"Harrison Bergeron" Vocabulary

"A police photograph of Harrison Bergeron was flashed on the screen - upside down, then sideways, upside down again, then right side up. The picture showed the full length of Harrison against a background CALIBRATED in feet and inches. He was exactly seven feet tall."

• To divide or label

• To plan or devise

• To determine value

• To make a point

"Ordinarily, there was a certain SYMMETRY, a military neatness to the handicaps issued to strong people, but Harrison looked like a walking junkyard."

• Imperfect

• Messy

• Neatness

• Quality

"Screams and barking cries of CONSTERNATION came from the television set."

• Composure

• Panic

• Joy

• Insanity

"Ballerinas, technicians, musicians, and announcers COWERED on their knees before him, expecting to die."

• To crouch in joy

• To crouch in worship

• To crouch in fear

• To crouch in sadness

"Nobody had ever born heavier handicaps. He had outgrown HINDERANCES faster than the H-G men could think them up. Instead of a little ear radio for a mental handicap, he wore a tremendous pair of earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses."

• Handicaps

• Advantages

• Punishments

• Earphones

"And she had to apologize at once for her voice, which was a very unfair voice for a woman to use. Her voice was a warm, LUMINOUS, timeless melody...she began again, making her voice absolutely uncompetitive."

• Dull

• Energetic

• Bright

• Cold

"Harrison and his Empress merely listened to the music for a while - listened gravely, as though SYNCHRONIZING their heartbeats with it."

• Matching

• Disorganizing

• Feeling

• Listening

"All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing VIGILANCE of the United States Handicapper General."

• Endangerment

• Watchfulness

• Carelessness

• Thoughtfulness

"But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts. George WINCED . So did two out of the eight ballerinas."

• Cringed

• Smiled

• Fell

• Danced