Please review the meanings of the vocabulary words (from the previous story about the Mapuche) before attempting the exercise. You can find that article here: http://shsatreading.blogspot.com/2013/07/testimprove-your-vocabulary-indigenous.html
a raid, a blaze, sporadic, conspicuously, to sabotage, to escalate, prompt, arbitrary, a dispute
1. It is common knowledge that President John Kennedy was the first president to send soldiers to Vietnam in 1961. However, it was President Lyndon Johnson who chose to _____________ the American involvement in that war.
2. Although they are allies, for many years now Korea and Japan have engaged in a ___________ over who possesses an island between the two countries. Korea calls the island Dokdo and Japan calls it Takeshima.
3. After 10 years of searching for Osama bin Laden, he was located in Pakistan and the Obama administration launched a _____________ to execute him in his compound (the place where he lived).
4. "Due process" is a legal term which means that if a person is accused of doing something wrong, the process by which he is judged must not be ______________. There have to be well-established and fair procedures which will be followed.
5. At first the pain in my back was ___________. Later the pain would not seem to go away and I had to go to the doctor for help.
6. The ___________ which was started in the World Trade Center tower was so intense that it was able to melt the steel structure of the building.
7. During World War II the French underground fighters against the Nazis often _______________ German military equipment or even railroad track systems.
8. I believe it is important for me to be ___________ for any appointment. Indeed, I usually show up well ahead of time.
9. When people buy designer goods, they often wear the brand label _____________ on the item as a sign of prestige. (something prestigious is something that makes others admire you).
Answers are below:
Answers:
1. escalate
2. dispute
3. raid
4. arbitrary
5. sporadic
6. blaze
7. sabotaged
8. prompt
9. conspicuously
Showing posts with label shsat 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shsat 2013. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Exercise your reading/vocabulary: An indigenous group struggles with the Chilean government
Please review the vocabulary and then read the article. This type of exercise will help you to prepare for the vocabulary in the reading passages on the SHSAT.
The Mapuche are a group of 'indigenous' people in South America. This means that they existed in South America before the Spanish came over from Europe to colonize the area.
Over the centuries (a century is 100 years) The Mapuche have fought hard to maintain their independence and identity. Apparently now the Chilean government is trying to classify this indigenous group as 'terrorists.'
The article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23512784
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
rapporteur - basically this is the person whom an organization chooses to do research about an issue and to write a report.
a dispute - this is a type of argument in which both sides believe something different about a situation. For instance, Japan and Korea have had a dispute about which country owns a specific island - both countries believe the island belongs to them and they dispute that the island belongs to the other country.
to boil over into violence - if you heat water on a stove for long enough, it will begin to boil. If the water is too high in the pot, the water will boil over. So if a situation boils over, it is a critical situation and trouble comes from it.
a systematic use of excessive force - they regularly or often or commonly use too much force against the Mapuche. (pronounced: Mah POO che)
to discriminate against - remember you always use 'against' with discriminate. If someone discriminates against someone else, the first person takes action against the second person to harm him/her because of some racial or ethnic issue. If someone doesn't like black people and he refuses to hire black people for his business, he is discriminating against black people.
arbitrary - this means random. If they are using an anti-terrorism law against the Mapuche in an arbitrary manner, they use it when they feel like it and there are no real or objective standards.
if something is volatile - it is unstable and unpredictable.
prompt - if you are a prompt person, you are always on time
to escalate - to get worse
a vast swath(e) of land - a large area spread out over a great distance.
renowned for their ferocity - famous for how cruel and brutal they were. If a dog is ferocious, it will bite a person easily.
they resisted conquest - they fought against being conquered or beaten.
waged a campaign - fought
arson - starting stuff on fire
to sabotage machinery - to deliberately destroy machines
to invoke a law - to use a law. So if the Mapuche fight to try to get their land back, the government calls them terrorists and tries to throw them in jail.
drafted - written by Pinochet. Pinochet was a violent dictator in Chile who helped assassinate the Chilean president Salvador Allende.
to stamp out opposition - to eliminate, get rid of
harshest - most severe
statute book - law book
a conviction - when a person is determined to be guilty. By using this law, the Chilean government can find people guilty without providing any evidence or witnesses.
anonymous - you don't know the person's name.
a paradigm shift - a change in the way that the government views the situation. A paradigm is a way you look at things. The government has to stop looking at the Mapuche as terrorists and view them as people who had their land stolen.
conspicuously - obviously
rumbling on - going on slowly but steadily
sporadic - every once in a while
assailants - attackers
the blaze - the fire
a hunger strike - when people refuse to eat to protest something
a raid - when the police suddenly and quickly attack someone or some group.
-----------------------------------
Writing/discussion questions:
How do you determine when a group is a group of freedom fighters or terrorists?
How do you determine when a government is engaged in terrorism?
The Mapuche are a group of 'indigenous' people in South America. This means that they existed in South America before the Spanish came over from Europe to colonize the area.
Over the centuries (a century is 100 years) The Mapuche have fought hard to maintain their independence and identity. Apparently now the Chilean government is trying to classify this indigenous group as 'terrorists.'
The article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23512784
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
rapporteur - basically this is the person whom an organization chooses to do research about an issue and to write a report.
a dispute - this is a type of argument in which both sides believe something different about a situation. For instance, Japan and Korea have had a dispute about which country owns a specific island - both countries believe the island belongs to them and they dispute that the island belongs to the other country.
to boil over into violence - if you heat water on a stove for long enough, it will begin to boil. If the water is too high in the pot, the water will boil over. So if a situation boils over, it is a critical situation and trouble comes from it.
a systematic use of excessive force - they regularly or often or commonly use too much force against the Mapuche. (pronounced: Mah POO che)
to discriminate against - remember you always use 'against' with discriminate. If someone discriminates against someone else, the first person takes action against the second person to harm him/her because of some racial or ethnic issue. If someone doesn't like black people and he refuses to hire black people for his business, he is discriminating against black people.
arbitrary - this means random. If they are using an anti-terrorism law against the Mapuche in an arbitrary manner, they use it when they feel like it and there are no real or objective standards.
if something is volatile - it is unstable and unpredictable.
prompt - if you are a prompt person, you are always on time
to escalate - to get worse
a vast swath(e) of land - a large area spread out over a great distance.
renowned for their ferocity - famous for how cruel and brutal they were. If a dog is ferocious, it will bite a person easily.
