Lord of the Flies Book Test

Question 1

specious

Answer 1

adjective
Superficially plausible, but actually wrong.
“Ralph had been deceived before now by the specious appearance of depth in the beach pool and he approached this one preparing to be disappointed.”

Question 2

effulgence

Answer 2

adjective
Shining brightly; radiant.
“With that word the heat seemed to increase till it became a threatening weight and the lagoon attacked them with blinding effulgence.”

Question 3

enmity

Answer 3

noun
The state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.
“He trotted through the sand, enduring the sun’s enmity, crossed the platform and found his scattered clothes.”

Question 4

decorous

Answer 4

adjective
In keeping with good taste and propriety; polite and restrained.
“Suddenly Piggy was a-bubble with decorous excitement.”

Question 5

indignation

Answer 5

noun
Anger or annoyance provoked by what is perceived as unfair treatment.
“Piggy stood and the rose of indignation faded slowly from his cheeks.”

Question 6

hiatus

Answer 6

noun
A pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process.
“There came a pause, a hiatus, the pig continued to scream and the creepers to jerk, and the blade continued to flash at the end of a bony arm.”

Question 7

ebullience

Answer 7

noun
The quality of being cheerful and full of energy; exuberance.
“Then with the martyred expression of a parent who had to keep up with the senseless ebullience of the children, he picked up the conch, turned towards the forest, and began to pick his way over the tumbled scar.” [Ralph]

Question 8

recrimination

Answer 8

noun: an accusation in response to one from someone else, “His voice lifted into the whine of virtuous recrimination.” [Piggy]

Question 9

tumult

Answer 9

noun: a loud, confused noise, especially one caused by a large mass of people,“He paused in the tumult, standing, looking beyond them and down the unfriendly side of the mountain to the great patch where they had found dead wood.”

Question 10

furtive

Answer 10

adjective: attempting to avoid notice or attention, typically because of guilt or a belief that discovery would lead to trouble; secretive, “Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath, and for a minute became less a hunter than a furtive thing, ape-like among the tangle of the trees.”

Question 11

inscrutable

Answer 11

adjective: impossible to understand or interpret, “Jack lifted his head and stared at the inscrutable masses of creeper that lay across the trail.”

Question 12

incredulous

Answer 12

adjective: unwilling or unable to believe something, “They were silent again; Simon intent, Ralph incredulous and faintly indignant.”

Question 13

belligerence

Answer 13

noun: aggressive or warlike behaviour, “… Johnny was well built, with fair hair and natural belligerence.”

Question 14

chastisement

Answer 14

verb: rebuke or reprimand severely, “In his other life Maurice had received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand.”

Question 15

incurison

Answer 15

noun, an invasion or attack, especially a sudden or brief one, “Perhaps food had appeared where at the last incursion there had been none; bird droppings, insects perhaps, any of the strewn detritus of landward life.”

Question 16

disinclination

Answer 16

noun, a reluctance or lack of enthusiasm, “There had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which did not matter, but by fat, by ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination for manual labour.”

Question 17

derisive

Answer 17

adjective, expressing contempt or ridicule,“The derisive laughter that rose had fear in it and condemnation.”

Question 18

discursive

Answer 18

adjective, digressing from subject to subject, “The assembly shredded away and became a discursive and random scatter from the palms to the water and away along the beach, beyond night-sight.”

Question 19

incantation

Answer 19

noun, a series of words said as a magic spell or charm, “A thin wail out of the darkness chilled them and set them grabbing for each other. Then the wail rose, remote and unearthly, and turned to an inarticulate gibbering.”

Question 20

interminable

Answer 20

adjective, endless (often used hyperbolically), “An interminable dawn faded the stars out, and at last light, sad and grey, filtered into the shelter.”

Question 21

tremulously

Answer 21

adjective, shaking or quivering slightly, “The twins, holding tremulously to each other, dared a few yards to the next shelter and spread the dreadful news.”

Question 22

leviathan

Answer 22

noun, a very large aquatic creature, especially a whale, “Then the sleeping leviathan breathed out, the waters rose, the weed streamed, and the water boiled over the table rock with a roar.”

