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Question 1

abysmal

Answer 1

adj. very bad

The abysmal failure of the free market system in Russia has led some people to argue that the planned economy of the Soviet Union, while not perfect, was better sited to Russia’s history and culture than Western-style capitalism.

Question 2

accretion

Answer 2

n. growth in size or increase in amount

In the 1960s, the American geophysicist Harry Hess conceived the idea of sea-floor spreading, a process in which the new crust in the ocean is continually generated by igneous processes at the crests of the mid-oceanic ridges, causing a steady accretion of the crust.

Question 3

accrue

Answer 3

v. to accumulate; grow by additions

Regulating the growth of large companies when they begin to become monopolistic is a difficult task for government in a capitalist country; if it limits monopolies too much, the nation’s firms could become less competitive than foreign companies that enjoy the advantages accruing from greater monopolies.

Question 4

adamant

Answer 4

adj. uncompromising; unyielding

Despite widespread opposition to his plan, the political party’s leader is adamant that the party must move to the center to appeal to moderate voters.

Question 5

adjunct

Answer 5

n. something added, attached, or joined

Speed walking, cross-country running, and marathons are normally regarded as adjuncts of track and filed athletics since races in these sports are not normally held on a track.

Question 6

admonish

Answer 6

v. to caution or reprimand

The judge admonished the jury to discount testimony that had been ruled inadmissible.

Question 7

adulterate

Answer 7

v. to corrupt or make impure

The unscrupulous company sells an adulterated version of the drug, and doesn’t inform consumers that they are getting a less efficacious drug than they think they are getting.

Question 8

aesthetic

Answer 8

adj. relating to beauty or art

Members of the English aesthetic movement, such as Oscar Wilde, were proponents of the doctrine of art for art’s sake, which is the belie that art cannot and should not be useful for any purpose other than that of creating beauty.

Question 9

affected

Answer 9

adj. pretentious (うぬぼれた、見栄を張った）, phony（にせの、いんちきの）

It has been argued that the emphasis on so-called “proper English” leads to unnatural and affected speech.

Question 10

affinity

Answer 10

n. fondness; liking; similarity

The female students in the class felt an affinity for the ancient Greek playwright Euripides because he sympathized with women, slaves, and other despised members of his society.