they resisted conquest - they fought against being conquered or beaten.
waged a campaign - fought
arson - starting stuff on fire
to sabotage machinery - to deliberately destroy machines
to invoke a law - to use a law. So if the Mapuche fight to try to get their land back, the government calls them terrorists and tries to throw them in jail.
drafted - written by Pinochet. Pinochet was a violent dictator in Chile who helped assassinate the Chilean president Salvador Allende.
to stamp out opposition - to eliminate, get rid of
harshest - most severe
statute book - law book
a conviction - when a person is determined to be guilty. By using this law, the Chilean government can find people guilty without providing any evidence or witnesses.
anonymous - you don't know the person's name.
a paradigm shift - a change in the way that the government views the situation. A paradigm is a way you look at things. The government has to stop looking at the Mapuche as terrorists and view them as people who had their land stolen.
conspicuously - obviously
rumbling on - going on slowly but steadily
sporadic - every once in a while
assailants - attackers
the blaze - the fire
a hunger strike - when people refuse to eat to protest something
a raid - when the police suddenly and quickly attack someone or some group.
-----------------------------------
Writing/discussion questions:
How do you determine when a group is a group of freedom fighters or terrorists?
How do you determine when a government is engaged in terrorism?
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Vocabulary Builder: Detroit Declares Bankruptcy
Here is a vocabulary building passage based on a current news story.
To go bankrupt in the USA means that a person's debts are so high that he/she will probably never be able to pay them off. In this case, a person (or corporation or even a city) can go to court and 'declare bankruptcy.' A judge then determines whether that person is really insolvent (incapable of paying back his/her loans).
If this is decided, the person declaring bankruptcy will only have to pay back 10% of the money he/she owes. So if he/she owes $50,000 to creditors, he/she will only have to pay them $5,000. However, the person's credit history will be damaged and he/she will probably not be able to get any more credit (no credit cards or loans) for at least 7 years. Also, the person will not be able to declare bankruptcy again for at least 7 years.
The city of Detroit has recently declared bankruptcy. Basically the city used to be wealthy because of the automobile industry. There were many jobs in this industry and the government was able to collect a lot in taxes from the companies and employees. The US auto industry, however, has not competed well against foreign car companies, which have been making smaller and more fuel efficient models. Therefore, due to the problems of the auto industry in Detroit, not much money has been generated, the government continually borrowed money to provide services to the people, and now Detroit must declare bankruptcy and find a way to create businesses and jobs in that city for the future.
----------------------
About the article:
During his election campaign against Mitt Romney, Barack Obama boasted of how he saved two huge automobile companies through "bailouts." A bailout is when the US government gives money to companies to stop them from failing. Usually the money is in the form of low interest loans.
Unfortunately for the people of Detroit, the federal government (Washington D.C.) is not going to help them. The city where the automobile industry began is at least 20 billion dollars in debt and will have to declare bankruptcy.
Please read the article:
http://news.yahoo.com/no-signs-washington-come-detroits-rescue-170850937.html
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
bleak - if an environment is bleak, it means there is very little there. Antarctica has a bleak environment - it is nothing but ice and snow. Parts of Africa have lush environments - there is a huge variety of different plants and trees and wildlife. So if a situation is 'bleak' this means there is very little hope or few opportunities for the situation to get better.
The Great Recession - we are now still in, apparently, the Great Recession. The world economy has slowed down to the point where there is high unemployment and not much is being produced.
bipartisan - bi means two. Partisan means political party. So if there is a bipartisan vote, it means two political parties agree with each other and cooperate with each other instead of fighting with each other.
appetite - in this case it means 'desire.' Neither party really wants to do anything to help Detroit.
to rescue something - to save something from harm
resources are strained - this means that at one time there were enough resources but they have been mostly used up: there are few resources left but many needs for these resources.
a constraint - a limit. The government is limited as to how much it can spend because the Congress did not take timely action earlier and, by law, money was automatically cut (removed) from the US budget because of Congress' inaction.
in firm control - they control that part of the Congress easily. The US Congress is divided into two parts: The Senate and the House. Democrats control the Senate and Republicans control the House. Very little can be accomplished under this situation.
his plate is so full - he has so many things to do.
throwing Detroit into the mix - adding Detroit to the rest of what he ahs to do
the era - the period of time
a declining population, accelerated by hard times - this sentence might be a bit confusing. The author is saying that the decline or drop in population was due to the difficult times the auto industry in Detroit has had.
punishing - here it means very difficult. If you go through a punishing workout at the gym, you really really workout.
in near gridlock territory - gridlock is the term for non-cooperation between the political parties. If the parties do not cooperate, nothing gets done, and this is called gridlock.
a wait and see approach - they are not going to do anything yet...they are just waiting to see what might happen and whether they can do anything.
federal - this is the US government in Washington D.C.
to rule something out - to say something is not an option or is not possible.
insolvency - when someone (or in this case some city) just simply can't pay its debts.
diligent - careful, precise, meticulous, detailed
a tough step - a difficult move or action to take
delegation - each state gets a number of Congressmen/women based on the state's population. This is the state's delegation.
to clamor for - to demand, to strongly request
pension funds sued - a pension is money a person gets after he retires from a job. City workers feel that their pensions will be cut (lowered) after this bankruptcy decision, so they went to court hoping a judge would stop the bankruptcy. The judge refused to do that.
strings attached - this means, basically, I'll give you something but I want something in return! If someone is generous they might give you something and say, "No strings attached!"
a lifeline - if someone falls into the ocean, someone might throw him/her a lifeline so that the person can be pulled to safety.
stimulus spending - when the government spends money to try to stimulate the economy (make the economy more active).
a mortgage - monthly payments people make in order to buy a house.
remote - far away; in this case, remote means unlikely.
to be off the hook - to be safe, to be able to avoid responsibility.
align them - make sure they provide Detroit with the money that Detroit really needs and requests. To align something means to put in in line with something else - to make sure something fits something else.
------------------------------------
To go bankrupt in the USA means that a person's debts are so high that he/she will probably never be able to pay them off. In this case, a person (or corporation or even a city) can go to court and 'declare bankruptcy.' A judge then determines whether that person is really insolvent (incapable of paying back his/her loans).
