CHAPTER 3 / BUILDING AN IMPRESSIVE VOCABULARY 117
Unit 3 Exercise Set I Answer Key
- D Acensoris one who removes objectionable
material.
abridge=to shorten
amass=to accumulate or collect
refute=to disprove
expurgate=to remove inappropriate material
enervate=to weaken - B The waters are becoming more polluted,
which indicates that people are probably putting
their garbage into the lake.
pilfer=to steal
jettison=to throw overboard
yoke=to tie together
assail=to attack
impel=to provoke - E The critic thoroughly intendedto say what he
said. But if they were things he was expected to
take back,they must have been pretty negative.
The second word should be negative as well.
caustic=harmful;compliment=to praise
derogatory=offensive;revere=to respect
sanctimonious=smug
laconic=terse;lionize=to worship
scathing=harsh;disparage=to put down - E This person makes his living wandering from
town to town.
bellicose=warlike
inert=inactive
lethargic=sluggish
acrid=harsh
peripatetic=traveling from place to place - B Peter sometimes picks fights (fisticuffs). The
second word should be slightly stronger than the
first.
congenial=friendly;rapacious=ravenous
contentious=inclined to argue; belligerent=
warlike
listless=lethargic;dolorous=painful
choleric=easily angered; serene=peaceful
sanguine=optimistic;pugnacious=combative - A It got yanked off the air, so the show must
have done something bad. The word surprisingly
indicates a contrast, so the first word is positive.
decorous=proper;provocative=risqué
compliant=obedient;obsequious=submissive
vulnerable=susceptible;porous=full of holes
volatile=explosive;tumultuous=turbulent
deplorable=very bad; altruistic=selfless- B The nation is destitute,and therefore needs
money to pour in.
depletion=draining
influx=inward flow
transgression=violation
fluctuation=shift back and forth
bulwark=a defensive wall - B It is difficult to concentrate and the street is
busy with construction; there must be lot of noise
down there.
torpor=sluggishness
cacophony=harsh noise
euphoria=elation, ecstasy
anomaly=an abnormality
sacrament=a formal religious act - C The owner of the puppy is exhausted and
therefore in need of rest. Interminablemeans
never-ending.The puppy’s nap would provide the
owner with a nice break from the mischief.
an elocution=an expressive delivery of a
speech
a euphemism=an inoffensive expression
substituted for an offensive one
a respite=a rest
a rebuttal=a retort
a testimony=an account, evidence - CThe first word describes one who is no longer
bedridden. The second word describes a problem
from being bedridden. Atrophyworks because it
is the result of disuse.
itinerant=wandering;deterioration=
degeneration
amiable=friendly;bastion=a fortified area
ambulatory=able to move; atrophy=withering
amorphous=lacking shape; attrition=erosion
pedestrian=common;acrimony=harsh words
(pedestriancan also mean “on the move”)