Summer 2015

Question 1

Heuristic

Answer 1

Rule of thumb

“Simplifying heuristics can lead us to judge incorrectly.”

For example saying that a orderly person is more likely to be a librarian than a farmer relies incorrectly on a heuristic and ignores statistical facts.

Question 2

Sentient

Answer 2

Noun: Having the power of perception by the senses.

E.g., feeling compassion for all other sentient beings

Question 3

Cagey

Answer 3

Adj. Cautious, wary, shrewd

“Boyd was being cagey and wouldn’t make a decision.”

Question 4

Iridescent

Answer 4

Adj. displaying a lustrous play of colors like that of a rainbow

Question 5

Boon

Answer 5

Noun: something to be thankful for; a blessing or benefit.

“Artificial intelligence might be bad for language interpreters, but it would be a boon for everyone else. (Especially the middle-class with Skype accounts.)

Question 6

Chagrin

Answer 6

Shuh-grin

Noun: a feeling of vexation, marked by disappointment or humiliation.

“Humans are the only earthly species that experience guilt. We never see our pets acting chagrined for forgetting their manners or eating too much food.

Question 7

Clandestine

Answer 7

Clan-DES-tin

Adj: done in secrecy or concealment for the purpose of deception.

“Real winners never sneak to finish lines by clandestine or compromised routes.”

Question 8

Gaffe

Answer 8

Noun: social blunder; faux pas

“Directors often fire CEOs when an ethical gaffe is exposed”

(Pronounced gaf)

Question 9

Phlegmatic

Answer 9

Adj: self-possessed, calm, composed. (Sometimes means apathetic and unemotional)

Apparently my personality temperament is phlegmatic, which means I am a relationship-oriented introvert.

Question 10

Doting

Answer 10

Adj: excessively fond (of offspring)

“She was happily married and a doting mother of several children.”

Question 11

Serpentine

Answer 11

Adj: having a winding course, like a road; or shrewd and cunning. (Basically characteristics of a serpent.)

“Investment Banking’s serpentine tentacles are rooted in nearly every well-regarded university.”

Question 12

Sycophant

Answer 12

Sik-uh-funt

Noun: A self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite.

“The Q&A sessions were an opportunity for the sycophants of the student body to shine.”

Question 13

Bucolic

Answer 13

Byoo-call-ick

Adj: suggesting an idyllic rural life.

“I want to drop it all and live a bucolic life on a ranch.”

Question 14

Tetchy

Answer 14

Tech-ee

Adj: irritable, touchy

“She was in a tetchy mood all day after she failed her test.”

Question 15

Insolent

Answer 15

In-suh-lunt

Adj: boldly rude or disrespectful; insulting.

“Churchill’s speech was one of the most insolent ever heard in Parliament.”

Question 16

Precocious

Answer 16

Pri-KOH-shush

Adj: unusually advanced or mature in development, especially mental development.

“Julie was precocious because she read fluently at four years old.”

Question 17

Pernicious

Answer 17

Adj: causing insidious harm or ruin; deadly or fatal

“Hindsight bias has pernicious effects on the evaluations of decision makers.”

Question 18

Insidious

Answer 18

Adj: deceitful; intended to entrap or beguile

“The temptation to be dishonest often comes in insidious ways.”

“Climate change is insidious and uncertain.”

Question 19

Ostensibly

Answer 19

outwardly appearing as such

“in Spain, where Stalin was ostensibly supporting a democratic Spanish government”

Question 20

Intrepid

Answer 20

Adj: resolutely fearless; dauntless

“An intrepid group of doctors observed that wherever in the world people adopted the western diet, health problems ensued.”

Question 21

Autotelic

Answer 21

aw-tuh-TEL-ick

Adj: having within itself the purpose of existence

“An autotelic experience is an end in itself. The activity that consumes us becomes intrinsically rewarding.”

