Isn’t it strange that a great American writer like Emily Dickinson was considered a _____ in her own lifetime?
I admire the way Anne delivered a long, involved speech entirely without _____ to written notes.
If you want to learn to play chess, I suggest that you begin by _____ a summary of the rules.
The team doctor ran onto the field toward the _____ figure of the injured football player.
The novelist is known for her _____ writing style, using many unusual words, figures of speech, and involved constructions.
I think that talking loudly on the phone in public so that everyone knows about your private life is _____ behavior.
When the mile run began, Ken quickly took the lead, but we knew that he could not _____ that pace for the entire race.
After the claims of all the creditors have been satisfied, the _____ of the estate will be shared by the children.
My uncle is _____ with football and spends all day Sunday watching every game on television.
I hope someday to build a house on that _____ commanding a beautiful view of the bay.
Because they failed to deliver the goods on time, we felt justified in _____ the entire contract.
It is all very well to criticize and _____ the mistakes of young people, but why don’t you also give them credit for their good qualities?
After months of rejection, Leah decided to hire a professional manager, hoping to _____ her acting career.
While my sister’s memory is as retentive as a steel trap, mine seems to be as _____ as a sieve.
The way the witness blushed and stuttered when questioned _____ my suspicions that he was not telling the truth.
I would not call Lucy a friend, as she made no _____ about sharing your secret with everyone!
My brother tried to appear _____ when he was named to the honor society, but I know that he was thrilled.
I like jokes as much as anyone, but I don’t approve of making such _____ remarks when a serious matter is under discussion.
We learned that behind the old professor’s _____ exterior there was a keen wit and a lively sense of what life is all about.
After being the apple of her eye for years, I suddenly found myself _____ from her affections by an upstart rival.
“It will take all the strength we can _____ to dislodge the enemy from that hill,” the general observed grimly.
Only a person who is _____ with a desire to create beautiful music can become a great pianist or violinist.
That wonderful woman could not have been more _____ of me if she had been my own mother.
I believed at the time that I was justified in refusing to help them, but later I felt some _____ about it.
Those who think recess is a _____ activity do not see its purpose.
DIRECTIONS:
1. Read the following excerpts that contain vocabulary words from this unit. The vocabulary words are written in bold font.
2. Select the answer that best completes each question. (5 points)
*You may only select one option for your answer.
EXCERPT #1 Question: A promontory is a (n) _____ .
EXCERPT #2 Question: Soil that is porous is _____ .
EXCERPT #3:
Another step before my fall, and the world had seen me no more. And the death just avoided, was of that very character which I had regarded as fabulous and frivolous in the tales respecting the Inquisition. (“The Pit and the Pendulum”)
EXCERPT #3 Question: Something regarded as frivolous is NOT _____ .
EXCERPT #4:
He was attired, as I had expected, in a costume altogether similar to my own; wearing a Spanish cloak of blue velvet, begirt about the waist with a crimson belt sustaining a rapier. A mask of black silk entirely covered his face. (“William Wilson”)
EXCERPT #4 Question: When something is sustaining another object, it is _____ .
EXCERPT #5:
To give to this a better coloring, I had contrived to have assembled a party of some eight or ten, and was solicitously careful that the introduction of cards should appear accidental, and originate in the proposal of my contemplated dupe himself. (“William Wilson”)
EXCERPT #5 Question: If an act is done solicitously, it is done with _____ .
DIRECTIONS:
1. Read the following passage that contains vocabulary words from this unit. The vocabulary words are written in bold font.
2. Select the answer that best completes each question. (6 points)
*You may only select one option for your answer.
PASSAGE:
If you’ve ever heard the song "A Bicycle Built for Two," you may have smiled at its oldfashioned images. But in the 1890s, the safety bicycle was new, liberating, and just plain irresistible. Earlier bicycles were uncomfortable and difficult to maneuver, but safety bicycles resembled today’s bikes. They had air-filled tires, wheels of equal size linked by gears and chains, a padded seat, handlebars that could be adjusted, and easy-to-use brakes.
People were obsessed with bicycles. In 1884, there were about twenty thousand bicycles in the United States. A decade later, there were ten million! Bicycles soon took over the leisure time of the middle class. Merchants grumbled that
people were spending their money on bicycles rather than on jewelry, clothes, or shoes. Book dealers complained that
people who were busy cycling around day and night would have no time for reading. Music hall owners tried to bolster business by offering discounts to lure cyclists inside.
The tremendous interest in bicycling shocked staid society. Some clergy members deplored the bicycle as an invitation to idleness. They also condemned the newfound freedom that young people had to cycle off beyond the watchful eyes of adults.
