Lesson 5

Question 1

Rampant (adj.)

Answer 1

Syn: widespread; going unchecked

• When the plague was rampant on this island, Dr. smith’s wife died.

Question 2

Clandestine (adj.)

Answer 2

Syn: secret; undercover

• The spies thought their meeting was a clandestine one, but a throng of F.B.I agents gathered outside the building.

Question 3

Ethics (n.)

Answer 3

Syn: code of principles; morality

• A special management committee was asked to investigate business ethics.

Question 4

Inane (adj.)

Answer 4

Syn: foolish; stupid; silly

• Oliver wright was criticized for his inane desire to fly.

Question 5

Concur (vi.)

Answer 5

Syn: agree; approve

• If I can get my parents to concur, I’ll join the peace corps.

Question 6

Stock in trade (idiom)

Answer 6

The necessary equipment

• A quick wit and a warm smile were the salesmen’s stock in trade.

Question 7

Culprit (n.)

Answer 7

Syn: The guilty person; criminal

• The culprit was caught with his fingers in the cookie jar.

Question 8

Inexorable (adj.)

Answer 8

Syn: inflexible; unrelenting

• Television sleuths are inexorable in their pursuit of lawbreakers.

Question 9

Duress (n.)

Answer 9

Syn: compulsion; force

• The confession was signed under duress, the attorney claimed.

Question 10

Admonish (vt.)

Answer 10

Syn: to warm; to reprove; blame

• I suspect that my father will admonish me for coming home late.

Question 11

Flagrant (adj.)

Answer 11

Syn: outrageous; glaringly bad; bad

• Parking in front of a hydrant is a flagrant violation of the city’s law.

Question 12

To take down a peg (idiom)

Answer 12

To humiliate

• The alumni thought they had a great team, but our varsity take them down a peg.

Question 13

Egregious (adj.)

Answer 13

Syn: remarkably bad

• The bank teller’s egregious error was difficult to correct.

Question 14

Acrimonious (adj.)

Answer 14

Syn: bitter; sharp

• We tried to ignore her acrimonious comments, but that took considerable restraint.

Question 15

Duplicity (n.)

Answer 15

Syn: cunning; trickery

• Duplicity is the stock in trade of all adroit counterspies

Question 16

Paucity (n.)

Answer 16

Syn: scarcity; lack

• Although it was a creative writing class, the teacher complained about the paucity of talent there.

Question 17

Distraught (adj.)

Answer 17

Syn: mentally confused; crazed; mad

• The soldiers were distraught to learn that their furloughs had been cancelled.

Question 18

To pass the buck (idiom)

Answer 18

To refuse to take responsibility

• He always gives me a straight answer and never tries to pass the buck

Question 19

Impunity (n.)

Answer 19

Syn: freedom from punishment; exemption

• The border guards allowed the doctor to cross the frontier with impunity.

Question 20

Elicit (vt.)

Answer 20

Syn: to draw forth; extract

• It isn’t easy to elicit answers from a sleepy class on Monday morning.

Question 21

Tolerate (vt.)

Answer 21

Syn: to put up with; to bear

• Dentists appreciate patients who can tolerate pain.

Question 22

Construe (vt.) (vi.)

Answer 22

Syn: to make a deduction; to infer

• She hoped that we would not construed her decision to …

Question 23

Pernicious (adj.)

Answer 23

Syn: harmful; injuries

• The dictator’s pernicious rules failed to intimidate the leaders of the underground.

Question 24

To lionize a person (idiom)

Answer 24

To idolize

• He was lionized whenever he lectured.