ADVANCING VOCABULARY SKILLS Fourth Edition Sherrie L. Nist © 2010 Townsend Press

Unit One: Chapter 3 ambiguous inane dissident juxtapose embellish lethargy fritter sporadic inadvertentsubsidize

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. 1 ambiguous Ambiguous means A. unclear. B. unintentional. C. unpleasant. The portrait known as the “Mona Lisa” is famous for the woman’s ambiguous expression. Is she smiling or not? Omar left an ambiguous message on my answering machine: “Meet me at twelve o’clock.” I couldn’t tell whether he meant noon or midnight. – adjective

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. 1 ambiguous Ambiguous means A. unclear. B. unintentional. C. unpleasant. – adjective The portrait known as the “Mona Lisa” is famous for the woman’s ambiguous expression. Is she smiling or not? Omar left an ambiguous message on my answering machine: “Meet me at twelve o’clock.” I couldn’t tell whether he meant noon or midnight. The question “Is she smiling or not?” tells us that ambiguous means “unclear.” In the second item, it is unclear whether Omar means noon or midnight. 1 ambiguous – adjective

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. 2 dissident – noun Dissident means A. a rebel. B. a dishonest person. C. a foolish person. Some dissidents in the Catholic church favor such changes as allowing women to be priests and allowing priests to marry. In a dictatorship, dissidents are not tolerated. People who speak out against the government may be imprisoned or even executed.

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Dissident means A. a rebel. B. a dishonest person. C. a foolish person. Some dissidents in the Catholic church favor such changes as allowing women to be priests and allowing priests to marry. In a dictatorship, dissidents are not tolerated. People who speak out against the government may be imprisoned or even executed. Catholics who favor women priests and allowing priests to marry are rebels. People who speak out against the government are considered rebels in a dictatorship. 2 dissident – noun

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. 3 embellish Lauren embellished the door of her room with postcards from her friends and photos of her cats. The cover of the biology textbook was embellished with a pattern of colorful seashells. – verb Embellish means A. to hide. B. to decorate. C. to damage. A dessert embellished with chocolate sauce, fruit, and flowers

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Lauren embellished the door of her room with postcards from her friends and photos of her cats. The cover of the biology textbook was embellished with a pattern of colorful seashells. Embellish means A. to hide. B. to decorate. C. to damage. Lauren used post cards and pictures to decorate her door. A pattern of colorful seashells decorated the cover of the textbook. A dessert embellished with chocolate sauce, fruit, and flowers 3 embellish – verb

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT I thought my little sister would fritter away her entire allowance on M&M’s, but instead of wasting her money, she put it in her piggy bank. Vince fritters away both his time and his money playing game after game in video arcades. 4 fritter Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Fritter means A. to earn. B. to count. C. to waste. – verb

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT I thought my little sister would fritter away her entire allowance on M&M’s, but instead of wasting her money, she put it in her piggy bank. Vince fritters away both his time and his money playing game after game in video arcades. Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Fritter means A. to earn. B. to count. C. to waste. In the first item, the word wasting tells you that fritter means “to waste.” In the second item, some people would say that Vince wastes his time playing game after game in video arcades. 4 fritter – verb

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Inadvertent means A. not required. B. not finished. C. not intended. 5 inadvertent – adjective Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin was inadvertent. He forgot to cover a dish of bacteria, and some mold got into it. The next day, Fleming found that the mold had killed the bacteria. The final draft of Nancy’s paper was shorter than the previous version, but this was inadvertent. She had accidentally deleted an entire page without realizing it.

