Unit1

Question 1

benediction

Answer 1

A prayer that asks for God’s blessing, especially a prayer that concludes a worship service

eg. The moment the bishop had finished his benediction, she squeezed quickly out of her row and darted out the cathedral’s side entrance.

Question 2

benefactor

Answer 2

Someone who helps another person or group, especially by giving money

eg. An anonymous benefactor had given $15 million to establish an ecological institute at the university

Question 3

beneficiary

Answer 3

A person or organization that benefits or is expected to benefit from something, especially one that receives money or property when someone dies.

eg. Living in a trailer in near-poverty, she received word in the mail that her father had died, naming her as the sole beneficiary of his life-insurance policy.

Question 4

benevolence

Answer 4

Kindness, generosity.

eg. In those financially desperate years, the young couple was saved only by the
benevolence of her elderly great-uncle.

Question 5

amicable

Answer 5

Friendly, peaceful

eg. Their relations with their in-laws were generally amicable, despite some
bickering during the holidays.

Question 6

enamored

Answer 6

Charmed or fascinated; inflamed with love

eg. Rebecca quickly became enamored of the town’s rustic surroundings, its slow pace, and its eccentric characters.

Question 7

amorous

Answer 7

Having or showing strong feelings of attraction or love

eg. It turned out that the amorous Congressman had gotten his girlfriend a good job and was paying for her apartment.

Question 8

paramour

Answer 8

A lover, often secret, not allowed by law or custom

eg. He had been coming to the house for two years before her brothers realized that he was actually the paramour of their shy and withdrawn sister.

Question 9

antebellum

Answer 9

Existing before a war, especially before the American Civil War (1861–65).

eg. When World War I was over, the French nobility found it impossible to return to their extravagant antebellum way of life.

Question 10

bellicose

Answer 10

Warlike, aggressive, quarrelsome

eg. The more bellicose party always got elected whenever there was tension along the border and the public believed that military action would lead to security.

Question 11

belligerence

Answer 11

Aggressiveness, combativeness.

eg. The belligerence in Turner’s voice told them that the warning was a serious
threat.

Question 12

rebellion

Answer 12

Open defiance and opposition, sometimes armed, to a person or thing in authority

eg. A student rebellion that afternoon in Room 13 resulted in the new substitute teacher racing out of the building in tears.

Question 13

pacify

Answer 13

(1) To soothe anger or agitation. (2) To subdue by armed action.

eg. It took the police hours to pacify the angry demonstrators.

Question 14

pacifist

Answer 14

A person opposed to war or violence, especially someone who refuses to bear arms or to fight, on moral or religious grounds.

eg. Her grandfather had fought in the Marines in World War II, but in his later years he had become almost a pacifist, opposing every war for one reason or another.

Question 15

pact

Answer 15

An agreement between two or more people or groups; a treaty or formal agreement between nations to deal with a problem or to resolve a dispute.

eg. The girls made a pact never to reveal what had happened on that terrifying night in the abandoned house.

Question 16

pace

Answer 16

Contrary to the opinion of.

eg. She had only three husbands, pace some Hollywood historians who claim she had as many as six.

Question 17

criminology

Answer 17

The study of crime, criminals, law enforcement, and punishment.

eg. His growing interest in criminology led him to become a probation officer

Question 18

decriminalize

Answer 18

To remove or reduce the criminal status of

eg. An angry debate over decriminalizing doctor-assisted suicide raged all day in the statehouse

Question 19

incriminate

Answer 19

To show evidence of involvement in a crime or a fault.

eg. The muddy tracks leading to and from the cookie jar were enough to incriminate them.

Question 20

recrimination

Answer 20

(1) An accusation in answer to an accusation made against oneself. (2) The making of such an accusation.

eg. Their failure to find help led to endless and pointless recriminations over responsibility for the accident.

Question 21

approbation

Answer 21

A formal or official act of approving; praise, usually given with pleasure or enthusiasm.

eg. The senate signaled its approbation of the new plan by voting for it unanimously.