If this is decided, the person declaring bankruptcy will only have to pay back 10% of the money he/she owes. So if he/she owes $50,000 to creditors, he/she will only have to pay them $5,000. However, the person's credit history will be damaged and he/she will probably not be able to get any more credit (no credit cards or loans) for at least 7 years. Also, the person will not be able to declare bankruptcy again for at least 7 years.
The city of Detroit has recently declared bankruptcy. Basically the city used to be wealthy because of the automobile industry. There were many jobs in this industry and the government was able to collect a lot in taxes from the companies and employees. The US auto industry, however, has not competed well against foreign car companies, which have been making smaller and more fuel efficient models. Therefore, due to the problems of the auto industry in Detroit, not much money has been generated, the government continually borrowed money to provide services to the people, and now Detroit must declare bankruptcy and find a way to create businesses and jobs in that city for the future.
----------------------
About the article:
During his election campaign against Mitt Romney, Barack Obama boasted of how he saved two huge automobile companies through "bailouts." A bailout is when the US government gives money to companies to stop them from failing. Usually the money is in the form of low interest loans.
Unfortunately for the people of Detroit, the federal government (Washington D.C.) is not going to help them. The city where the automobile industry began is at least 20 billion dollars in debt and will have to declare bankruptcy.
Please read the article:
http://news.yahoo.com/no-signs-washington-come-detroits-rescue-170850937.html
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
bleak - if an environment is bleak, it means there is very little there. Antarctica has a bleak environment - it is nothing but ice and snow. Parts of Africa have lush environments - there is a huge variety of different plants and trees and wildlife. So if a situation is 'bleak' this means there is very little hope or few opportunities for the situation to get better.
The Great Recession - we are now still in, apparently, the Great Recession. The world economy has slowed down to the point where there is high unemployment and not much is being produced.
bipartisan - bi means two. Partisan means political party. So if there is a bipartisan vote, it means two political parties agree with each other and cooperate with each other instead of fighting with each other.
appetite - in this case it means 'desire.' Neither party really wants to do anything to help Detroit.
to rescue something - to save something from harm
resources are strained - this means that at one time there were enough resources but they have been mostly used up: there are few resources left but many needs for these resources.
a constraint - a limit. The government is limited as to how much it can spend because the Congress did not take timely action earlier and, by law, money was automatically cut (removed) from the US budget because of Congress' inaction.
in firm control - they control that part of the Congress easily. The US Congress is divided into two parts: The Senate and the House. Democrats control the Senate and Republicans control the House. Very little can be accomplished under this situation.
his plate is so full - he has so many things to do.
throwing Detroit into the mix - adding Detroit to the rest of what he ahs to do
the era - the period of time
a declining population, accelerated by hard times - this sentence might be a bit confusing. The author is saying that the decline or drop in population was due to the difficult times the auto industry in Detroit has had.
punishing - here it means very difficult. If you go through a punishing workout at the gym, you really really workout.
in near gridlock territory - gridlock is the term for non-cooperation between the political parties. If the parties do not cooperate, nothing gets done, and this is called gridlock.
a wait and see approach - they are not going to do anything yet...they are just waiting to see what might happen and whether they can do anything.
federal - this is the US government in Washington D.C.
to rule something out - to say something is not an option or is not possible.
insolvency - when someone (or in this case some city) just simply can't pay its debts.
diligent - careful, precise, meticulous, detailed
a tough step - a difficult move or action to take
delegation - each state gets a number of Congressmen/women based on the state's population. This is the state's delegation.
to clamor for - to demand, to strongly request
pension funds sued - a pension is money a person gets after he retires from a job. City workers feel that their pensions will be cut (lowered) after this bankruptcy decision, so they went to court hoping a judge would stop the bankruptcy. The judge refused to do that.
strings attached - this means, basically, I'll give you something but I want something in return! If someone is generous they might give you something and say, "No strings attached!"
a lifeline - if someone falls into the ocean, someone might throw him/her a lifeline so that the person can be pulled to safety.
stimulus spending - when the government spends money to try to stimulate the economy (make the economy more active).
a mortgage - monthly payments people make in order to buy a house.
remote - far away; in this case, remote means unlikely.
to be off the hook - to be safe, to be able to avoid responsibility.
align them - make sure they provide Detroit with the money that Detroit really needs and requests. To align something means to put in in line with something else - to make sure something fits something else.
------------------------------------
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Common adjectives in "high-level" magazines/newspapers
These are 30 commonly used adjectives in some of America's best newspapers and magazines. I went through a few magazines and culled (pulled out) these words from them. Please see whether you can complete the fill-in-the-blank exercise. This will be challenging!
By the way, in one of the questions, I mention the book: Sophie's World. This is a really cool book. It's a mystery novel based on the history of philosophy. I would highly recommend it!
In fact, here's the movie version from youtube. (The book is better.)
Answers are below the exercise.
*ailing – hurting, suffering
*autonomous – independent, free
*brutal – cruel, too severe,
*conclusive – certain, absolute
*disinterested – objective, not biased, no pre-established feelings
*effervescent – bubbly, enthusiastic, mirthful,
*esoteric – difficult to understand, secret
*fallacious – false
*frantic – disordered, wild;
*grave – very solemn or serious;
*immaculate – pure, unpolluted;
*incessant – continual, nonstop
*indigent - poor
*innocuous – harmless, benign
*itinerant – one who moves around, one who travels
*lucid - very clear, understandable
*mercurial- quick to change one’s emotions
*nefarious – evil, corrupt, criminal
*obsolete – no longer up to date, old fashioned and unusable
*paltry – quite small, too small
*petulant – quick to lose one’s temper
*predatory – acting like a predator or hunter,
*prosaic – opposite of poetic, mundane, common place, boring
*reactionary – opposite of radical, ultra conservative
*resurgent – coming back
*spendthrift - opposite of miserly, spending too easily
*supercilious –haughty, arrogant, full-of-oneself
*threadbare – worn out through overuse
*unprecedented – something that had never happened before
*vital – essential, absolutely necessary
1. Sophie’s World is such a good book because the author makes a difficult and sometimes esoteric subject, the history of philosophy, very _____________ and easy to understand.
2. Although the Warren Commission stated that the evidence was _____________ that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the Kennedy assassination, to this day many feel that much evidence was overlooked and that the findings of the commission were faulty.
3. Contestants for the Miss Universe pageant are expected to act in an _____________ manner, regardless of how terrible the state of their nation or the world might be.
