Exercise for Vocabulary Unit #1

Directions: Circle the bolded term that you feel best suits the sentence it is used in.

Quiz October 8th

1. Aristotle had such a(n) (tenable, acquisitive) mind that his writings are a veritable goldmine of odd and interesting information.

2. The mood of easy cordiality with which we began the meeting soon (congealed, temporized) into icy politeness.

3. "That word has such (invidious, germane) connotations in modern American parlance," I said, "that I would hesitate to use it, even in jest."

4. In that moment of grief, the conventional expressions of sympathy I had always considered (tenable, banal) were surprisingly comforting.

5. The speech was so filled with (encomiums, reconnaissance) that I found it hard to believe that the subject of all this acclaim was plain old me.

6. When the evidence of this misconduct became irrefutable, he saw that his position was not (banal, tenable) and resigned.

7. I am proud to have it said of me that I am stubborn and (invidious, intransigent) when genuine moral issues are involved.

8. His figure bears witness to his (acquisitive, insatiable) appetite for the pleasures of the table.

9. Ethelred the Unready was so reluctant to face the Vikings who invaded his kingdom that in effect he (arrogated, temporized) himself off the throne.

10. After I mowed the lawn for an hour, he gave me a whole dollar with the air of a feudal lord bestowing (largess, intransigence) on a grateful serf.

11. The poor woman was in such a state of shock after the accident that she couldn't give a (coherent, taciturn) account of what had happened.

12. Your critical comments about my lack of social background may be true, but they are not (coherent, germane) to my qualifications for office.

13. Aerial (reconnaissance, encomium) of the enemy's position provided the general with the information he needed to plan his attack.

14. What evidence can you offer to (substantiate, eschew) the assertion that capital punishment does not deter potential murderers?

15. In our attempt to improve the quality of life in America, we should not be too quick to (eschew, cohere) old ideas simply because they are old.

16. The new batting champion in our softball league is a(n) (insatiable, taciturn) young man who prefers to let his bat do the talking for him.

17. Suddenly a band of ruffians set upon us and began to (congeal, belabor) us with blows and curses.

18. After the editor read the story, he returned it to the author with only a few (carping, coherent) criticisms of minor faults penciled in the margins.

19. Even a very imperfect human being may sometimes have virtues of mind or character that are worthy of (carping, emulation)

20. The Constitution is uniquely designed to provide protection against those who might seek to (substantiate, arrogate) undue power to themselves.