Cumulative Reader's Digest “Word Power” posts:
(in reverse order of posting)
| 7. | Science Words |
| 6. | Jon Stewart / The Daily Show |
| 5. | Summer (“dog” and “can” words) |
| 4. | Culinary Words |
| 3. | Financial Parlance |
| 2. | Scholastic Aptitude Test |
| 1. | George Washington Inaugural Address |
Speaking of words (as I was doing in a recent post)....
I tend to keep a Reader's Digest in the bathroom, for when I have a few moments of, er, time on my hands. Today, I did the “Word Power” from the May 2004 issue, and found it to be quite interesting. All the words are from George Washington's first inaugural address.
Despite feeling that I didn't know most of them, I apparently guessed pretty well. In the end, I did as well as I normally do on these things (which is 1 worse than their “exceptional” level -- I can't quite seem to ever be “exceptional”).
Of course, if this were in Japanese, I'd get zero. But, it's English. How well will you do?
Choose which of the four possible selections best represents the meaning of the word
Note: I will be out of contact until August 26. Any comment you leave before then will be read upon my return.
Wow, I did horrible. This left me lacking all felicity and with much despondence. I submit a supplication for additional such quizes in the future, regardless of any vicissitudes.
(BTW, I believe the reason Washington’s first term was in 1789 wasn’t due to the war’s length, but the Articles of Confederation, which preceeded the Constitution.)
(BTW2, if you dig Washington, check out 1776. Great read.)
I missed one, “aver.” I read a lot as a kid. The word “vicissitude” always makes me laugh because we had this English blue-blood (a relative of Mountbatten) nutjob writing about arts for our college newspaper, and he once used the word “Vicissitudinous” in a review. At the time it was the funniest thing ever.
“Exceptional
Wow, you got them all correct!!!”
Guess I should have been born in the 17th century
Of course, knowing words is one thing; the skilled use of them, another entirely.
And as I may have mentioned, I taught vocabulary classes for two years for The Princeton Review. The instructors used to offer prizes to students who brought them a word from a newspaper the instructor couldn’t define correctly (with a few caveats: no scientific words (though I did accept “nictitating” just to show off) or highly specialized jargon).
If anyone has (or is) a child approaching PSAT/SAT age, I’d recommend professional preparation, even if they’re doing well (in fact, especially if they’re doing well, unless they’re currently scoring 1550 or higher). If that’s not possible (it’s perversely expensive), I’d recommend they practice every single SAT question they can get their hands on.
There was a great moment for word-lovers at the 1976 Democratic national convention when the nomination speech for Jimmy Carter referred to his “moral turpitude” rather than “moral rectitude”.