4. After the fall of communism, many states that had been included in the Soviet Union became ____________ nations with their own executives and legislatures.
5. Most ESL teachers in New York City language schools are paid a ________ sum of money, sometimes as low as $13.33/hr. This is why they are often lazy and disinterested.
6. In Knut Hamson’s novel Hunger, the main character is so indigent that he has been unable to replace his winter coat for many months and it is ____________ and falling apart.
7. The economic crisis that began to truly be felt in 2008 was not an ____________ event. There have been numerous economic crises and depressions in the history of the USA.
8. Although some passengers did act in a ____________ manner after the plane landed in the Hudson River, most remained calm and exited as instructed by the crew.
9. Even though some people think that the life of a journalist is bound to be romantic and exciting, I have found it to be quite ___________ and even boring.
10. Bobby Knight, a basketball coach, was felt to be a bit too ___________ by Indiana University, which fired him after a series of violent outbursts at basketball games.
11. Of all the ____________ politicians in the corrupt history of Chicago, perhaps Rod Blagojevich will go down in history as being the most disgusting and corrupt for trying to sell a political office.
12. The airline industry was already ___________ due to increased gas prices when it was hit by the economic crisis, which made the industry suffer even more.
13. Although the economic stimulus plan is meant to improve the economy, I wonder whether it will help the truly ____________ - those people who are so poor that they have little hope for a better life.
14. It seemed ironic: even though greed and the desire for “more more more” had caused the economic crisis, the government seemed to encourage people to become more ______________ and to continue buying more and more goods.
15. The world refuses to forget how ____________ and oppressive the Chinese government’s reaction was to the student protests at Tienamen Square. Tanks literally drove into the square and students were shot dead for peacefully protesting.
16. Oil had once been considered a resource __________ to the prosperity of the nation, but it is slowly being replaced by alternate sources of energy and does not seem as essential any more.
17. The pain was no longer sporadic, it just would not seem to go away. Because the pain had now become ___________, Bob went to the doctor.
18. Although the security guards for the New York Public Library threw the homeless man out of the library, many patrons complained because the man was totally _____________: so what if he was homeless and was sleeping, he wasn’t hurting anyone.
19. Americans no longer seem to even look for a potential president with an ____________ or perfect reputation. Everyone seems to think every politician is partially corrupt – even Obama supported Rod Blagojevich in two Illinois elections
20. After the extreme liberalism of the previous two administrations, the conservative policies of the new president almost seemed ________________.
21. Many people bought the novel The DaVinci Code hoping to learn of various ___________ secrets, only to be disappointed by a quite prosaic and unbelievable story.
22. It would be _____________ to assert that someone else wrote Shakespeare’s plays. there is no evidence for this assertion. Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s plays.
23. We could tell that the doctor was going to reveal bad news by the _________ look on his face.
24. Bob said that one thing he liked about Asian culture was that an Asian might go to great schools and do impressive things but never would act in a ______________ manner that might offend or embarrass others.
25. After weeks of economic stagnation and even of times when the market declined, investors were quite happy to see the market ____________ and bouncing back strongly.
26. She was the typical opera diva with a totally ____________ personality. One minute she could be the sweetest person on the planet and the next she could be petulantly screaming bloody murder over nothing at all.
27. Billy Sunday was one of the last, famous ____________ preachers, who traveled around the USA in the early 1900s, speaking out against various evils he thought he saw, especially the evils of alcoholic beverages.
28. After thirty years there were to be trials in Cambodia concerning “The Killing Fields” of Pol Pot’s regime. Many felt, however, that it might be hard to find ____________judges for the tribunal since so many people had heard so many horrible things about Pot’s regime.
29. Bank loans were never supposed to be ___________ in nature. Banks were supposed to wait for people to come to them, not go searching for people they could sign up as borrowers at high interest rates.
30. Although the type-writer is considered _____________, I still have one and although I always use a word processor now, I miss the good old days of typing letters and school papers on the old fashioned machine.
Answers are below:
Answers:
1. lucid
2. conclusive
3. effervescent
4. autonomous
5. paltry
6. threadbare
7. unprecedented
8. frantic
9. prosaic
10. petulant
11. nefarious
12. ailing
13. indigent
14. spendthrift
15. brutal
16. vital
17. incessant
18. innocuous
19. immaculate
20. reactionary
21. esoteric
22. fallacious
23. grave
24. supercilious
25. resurgent
26. mercurial
27. itinerant
28. disinterested
29. predatory
30. obsolete
By the way, in one of the questions, I mention the book: Sophie's World. This is a really cool book. It's a mystery novel based on the history of philosophy. I would highly recommend it!
In fact, here's the movie version from youtube. (The book is better.)
Answers are below the exercise.
*ailing – hurting, suffering
*autonomous – independent, free
*brutal – cruel, too severe,
*conclusive – certain, absolute
*disinterested – objective, not biased, no pre-established feelings
*effervescent – bubbly, enthusiastic, mirthful,
*esoteric – difficult to understand, secret
*fallacious – false
*frantic – disordered, wild;
*grave – very solemn or serious;
*immaculate – pure, unpolluted;
*incessant – continual, nonstop
*indigent - poor
*innocuous – harmless, benign
*itinerant – one who moves around, one who travels
*lucid - very clear, understandable
*mercurial- quick to change one’s emotions
*nefarious – evil, corrupt, criminal
*obsolete – no longer up to date, old fashioned and unusable
*paltry – quite small, too small
*petulant – quick to lose one’s temper
*predatory – acting like a predator or hunter,
*prosaic – opposite of poetic, mundane, common place, boring
*reactionary – opposite of radical, ultra conservative
*resurgent – coming back
*spendthrift - opposite of miserly, spending too easily
*supercilious –haughty, arrogant, full-of-oneself
*threadbare – worn out through overuse
*unprecedented – something that had never happened before
*vital – essential, absolutely necessary
1. Sophie’s World is such a good book because the author makes a difficult and sometimes esoteric subject, the history of philosophy, very _____________ and easy to understand.
2. Although the Warren Commission stated that the evidence was _____________ that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the Kennedy assassination, to this day many feel that much evidence was overlooked and that the findings of the commission were faulty.
3. Contestants for the Miss Universe pageant are expected to act in an _____________ manner, regardless of how terrible the state of their nation or the world might be.