Question 22

Panoply

Answer 22

PAN-uh-plee

Noun: wide-ranging and impressive array or display

“Despite being surrounded by an astounding panoply of recreational gadgets and leisure choices, most of us go on being bored and vaguely frustrated.”

Question 23

Scion

Answer 23

Sayh-uhn (like Zion)

Noun: a descendent

“Muhammad entered life as the scion of a distinguished family, but as poor as a penniless aristocrat.”

Question 24

Bedouin

Answer 24

bed-oo-in

Noun: an Arab of the desert. A nomadic wanderer.

“It took some time for Amina to locate a Bedouin woman who was willing to take Muhammad.”

Question 25

Probity

Answer 25

probe-it-ee

Noun: integrity and uprightness

“Muhammad’s growing reputation of probity and competence…”

Question 26

Clement

Answer 26

CLEM-ent

Adj: mild or merciful, compassionate

“Muhammad was indeed clement during his seizure of Mecca–only four people were executed.”

Question 27

Jihad

Answer 27

Jee-hawd

Noun: a holy war undertaken as a sacred duty by Muslims.

“Muhammad claimed that the greater jihad is the struggle with one’s own soul.”

Question 28

Nascent

Answer 28

NAS-unt (like NASA)

Adj: developing

“Because China has a nascent market economy, business people are fiercely curious about what it takes to get ahead.”

Question 29

Equanimity

Answer 29

Eek-wuh-nimity

Noun: mental or emotional stability and composure under the tension of strain

“The Buddha suffered a violent attack of gastric illness with dude pain, but he bore the pain with equanimity, mindful and aware.”

Question 30

Vanguard

Answer 30

Noun: the foremost division or the leaders in a political or intellectual movement

“Jabbhat al-Nursa was the vanguard group of many attacks, launching insurgent style tactics.”

Question 31

Caliph

Answer 31

CAL-if

Noun: a spiritual leader of Islam, claiming succession from Muhammad

“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi preached at a mosque in the day he announced himself as Caliph.

Question 32

Insurgent

Answer 32

Noun: a person who rises in forcible opposition to lawful authority.

“For decades the Kurds fought in the mountains as an insurgent force.”

Question 33

Farce

Answer 33

Noun: a foolish show, a mockery

“ISIS had begun to allow journalists to work under their rule–but this is farce.”

Question 34

Harbinger

Answer 34

Har-bin-jer

Noun: anything that foreshadows, an omen or sign

Question 35

Matriculate

Answer 35

Verb: to enroll in a college or university

“When it came time for Steve Jobs to matriculate…

Question 36

Charlatan

Answer 36

SHAR-lah-ten

Noun: a person who pretends or claims to have more knowledge or skill than he actually possesses; a quack

“Steve Jobs adopted some of Freidland’s charismatic traits and almost treated him like a guru for a few years–until he eventually began to see him as a charlatan.

Question 37

Maven

Answer 37

SHAR-lah-ten

Noun: a person who pretends or claims to have more knowledge or skill than he actually possesses; a quack

“Steve Jobs adopted some of Freidland’s charismatic traits and almost treated him like a guru for a few years–until he eventually began to see him as a charlatan.

Question 38

Sublime

Answer 38

Adj: impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur, power, awe, or veneration; supreme or outstanding

“Jobs always found Zen Buddhism to be aesthetically sublime.”

Question 39

Attrition

Answer 39

uh-TRUSH-un

Noun: a reduction or decrease in numbers, size, or strength

“There is always a little attrition among announced grantees.”

Question 40

Mercurial

Answer 40

murr-CURE-ee-al

Adj: fickle, erratic, changeable

“Jobs was as mercurial with his daughter Lisa as he was with almost everyone, cycling between embrace and abandonment.”

Question 41

Assiduously

Answer 41

Adv: constant, unremitting

“During his tenure at the firm, Weinberg assiduously pursued the firm’s interests.”

Question 42

Evanescent

Answer 42

Adj: vanishing, fading away, fleeting

“Starting from the lonely feeling of evanescent life, he attained the powerful experience of the quality of his being.”