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Day 1
day_1_SAT_vocab
25
English
11th Grade
06/30/2012

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Cards

Term
ambivalent
Definition
-----contradictory, having mixed feelings-----In the movie Gladiator, Emperor Commodius is at the Coliseum. He wants to eliminate a hated rival. at the same time He wants to please the pro-Maximus crowd.
Term
anomaly
Definition
-----deviation from the norm, something that is atypical (not normal)-----Dursley notices several strange anomalies or what he calls "funny stuff" - like a cat that appears to be reading a map.
Term
sarcastic and sardonic
Definition
-----mocking, derisive, taunting, stinging-----A sardonic comment: "Sir, you are a drunk." "Well, Madame, you are ugly. In the morning I shall be sober, and you will still be ugly."
Term
dearth and paucity
Definition
-----a scarcity or shortage of something-----A study by USA Today revealed that college football teams have a dearth of minority coaches: just 9 of the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision universities have minority coaches. There is also a paucity of minority c
Term
prattle
Definition
-----to speak in a foolish manner; to babble incessantly-----An example of prattling on and on: "I don't care if htey lay me off either, because I told, I told Bill that if they move my desk one more time, then, then, I'm, I'm quitting, I'm going to quit.
Term
wry
Definition
dry, humorous with a clever twist and a touch of irony-----On Sunday a 60-year-old man sat at a table playing cards with his friends, when two gunmen shot and killed him. The witnesses refused to answer questions, claiming they didn't see anything, which prompted a wry comment from a police officer that "the victim must have been playing solitaire."
Term
unconventional and unorthodox
Definition
-----not ordinary or typical; avoiding customary conventions and behaviors-----In "High School Musical", Zeke and Martha have unconventional passions: Zeke is a basketball star who loves to bake and Martha is a brainiac who loves hip hop. Their friends di
Term
painstaking and meticulous
Definition
-----extremely careful; very exacting-----After the destructive incident, experts meticulously gathered each broken fragment and painstakingly restored Michelangelo's Pieta.
Term
audacious
Definition
-----fearlessly, often recklessly daring; very bold-----Both Japan and the United States launched audacious surprise attacks on unsuspecting adversaries: Japan with Pearl Harbor and the USA with the Christmas Day attack in 1776.
Term
indifferent and apathetic
Definition
-----marked by a lack of interest or concern-----In "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", the teacher asks a question, but his students are indifferent and ignore it. Some are so apathetic that they fall asleep.
Term
diffident
Definition
-----lacking self-confidence; self-effacing; not assertive-----Peter Parker was originally very diffident, but he was able to overcome his diffidence to become Spider-Man.
Term
pragmatic
Definition
-----practical; sensible; not idealistic or romantic-----Protestant King Henry IV made a pragmatic decision to resolve a crisis by choosing to become Catholic for his Catholic-dominated country.
Term
evocation
Definition
-----an imaginative re-creation-----The treasures of Pharaoh Tutankhamen are evocations of the power and splendor of Ancient Egypt.
Term
presumptuous
Definition
-----overbearing; impertinently bold; characterized by brashly overstepping one's place-----A presumptuous comment: "Do not be coy or stupid, Persian. You can afford neither in Sparta."
Term
recalcitrant
Definition
-----stubborn resistance to and defiance of authority or guidance; obstinate; obdurate-----In Amy Winehouse's song "Rehab", her friends and family all beg her to go to rehab, but she is recalcitrant and declares, "No, no, no."
Term
boon
Definition
-----a timely benefit; blessing-----50 Cent was shot 9 times and lived, which was a boon for his career because it gave him street cred and publicity.
Term
bane
Definition
-----a source of harm and ruin-----At first, 50 Cent's shooting was a bane, as it caused him excruciating pain.
Term
clandestine and surreptitious
Definition
-----secret; covert; not open; not aboveboard-----Dumbledore's Army was a clandestine group that conducted surreptitious activity, secretly teaching students how to defend themselves.
Term
affable, amiable, genial, gregarious
Definition
-----agreeable; marked by a pleasing personality; warm and friendly-----President Reagan was renowned for his affable grace and genial good humor. After being shot, the amiable president looked up at his doctors and said, "I hope you're all Republicans."
Term
confounded
Definition
-----puzzled; confused; bewildered; very perplexed; mystified-----In "The Hangover", three friends find their friend Doug missing after a night in Las Vegas. They are confounded and have no memory of what happened.
Term
prodigious
Definition
-----huge; massive; enormous-----Michael Jackson displayed a prodigious talent for music and dance from a very early age.
Term
ambiguous
Definition
-----unclear; uncertain; open to more than one definition; not definitive-----The final scene of "The Sopranos" is deliberately ambiguous; we don't know if Tony will greet his daughter or be shot.
Term
reproach
Definition
-----to express disapproval; scold; rebuke; censure-----Ms. Vaughn reproaches a student: "Making fun of a little kid for trying to read. Are you psycho? Do you not have a soul?"
Term
nostalgia
Definition
-----a sentimental longing for the past-----"Happy Days" and "Grease" are both nostalgic looks back at the 1950s when we loved Lucy and wanted to be like Danny Zuko.
Term
conjecture
Definition
-----an inference based upon guesswork; a supposition-----Scientists have offered a number of conjectures to explain why the Age of Dinosaurs came to an abrupt end.
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