Unit 1

Question 1

acquisitive

Answer 1

adj. able to get an retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth or property

Question 2

arrogate

Answer 2

v. to claim or take without right

Question 3

banal

Answer 3

adj. hackneyed, trite, commonplace

Question 4

belabor

Answer 4

v. to work on excessively; to thrash soundly

Question 5

carping

Answer 5

adj. tending to find fault, especially in a petty, nasty, or hairsplitting way

n. petty, nagging criticism

Question 6

coherent

Answer 6

adj. holding or sticking together; making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful

Question 7

congeal

Answer 7

v. to change from liquid to solid, thicken; to make inflexible or rigid

Question 8

emulate

Answer 8

v. to imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model

Question 9

encomium

Answer 9

n. a formal expression or praise, a lavish tribute

Question 10

eschew

Answer 10

v. to avoid, shun, keep away from

Question 11

germane

Answer 11

adj. relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting

Question 12

insatiable

Answer 12

adj, so great or demanding as not to be satisfied

Question 13

intransigent

Answer 13

adj. offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness and resentment

Question 14

largesse

Answer 14

n. generosity in giving; lavish or bountiful contributions

Question 15

reconnaissance

Answer 15

n. a survey made for military purposes; any kind of preliminary inspection or examination

Question 16

substantiate

Answer 16

v. to establish by evidence, prove; to give concrete or substantial form to

Question 17

taciturn

Answer 17

adj. habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little

Question 18

temporize

Answer 18

v. to stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postpone a decision; to compromise

Question 19

tenable

Answer 19

adj. capable of being held or defended

Question 20

invidious

Answer 20

adj. offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness and resentment