Week One Vocabulary Quiz

A pause or break could be referred to as a:

• recurrence

• termination

• sighting

• hiatus

Picture the following scene: The year is 1840, and the place is London, England. People can hardly wait for

the next installment of a novel they have been following in parts that come out week by week. Is the work

they are anxiously awaiting some hackneyed suspense story filled with predictably lurid and sensational

characters and events? No—it is The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens, a novelist whose plots and

characters transcend the formulas and cliches that are often associated with best-selling fiction. Unlike many

authors who were popular in their day but were also soon quickly forgotten, Dickens is known for creating

unforgettable characters, ranging from Little Nell, the pure hearted orphan in The Old Curiosity Shop, to

Uriah Heep, the outwardly unctuous and inwardly scheming clerk in David Copperfield, which was first

published nine years later, in 1849.

In line 3, hackneyed means...

• original

• exciting

• incomprehensible

• trite

Which of the following is the opposite of

disapproval?

• Condemnation

• Approbation

• Scrutiny

• Censure

If the thought of watching a certain kind of

movie or television show makes you feel weary

and worn out, you might describe yourself as:

• Jaded

• Unbiased

• Inspired

• Energized

Which of the following words could not be used

to replace lurid?

• ghastly

• gruesome

• wholesome

• grisly

A hurtful or offensive remark could cause...

• satisfaction

• approbation

• umbrage

• amity

Provincial most nearly means...

• prosperous

• deserving

• outer

• small

The act of eliciting involves...

• bringing out

• putting off

• simplifying

• extending