Vocabulary Quiz #3 Answer Sheet

 

Use the words in the word bank to fill in the blanks:

 

  1. With the right wetware at the helm, the company should be able to turn a sizeable

profit.

 

  1. The crowd began to gibe at the basketball player who kept missing free throws.

 

  1. The pianist's fingers became a blur flying over the keys as she played the difficult            hemidemisemiquavers of the allegro movement.

 

  1. Clearly offended, Susan refused to answer an impertinent question about her marriage.

 

  1. Mrs. Grayson was one of several people in the neighborhood who were flimflammed into donating money to the phony charity.

 

  1. "Location, location and location. That's what it's all about, trumpet the real-estate wallahs." (Tony Baker, The Advertiser, August 3, 2005)

 

  1. The dot-com industry was the epicenter of the youthquake of the 1990s.

 

  1. The boss seemed to prefer apparatchiks to anyone with a glimmer of independent thought

 

  1. Our neighbors are looking forward to the summer, when they'll be able to dine alfresco on their new patio

 

  1. We had a wonderful vacation, even if our time at the beach was foreshortened by two days of rain.

 

  1. The king requested that the court poet commemorate the marriage of the princess with a prothalamion.

 

  1. "I am no whit somnolent; I always hear best with my eyes shut."

 

  1. During certain periods of Egyptian history, the pharaohs and their subjects practiced henotheism

 

  1. Mr. Hughes had his neighbor's son pegged as a disrespectful jackanapes and was therefore reluctant to hire him to shovel the driveway.

 

  1. Jennie wrote an editorial for her town's local paper fulminating on the topic of dress codes in the public schools.

 

  1. From the sound of the first guitar chord, the mosh pit looked like a swarm of bees in a corybantic dance.

 

  1. Early in her career, the singer starred in a stunning rendition of Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde

 

 

  1. The professor peppered his lectures with inkhorn terms of pseudo-Latin and Greek, a practice he felt essential to instilling in his students the proper respect for his knowledge.

 

  1. "In addition to suffixes and prefixes, the language [Inuktitut] has infixes, denoting tense or gender. . .."

 

  1. There might be a deeper reason why Bruce decided to quit his job, but I don't think we should delve into it.

 

  1. The arrival of the circus was marked by the shouts of roustabouts hauling canvas and erecting huge tent poles.

 

  1. Conscious of his landlord's atrabilious temperament, Daniel knew to wait until the moment was right before asking for an extension on the rent.

 

  1. Using his prehensile tail, the monkey was able to seize the pen right out of my hand!

 

  1. Carol discovered that Mike had purloined her idea for her essay and used it in his own paper.

 

  1. "Austere on the outside, the Genoese palazzi's interiors are sumptuous and gilded, bursting with frescoes, mirrors, and tapestries...." (Gabriella de Ferrari, Travel & Leisure, September 1994)

 

  1. One review of the book praised the author's sprachgefuhl and her graceful, literary style.

 

  1. June used her valedictory address to emphasize the importance of volunteering and community service.

 

  1. It was amusing to watch the pratfalls of the slow-witted cartoon cat as he was continually outsmarted by the clever mouse.

 

  1. A resistance group has sprung up and is plotting to overthrow the tyrant leader and his camarilla.

 

  1. Water is often brackish and undrinkable at points where freshwater rivers flow into the sea.

 

  1. Aunt Helen would never say that someone had "died"; she preferred to communicate the unpleasant news with euphemisms like "passed on."

 

  1. "Make an investment of any spare monies as may render some usance." (Lord Byron)

 

  1. When the three brothers took over the family business together, it didn't take long for the internecine feuding to begin.

 

  1. The museum's scrimshander hunched over a bit of bone, scraping it gently with a tiny needle, then brushed away the chips and held up the intricate design so we could see it.

 

  1. The figure skater's lackluster performance underwhelmed the judges.

 

  1. "I'm no wowser, but I draw the line at abusive, foul-mouthed drunks."

 

  1. Clearly exhausted after a long day on her feet, our server gave us only a perfunctory greeting before taking our drink orders.

 

  1. The therapist speculated that Sharon's mythomania, which makes her want to embellish even the most minor details of her life, may have been triggered by a specific event.

 

  1. The development of a revolutionary microprocessor became the fulcrum of the company's success as an information technology giant.

 

  1. The book is a collection of opuscula written by the author between his two major novels.

 

  1. Residents of the riparian community learned to brace themselves for a flood whenever torrential rain was forecast.

 

  1. "Eureka was, after all, the last home of Carry Nation, that ax-wielding foe of John Barleycorn, Demon Rum and all their evil ilk."

 

  1. The fact that Andrew was the ringleader does not absolve his friends of responsibility for their part in the prank.\

 

  1. Only a deus ex machina could resolve the novel's thorny crisis.

 

  1. Embarrassed by the surprise party we threw for her, Joyce held up her hands in an effort to hide her rutilant face.

 

  1. Janet's angry letter chastised members of the media for attempting to vilify her brother, the disgraced ex-councilman.

 

  1. The official was thrown into jail for having the temerity to publicly disagree with the dictator.

 

  1. The overweening ambition of the novel's principal character eventually leads to his downfall.

 

  1. "Let's go and find a real bar," said Mort. "We shouldn't have to settle for the grog they serve in this place."

 

  1. She was obviously very upset over losing the match, but that's no excuse for her churlish behavior toward her opponent.

 

  1. The model, arms akimbo, struck a pose at the end of the runway.

 

  1. Peter the Great became the czar of Russia while still in his nonage, so the country was ruled for a time by his half-sister Sophia.

 

  1. The pluvial climate of England didn't dampen our trip; instead, it gave us a chance to visit some excellent pubs and chat with the locals.

 

  1. Grandmother bore the trials and tribulations of her life with longanimity.

 

  1. The scientist hypothecated that the lab rats' new behavior was linked to changes in their sleep patterns.

 

  1. To almost every comment I made, Adam responded with a quip and a smile.

 

  1. I prefer that news program because it sticks to unbiased reporting with no ex parte commentary.

 

  1. "The face of the old man was stern, hard-featured, and forbidding; that of the young one, open, handsome, and ingenuous." (Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby)

 

  1. "Maybe we should reintroduce the ancient Greek practice of timing political speeches with clepsydra -- when the water is gone, the oration is over," suggested Alfie.

 

  1. Adrianna frequently wrote to her local newspaper to complain about the redundant headlines, rebarbative editorial commentary, and grammatical errors.

 

  1. "The nation's working poor have been hit by another whammy," said the senator, referring to a recent tax hike.

 

  1. The lozenges had a demulcent effect, and my sore throat was soon feeling much better

 

  1. In the office, Ellie's lively, jocose personality keeps everyone smiling and upbeat.

 

  1. Access to clean water would ameliorate living conditions within the village.

 

  1. John listed his multifarious interests and activities on his college application.

 

  1. Her novels are populated by louche characters wasting their days in brothels and seedy bars.

 

  1. "Last week's storm," Chet declared, "showed us that the claim that lightning cannot strike the same place twice is nothing more than a canard."

 

  1. Jeff didn't realize that the bookshelf he had hung on the wall was slightly askew until he placed a pen on it and it rolled off the edge.

 

  1. The appraiser looked closely at the painting and then reluctantly told us that we had been thimblerigged into buying a worthless copy.