Learningexpress Vocabulary Spelling Success 4e

Practice Activities

Many of the words in this chapter’s vocabulary list have several synonyms. Find a good thesaurus and find the synonyms for each word. Try to list five synonyms for each word. If you have difficulty finding the word in the thesaurus, use an alternate form of the word (like resonate for resonant). Your synonyms may be one word long or you may choose to write a few words in a phrase that makes the meaning clear.

To practice your spelling skills, as well as your understanding of the meanings of the words from this chapter’s vocabulary list, construct another crossword

puzzle. Choose one of the longer words to start with, and write it down in the middle of a page. Then find a word that you can connect to this word because they both share a letter, and write the second word going down through this word. Then try and connect a word to that word, and continue doing this until you have connected every word on the list. Draw boxes around all the letters (or just use graph paper), and place a number in the box with the first letter in each word. Finally, make a list of clues for your crossword puzzle for both the Across and the Down words. Can any of your friends solve your puzzle?

Answers

Words in Context

Because the boys in this passage are trying their best to blend in at a fancy party they were not invited to, we can guess that when they put on their best genteel manners upon arriving, they are trying to be polite, refined, and gentlemanly. Pete’s loud guffaw that disrupts the room after Joe whispers a joke in his ear helps us understand that guffaw means a loud, rough burst of laughter. The next sentence helps us identify Pete’s lovable insouciance as his troublesome, happy-go-lucky attitude. Since the narrator feels Pete can be obtuse about noticing when to restrain himself, we can conclude that obtuse can mean insensitive, or slow to understand or notice. Since the boys search for and find a bevy of young ladies, we must assume that bevy is a group of some kind. The pale girl’s dark eyes and hair accentuate her pallor, making it possible for us to guess that pallor means lack of color or unnatural paleness. The third girl chooses not to dance and remain inert, so we can read inert as inactive or incapable of moving. The reason she won’t dance is because she is heartbroken, which helps us understand that the word disconsolate means sad, hopeless, or dejected. Since she seems to have mixed feelings about being at the party, trying to meet new people, and enjoying herself, we should assume that ambivalent means divided and uncertain feelings, or feeling two opposite feelings at the same time. Finally, Pete’s humorous attempts to add to the hostess’s confusion at not recognizing the party crashers helps us conclude that addle must mean confuse, fluster, or muddle.

Sentence Completion

1.sycophant. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

2.purloin. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

3.genteel. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

4.inert. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

5.smidgen. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

6.omniscient. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

7.ambivalent. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

8.mutable. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

9.wallow. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

10.pallor. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

11.disconsolate. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

12.bevy. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

13.partisan. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

14.addle. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

15.insouciance. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

16.rubric. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

17.resonant. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

18.guffaw. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

19.obtuse. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

20.guttural. If you got this question wrong, refer back to the word’s definition.

Synonyms

21.c. boisterous. Inert means not moving or not able to move, and boisterous means noisy and exuberant, which is not a synonym.

22.b. soft. Genteel means polite, refined, and gentlemanly or ladylike. You may have confused soft and its synonym gentle with genteel.

23.a. one who is rude to the boss. A sycophant is one who tries to get ahead by flattery. Choice a is the only choice that is not appropriate.

24.d. avoid. Wallow means to overindulge in something, making a spectacle of oneself, like the way a pig will roll about in the mud. Avoid means to steer clear of, so it is not a synonym.

25.b. anxiety. Insouciance is an easy-going and happy-go-lucky attitude. Since anxiety means painful uneasiness of the mind, or worry, it is not a synonym.

26.d. weak. Resonant is used to describe sounds and means vibrant, full, and resounding. Weak would not be a synonym because resonant sounds are strong, loud sounds.

27.c. plenty. A smidgen is a very small particle or amount. Since plenty means an abundance or full supply of something, it is not a synonym.

28.a. frown. A guffaw is a loud burst of laughter. Since a frown is a look of displeasure or disapproval, it is not a synonym.

29.d. example. A bevy is a group or flock. Since an example is a model or specimen of something, it is not a synonym.

30.b. crimson. A rubric is a formal word for name or category. Crimson is a deep red color.

Antonyms

31.Obtuse means dull and not sharp, or slow to notice, the opposite of the words listed.

32.Addle means to confuse, fluster, or muddle, the opposite of the words listed.

33.Mutable means changeable or variable, the opposite of the words listed.

34.Partisan means strongly devoted to one side in a conflict or a political party.

35.Ambivalent means having conflicting feelings about something, the opposite of the words listed.

36.Omniscient means all knowing, the opposite of the words listed.

37.Disconsolate means sad, dejected, and hopeless, the opposite of the words listed.

38.Genteel means refined, polite, and elegant, the opposite of the words listed.

39.Pallor means a lack of color, or an unnatural paleness, the opposite of the words listed.

40.Purloin means to steal, the opposite of the words listed.

Matching Questions

41.d

42.g

43.i

44.b

45.f

46.j

47.a

48.e

49.c

50.h

Across

Down

1 purloin

3obtuse

4resonant

6pallor

8disconsolate

11 partisan

13 guffaw

15 inert

17 genteel

19 mutable