Reading Ch. 19-20 Flashcards
Coalition
A partnership.
Four colleges formed a coalition to operate a shared Center of Higher Education.
A coalition of one sheriff, two horse thieves, three stagecoach robbers, and a couple of crooked gamblers once made up the government of Virginia City.
Chide
To criticize. To scold.
My parents chided me for getting sunburned, but my blistered skin hurt a lot more than their scolding.
Eli’s was right to chide me when I lazily threw the newspapers into the trash instead of stacking and tying them for recycling.
Commensurate
Equal to.
Most students who work hard will eventually see results commensurate with their efforts.
The expression “ make the punishment fit the crime” means that a penalty soul be commensurate with the degree of wrong doing.
Connotation
A suggested meaning.
For many of us, the word sea has a connotation of salty airandv sat openness.
Sayonara, the Japanese word for “goodbye”, actually means “if it must be so” and thus has connotations of sadness at parting.
Diabolic
Devilish.
In the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the barber is indeed diabolic: he kills his clients by cutting their throats so that his friend Mrs. Lovett can make the victims into meat pies.
The horror story featured open graves, walking corpses and a diabolic villain who turned an entire townful of people into zombies.
Dilapidated
Run-down.
The dilapidated house must have once been handsome. Some of its broken windows are stained glass, and the loose door hinges are fine metalwork.
His teddy bear is dilapidated, with its ears hanging by threads and the stuffing coming out, but the little boy won’t let go of it long enough for anyone yo repair it.
Integral
Essential.
Arguing seems to be an integral part of Laura and Nate’s relationship. If they weren’t fighting, they’d have nothing to say to each other.
Voting is integral to democracy. Without free elections, a democratic system cannot continue to exist.
Noxious
Unhealthy.
When you are cleaning, never mix ammonia and bleach. The noxious gas they produce could send you to the hospital.
The entire office building had to be evacuated when noxious fumes started coming out of the air vents and dozens of workers got sick.
Scenario
An outline of possible events.
“I’ve worked out an overall scenario for the movie,” the screenwriter said, “but I haven’t gone by the basic plot.”
To help governments and industries plan for the future, experts sometimes develop scenarios describing what might happen in the next year or decade.
Yen
A longing.
Whenever I have a yen for something sweet, I try to eat fruit instead of cookies or candy.
My yen for garlic bagel chips doesn’t go away even after I’ve eaten a whole bagful.
Atrophy
To waste away.
Since unused muscles atrophy, an arm or a leg that remains in a cast for some time becomes thinner.
“If you watch any more of those mindless television programs,” my father said “your brain will atrophy.”
Deplore
To condemn.
Bernie deplored his coworkers’ habit of taking hone paper clips, Scotch tape, pens, and stationary from the office, a practice he felt was dishonest.
Many people deplore some of the content on the Internet but feel they must tolerate, because they disapprove just as strongly of censorship.
Deprivation
A deficiency.
Children who spend their early years in institutions where they receive no love may suffer throughout life from the effects of this deprivation.
Weight-loss programs typically claim that their members experience no sense of deprivation. “You’ll never be hungry!” They promise.
Exacerbate
To make worse.
Scratching a mosquito bite only exacerbates the itching and may even cause an infection.
Instead of soothing the baby, the sound of the music box seemed only to exacerbate his crying.
Imperative
Essential.
It is imperative that I renew my driver’s license today–it expires at midnight.
“It is imperative for this letter to reach Mr. Rivera tomorrow,” the boss said, “so please send it by Express Mail.”