4. After the fall of communism, many states that had been included in the Soviet Union became ____________ nations with their own executives and legislatures.
5. Most ESL teachers in New York City language schools are paid a ________ sum of money, sometimes as low as $13.33/hr. This is why they are often lazy and disinterested.
6. In Knut Hamson’s novel Hunger, the main character is so indigent that he has been unable to replace his winter coat for many months and it is ____________ and falling apart.
7. The economic crisis that began to truly be felt in 2008 was not an ____________ event. There have been numerous economic crises and depressions in the history of the USA.
8. Although some passengers did act in a ____________ manner after the plane landed in the Hudson River, most remained calm and exited as instructed by the crew.
9. Even though some people think that the life of a journalist is bound to be romantic and exciting, I have found it to be quite ___________ and even boring.
10. Bobby Knight, a basketball coach, was felt to be a bit too ___________ by Indiana University, which fired him after a series of violent outbursts at basketball games.
11. Of all the ____________ politicians in the corrupt history of Chicago, perhaps Rod Blagojevich will go down in history as being the most disgusting and corrupt for trying to sell a political office.
12. The airline industry was already ___________ due to increased gas prices when it was hit by the economic crisis, which made the industry suffer even more.
13. Although the economic stimulus plan is meant to improve the economy, I wonder whether it will help the truly ____________ - those people who are so poor that they have little hope for a better life.
14. It seemed ironic: even though greed and the desire for “more more more” had caused the economic crisis, the government seemed to encourage people to become more ______________ and to continue buying more and more goods.
15. The world refuses to forget how ____________ and oppressive the Chinese government’s reaction was to the student protests at Tienamen Square. Tanks literally drove into the square and students were shot dead for peacefully protesting.
16. Oil had once been considered a resource __________ to the prosperity of the nation, but it is slowly being replaced by alternate sources of energy and does not seem as essential any more.
17. The pain was no longer sporadic, it just would not seem to go away. Because the pain had now become ___________, Bob went to the doctor.
18. Although the security guards for the New York Public Library threw the homeless man out of the library, many patrons complained because the man was totally _____________: so what if he was homeless and was sleeping, he wasn’t hurting anyone.
19. Americans no longer seem to even look for a potential president with an ____________ or perfect reputation. Everyone seems to think every politician is partially corrupt – even Obama supported Rod Blagojevich in two Illinois elections
20. After the extreme liberalism of the previous two administrations, the conservative policies of the new president almost seemed ________________.
21. Many people bought the novel The DaVinci Code hoping to learn of various ___________ secrets, only to be disappointed by a quite prosaic and unbelievable story.
22. It would be _____________ to assert that someone else wrote Shakespeare’s plays. there is no evidence for this assertion. Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s plays.
23. We could tell that the doctor was going to reveal bad news by the _________ look on his face.
24. Bob said that one thing he liked about Asian culture was that an Asian might go to great schools and do impressive things but never would act in a ______________ manner that might offend or embarrass others.
25. After weeks of economic stagnation and even of times when the market declined, investors were quite happy to see the market ____________ and bouncing back strongly.
26. She was the typical opera diva with a totally ____________ personality. One minute she could be the sweetest person on the planet and the next she could be petulantly screaming bloody murder over nothing at all.
27. Billy Sunday was one of the last, famous ____________ preachers, who traveled around the USA in the early 1900s, speaking out against various evils he thought he saw, especially the evils of alcoholic beverages.
28. After thirty years there were to be trials in Cambodia concerning “The Killing Fields” of Pol Pot’s regime. Many felt, however, that it might be hard to find ____________judges for the tribunal since so many people had heard so many horrible things about Pot’s regime.
29. Bank loans were never supposed to be ___________ in nature. Banks were supposed to wait for people to come to them, not go searching for people they could sign up as borrowers at high interest rates.
30. Although the type-writer is considered _____________, I still have one and although I always use a word processor now, I miss the good old days of typing letters and school papers on the old fashioned machine.
Answers are below:
Answers:
1. lucid
2. conclusive
3. effervescent
4. autonomous
5. paltry
6. threadbare
7. unprecedented
8. frantic
9. prosaic
10. petulant
11. nefarious
12. ailing
13. indigent
14. spendthrift
15. brutal
16. vital
17. incessant
18. innocuous
19. immaculate
20. reactionary
21. esoteric
22. fallacious
23. grave
24. supercilious
25. resurgent
26. mercurial
27. itinerant
28. disinterested
29. predatory
30. obsolete
Monday, July 8, 2013
Vocabulary Development: Einstein's Brain
This is the SHSAT scrambled paragraph blog I created: http://scrambledparas.blogspot.com/ Please feel free to visit it.
There is no vocabulary section on the SHSAT, but the better your vocabulary is, the better you'll do on the reading section.
Here's an article about Einstein's brain which asks the question: Was Einstein born a genius, or did he become a genius because of how his parents raised him and other factors in his environment? One researcher says Einstein's genius was the result of both factors - a brain with a complex anatomy and a super-enriched environment created by parents who valued education and creativity.
The article:
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/11/why-einstein-was-a-genius.html
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
a genius - the opposite term is a moron. You sometimes hear this term used by insensitive and irresponsible people as an insult: "You moron!" A genius is someone with a very high IQ (Intelligence Quotient). Apparently if you take 100 people randomly and give them a valid IQ test, about 16 will score high enough (on average) to be geniuses.
a stunning insight - insight means a special, deeper knowledge. Stunning means amazing, spectacular. You usually have an insight 'into' something. He has a great insight into his own emotions, motives and thoughts. or: She has a great insight into what makes great art.
preserved - saved in a special liquid.
convolutions - like little tunnels turning in different directions
a saga - a long story
executor - a legal representative who takes care of a person's affairs after the person dies
a pathologist - a type of doctor who focuses on diagnosing diseases
embedded in a resin-like substance - placed inside a substance that was similar to resin. Resin is a thick type of half-liquid and half-solid material. It is a light brown color.
a peer-reviewed publication - a journal or magazine in which other researchers in a field look over and approve articles before they are published.
scattered - spread all over the place
density of neurons - a greater thickness of brain cells
gross anatomy - larger or overall anatomy
to facilitate - to make something easier
perseverance - to keep going, not stopping when faced with an obstacle
expanded - larger
a metaphor - a symbol, a creative or visual way to think of something which can't be seen
subjective - the opposite of objective, if you are subjective you are basing your ideas or opinions on how you feel and not the 'facts.'
abstract - not concrete, not 'real' or substantial. If you are good at abstract thinking, you are good at coming up with new ideas or concepts.
predisposed him to be - if you are predisposed to do or be something, you are already likely to do it or ready to do it. If you are hungry, you are predisposed to eat. If your brain is more complex, you are predisposed to think about complex subjects.
nature or nurture - Is a person's personality due to nature or nurture? Nature means biology, chemistry and genetics - to nurture a child means to raise a child. So 'nurture' in this case means the environment. Are we born the way we become or are we products of our environment?