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Inadvertent means A. not required. B. not finished. C. not intended. Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin was inadvertent. He forgot to cover a dish of bacteria, and some mold got into it. The next day, Fleming found that the mold had killed the bacteria. The final draft of Nancy’s paper was shorter than the previous version, but this was inadvertent. She had accidentally deleted an entire page without realizing it. Because Fleming forgot to cover the dish, the discovery of penicillin was not intended or accidental. In the second item, the word accidentally tells you that inadvertent means “not intended.” 5 inadvertent – adjective

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Inane means A. silly. B. interesting. C. shocking. The conversation at the party was inane, consisting mainly of foolish comments about whose clothes were the most “awesome.” Television programming is often so inane that TV has been described as “bubble gum for the mind.” 6 inane – adjective

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Inane means A. silly. B. interesting. C. shocking. The conversation at the party was inane, consisting mainly of foolish comments about whose clothes were the most “awesome.” Television programming is often so inane that TV has been described as “bubble gum for the mind.” In the first item, the word foolish suggests that inane means “silly.” In the second item, if TV is “bubble gum for the mind,” the programming must be silly. 6 inane – adjective

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Juxtapose means A. to cover up. B. to put side by side. C. to replace. The photograph dramatically juxtaposed white birch trees and a dark gray sky. Dottie spread her new dress out on her bed and then juxtaposed all her scarves and jackets to it to see which combination would look best. 7 juxtapose – verb A new fence and and old fence juxtaposed

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Juxtapose means A. to cover up. B. to put side by side. C. to replace. The photograph dramatically juxtaposed white birch trees and a dark gray sky. Dottie spread her new dress out on her bed and then juxtaposed all her scarves and jackets to it to see which combination would look best. In the photograph, the trees and the dark gray sky were put side by side. Since Dottie wanted to see what combination would look best, she put her scarves and jackets side by side with her new dress. 7 juxtapose – verb A new fence and and old fence juxtaposed

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Lethargy means A. weariness. B. hopelessness. C. foolishness. Although Wendy seemed to recover from the flu, her lethargy persisted. She felt exhausted for weeks. With the hot weather, lethargy descended upon the class. The students had trouble staying awake, and even the instructor gazed dreamily out the window. 8 lethargy – noun

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Lethargy means A. weariness. B. hopelessness. C. foolishness. Although Wendy seemed to recover from the flu, her lethargy persisted. She felt exhausted for weeks. With the hot weather, lethargy descended upon the class. The students had trouble staying awake, and even the instructor gazed dreamily out the window. Since Wendy felt exhausted for weeks, her weariness persisted. If the students had trouble staying awake, weariness must have descended upon the class. 8 lethargy – noun

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Sporadic means A. steady. B. irregular. C. long. It rained continuously until noon. After that, there were only sporadic showers. Dave makes sporadic attempts to give up smoking, but his occasional efforts have been halfhearted. 9 sporadic – adjective

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Sporadic means A. steady. B. irregular. C. long. It rained continuously until noon. After that, there were only sporadic showers. Dave makes sporadic attempts to give up smoking, but his occasional efforts have been halfhearted. In contrast with the continuous rain in the morning, the showers in the afternoon were irregular. In the second item, the word occasional suggests that sporadic means “irregular.” 9 sporadic – adjective

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Subsidize means A. to pay for. B. to advertise. C. to criticize. 10 subsidize During college, many students are subsidized by their parents, while others rely on grants or loans. Public television is subsidized by various grants and by individual and community donations. – verb

TEN WORDS IN CONTEXT Choose the meaning closest to that of the boldfaced word. Subsidize means A. to pay for. B. to advertise. C. to criticize. During college, many students are subsidized by their parents, while others rely on grants or loans. Public television is subsidized by various grants and by individual and community donations. Loans and grants are used to pay for college, so subsidize must mean “to pay for.” Similarly, in the second item, grants and donations pay for public television. 10 subsidize – verb

SENTENCE CHECK 1 1.Instead of refreshing me, an afternoon nap only deepens my _________; I wake up even sleepier than I was before. 2.I get news of Darren only now and then, in __________ letters from him or his mother. Complete each item with the correct word from the box. A. ambiguousB. dissidentC. embellishD. fritterE.inadvertent F. inaneG. juxtaposeH. lethargyI. sporadicJ.subsidize

