“Thebeginningofwisdomistocallthingsbytheirpropername.”—Confucius
“Properwordsinproperplacesmakethetruedefinitionofastyle.”—JonathanSwift
“Thelimitsofmylanguagearethelimitsofmymind.AllIknowiswhatIhavewordsfor.”—LudwigWittgenstein
Hereisanotherofourintermittentvocabularytests.Theanswersdirectlyfollowthequiz.
1.droll
A)sadB)unaffectedC)humorousD)agile
2.mitigate
A)inspireB)reduceC)resistD)contradict
3.laconic
A)defiantB)deviousC)lackingenergyD)usingfewwords
4.respite
A)depressionB)constantangerC)ashortperiodofrestD)aloudnoise
5.ubiquitous
A)everywhereB)enormousC)swervingD)weakened
6.ruminate
A)thinkdeeplyaboutB)minimizeC)makespaceforD)copy
7.demagogue
A)madmanB)outlawC)greatleaderD)agitator
8.brusque
A)brilliantB)cheerfulC)abruptD)easilyoffended
9.obfuscate
A)complainB)clarifyC)confuseD)mumble
10.adhominem
A)atacticusedtoweardownanopponentthroughconstantrepetitionB)atacticusedtowinanargumentthroughpersonalattackC)atacticusedtodistractanopponentbyintroducinganothertopicD)anargumentthatassumesthetruthofastatementthatisunproven
ANSWERS
1:C)humorous.Herdrollobservationshadmelaughingallevening.
2:B)reduce.Thepanelsubmittedaplantomitigateandmanagethecausesandconsequencesofviolentconflict.
3:D)usingfewwords.Hislaconicyoungfriendrarelysaidmorethantwowordsatatime.
4:C)ashortperiodofrest.Thetreatygavethecountryarespitefromtwentyyearsofwar.
5:A)everywhere.Computershavebecomeubiquitousineverydaylife.
6:A)thinkdeeplyabout.Theyspentlonghoursruminatingonwhatneededtobedone.
7:D)agitator.He’sjustapower-hungrydemagoguewithnocoherentplan.
8:C)abrupt.IgavehimabrusquereplybecauseIwastoobusytochat.
9:C)confuse.Thisisaneffortbytheagencytoobfuscate,misdirect,andconceal.
10:B)atacticusedtowinanargumentthroughpersonalattack.Themayorignoredtheissueandlaunchedaten-minuteadhominemassaultonWilson.
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