Word Meanings

Flooded with spotlights – the focus of all attention – the new Miss America began her year-long reign. She was the cynosure of all eyes for the rest of the evening.

• exception

• center of attention

• self-centered person

• attraction

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.4C

CCSS.L.6.4C

CCSS.L.7.4C

CCSS.L.8.4C

CCSS.L.9-10.4C

The mountain pass was a tortuous road, winding and twisting like a snake around the trees of the mountainside.

• rocky

• painful

• depressing

• curving

Tags

CCSS.L.1.5D

CCSS.L.2.5B

CCSS.L.3.5C

CCSS.L.K.5D

The children were as different as day and night. He was a lively conversationalist, but she was reserved and taciturn.

• quietly uncommunicative

• obnoxiously loud

• openly opinionated

• extremely funny

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

The lugubrious wails of the gypsies matched the dreary whistling of the wind in the allbut-deserted cemetery.

• lively

• sing-song

• gloomy

• frightening

Tags

CCSS.L.3.3A

CCSS.L.4.3A

CCSS.L.5.3A

CCSS.L.6.3A

CCSS.L.6.3B

During those first bewildering weeks, the thoughts of a college freshman drift back to high school where he was “in,” knew everyone, and felt at home. A feeling of nostalgia sweeps over him.

• boredom

• anxiety

• remembrance

• homeliness

Tags

CCSS.L.1.6

CCSS.L.3.6

CCSS.L.4.6

CCSS.RL.1.4

She told her friend, “I’m through with blind dates forever. What a dull evening! I was bored every minute. The conversation was absolutely vapid.”

• uninteresting

• slow

• rediculous

• thrilling

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.4A

CCSS.L.7.4A

CCSS.L.7.5B

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.L.9-10.4A

My brother said, “I just freed myself from a very loquacious history professor. All he seemed to want was an audience.”

• pretentious

• grouchy

• talkative

• worried

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

There is no doubt that the idea of living in such a benign climate was appealing. The islanders seemed to keep their vitality and live longer than Europeans.

• tropical

• not malignant

• warmhearted

• hostile

Tags

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.L.9-10.5B

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

It is difficult to imagine a surfeit of talent in one individual, yet Leonard Bernstein simply does not have the time to make complete use of his talent as conductor, performer, writer, and lecturer.

• lack

• variety

• superiority

• excess

Tags

CCSS.L.3.2F

Many years before, Caesar’s men had tried and failed to invade Britain. No doubt this contributed to the xenophobia of the Romans. They were cautious about strangers who entered their country.

• honesty

• fear of foreigners

• kindliness

• fear of the British

Tags

CCSS.L.5.4B

CCSS.L.6.1E