Sadlier-Oxford Level F Unit 5 Study Guide

amnesty (n) Many political prisoners were freed under the ___ granted by the new regime. The new government, seeking to restore normal conditions, declared an _____ for all political prisoners Instead of brooding about past wrongs, I suggest that you declare a personal _____ and start thinking about the future.

autonomy Even after the thirteen colonies gained ____ from England, many Americans clung to English traditions. Since the close of WWII, almost 100 former colonies have gained full ____ and joined the family of nations. Young people, tired of being controlled by parents, teachers, and others, often have a strong impulse to gain _______.

axiomatic One should not accept the idea that the camera never lies as an ______ truth It is ______ that democracy, more than any other form of government, calls for the active participation of the people in public affairs. Isn’t it strange that the basic ideas that some economists regard as _________ are rejected by others as absolutely false!

blazon They will ____ the results of the election across the internet and every television in the land. The fighter planes of WWII sometimes had pictures of famous movie stars like Betty Grable _____ on the fuselage. Today our intricate network of mass communications can _____ news of national importance over the country in a matter of minutes.

caveat The well known Latin phrase, “______ emptor” means, “Let the buyer beware”. I tried to warn them of the dangers involved in such an undertaking but all my _____ and admonitions fell on deaf ears. Unabridged dictionaries often alert the reader to common mistakes in the use of a word by including brief ________

equitable He did more work, so a sixty-forty split of the profits seemed an _________ arrangement. The decision was a disappointment to me, but after thinking it over, I had to agree that it was _______. Arriving at _____ arrangements in human affairs often requires sound judgment as well as good intentions.

extricate The ring must have slid off my finger as I was trying to _____ the fish from the net She has made so many contradictory promises to so many people that I don’t see how she can _____ herself from the situation. How easy is it for a nation to become trapped in an inflationary price rise; how difficult to _____ itself from the upward spiral!

filch If you _____ pennies from the cash drawer, you are unlikely, after a while, to be satisfied with pennies. Who would have thought that the new treasurer could sink so low as to ______ money from the petty cash fund? Some sadly misguided individuals seem to go through life trying to _____ petty advantages from everyone they encounter.

flout She chose to ignore my advice, not because she wanted to _____ my beliefs, but because she had strong convictions of her own. Any unit of government– national or local– that _____ sound economic principles is headed for disaster. (yeah. I don’t understand this sentence, either.) Young people who consider themselves nonconformists often go to extremes in their determination to _____ the conventions.

fractious It seems as if even the smoothest-running organizations contain at least one _____ element. It became clear that the squad of policemen would be unable to control the small but _____ crowd of angry protesters. We had many talented players, but the ____ behavior of a few individuals impaired our team spirit and led to a losing season.

precept Many religions follow the _____ that it is important to treat others as you, yourself, would like to be treated. Her approach to the problem seems to have been guided by the time-honored ____ that “Force is the remedy for nothing”. I intend to be guided by the simple ____ that have proven themselves valuable over long periods of human experience.

salutary The cute new puppy had a ____ effect on her health. Failures are always unpleasant, but if you learn from them, they may have a ______ effect on your future career. Few things are more _____ for a young person than an occasional painful reminder that life is not a bowl of cherries.

scathing Sometimes a carefully reasoned discussion does more to change people’s minds than a _____ attack. My teacher’s criticism of my term paper was so _____ that after reading it I felt thoroughly crushed. I now know that Gulliver’s Travels, far from being a children’s book, is a work of mature and ________ satire.

scourge Jonathan Swift used wit to ______ the British government for its cruel treatment of Ireland. It was Lincoln who said, “Fondly do we hope, fervently we pray that this ______ of war may speedily pass away. Appointed by the Governor to be the Commissioner of Investigations, she soon became the ____ of dishonest and incompetent officials.

sepulchral My sister announced in a severe and _____ tone of voice that we were out of cookies. Shivers went up and down our spines as, in a _____ voice, the teacher spoke to us of vampires, ghosts, and the ‘living dead. The ghost of Hamlet’s father whispered in _____ tones the story of his own tragic death.

soporific He claimed that the musical, despite its energy, was _____ and that he had slept through the entire second act. The _________ effect of his droning lectures surpasses that of any sleeping pill now in use. I didn’t expect the play to be particularly stimulating, but I certainly never anticipated its overwhelmingly _____ power.

straitlaced Travelers may find people overseas ________ in some ways but surprisingly free in others. The standards of behavior generally accepted in Victorian times would probably be rejected today as excessively ________. You may regard her ideas as _____, but I think they reflect good thinking and sound values.

transient His bad mood was ____, and by the time he had finished his breakfast, he was smiling. His fame as a football star proved to be _____, and he found himself just another young man looking for a job. The Judeo-Christian tradition teaches that material things are ____ while spiritual values are eternal.

unwieldy We loaded the truck with chairs and the coffee table, but the grand piano was too ______. The carton was not heavy, but it was so _____ that it took four of us to carry it to the shed. The rules of the club proved so _____ that it was all but impossible to carry on business.

vapid While critics called the movie ____, I thought the performers were very compelling. Even the most talented actors could not breath life and credibility into the silly lines of that _____ play. In spite of the tremendous sales of that novel, I found it to be mediocre and _____ in every respect.

Study Aids and Assignment Your task: Highlight the context clues in each sentence. Create a BEOWULF related sentence for ten of the words. Print neatly on your packet. Go through your RPS and identify (with a key) Prefixes, roots, and suffixes. Try to get into Jerome’s head. Ask yourself: Are there any words with similar meanings; which I might easily confuse? How can I tell them apart? Are there any words with similar meanings but different parts of speech? Can they be separated by connotation or tone? Identify these.