-----------------------------------------
There is no vocabulary section on the SHSAT, but the better your vocabulary is, the better you'll do on the reading section.
Here's an article about Einstein's brain which asks the question: Was Einstein born a genius, or did he become a genius because of how his parents raised him and other factors in his environment? One researcher says Einstein's genius was the result of both factors - a brain with a complex anatomy and a super-enriched environment created by parents who valued education and creativity.
The article:
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/11/why-einstein-was-a-genius.html
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
a genius - the opposite term is a moron. You sometimes hear this term used by insensitive and irresponsible people as an insult: "You moron!" A genius is someone with a very high IQ (Intelligence Quotient). Apparently if you take 100 people randomly and give them a valid IQ test, about 16 will score high enough (on average) to be geniuses.
a stunning insight - insight means a special, deeper knowledge. Stunning means amazing, spectacular. You usually have an insight 'into' something. He has a great insight into his own emotions, motives and thoughts. or: She has a great insight into what makes great art.
preserved - saved in a special liquid.
convolutions - like little tunnels turning in different directions
a saga - a long story
executor - a legal representative who takes care of a person's affairs after the person dies
a pathologist - a type of doctor who focuses on diagnosing diseases
embedded in a resin-like substance - placed inside a substance that was similar to resin. Resin is a thick type of half-liquid and half-solid material. It is a light brown color.
a peer-reviewed publication - a journal or magazine in which other researchers in a field look over and approve articles before they are published.
scattered - spread all over the place
density of neurons - a greater thickness of brain cells
gross anatomy - larger or overall anatomy
to facilitate - to make something easier
perseverance - to keep going, not stopping when faced with an obstacle
expanded - larger
a metaphor - a symbol, a creative or visual way to think of something which can't be seen
subjective - the opposite of objective, if you are subjective you are basing your ideas or opinions on how you feel and not the 'facts.'
abstract - not concrete, not 'real' or substantial. If you are good at abstract thinking, you are good at coming up with new ideas or concepts.
predisposed him to be - if you are predisposed to do or be something, you are already likely to do it or ready to do it. If you are hungry, you are predisposed to eat. If your brain is more complex, you are predisposed to think about complex subjects.
nature or nurture - Is a person's personality due to nature or nurture? Nature means biology, chemistry and genetics - to nurture a child means to raise a child. So 'nurture' in this case means the environment. Are we born the way we become or are we products of our environment?
-----------------------------------------
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Vocabulary Builder: Cambodian Workers Protest at a Nike Factory
The SHSAT doesn't have a vocabulary section. Nevertheless, it is essential that you develop your vocabulary for this test. It is also essential that you read a variety of articles and books - not just to prepare for the test but to develop a greater understanding of the world.
Many middle schools, and even high schools, do not cover current events. This is a shame. Here's a very topical and meaningful article. Many Americans do not know that their designer clothes are made by extraordinarily poor people in developing Asian countries. These workers are paid very low wages while the companies make huge profits.
Cambodia is a very poor country in SE Asia. Here is an article about how the Nike corporation treats its female workers there.
http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/workers-are-harmed-after-protesting-at.html
Words to be used:
minimum wage, to decline to, to collapse
a clash, to account for, a strike,
a protest, a coffin, to be deployed
Vocabulary exercise (answers are below the exercise):
1) Right now the US government has US soldiers _______________ in over 100 countries around the world.
2) If we want to stimulate the economy, perhaps we should raise the __________________ law. $7.25/hr. is way too low. If people made more money, they would spend more and more goods and services would be needed.
3) In the movies, Dracula, or other vampires, usually have to be inside their ____________ by daybreak, or they will finally die.
4) There was a _____________ between protesters and police near Wall Street last year, when young people were protesting the unequal distribution of wealth in the USA (as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement).
5) Although Bob invited his old friend to attend his wedding anniversary party, Joe ____________ come because he still felt angry with Bob over a negative situation that had happened years before.
6) Many people now agree that the Vietnam War was one of the most foolish wars that the USA ever got involved in. In the late 1960s thousands of young people began to ____________ the war, and this lead to the US government removing troops from Vietnam in 1973.
7) Last month over 1,000 people died at a factory in Bangladesh because the roof was too weak and it ________________.
8) Internet and computer companies are beginning to _________________ a larger and larger portion of the money generated in the US economy.
9) Only if workers become truly dissatisfied do they seem to ________________. Nobody wants to stop working and start losing wages unless he/she really has to.
Answers are below:
Answers:
1) deployed
2) minimum wage
3) coffins
4) clash
5) declined to
6) protest
7) collapsed
8) account for
9) strike
Many middle schools, and even high schools, do not cover current events. This is a shame. Here's a very topical and meaningful article. Many Americans do not know that their designer clothes are made by extraordinarily poor people in developing Asian countries. These workers are paid very low wages while the companies make huge profits.
Cambodia is a very poor country in SE Asia. Here is an article about how the Nike corporation treats its female workers there.
The following vocabulary words come from this article (please review the definitions from this link before doing the exercise):
http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/workers-are-harmed-after-protesting-at.html
Words to be used:
minimum wage, to decline to, to collapse
a clash, to account for, a strike,
a protest, a coffin, to be deployed
Vocabulary exercise (answers are below the exercise):
1) Right now the US government has US soldiers _______________ in over 100 countries around the world.
2) If we want to stimulate the economy, perhaps we should raise the __________________ law. $7.25/hr. is way too low. If people made more money, they would spend more and more goods and services would be needed.
3) In the movies, Dracula, or other vampires, usually have to be inside their ____________ by daybreak, or they will finally die.
4) There was a _____________ between protesters and police near Wall Street last year, when young people were protesting the unequal distribution of wealth in the USA (as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement).