The bicycle proved to be more than a frivolous fad. It had many practical uses. Doctors rode their bikes on house calls to sick patients. Salespeople used bicycles to make their rounds. City dwellers had few qualms about owning bicycles, which were much easier, cheaper, and cleaner to maintain than a horse and buggy. The bicycle frenzy died down when the automobile came along, but the safety bike forever changed the way Americans got around.
The meaning of obsessed is _____ .
Bolster most nearly means _____ .
Staid is best defined as _____ .
The meaning of deplored is _____ .
Frivolous most nearly means _____ .
Qualms is best defined as _____ .
DIRECTIONS:
1. Read each sentence and determine if it contains a grammar error or not.
2. Select the answer that best completes each question. (10 points)
*You may only select one option for your answer.
Metallic objects are incompatible with the microwave oven, so users of this cooking device should be careful about the containers you place inside.
As this field guide emphasizes, an important requirement for successful bird-watching are a good pair of binoculars.
In your opinion, whose poems are more vivid and innovative: Walt Whitman’s or Emily Dickinson?
In 1768, the British Admiralty commissioned Captain James Cook to set sail to the Pacific and chart the transit of Venus across the Sun; Cook’s secret mission, moreover, was to explore Australia, “the unknown southern land.”
All the participants in a poetry slam must agree to abide by the rules and must certify that his or her poems are original compositions.
I prefer to read contemporary fiction, but Aunt Margaret loves the classics; one novelist who she especially admires is Jane Austen.
The Brooklyn Bridge, which was the longest suspension bridge at the time of its completion in 1883, had served as the inspiration for many artists and writers.
During the Middle Ages, secular music was often performed by wandering musicians called troubadours, who accompanied themselves on a harp or a lute.
According to a newspaper article I read the number, of websites with .com suffixes had passed the 45-million mark as of mid-2006.
The magistracies of the ancient Roman Republic was ranked in a strict hierarchy; at the top were the two consuls, who could veto each other’s acts as well as those of all lower-ranking magistrates.
To drive out of a position or place is to _____ .
A material that is able to be penetrated by water can be described as _____ .
Someone who is showing concern or care about you is being _____ .
Which of the following might be another word for remedy?
If you are having second thoughts about going on a trip, you might say you are having _____ .
Which of the following is the opposite of austere?
Which of the following might be another word for cliff?
To declare legally invalid or void is to _____ .
If you are lying down, you could be described as being in what kind of position?
Mud that remains on your boots after you have rinsed them off could be called _____ .
DIRECTIONS:
1. Read the following passage that contains vocabulary words from this unit. The vocabulary words are written in bold font.
2. Select the answer that best completes each question. (4 points)
*You may only select one option for your answer.
PASSAGE:
Every time I look at magazine covers while standing in line at the supermarket, I shake my head at what I see. While a few of the publications focus on such practical topics as healthy eating or home decorating, the great majority center on celebrities and the latest developments in their lives. It’s my opinion that you don’t need to peruse these magazines to know that there isn’t anything useful to be learned from them. A quick glance at the cover will tell you that all they contain is silly gossip. Some people might think I’m being staid or overly critical when I say this, but I do think we have become overly concerned about the lives of celebrities. In fact, sometimes it seems that the topic obsesses us. I’m simply tired of the idea that the only people who really matter are movie and pop music stars and that the rest of us are mere nonentities.
In sentence 3, peruse means _____ .
Which of the following words could be used to replace staid (sentence 5)?
In sentence 6, obsesses means _____ .
Nonentities (sentence 7) might also be called _____ .
DIRECTIONS:
1. Read the following passage that contains vocabulary words from this unit. The vocabulary words are written in bold font.
2. Select the answer that best completes each question. (6 points)
*You may only select one option for your answer.
PASSAGE:
Because I have been a serious competitive swimmer for as long as I can remember, I have never had much time for other sports, including other water sports. As a result, I was completely blasé when one of my teammates invited me to come along and watch a synchronized swimming competition. As a matter of fact, I actually had a negative attitude and said that the idea of a team of swimmers performing assorted moves to music seemed odd and downright frivolous. In response, my friend tried to bolster my interest in the event.
She explained that synchronized swimming is a demanding sport that requires not only artistic skill but also a great deal of athletic skill as the swimmers perform lifts and throws and sustain many different body positions without ever touching the bottom of the pool. This description did in fact raise my interest, and so I agreed to go. Now I no longer deplore synchronized swimming. On the contrary, the performances I saw mustered my respect, just as my friend had predicted.
Which of the following words could be used to replace blasé (line 2)?
In line 5, frivolous means _____ .
If you bolster someone’s interest (line 5), you _____ .
In line 7, sustain means _____ .
If you no longer deplore (line 9) something, you no longer _____ .
In line 9, mustered means _____ .