Waiter, please take this bowl of soup back to

THE KITCHEN

In addition to menacing our health, cockroaches are smelly, filthy, and ugly. Upon entering a

cellar that is redolent with their aroma, you are not likely to forget the odor. And when you

spy the foul culprits* creating havoc* in your sugar bowl or in repose atop your chocolate

cake, your disposition may be exacerbated.* Roaches are omnivorous and will feast upon such

disparate items as wallpaper, upholstery, nylon stockings, and beer. No one can accuse the

hungry and thirsty bugs of being abstemious.

Sample Sentences The words above fit into the blanks below.

1. While the palace guards were in ________________, the rebels’ coup* began in

earnest.

2. Coach Fischer issued a fiat* that required that his players be ________________.

3. The ________________ scent that came from the bakery created in Eloise a sense of

nostalgia* for her grandmother ’s bread.

4. ________________ eaters find the dietary laws in some hotels to be too restrictive.*

5. Regardless of how ________________ their crimes were, all the prisoners were freed

by the general amnesty.*

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

6. redolent a. different

7. repose (n.) b. fragrant

8. omnivorous c. moderate in eating or drinking

9. disparate d. eating any kind of food

10. abstemious e. state of rest

T ODAY ’ S I DIOM

a lick and a promise —to do something in a hasty and superficial manner

The meticulous* housewife was in so much of a hurry that she could only give the

apartment a lick and a promise.

N EW W ORDS

Extant

ek´ stənt or

ek stant´

Vicissitudes

və sis´ ə tüdz

Edifice

ed´ ə fis

Sultry

sul´ trē

Trenchant

tren´ chənt

W EEK 20 D AY 3

THE ROACH LIVES ON

Cockroaches are the oldest extant winged insects, having been traced back over 350 million

years. They have endured the vicissitudes of weather, natural disasters, war, and planned

liquidation.* They reside comfortably in caves in South America, in transcontinental

airplanes, on mountain tops, in Park Avenue edifices, and in television sets. The climate may

be sultry or frigid but roaches persevere.* In the words of one writer, “The miraculous

survival of the roach is explained by its inherent* adaptability.” In fact, a trenchant analysis

made the point that any forthcoming nuclear war will be won by roaches, not Russians,

Chinese, or Americans.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

1. Hundreds of ________________ copies of Shakespeare’s signature came from the

same prolific* forger.

2. The ________________ of life in the Medical Corps are not for the squeamish.*

3. We originally planned on a skyscraper but had to settle for a truncated*

________________.

4. When he learned that the movie was to be replete* with ________________ scenes, the

cautious banker refused to underwrite* its cost.

5. General Fox submitted a ________________ report on the enemy’s latent* strength.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

6. extant a. keen, incisive*

7. vicissitudes b. difficulties

8. edifice c. extremely hot and moist, torrid

9. sultry d. still existing

10. trenchant e. a building

T ODAY ’ S I DIOM

tongue in cheek —insincerely

Speaking with his tongue in his cheek, the parsimonious* employer promised to double

everyone’s wages.

N EW W ORDS

Puissant

pyü´ ə sent or

pyü is´ nt

Unabated

un´ ə bāt´ id

Maudlin

môd´ lən

Levity

lev´ ə tē

Lugubrious

lü gü´ brē əs

W EEK 20 D AY 4

TONGUE IN CHEEK*?

The U.S. Public Health Service admits to frustration* in its attempts to destroy the cockroach.

As soon as the scientists devise a puissant chemical, some bugs succumb.* But the hardy ones

survive and breed a resistant strain. Since the average female produces close to three hundred

descendants, little hope is held out for a final solution to the roach problem. Nevertheless,

extermination campaigns continue unabated. Surprisingly, some sentimental souls become

maudlin as they consider the persecution of the insects. A writer noted for his levity made a

lugubrious plea for a crash program of aid for the cockroach, calling him “a victim of his

slum environment.”

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

1. She advocated* ________________ music as appropriate background for the funeral

scene.

2. Although the debater ’s rebuttal was ________________, it was totally irrelevant.*

3. The plague continued ________________, and the hapless* Friar John was unable to

deliver the note to Romeo.

4. A good barometer* of the reunion’s success was the number of ________________

songs that the alumni sang.

5. Dean Flanigan admonished* us for our ________________ at the graduation exercises.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

6. puissant a. sentimental

7. unabated b. very sad

8. maudlin c. lightness of disposition

9. levity d. without subsiding

10. lugubrious e. powerful

T ODAY ’ S I DIOM

to take the wind out of one’s sails —to remove someone’s advantage

Although Edna was bristling* with anger when she stormed in, I took the wind out of her

sails by voicing my own displeasure at the way she had been treated.

W EEK 20 D AY 5

REVIEW

There are many choice epithets* for cockroaches, and over the centuries man has been most

resourceful* in concocting* adjectives to describe the insects. Whether you are going to get

excited over a roach, write a poem, take a College Board examination, or compose a letter to

a loved one, it helps to have a rich vocabulary.

Match the twenty words with their meanings. *Reminder: Record answers on a sheet of paper.

