1. The Mystery of the Flashing Lights By Tim Arnold

2. sequence  N. The following of one thing after another; the order in which something follows  When baking a cake, it is important to following the sequence of the recipe. If you don’t you could end up with a disaster.

3. adjacent  Adj. Lying near or close to something  The new school was adjacent to my house, so I was able to walk to school.

4. repulsive  adj. Something that is completely disgusting; something causing a person want to stay away  The smell of eggs were so repulsive to the woman that she had to leave the room so she wouldn’t get sick.

5. eerie  Adj. Something that is creepy or causes fear  There was something about that old abandoned house that gave me an eerie feeling.

6. despised  V. To dislike something in an extreme way  I despised doing homework on the weekends! I can’t believe my teacher used to do that to us, she was so mean!

7. navigated  V. to move on, over, or through (water, air, or land) in a ship or aircraft  The woman navigated her kayak through the rough waters of the Colorado River.

8. scoundrel  N. a person who does note have good intentions; villain  That dirty rotten scoundrel stole the money that was raised to help feed the poor.

9. cargo  N. The goods carried by a ship, train, plane, or vehicle  The ship carried cargo from countries overseas to the United States.

10. Misled  V. to lead or guide incorrectly  The root word “mis” means bad or wrong (examples mistake or misbehave)  The man felt misled because the directions given to him were inaccurate.

11. mimic  V. to imitate or copy  Some people mistakenly think that parrots can actually talk. In reality, they mimic the sounds that they hear.

12. plundered  V. to rob or steal  The pirates plundered gold from the Spanish galleons.

13. semidarkness  N. partial darkness  The root word “semi” means half or partial (examples: semicircle, semiannual, semisweet)  In semidarkness, my dad was determined to play the last few holes of the golf game.

14. decade  N. a period of ten years  The root word “deca” means ten (examples: decagon, decathlon)  After turning ten years old, the boy could finally say that he was a decade.

15. century  N. a period of a hundred years  The root word “cent” means one hundred (for example: centipede, centennial)  There have been many changes in technology over the past century.

16. obvious  Adj. easily seen, recognized, or understood  After studying for the math test, the answers seemed obvious to me.

17. coincidence  N. A sequence of events that although accidental seems to have been planned or arranged.  It seemed like an odd coincidence that my friend and I both showed up to school wearing the same shirt.