144 | July• 2019
WORD POWER
1.catalyst– [D] something that
sparks a change. Quincy wondered
what the catalyst was for his
mother’s sudden obsession with
running long-distance marathons.
2.occlude– [B] block off. Slowly
but surely, hair and toothpaste
occluded the sink in the student
residence’s drainpipe.
3.caustic– [C] bitingly sarcastic.
Hamid offered caustic praise for
his bank’s customer service when
he learned he’d been tricked into
paying unnecessary fees for taking
out a new credit card.
4.volatile– [A] unstable and
unpredictable. Knowing how
volatile weather in Europe can be,
Chantal packed both a bathing suit
and a snowsuit for her trip.
5.bromidic– [C] clichéd. After
losing his job, Lucas politely
endured his friends’ bromidic
claims that everything happens
for a reason.
6.distil– [D] extract key points.
Since Brett planned to watch the
election debate in full, Maya asked
him to distil it for her afterwards.
7.miscible– [D] able to be mixed.
Natali’s mathematics classmates
and Janelle’s sewing-circle friends
proved surprisingly miscible at
t he pa r t y.8.substrate– [A] underlying layer.
The aquarium featured ferns
and polished rocks on a substrate
of sand.9.buffer– [B] protective barrier.
The even-tempered middle sister
was a buffer between the other two.10.osmosis– [C] g radual,
unconscious assimilation of
knowledge. Jake brought his
daughter to the office, hoping she
might learn some business skills
by osmosis.11.adduct– [B] move a limb
inward. The dance required Sun-mi
to adduct her arms as she finished
her final twirl.12.litmus test– [A] decisive test.
Annabel emphasised that her
uninformed opinion wouldn’t be
a good litmus test of the wine’s
qua l it y.13.inert– [C] slow or powerless to
move. The dog sniffed at a rabbit,
whose fear rendered it inert.Answers
VOCABULARY RATINGS
5-8:Fair
9–10:Good
11–13: Word Power Wizard