5) Although Bob invited his old friend to attend his wedding anniversary party, Joe ____________ come because he still felt angry with Bob over a negative situation that had happened years before.
6) Many people now agree that the Vietnam War was one of the most foolish wars that the USA ever got involved in. In the late 1960s thousands of young people began to ____________ the war, and this lead to the US government removing troops from Vietnam in 1973.
7) Last month over 1,000 people died at a factory in Bangladesh because the roof was too weak and it ________________.
8) Internet and computer companies are beginning to _________________ a larger and larger portion of the money generated in the US economy.
9) Only if workers become truly dissatisfied do they seem to ________________. Nobody wants to stop working and start losing wages unless he/she really has to.
Answers are below:
Answers:
1) deployed
2) minimum wage
3) coffins
4) clash
5) declined to
6) protest
7) collapsed
8) account for
9) strike
Vocabulary Builder: Where Are America's Poor Going?
You'll need a good vocabulary to do well on the SHSAT. Here is a posting and article that will help you pick up a few more essential words.
The vocabulary words were taken from this posting (definitions of the words can be found here): http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/where-are-americas-poor-going.html
Words to be used:
a suburb, ill-equipped, to handle
a surge, to plummet, segregated
integrated, to skyrocket, a voucher
Exercise (answers are below):
1) During the Great Depression, which began in 1929, unemployment in America ________________ from 6% to 25%.
2) In the 1970s and 1980s, many upper middle class families decided to move to the _______________ because the cities were considered too dangerous. Now the trend is reversing and people from the upper middle class are flooding the cities of America.
3) In order to try to end the Iraq War, George Bush initiated (started) a troop ___________. He sent a huge number of new soldiers to Iraq. Apparently the strategy worked and now US soldiers have been steadily leaving Iraq.
4) The City of New York seemed ________________ for the terrorist attack on 9/11/2001. For instance, there was an emergency center which the city had created for a potential disaster, but the center was located at the World Trade Center Building and was made useless by the attack.
5) There is a saying in America: The people of the USA are never more segregated than on Sunday. This means that in America there are very few racially _______________ churches. Many Christian churches are either filled with all white or all black worshippers.
6) Many conservative politicians believe that poor families should be given school ______________. So instead of relying on the public school system, poor parents can use this system to pay tuition at private schools.
7) A good manager knows how to ______________ his staff fairly.
8) During the early 2000s, many internet stocks rose very quickly but then suddenly they all seemed to _______________ at the same time. It turns out they were not worth as much money as investors had thought.
9) The difference between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. was that Malcolm X did not trust the dominant white culture and wished for blacks to remain _________________ from whites. He did not think it was a good idea for the races to mix.
Answers are below:
Answers:
1) skyrocketed
2) suburbs
3) surge
4) ill-equipped
5) integrated
6) vouchers
7) handle
8) plummet
9) segregated
--------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
Yes, I'm also the guy who created the scandal in Asia awhile ago. :P
Links:
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100512000682
http://www.shoutcastblog.com/2010/05/11/wondergirls-were-mistreated-by-jyp-entertainment/
Words to be used:
a suburb, ill-equipped, to handle
a surge, to plummet, segregated
integrated, to skyrocket, a voucher
Exercise (answers are below):
1) During the Great Depression, which began in 1929, unemployment in America ________________ from 6% to 25%.
2) In the 1970s and 1980s, many upper middle class families decided to move to the _______________ because the cities were considered too dangerous. Now the trend is reversing and people from the upper middle class are flooding the cities of America.
3) In order to try to end the Iraq War, George Bush initiated (started) a troop ___________. He sent a huge number of new soldiers to Iraq. Apparently the strategy worked and now US soldiers have been steadily leaving Iraq.
4) The City of New York seemed ________________ for the terrorist attack on 9/11/2001. For instance, there was an emergency center which the city had created for a potential disaster, but the center was located at the World Trade Center Building and was made useless by the attack.
5) There is a saying in America: The people of the USA are never more segregated than on Sunday. This means that in America there are very few racially _______________ churches. Many Christian churches are either filled with all white or all black worshippers.
6) Many conservative politicians believe that poor families should be given school ______________. So instead of relying on the public school system, poor parents can use this system to pay tuition at private schools.
7) A good manager knows how to ______________ his staff fairly.
8) During the early 2000s, many internet stocks rose very quickly but then suddenly they all seemed to _______________ at the same time. It turns out they were not worth as much money as investors had thought.
9) The difference between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. was that Malcolm X did not trust the dominant white culture and wished for blacks to remain _________________ from whites. He did not think it was a good idea for the races to mix.
Answers are below:
Answers:
1) skyrocketed
2) suburbs
3) surge
4) ill-equipped
5) integrated
6) vouchers
7) handle
8) plummet
9) segregated
--------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
Yes, I'm also the guy who created the scandal in Asia awhile ago. :P
Links:
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100512000682
http://www.shoutcastblog.com/2010/05/11/wondergirls-were-mistreated-by-jyp-entertainment/
Vocabulary Builder: Japanese Politicians Visit a Controversial War Shrine
In order to do well on the SHSAT reading section, you'll need pretty good vocabulary. Here is a passage that will help you pick up a few new words. :)
http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/japanese-government-officials-will.html
Words to be used:
to pledge, a memorial, an outcry,
a protest, to elaborate, an atrocity,
a landmark decision, to be convicted, a symbol
Exercise:
1) Brown vs. The Board of Education was a ____________________ by the US Supreme Court, which made it illegal for a public school system to prevent African American students from attending schools with white students.
2) When Coca Cola tried to change the formula of its drink a few years ago, there was an ______________ and many people pledged that they would not drink the new version.
3) The American Eagle is the official ____________ of the United States of America. It holds arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other. What does this mean? Basically it means that the US wishes to have peace with other countries, but will fight if necessary.
4) Recently many organizations around the USA raised a lot of money so that a ______________ could be built to honor the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights activist.
5) Although Richard Nixon did many things that were morally wrong as president of the United States, he was never actually ______________ of a crime.
6) Hiroshima was a Japanese city which did not have any military purpose. When the USA dropped an atomic bomb on that city, many innocent people died. Yet, this has never been classified as an ________________ in history books, since the US government claimed it was necessary to drop the bomb to end the war quickly.
7) When I went off to college, my parents _____________ that they would support me as well as they could financially, even though they were relatively poor.
