0526

Question 1

barricade

Answer 1

Like many immigrants, my parents believed education was both a barricade against harm and a ladder to safety and prosperity.

a temporary wall or fence across a road, door etc that prevents people from going through

Question 2

solitary

Answer 2

I spoke late and was why. My pursuits were solitary.

sol‧i‧ta‧ry1 /ˈsɒlətəri $ ˈsɑːləteri/ ●○○ adjective
1 [only before noun] used to emphasize that there is only one of something SYN single
the solitary goal of the match
The benches were empty except for a single solitary figure.
2 doing something without anyone else with you
a long, solitary walk
3 spending a lot of time alone, usually because you like being alone OPP sociable
a solitary man
Pandas are solitary creatures.
He led a rather solitary existence.

solitary2 noun (plural solitaries)
1 [uncountable] informal solitary confinement
He spent two weeks in solitary.
2 [countable] British English literary someone who lives completely alone SYN hermit

Question 3

pursuit

Answer 3

3 [countable usually plural] formal an activity such as a sport or hobby, which you spend a lot of time doing
pursuits such as swimming and tennis

Question 4

zeal

Answer 4

I could, for instance, play the piano with great feeling- once, in a fit of zeal over Chopin cadenza, I banged my head against the stand.

eagerness to do something, especially to achieve a particular religious or political aim
religious/revolutionary/missionary etc zeal
He approached the job with missionary zeal.
in your zeal to do something
In their zeal to catch drug dealers, police have ignored citizens’ basic civil rights.
zeal for
their zeal for privatization

Question 5

cadenza

Answer 5

a difficult part of a long piece of music, which a performer plays alone in order to show his or her skill

Question 6

indolence

Answer 6

Like my mother, I dislike indolence, and, in my moderately competitive public schools, this quality got me far.

laziness