College Vocabulary · Grade 11 · Week 31
20 words for the week · pairs with Composition lesson 8.3.
Reading: the Composition lesson 8.3, "The Résumé and the Cover Letter," and this week's literature book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain), continued, the section for Week 31 (public-domain text, Project Gutenberg).
Theme of the week: A résumé is a record of diligence; write it truthfully, and let faithful work speak for you. "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men." (Proverbs 22:29).
Rhythm: 4 words a day, Monday to Friday. Each day: read the entry aloud, copy the quoted sentence into the writing notebook, and write one sentence of your own. Friday: learn the last 4 words, then take the quiz.
Sources: ★ = quoted exactly from this week's reading (the lesson or the literature book) · ✝ = KJV (1769 text), quoted exactly · ◆ = quoted exactly from another work on the approved booklists (public-domain text) · ✎ = original example sentence
Part of speech: noun (also a verb)
Definition: A loud and boisterous laugh.
From the reading: "At this someone at the further end of the table gave a sudden guffaw." (Crime and Punishment)
Root:Scots, of imitative origin.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To fool or deceive someone.
Context (original sentence): The traveling salesman gulled the villagers into buying bottles of colored water.
Root:from gull, an unfledged bird, hence a credulous person.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: Shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness.
From the reading: "“Did you really have the gumption to suspect me just because I brought you up to this bare part of the heath?”" (The Innocence of Father Brown)
Root:Scots, of unknown origin.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Concerned with tasting or the sense of taste.
Context (original sentence): The feast was a gustatory delight of roast goose, chestnuts, and plum pudding.
Root:Latin gustare, to taste.
Part of speech: noun (also a verb)
Definition: Hairs along the back of a dog's neck that rise when it is angry; figuratively, anger or resentment.
Context (original sentence): The insult raised the old sergeant's hackles.
Root:Middle English hakell, a comb for flax.
Part of speech: verb (also a noun)
Definition: To dispute or bargain persistently, especially over the cost of something.
Context (original sentence): The two traders haggled for an hour over the price of a mule.
Root:Old Norse hoggva, to hew.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful.
Context (original sentence): He often spoke of the halcyon summers of his boyhood on the lake.
Root:Greek halkyon, the kingfisher, fabled to calm the sea while nesting.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To cause distress to; (literally) to break up soil with a spiked frame.
Context (original sentence): The survivors' accounts of the shipwreck harrowed every reader.
Root:Middle English harwe, a spiked frame for breaking soil.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To persistently carry out attacks on an enemy; to harass.
Context (original sentence): Raiders harried the coastal villages every summer.
Root:Old English hergian, to make war, ravage.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To talk to someone in a bullying way.
Context (original sentence): The foreman hectored the new workers until two of them quit.
Root:from Hector, the Trojan hero, as played by blustering actors.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Requiring great strength or effort.
From the reading: "What was the meaning of this so steady and self-respecting, this small Herculean labor, I knew not." (Walden)
Root:from Hercules, the Greek hero famed for his twelve labors.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Airtight; insulated or protected from outside influences.
Context (original sentence): The jar's hermetic seal kept the jam fresh for years.
Root:from Hermes Trismegistus, legendary founder of alchemy, who sealed vessels.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Unwilling or unable to change because of tradition or convention; narrow-minded.
Context (original sentence): The hidebound clerk refused to use any form invented after his own youth.
Root:of cattle so thin the hide clings to the bones; hence, rigid.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Hairy.
Context (original sentence): The hirsute blacksmith had a beard that reached his belt.
Root:Latin hirsutus, shaggy.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To walk in an awkward way, typically because of pain; to hamper.
Context (original sentence): After the fall he hobbled home on a stick.
Root:Middle English hobelen, to rock or toss.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A large group of people; a crowd.
From the reading: "I saw that the daring youth, in the heat of his exasperation, exposed alone to the horde of barbarians, might also become their victim." (The Swiss Family Robinson)
Root:Turkish ordu, a camp.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A small, squalid, or poorly constructed dwelling.
From the reading: "This hovel however, joined a cottage of a neat and pleasant appearance, but after my late dearly bought experience, I dared not enter it." (Frankenstein)
Root:Middle English hovel, a shed.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A commotion; a fuss.
Context (original sentence): The arrival of the circus elephants caused a hullabaloo in the sleepy town.
Root:Scots and northern English, reduplicated from hollo.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas.
Context (original sentence): The impresario brought the famous soprano across the Atlantic for a single concert.
Root:Italian impresa, an undertaking.
Part of speech: adjective (also a verb)
Definition: Uncomfortably small or crowded; restricted in space.
From the reading: "She put me in them new clothes again, and I couldn’t do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up." (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)
Root:From cramp, Middle Dutch krampe, bent or crooked
Part A. Words in context (2 points each). Choose the meaning of the word as used in the sentence.
1. "He often spoke of the halcyon summers of his boyhood on the lake." Here halcyon most nearly means
A) To cause distress to B) To persistently carry out attacks on an enemy C) Airtight D) Denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful
2. "I saw that the daring youth, in the heat of his exasperation, exposed alone to the horde of barbarians, might also become their victim." Here horde most nearly means
A) Airtight B) Denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful C) A large group of people D) To walk in an awkward way, typically because of pain
3. "The impresario brought the famous soprano across the Atlantic for a single concert." Here impresario most nearly means
A) A commotion B) A large group of people C) Denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful D) A person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas
4. "The insult raised the old sergeant's hackles." Here hackles most nearly means
A) Airtight B) To talk to someone in a bullying way C) To walk in an awkward way, typically because of pain D) Hairs along the back of a dog's neck that rise when it is angry
Part B. Sentence completion (1 point each). Each sentence comes from this week's entries; supply the word in the form used there. Word bank: gustatory, herculean, gumption, hovel, harrow, hector, harry, hirsute, haggle, hobble
5. The two traders ______ for an hour over the price of a mule.
6. "Did you really have the ______ to suspect me just because I brought you up to this bare part of the heath?"
7. The foreman ______ the new workers until two of them quit.
8. "This ______ however, joined a cottage of a neat and pleasant appearance, but after my late dearly bought experience, I dared not enter it."
9. Raiders ______ the coastal villages every summer.
10. The survivors' accounts of the shipwreck ______ every reader.
11. The feast was a ______ delight of roast goose, chestnuts, and plum pudding.
12. "What was the meaning of this so steady and self-respecting, this small ______ labor, I knew not."
Part C. Synonyms and antonyms (1 point each).
13. Synonym of cramped: (impresario / halcyon / confined)
14. Antonym of hidebound: (open-minded / hackles / hullabaloo)
15. Synonym of hermetic: (hirsute / airtight / hidebound)
16. Synonym of gull: (haggle / halcyon / dupe)
Part D. Analytical sentence (6 points). In two or three sentences, make a claim about this week's reading, quote it once, and use at least three of these words correctly: hirsute, hobble, hullabaloo.
1. D 2. C 3. D 4. D
5. haggled 6. gumption 7. hectored 8. hovel 9. harried 10. harrowed 11. gustatory 12. Herculean (distractors: hirsute, hobble)
13. confined 14. open-minded 15. airtight 16. dupe
Part D scoring: 2 for a clear claim, 2 for an accurate quotation, 2 for three week words used correctly. (8 + 8 + 4 + 6 = 26.)