Question 23

decorum

Answer 23

noun, behaviour in keeping with good taste and propriety, “Not one of them was a obvious subject for a shower, and yet—hair, much too long, tangled here and there, knotted round a dead leaf or twig; faces cleaned fairly well by the process of eating & sweating but marked in the less accessible angles with a kind of shadow; clothes, worn away, stiff like his own with sweat, put on, not for decorum or comfort but out of custom; the skin of the body, scurfy with brine–”

Question 24

apprehension

Answer 24

noun, anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen.“Ralph was full of fright and apprehension and pride.”

Question 25

sagely

Answer 25

adverb, in a profoundly wise manner, “ “So the pig-run must be somewhere in there.” Ralph nodded. He pointed at the forest. Everybody agreed, sagely.”

Question 26

atagonism

Answer 26

noun, active hostility or opposition, “Ralph sighed, sensing the rising antagonism, understanding that this was how Jack felt as soon as he ceased to lead.”

Question 27

impervious

Answer 27

adjective, unable to be affected by,, “”So they sat,the rocking, tapping, impervious Roger and Ralph, fuming; round them the close sky was loaded with stars, save where the mountain punched up a hole of blackness”

Question 28

bravado

Answer 28

noun, a bold manner or a show of boldness intended to impress or intimidate, “Ralph surprised himself, not so much by the quality of his voice, which was even, but by the bravado of its intention.

Question 29

comtemptuous

Answer 29

adjective, showing contempt; scornful, “Go up and see,” said Jack contemptuously, “and good riddance.””

Question 30

cynicism

Answer 30

noun, an inclination to question whether something will happen or whether it is worthwhile; pessimism, “The half-shut eyes were dim with the infinite cynicism of adult life.”

Question 31

indignity

Answer 31

noun, treatment or circumstance that causes one to feel shame or to lose one’s dignity. “He opened his eyes quickly and there was the head grinning amusedly in the strange daylight, ignoring the flies, the spilled guts, even ignoring the indignity of being spiked on a stick.”

Question 32

iridescent

Answer 32

adjective, showing luminous colours that seem to change when seen from different angles. “They were black and iridescent green and without number; and in front of Simon, the Lord of the Flies hung on his stick and grinned.”

Question 33

corpulent

Answer 33

adjective, (of a person) fat.“Then as the blue material of the parachute collapsed the corpulent figure would bow forward, sighing, and the flies settle once more.”

Question 34

parody

Answer 34

noun, an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect. “The tangles of lines showed him the mechanics of this parody; he examined the white nasal bones, the teeth, the colour of corruption.”

Question 35

succulent

Answer 35

(of food) tender, juicy, and tasty. “The boys with the spit gave Ralph and Piggy each a succulent chunk.”

Question 36

gesticulating

Answer 36

verb, use gestures, especially dramatic ones, instead of speaking or to emphasize one’s words.“He was gesticulating, searching for a formula.”

Question 37

stricken

Answer 37

adjective, seriously affected by an undesirable condition or unpleasant feeling. “Ralph’s voice, low and stricken, stopped Piggy’s gestures.”

Question 38

convulsively

Answer 38

adjective, producing or consisting of convulsions “Memory of the dance that none of them had attended shook all four boys convulsively.”

Question 39

torrid

Answer 39

adjective, very hot and dry, Sitting on the tremendous rock in the torrid sun, Roger received this news as an illumination.”

Question 40

luminous

Answer 40

adjective, full of or shedding light; bright or shining, especially in the dark. “The twins watched anxiously and Piggy sat expressionless behind the luminous wall of his myopia.”

Question 41

myopia

Answer 41

noun, nearsightedness, “The twins watched anxiously and Piggy sat expressionless behind the luminous wall of his myopia.”

Question 42

propitiatingly

Answer 42

noun, the action of propitiating or appeasing a god, spirit, or person. “I hadn’t” said Ralph loudly. “I knew it all the time. I hadn’t forgotten.” Piggy nodded propitiatingly.”

Question 43

truculent

Answer 43

adjective, eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant.“Truculently they squared up to each other but kept just out of fighting distance.”

Question 44

inimical

Answer 44

adjective, tending to obstruct or harm. “To carry he must speak louder; and this would rouse those striped and inimical creatures from their feasting by the fire.”

Question 45

ululation

Answer 45

verb, howl or wail as an expression of strong emotion, typically grief. “Eric raised his head and achieved a faint ululation by beating on his open mouth.”

Question 46

crepitation

Answer 46

noun, a crackling or rattling sound. “He heard a curious trickling sound and then a louder crepitation as if someone were unwrapping great sheets of cellophane.”