have an important ____________ relationship with these bacteria. They help us break down food and we provide them a place to survive.
4) When the internet was started most people felt this would be a great way to ___________ useful information around the world. At that time nobody could have anticipated all of the abuses and problems that have come with it.
5) Martin Luther King Jr. was not only a principled person who fought for human rights. People were amazed by his _____________. He speeches were always well-written and beautifully spoken.
6) When we look at a work of art we often can't really say what it means, but we often have an ________________ understanding of it.
7) Although the professor was known as one of the greatest physicists in modern history, students were surprised by how ______________ his lectures were. It was as if he were having friendly conversations with his students instead of formal lectures.
8) If a person wants to be a great leader, perhaps the most important character trait will be ______________. A great leader must be able to withstand a great amount of adversity.
9) It's true that Jake was amazingly smart, but it was hard for people to tell that because he was so _______________.
10) In order to go to college, many American students take out loans from several sources. When it is time to pay the loans back, it is wise to have the loans _______________. This means all the loans are handled by one agency and one payment is made each month to the agency, which disseminates the payment equally to the different loan organizations.
Answers are below:
Answers:
1. coerced
2. elite
3. symbiotic
4. disseminate
5. eloquence
6. intuitive
7. colloquial
8. fortitude
9. reticent
10. consolidated
fortitude - strength
elation - extreme joy
eloquence - being able to speak beautifully
elite - among the very top or best
colloquial - conversational
peripatetic - moving around a lot
remunerative - receiving money for a service
vivacious - lively
garrulous - talking too much
amiable - friendly
reticent - not speaking much
symbiotic - a relationship in which two organisms benefit each other
regressive - going backwards
empirical - that which can be sensed, touched, heard etc.
to coerce - to force
intuitive - a feeling that something is right or wrong which cannot be verified
to retract - to take back
to consolidate - to bring a bunch of things together
to disseminate - to spread out
1) Many educators believe that a child will not learn anything that he/she is __________ into learning. To learn, a child needs to be motivated by something other than fear.
2) Although many state universities are not considered to be as selective as the ________ Ivy League schools, they are less expensive and provide excellent educational opportunities, perhaps as excellent as the Ivy schools.
3) We don't often think of the bacteria in our stomachs as being our friends, but we have an important ____________ relationship with these bacteria. They help us break down food and we provide them a place to survive.
4) When the internet was started most people felt this would be a great way to ___________ useful information around the world. At that time nobody could have anticipated all of the abuses and problems that have come with it.
5) Martin Luther King Jr. was not only a principled person who fought for human rights. People were amazed by his _____________. He speeches were always well-written and beautifully spoken.
6) When we look at a work of art we often can't really say what it means, but we often have an ________________ understanding of it.
7) Although the professor was known as one of the greatest physicists in modern history, students were surprised by how ______________ his lectures were. It was as if he were having friendly conversations with his students instead of formal lectures.
8) If a person wants to be a great leader, perhaps the most important character trait will be ______________. A great leader must be able to withstand a great amount of adversity.
9) It's true that Jake was amazingly smart, but it was hard for people to tell that because he was so _______________.
10) In order to go to college, many American students take out loans from several sources. When it is time to pay the loans back, it is wise to have the loans _______________. This means all the loans are handled by one agency and one payment is made each month to the agency, which disseminates the payment equally to the different loan organizations.
Answers are below:
Answers:
1. coerced
2. elite
3. symbiotic
4. disseminate
5. eloquence
6. intuitive
7. colloquial
8. fortitude
9. reticent
10. consolidated
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