Lesson 2

Question 0

Eventuality

Answer 0

Noun. Something that may occur; a possibility

• My insurance policy covers me in the case of almost any eventuality.

Adjective. Eventual - success is usually the eventful result of hard work.

Question 1

Contingent

Answer 1

Adjective. Conditional; dependent on other things

• the house sale is contingent upon the results of a home inspection.

Noun. A representative group forming part of a larger group

• The small contingent of senators spoke on behalf of the farmers.

Noun. Contingency - a possible occurrence; a possibility

• Good defensive drivers anticipate dangerous contingencies and avoid potential accidents.

Question 2

Implausible

Answer 2

Adjective. Difficult to believe; not likely or credible

• The sixty year old actor made an implausible Romeo.

Noun. Implausibility - the implausibility of immediate success didn’t prevent the scientists from trying to find a cure for the disease.

Question 3

Inconceivable

Answer 3

Adjective.

A. Impossible to comprehend or grasp fully

• it is almost inconceivable that such a capable, experienced, hard-working public servant would be voted out of office.

B. so unlikely as to be thought impossible

• at one time, space travel seemed inconceivable.

Question 4

In vain

Answer 4

Adverb. Without success; completely ineffective

• Denise tried in vain to collect the papers as they blew across the street.

Question 5

Perchance

Answer 5

Adverb. Perhaps; possibly

• Instead of getting angry, he simply asked, “ might you, perchance, stop raising your voice at me?”

Question 6

Preposterous

Answer 6

Adjective. Absurd; contrary to nature, reason, or common sense

• It is preposterous to think that an ant could carry an elephant.

Question 7

Proclivity

Answer 7

Noun. A natural inclination; a tendency

• At a very young age, Mozart had a proclivity for music.

Question 8

Prone

Answer 8

Adjective. Having a tendency; inclined; likely to do or have something

• Unfortunately, he was prime to hurting people’s feelings unintentionally.

Question 9

Theoretical

Answer 9

Adjective. Restricted to ideas; abstract or unproven

• At this point, my hypothesis is theoretical; we still need to test it with experiments.

Noun. Theory - there are many theories of how the universe came into existence.