REVIEW WORDS DEFINITIONS

1. abstemious a. different

2. derogatory b. sentimental

3. disparate c. building

4. edifice d. very sad

5. extant e. humor, lightness of disposition

6. indict f. vague, not clear

7. levity g. expressing a low opinion

8. lugubrious h. eating any kind of food

9. maudlin i. accuse

10. nebulous j. state of rest

11. omnivorous k. still existing

12. pesky l. powerful

13. puissant m. annoying

14. redolent n. fragrant

15. repose o. moderate in eating or drinking

16. reviled p. keen, sharp, biting

17. sultry q. torrid

18. trenchant r. difficulties

19. unabated s. without subsiding

20. vicissitudes t. scolded

IDIOMS

21. left holding the bag u. insincerely

22. a lick and a promise v. left to suffer the blame

23. tongue in cheek w. do something in a cursory* manner

24. take the wind out of one’s sails x. remove someone’s advantage

Make a record of those words you missed.

*For reference only

WORDS FOR

FURTHER STUDY MEANINGS

1. _________________________ _________________________

2. _________________________ _________________________

3. _________________________ _________________________

HAPLESS HEADLINES

(From Week 20)

Restore meaning to the headlines below by inserting the word that the careless typesetter

omitted.

a. Pesky k. Reviled

b. Maudlin l. Puissant

c. Repose m. Nebulous

d. Abstemious n. Trenchant

e. Sultry o. Lugubrious

f. Vicissitudes p. Disparate

g. Redolent q. Indict

h. Levity r. Extant

i. Derogatory s. Omnivorous

j. Unabated t. Edifice

1. Rioting Continues ________________ in Men’s Correctional Facility

2. Torch Singer ’s ________________ Songs Raise Temperature in Night Club

3. ________________ Life-Style Results in Huge Weight Loss for Actor

4. Architect Celebrated for New All-Glass ________________

5. Serious Judge Will Tolerate No ________________ in His Courtroom

6. Grand Jury Set to ________________ Bookkeeper in Million Dollar Fraud

7. Baseball Manager to Apologize for ________________ Remarks about Umpire

8. Only Three Copies of Shakespeare’s Handwriting ________________, Says

Elizabethan Scholar

9. Handicapped Climbers Overcome Many ________________ to Scale Mt. Everest

10. Dictator ________________ by South American Patriots

WORDSEARCH 20

Using the clues listed below, record separately using one of the new words you learned this

week for each blank in the following story.

Clues

1st Day

4th Day

1st Day

2nd Day

1st Day

Chlorine Compounds on Trial

The chances are that the water supply where you live is disinfected by chlorine, one of the

elements on the periodic table. Yet, complaints about chlorine continue,

identifying it as a health and environmental risk.

Greenpeace, the environmental activist group, stands ready to chlorinated organic

elements, alleging that they are toxic. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency is

reexamining the health hazards that are prevalent when materials containing chlorine are

processed at high temperatures. And, worldwide, nations are banning chlorine compounds

that destroy the earth’s protective ozone layer. Harsh treatment, it would seem, for one of

nature’s basic elements, a component of the table salt we use.

When we enter a pool that is with the aroma of chlorine, we don’t associate it with

the element now being blamed for tumors, reproductive problems, arrested

development, destruction of wildlife, and sundry other ills that plague our planet.

A scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund thinks that chlorinated chemicals should be

phased out. “We know they will be persistent if they get into the environment,” she said. “They

are soluble, so they will build up in the fat of fish, birds, and people.”

N EW W ORDS

Scion

sī´ ən

Indoctrinate

in dok´ trə nāt

Opulence

op´ yə ləns

Obsequious

əb sē´ kwē əs

Fulsome

fül´ səm

W EEK 21 D AY 1

LOCKED IN AN IVORY EDIFICE*

Prince Siddhartha Gautama was the scion of a family of warrior-kings in northern India. He

was being indoctrinated for the time when he would assume his father ’s throne. Growing up

in an atmosphere of opulence, the young prince was constantly shielded from the cruel

realities of the world. An army of obsequious servants and tutors catered to his every desire,

providing Siddhartha with instruction in riding, fencing, dancing, and painting—while

lavishing fulsome praise upon him. It wasn’t until the prince was thirty that he took the first

step that led to his becoming the Buddha, one of the world’s greatest spiritual leaders.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences. (Which two words are

almost synonymous?)

1. It was not until the wreckers began to dismantle* the old edifice* that they discovered

its real ________________.

2. As the ________________ of a family of wealthy bankers, Rothschild never had to face

the vicissitudes* of life.

3. Uriah Heep’s ________________ manner nettled* all but the most gullible.*

4. In order to ________________ the captive, his jailers repeatedly reviled* capitalism

while praising communism.

5. The actress received ________________ compliments from her friends but trenchant*

criticism from the reviewers.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

6. scion a. seeking favor, fawning

7. indoctrinate b. child, descendant

8. opulence c. wealth, riches

9. obsequious d. excessive, insincere

10. fulsome e. to teach certain principles

T ODAY ’ S I DIOM

two strings to one’s bow —two means of achieving one’s aim

The salesman had two strings to his bow —if a phone call didn’t get results, he would

appear in person.

N EW W ORDS

Lush

lush

Destitution

des´ tə tü´ shən

Ponder

pon´ dər

Supplication

sup´ lə kā´ shən

Decadence

dek´ ə dəns

W EEK 21 D AY 2