English III

Question 0

Strident

Answer 0

Forcefully assertive or severely critical

Mao’s strident rhetoric quelled all opposing voices.

Question 1

Aggrandize

Answer 1

To increase the power, status, or wealth of

The action intended to aggrandize the Frankish dynasty at the expense of its people.

Question 2

Recant

Answer 2

To make a formal retraction or disavowal of a previously held statement or belief.
n. Recantation

Question 3

Ex post facto

Answer 3

adj. Formulated, enacted, or operating retroactively “When we apply today’s morality to yesterday’s mores, we indulge in ex post facto judgment” (William Safire).
Ex post facto explanation

Question 4

Contrivance

Answer 4

Invention, design

Question 5

Discretion

Answer 5

Freedom to act or judge on one’s own: All the decisions were left to our discretion.

Question 6

Intransigent

Answer 6

Not willing to compromise; obstinately maintaining an attitude

Question 7

Hulk

Answer 7

Any large disused structure
Hulks of abandoned machinery
Detroit’s landscape was dominated by rotting hulks of factory buildings

Question 8

Pronounced

Answer 8

Very noticeable or marked

Question 9

Deflect

Answer 9

Cause sth to change direction

He tried to deflect media’s attention from his private life.

Question 10

Staple

Answer 10

A main or important element of something, esp. of a diet: bread, milk, and other staples; Greek legend was the staple of classical tragedy.
calls for “manpower development” and job training had become a staple of liberal politics.

Question 11

Stipulate

Answer 11

To state or specify a demand or provision in an agreement: The law stipulates for a ban on the chemical.

Question 12

Stoke

Answer 12

to poke, stir up, and feed (a fire)
It was Mao who personally and relentlessly stoked the anti-rightist fire, promoting class struggle from August 1959 to the spring of 1960.

Question 13

Unwitting

Answer 13

Inadvertent; unintentional; accidental.
Not knowing; unaware; unconscious.
It had been an unwitting blunder on his part.

Question 14

Compromise

Answer 14

To reduce in quality, value, or degree; weaken or lower: Don’t compromise your standards.

Question 15

Ferret (something) out

Answer 15

Discover information by means of an assiduous search and investigation
I ferret out how organizers mobilized members and established goals and how those goals evolved over time.

Question 16

Heckle

Answer 16

To interrupt (a public speaker) with derisive or aggressive comments or abuse: he was booed and heckled when he tried to address the demonstrators

Question 17

Orgy

Answer 17

Uncontrolled or immoderate indulgence in an activity

It unleashed what Issac Deutscher called “an almost permanent orgy of bureaucratic violence.”

Question 18

Override

Answer 18

To set aside or disregard with superior authority or power
To take manual control of (a system that is usually under automatic control)
He could not attempt to override the Central Committee as he had in the past.

Question 19

Duly

Answer 19

In accordance with what is required or appropriate

A document duly signed and authorized by the inspector

Question 20

Founder on

Answer 20

Fail or break down as a result of a particular problem
As the Socialist Education Movement foundered on bureaucratic resistance and popular apathy, the frustrations and fears of Mao and Maoists grew.

Question 21

Scope

Answer 21

The opportunity or possibility to do or deal with something

The scope for major change is always limited by political realities.

Question 22

Retrench

Answer 22

(Of an organization or individual)reduce costs or spending in response to economic difficulty
As a result of the recession the company retrenched
The first step by the government to re establish a viable urban economy was stringent financial retrenchment.

Question 23

Perfunctory

Answer 23

(Of an action) carried out without real interest, feeling, or effort
It was a perfunctory and pale affair compared to previous ideological campaigns, and largely kept within the boundaries of political academic debate.

Question 24

Enjoin

Answer 24

A. To direct (a person) to do something; order or urge: The doctor enjoined the patient to walk daily.
B. To require or impose (an action or behavior, for example) with authority and emphasis; prescribe.