8) I didn't quite understand the plan fully. It seemed to vague. That's the reason why I asked him to ___________________.
9) Many historians believe that the Vietnam War might have lasted longer if so many young Americans had not ______________ the war as being morally wrong.
Answers are below:
Farther down:
Answers:
1) landmark decision
2) outcry
3) symbol
4) memorial
5) convicted
6) atrocity
7) pledged
8) elaborate
9) protested
This vocabulary review is from this posting and the article linked in the posting:
http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/japanese-government-officials-will.html
Words to be used:
to pledge, a memorial, an outcry,
a protest, to elaborate, an atrocity,
a landmark decision, to be convicted, a symbol
Exercise:
1) Brown vs. The Board of Education was a ____________________ by the US Supreme Court, which made it illegal for a public school system to prevent African American students from attending schools with white students.
2) When Coca Cola tried to change the formula of its drink a few years ago, there was an ______________ and many people pledged that they would not drink the new version.
3) The American Eagle is the official ____________ of the United States of America. It holds arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other. What does this mean? Basically it means that the US wishes to have peace with other countries, but will fight if necessary.
4) Recently many organizations around the USA raised a lot of money so that a ______________ could be built to honor the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights activist.
5) Although Richard Nixon did many things that were morally wrong as president of the United States, he was never actually ______________ of a crime.
6) Hiroshima was a Japanese city which did not have any military purpose. When the USA dropped an atomic bomb on that city, many innocent people died. Yet, this has never been classified as an ________________ in history books, since the US government claimed it was necessary to drop the bomb to end the war quickly.
7) When I went off to college, my parents _____________ that they would support me as well as they could financially, even though they were relatively poor.
8) I didn't quite understand the plan fully. It seemed to vague. That's the reason why I asked him to ___________________.
9) Many historians believe that the Vietnam War might have lasted longer if so many young Americans had not ______________ the war as being morally wrong.
Answers are below:
Farther down:
Answers:
1) landmark decision
2) outcry
3) symbol
4) memorial
5) convicted
6) atrocity
7) pledged
8) elaborate
9) protested
Vocabulary Builder: Cannibalism at Jamestown
In order to do well on the SHSAT reading section, you'll need a pretty good vocabulary. Please review this link:
http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/cannibalism-at-jamestown-colony.html
...and try to do the vocabulary exercise below.
The link provides an introduction to an article, a link to an article (Cannibalism at Jamestown) and useful vocabulary words from the article. (You'll figure it out!)
Vocabulary Exercise for "Cannibalism at Jamestown"
http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/cannibalism-at-jamestown-colony.html
...and try to do the vocabulary exercise below.
The link provides an introduction to an article, a link to an article (Cannibalism at Jamestown) and useful vocabulary words from the article. (You'll figure it out!)
Vocabulary Exercise for "Cannibalism at Jamestown"
Please test yourself on these 9 words. Please feel free to take a look at the article "Cannibalism at Jamestown" to review these vocabulary words. Answers are below the exercise.
Words to be used:
to confirm, evidence, to figure something out
to butcher, to resort to, to be executed
a casualty, to unearth, sparingly
1) About 4,000 American soldiers were killed in the Iraq War, which started in 2003. These were not the only ______________ however. Many American soldiers were wounded and thousands and thousands of Iraqis were killed or wounded.
2) I am not sure whether I can make it to the meeting tomorrow morning. I will call you and _____________ whether I can make it, tonight.
3) Sugary soft drinks like Coca Cola can have adverse (negative) side effects if a person drinks too much of this type of beverage. However, if you drink soft drinks _______________, you should be OK.
4) Most people are very peaceful and kind, but almost everyone will ____________ violence if his/her life is threatened.
5) Recently archeologists have been able to ____________ incredible religious artifacts from the ancient Mayan civilization.
6) There is a lot of ______________ that North Korea sank a South Korean ship in 2010, but some people feel there is no concrete (real) proof.
7) I would really like to travel to Vietnam. I hear it is an amazing country of lovely people and beautiful scenery. I need to ________________ how I am going to get enough money to travel there, however!
8) Some animal rights activists say that if we all had to slaughter (kill) and _____________ our own food, we would all be vegetarians.
9) People who oppose capital punishment (the killing of criminals by the government) say that if you look at states in America where prisoners are ____________, you will see that this form of punishment does not lower the numbers of violent crime or murder. Indeed, in states that have capital punishment, murder rates often increase!
Answers are below:
Keep going.....
Keep going....
A little farther......
Don't stop now! Just a little more.....
Here they are:
Answers:
1) casualties
2) confirm
3) sparingly
4) resort to
5) unearth
6) evidence
7) figure out
8) butcher
9) executed
Words to be used:
to confirm, evidence, to figure something out
to butcher, to resort to, to be executed
a casualty, to unearth, sparingly
1) About 4,000 American soldiers were killed in the Iraq War, which started in 2003. These were not the only ______________ however. Many American soldiers were wounded and thousands and thousands of Iraqis were killed or wounded.
2) I am not sure whether I can make it to the meeting tomorrow morning. I will call you and _____________ whether I can make it, tonight.
3) Sugary soft drinks like Coca Cola can have adverse (negative) side effects if a person drinks too much of this type of beverage. However, if you drink soft drinks _______________, you should be OK.
4) Most people are very peaceful and kind, but almost everyone will ____________ violence if his/her life is threatened.
5) Recently archeologists have been able to ____________ incredible religious artifacts from the ancient Mayan civilization.
6) There is a lot of ______________ that North Korea sank a South Korean ship in 2010, but some people feel there is no concrete (real) proof.
7) I would really like to travel to Vietnam. I hear it is an amazing country of lovely people and beautiful scenery. I need to ________________ how I am going to get enough money to travel there, however!
8) Some animal rights activists say that if we all had to slaughter (kill) and _____________ our own food, we would all be vegetarians.
9) People who oppose capital punishment (the killing of criminals by the government) say that if you look at states in America where prisoners are ____________, you will see that this form of punishment does not lower the numbers of violent crime or murder. Indeed, in states that have capital punishment, murder rates often increase!
Answers are below:
Keep going.....
Keep going....
A little farther......
Don't stop now! Just a little more.....
Here they are:
Answers:
1) casualties
2) confirm
3) sparingly
4) resort to
5) unearth
6) evidence
7) figure out
8) butcher
9) executed
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