Question 22

probate

Answer 22

The process of proving in court that the will of someone who has died is valid, and of administering the estate of a dead person.

eg. When her father died, she thought she would be able to avoid probate, but she wasn’t that lucky.

Question 23

probity

Answer 23

Absolute honesty and uprightness

eg. Her unquestioned probity helped win her the respect of her fellow judges.

Question 24

reprobate

Answer 24

A person of thoroughly bad character

eg. His wife finally left him, claiming he was a reprobate who would disappear for weeks at a time, gambling and drinking away all his money.

Question 25

grave

Answer 25

(1) Requiring serious thought or concern. (2) Serious and formal in appearance or manner.

eg. We realized that the situation was grave and that the slightest incident could spark all-out war.

Question 26

gravitas

Answer 26

Great or very dignified seriousness

eg. The head of the committee never failed to carry herself with the gravitas she felt was appropriate to her office.

Question 27

gravitate

Answer 27

To move or be drawn toward something, especially by natural tendency or as if by an invisible force.

eg. On hot evenings, the town’s social life gravitated toward the lakefront, where you could stroll the long piers eating ice cream or dance at the old Casino.

Question 28

aggravate

Answer 28

(1) To make (an injury, problem, etc.) more serious or severe. (2) To annoy or bother

eg. She went back to the soccer team before the knee was completely healed, which naturally aggravated the injury.

Question 29

alleviate

Answer 29

To lighten, lessen, or relieve, especially physical or mental suffering

eg. Cold compresses alleviated the pain of the physical injury, but only time could alleviate the effect of the insult.

Question 30

elevation

Answer 30

(1) The height of a place. (2) The act or result of lifting or raising someone or something

eg. Her doctor is concerned about the elevation of her blood pressure since her last visit.

Question 31

cantilever

Answer 31

A long piece of wood, metal, etc., that sticks out from a wall to support something above it

eg. The house’s deck, supported by cantilevers, jutted out dramatically over the rocky slope, and looking over the edge made him dizzy.

Question 32

levity

Answer 32

Lack of appropriate seriousness

eg. The Puritan elders tried to ban levity of all sorts from the community’s meetings, but found it increasingly difficult to control the younger generation.

Question 33

cicerone

Answer 33

A guide, especially one who takes tourists to museums, monuments, or architectural sites and explains what is being seen

eg. On Crete they sought out a highly recommended cicerone, hoping to receive the best possible introduction to the noteworthy historical sites.

Question 34

hector

Answer 34

To bully or harass by bluster or personal pressure.

eg. He would swagger around the apartment entrance with his friends and hector the terrified inhabitants going in and out.

Question 35

hedonism

Answer 35

An attitude or way of life based on the idea that pleasure or happiness should be the chief goal.

eg. In her new spirit of hedonism, she went out for a massage, picked up champagne and chocolate truffles, and made a date that evening with an old boyfriend.

Question 36

nestor

Answer 36

A senior figure or leader in one’s field

eg. The guest of honor was a nestor among journalists, and after dinner he shared some of his wisdom with the audience.

Question 37

spartan

Answer 37

Marked by simplicity, avoidance of luxury, and often strict self-discipline or self-denial

eg. When he was single, he had lived a spartan life in a tiny, undecorated apartment with one chair, a table, and a bed.

Question 38

stentorian

Answer 38

Extremely loud, often with especially deep richness of sound.

eg. Even without a microphone, his stentorian voice was clearly audible in the last rows of the auditorium.

Question 39

stoic

Answer 39

Seemingly indifferent to pleasure or pain

eg. She bore the pain of her broken leg with such stoic patience that most of us had no idea she was suffering.

Question 40

sybaritic

Answer 40

Marked by a luxurious or sensual way of life

eg. When I knew them they were living a sybaritic existence—hopping from resort to resort, each more splendid than the last—but a year later the money ran out.