WORD POWER, Test 2 & 3

Here's Test 2 and Test 3
(Following this post I'll include Test 4 and 5; then the answers to all)

TEST 2:

(1) INFRACTION--A: an interruption. B: a fracture. C: a delay. D: a violation.

(2) TORRID--A: coarse. B: extremely hot. C: hurried. D: angry.

(3) EXUDE--A: discharge slowly. B: dry out. C: boast. D: flatter.

(4) IMMUNE--A: silent. B: protected against disease. C: stubborn. D: imprisoned.

(5) TERSE--A: provoked. B: tense. C: brief. D: serious.

(6) NETTLE--A: to catch. B: to vex. C: to prick. D: to deceive.

(7) LAGGARD--A: careless. B: slow. C: untidy. D: lazy.

(8) ALIENATE--A: to make friendly. B: to travel widely. C: to make hostile. D: to ban.

(9) FEIGN--A: to pretend. B: to disdain. C: to flatter. D: to be favorably disposed.

(10) RAVAGE--A: to enrage. B: to plunder. C: to be devious. D: to tempt.


Here is a still harder list. If you are an average adult the odds are that you will miss about one third of these words.

TEST 3:

(1) PREVARICATION--A: confusion. B: wandering around. C: a deviation from the truth. D: an act of delay.

(2) BERSERK--A: hairy. B: in a frenzy. C: foreign. D: disheveled.

(3) PUNITIVE--A: punishing. B: incidental. C: strong. D: deceptive.

(4) VAUNTED--A: greatly desired. B: boasted. C: powerful. D: empty.

(5) ALTERCATE--A: to occur in turns. B: to dispute angrily. C: to agree. D: to change.

(6) INVEIGLE--A: to provoke. B: to corrupt with money. C: to bulldoze. D: to entice.

(7) IMPETUOUSITY--A: peevishness. B: rash and sudden haste. C: great anger. D: persistence.

(8) ARROGANT--A: claiming without right. B: uninterested in others. C: proud and disdainful. D: towering.

(9) EULOGY--A: high praise. B: criticism. C: hope. D: a lament for the dead.

(10) EVOCATION--A: a cancellation. B: a creation. C: a calling forth. D: a hobby.

WORD POWER, Test 1

{When you come across a new word, you will do well, of course, to copy it down in a blank book and to indicate its pronunciation, with a rhyming word if necessary. And then you should write down its most common meaning and the sentence in which you first noted the word. And, finally, you should try to use the word, if it is not too difficult, in a letter or in conversation.}

But while these moves are useful, they are of secondary importance. Words learned by memory and rote are slippery eels that are apt to slide out of your mind back into the sea of forgetfulness.
The matter of first importance in vocabulary building is to have a burning intellectual curiosity about things--to develope new and wider interests. You will learn and remember words best when you are reading about a subject that absorbs you, for then you will wish to know what the writer is talking about. You learn and remember words when you want and need to know their meanings. Here is the new idea in vocabulary building, and the techniques of this book are based on this new approach.

Now you are ready for your tests. When you have finished, why not try them on one or more of your friends? It may entertain them and they will probably enjoy finding out how they stand.

RULES:
The rules for taking these tests are simple and are the same for all five.

You will notice that there are 10 key words in each test, printed in small capitals. After each key word there are four words or phrases lettered A, B, C, and D. Check the word or phrase that you think is nearest in meaning to the key word. Let's set up a sample.

COURAGEOUS--A: strong. B: cowardly. C: brave. D: cruel.

In this case you, the reader, would mark "brave" as being nearest in meaning to "courageous."

Because of the different age groups that will take these tests, no arbitrary time limit has been set. But since you want to get an honest appraisal of your vocabulary it would be unfair to yourself to take an unreasonable length of time. You either know these words or you don't, and fussing won't help. And please don't do too much guessing.

After you have finished these 5 tests turn to page 11-12 and check your results against the correct answers that are given there.

TEST 1

(1) DETRIMENTAL--A: depressing. B: increasing. C: injurious. D: complaining.

(2) SUBJUGATE--A: to substitute. B: to subdue. C: to yield. D: to battle.

(3) CHASTISE--A: to make pure. B: to punish. C: to reward. D: to pursue.

(4) TANTALIZE--A: to flatter. B: to tease or torment. C: to experiment. D: to hesitate.

(5) STANCH--A: standing on end. B: a bad odor. C: firm and steady. D: tight shut.

(6) INDICT--A: to write down. B: to charge with crime. C: to command. D: to point out.

(7) INFLEXIBLE--A: complicated. B: bending. C: tightly woven. D: firm.

(8) AUDACIOUS--A: brilliant. B: bold. C: powerful. D: frightening.

(9) EROSION--A: a bursting. B: a wearing away. C: a heavy stain. D: a slope.

(10) INCESSANT--A: uncertain. B: unceasing. C: occasional. D: irritating.

Do you have the feeling that you did fairly well with the first test? You should have, as the meanings of the first group of words are known to most literate people.

Now try the following test. These words are a little harder... (I will post Test 2 next post)

WORD POWER

Among the stacks of books I'm currently reading, is another SIX WEEKS to WORDS of POWER by Wilfred Funk.

Great book so far and I am going to share it with anyone who views this blog and for my own record to look back on.

"If you are young it will be easy for you to do. But never give age as an excuse. You can teach an old dog new tricks. This is the scientific discovery made by Dr. Irving Lorge, a brilliant psychologist at Columbia University. By a series of tests he has proved that older people lose nothing in mental power if they will keep up their active interests. They lose slightly in speed. Yes. But he showed that the ability of the mind to think and create, barring illness, is with you until the age of 90 and past. Your body gets old, Dr. Lorge says, but not your mind if you care to use it. The mind never retires!

There are a host of dramatic instances in history that point up this fact.

Rodin, the sculptor, did some of his finest work after 70. Michelangelo was 70 when he painted the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. Verdi composed the opera Otello at 75 and Falstaff at 80; and also Anatole France at 80 and Thomas Hardy at 88 were in the full flush of literary creation; while at 98 Titian painted the Battle of Lepanto. As a matter of true fact, 5 percent of all the works of genius have been done after the age of 80.

So neither age nor youth is left with a shred of excuse for lack of performance in any field controlled by the mind. Both can continue to advance their knowledge through the years. And, in the present instance, both can profit so greatly by word study and can get such keen enjoyment out of acquiring the art of superior self-expression. For nothing can make a man feel more confident than a mastery of his native speech. On the other hand, nothing can give a man such a sense of inferiority as a stammering incompetence in the use of words."