SENTENCE CHECK 1 1.Instead of refreshing me, an afternoon nap only deepens my _________; I wake up even sleepier than I was before. 2.I get news of Darren only now and then, in __________ letters from him or his mother. Complete each item with the correct word from the box. A. ambiguousB. dissidentC. embellishD. fritterE.inadvertent F. inaneG. juxtaposeH. lethargyI. sporadicJ.subsidize Since the person wakes up from a nap even sleepier, the nap must deepen his or her sluggishness. The words only now and then tell you that the letters are only occasional. lethargy sporadic

SENTENCE CHECK 1 3.A research grant will __________ Belinda’s study of common fears among the elderly. 4.My recent trip to Newark was __________. I wanted to go to New York City, but I got on the wrong train. 5.Tracy has learned the hard way not to __________ away her time and affection on friends who don’t really care about her. Complete each item with the correct word from the box. A. ambiguousB. dissidentC. embellishD. fritterE.inadvertent F. inaneG. juxtaposeH. lethargyI. sporadicJ.subsidize

SENTENCE CHECK 1 3.A research grant will __________ Belinda’s study of common fears among the elderly. 4.My recent trip to Newark was __________. I wanted to go to New York City, but I got on the wrong train. 5.Tracy has learned the hard way not to __________ away her time and affection on friends who don’t really care about her. Complete each item with the correct word from the box. A. ambiguousB. dissidentC. embellishD. fritterE.inadvertent F. inaneG. juxtaposeH. lethargyI. sporadicJ.subsidize A grant would pay for Belinda’s study. If the person got on the wrong train, the trip to Newark was accidental. To spend time and affection on friends who don’t care about her is to waste that time and affection. subsidize inadvertent fritter

SENTENCE CHECK 1 6.My little brother has _______(e)d his bedroom ceiling with stars arranged like several of the constellations. 7.In plays and movies, good and evil characters are often _______(e)d. This contrast makes the good ones seem even better and the bad ones seem even worse. Complete each item with the correct word from the box. A. ambiguousB. dissidentC. embellishD. fritterE.inadvertent F. inaneG. juxtaposeH. lethargyI. sporadicJ.subsidize

SENTENCE CHECK 1 6.My little brother has __________ his bedroom ceiling with stars arranged like several of the constellations. 7.In plays and movies, good and evil characters are often __________. This contrast makes the good ones seem even better and the bad ones seem even worse. Complete each item with the correct word from the box. A. ambiguousB. dissidentC. embellishD. fritterE.inadvertent F. inaneG. juxtaposeH. lethargyI. sporadicJ.subsidize The brother decorated his bedroom ceiling with stars. In order for the characters to be contrasted with one another, they must be placed close together. juxtaposed embellished

9.Checking a job applicant’s references, the personnel manager was puzzled by one __________ comment: “You will be lucky if you can get her to work for you.” SENTENCE CHECK 1 8.When student _________s led a protest against China’s communist leaders in 1989, some students were killed by government troops. Complete each item with the correct word from the box. A. ambiguousB. dissidentC. embellishD. fritterE.inadvertent F. inaneG. juxtaposeH. lethargyI. sporadicJ.subsidize 10.Steve Martin was poking fun at __________ ideas for products when he said, “I got a fur sink, an electric dog polisher, a gasoline-powered turtleneck sweater—and, of course, I bought some dumb stuff too.”

9.Checking a job applicant’s references, the personnel manager was puzzled by one __________ comment: “You will be lucky if you can get her to work for you.” 10.Steve Martin was poking fun at __________ ideas for products when he said, “I got a fur sink, an electric dog polisher, a gasoline-powered turtleneck sweater—and, of course, I bought some dumb stuff too.” SENTENCE CHECK 1 8.When student __________ led a protest against China’s communist leaders in 1989, some students were killed by government troops. Complete each item with the correct word from the box. A. ambiguousB. dissidentC. embellishD. fritterE.inadvertent F. inaneG. juxtaposeH. lethargyI. sporadicJ.subsidize If the students led protests, they must have been opposed to the leaders. The examples show that Martin is poking fun at foolish ideas for products. dissidents ambiguous inane The comment can be interpreted in more than one way.