Vocab - Nov 2019

Question 1

An Ox came down to a reedy pool to drink

Answer 1

A reedy place has many reeds (= tall plants like grass)

Question 2

In great fear the Mice scurried to a hiding place

Answer 2

(of a person or small animal) move hurriedly with short quick steps.
“pedestrians scurried for cover”

Question 3

And off he walked very, very scornfully

Answer 3

Scornfully is defined as something done without respect, or something done showing displeasure

Question 4

We are often of greater importance in our own eyes than in the eyes of our neighbor. The smaller the mind the greater the conceit.

Answer 4

excessive pride in oneself.

Question 5

A Gnat flew over the meadow with much buzzing for so small a creature and settled on the tip of one of the horns of a Bull.

Answer 5

meadow

a piece of grassland, especially one used for hay.

Question 6

JC Penney was attempting to reinvent the concept of the department store in a year or two, leaving behind the core customer in an attempt to gain new ones. This was a much different proposition.

Answer 6

proposition - a statement or assertion that expresses a judgment or opinion.
the proposition that high taxation is undesirable

Question 7

Elon Musk. He is one of the most audacious entrepreneurs the world has ever seen

Answer 7

showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks.

“a series of audacious takeovers”

Question 8

Or they’ll not do it because “Well, nobody’s ever done that, so it must not be good. But that’s just a ridiculous way to think

Answer 8

deserving or inviting derision or mockery; absurd.

“that ridiculous tartan cap”

Question 9

“we’re not paying good money for shoddy goods”

Answer 9

badly made or done.

Question 10

A first principle is a foundational proposition or assumption that stands alone. We cannot deduce first principles from any other proposition or assumption.

Answer 10

proposition
The most basic meaning is a statement proposing an idea that can be true or false.
a statement or assertion that expresses a judgement or opinion.
“the proposition that high taxation is undesirable”

Question 11

The chef is a trailblazer

.

Answer 11

a person who is the first to do something; an innovator.

“he was a trailblazer for many ideas that are now standard fare

Question 12

If you outright reject dogma, you often become a problem: a student who is always pestering the teacher.

Answer 12

dogma -
a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.
“the dogmas of faith”

trouble or annoy (someone) with frequent or persistent requests or interruptions.
“she constantly pestered him with telephone calls”

Question 13

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect.

Answer 13

the desire to harm someone; ill will.

“I bear no malice towards anybody

Question 14

the best way to react to other people causing us problems is by seeking to educate them, not to disdain them.

Answer 14

refuse to do (something) from feelings of pride or superiority.
“she remained standing, pointedly disdaining his invitation to sit down

Question 15

when Apple’s Siri voice search launched, people noticed that it could not search for abortion clinics. This was immediately taken up as proof of misogyny within the company when in fact, a programming error caused the problem.

Answer 15

dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women.
“she felt she was struggling against thinly disguised misogyny

Question 16

The concept of penal parsimony was pioneered by Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism.

Answer 16

extreme unwillingness to spend money or use resources.

“a great tradition of public design has been shattered by government parsimony

Question 17

The nature of mental models is that they tend to all interlock and work best in conjunction.

Answer 17

the action or an instance of two or more events or things occurring at the same point in time or space. simultaneously
“a conjunction of favourable political and economic circumstances”

Question 18

And you’ve got to array your experience both vicarious and direct on this latticework of models

Answer 18

an impressive display or range of a particular type of thing.
“there is a vast array of literature on the topic”

experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person.
“this catalogue brings vicarious pleasure in luxury living”

Question 19

The opposite of this model is the law of small numbers, which states that small samples can and should be looked at with great skepticism.

Answer 19

a sceptical attitude; doubt as to the truth of something.

“these claims were treated with scepticism”

Question 20

“people of many creeds and cultures”

Answer 20

a system of religious belief; a faith.

Question 21

A preferential attachment situation occurs when the current leader is given more of the reward than the laggards, thereby tending to preserve or enhance the status of the leader.

Answer 21

a person who makes slow progress and falls behind others.

“staff were under enormous pressure and there was no time for laggards”

Question 22

This is a credo built into the modern medical profession: First, do no harm

Answer 22

a statement of the beliefs or aims which guide someone’s actions.
“he announced his credo in his first editorial”

Question 23

Mr. Market was introduced by the investor Benjamin Graham in his seminal book The Intelligent Investor to represent the vicissitudes of the financial markets

Answer 23

strongly influencing later developments.
“his seminal work on chaos theory”

a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.
“her husband’s sharp vicissitudes of fortune”

Question 24

About 80% of human cognition is facilitated by vision.

Answer 24

the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

Question 25

An image can conjure stronger emotions than words

Answer 25

cause (a spirit or ghost) to appear by means of a magic ritual.
“they hoped to conjure up the spirit of their dead friend”

Question 26

Though they have hitherto been in gross error.

Answer 26

until now or until the point in time under discussion.