SAT Vocab Day 2

Vocab

affable (laugh able): friendly, pleasant

An affable person is approachable and has many buddies.

corroborating (core rob burr rating): confirming, bolstering, supporting.

If someone doesn’t believe your story, you need to present corroborating evidence.

dissertation: a formal & lengthy treatise on a subject.

A person who is trying to get a Ph.D. writes a dissertation on her topic.

treatise: formal article/book on a subject.

The long report you’ve spent all summer researching and writing is a treatise.

erstwhile (first while): former.

Threaten your current boyfriend by telling him he’s gonna be your erstwhile sweetie.

hiatus (why hate us): a break or a gap.

You take a hiatus from your studies when you amble over to the fridge to look for a snack.

irony (i Ronnie): a circumstance that’s the opposite of what may be expected.

The classic example of irony is if the firehouse burns down.

lobbyist (hobby ist): a person acting for a special interest to influence decisions.

If you’re sent to the school board to plead the case for vending machines in your school cafeteria, you are a lobbyist.

pragmatic (hag matt ick): practical.

While everyone loves to become wealthy by winning the lottery, most are pragmatic enough to realize chances are pretty slim and that they’d better plan on getting jobs.

proffer (proff her): offer.

When you offer someone your friendship, you proffer it.

promulgate (prom mull gate): to publish or make known officially.

If your girlfriend is truly furious at you, she may promulgate the fact by writing an article in the school newspaper.

protocol: the code of ceremonial forms and courtesies accepted as proper for dealings between officials.

Protocol is basically the proper manners or etiquette in official situations.

punctiliously (punk till he us lee): careful about every detail of behavior; exact.

You are punctilious if you mind your manners so well you’d make your mother proud.

1. talisman a. pertaining to beauty

2. chaff b. manly

3. gingerly c. a narrow-minded teacher

4. emulate d. dazzling

5. articulate e. strolled

6. scintillation f. gentleman's clothing store

7. aesthetic g. carefully, cautiously

8. resplendent h. sparkle, flash

9. virile i. able to speak clearly

10. sauntered j. imitate

11. pedant k. good-natured teasing

12. haberdashery l. a magic charm

All President and Accounted For

President Craig Kessler surreptitiously stole a glance at the beautiful lobbyist who was walking into the Oval Office, then looked down and pretended to be working on some papers at his desk, following protocol by waiting for the aide to introduce the lady.

“Mr. President, may I present Dr. Wisniewski,” the aide said.

Craig stood up punctiliously. “No need for introductions, Julie; I’ve known Joy since high school.” He proffered his hand and motioned toward the chairs. “Sit down and let’s catch up. Well, well, who would have thought all those years ago that you’d become a famous surgeon and the president of the American Medical Association, no less, and that I, well, that I’d be here!”

Joy gave a modest laugh. “Famous is too generous of a description of me, Mr. President, but it’s nice to know you haven’t changed from your old affable self. I’m hoping you’re as pragmatic as you were in high school and can see the practical importance of this new health-care bill.”

President Kessler leaned back in his chair. “You’re still all business, aren’t you? So much for small talk. Yes, I was told by my advisors that you want me to promulgate a plan letting all high school seniors take two weeks off as mental health days just before the SAT. Tell me your reasons for this hiatus.”

“Mr. President, I present not just a theory but corroborating evidence that students get little to no real schoolwork done in the weeks leading up to the SAT. Even students with outstanding academic records let their work slip at that time. Why not allow the students to take the time off?”

President Kessler said, “Do you see the joy of cutting school to study for a test to get you into school? I have serious concerns about this proposal.”

Joy leaned forward, flirting a bit with her erstwhile schoolmate. “Surely the most powerful man in the world can get a little bill like this passed!”

The president grinned, realizing exactly what his friend was trying to do. “It’s true, I could get the bill passed, but I’ll need more information. Tell you what, if you’ll write up a brief report — a brief report, Joy, not a dissertation! — I’ll read it and make my decision later.” With that the president leaned forward to shake Joy’s hand, signaling the meeting had terminated.

“Why Mr. President, I know you have better manners than that.” Craig looked startled, but Joy continued, “When you are saying goodbye to a lady, you should get up. Get up. Get up!”

“Whaaaa?” Craig lifted his head groggily to find his friend Joy shaking him. “Craig, lift your head off that Calculus book and get up. You fell asleep and are drooling all over the book. It’s time to get to class — get up!”

Testinq Your Mettle with an Exercise

1. pragmatic a. a break or a gap

2. promulgate b. a formal treatise on a subject

3. protocol c. exactly, scrupulously

4. hiatus d. friendly

5. dissertation e. publish or make known officially

6. erstwhile f. former

7. lobbyist g. confirming, bolstering, supporting

8. proffered h. a person working to influence a decision

9. irony i. offered

10. corroborating j. circumstances opposite of what is expected

11. affable k. code of ceremonies

12. punctiliously l. practical

Vocab

agitate (badge it ate): to upset or disturb.

You’re agitated when you find out that your teacher is giving a pop quiz on material you haven’t even read, let alone studied.

blanch (rhymes with, ranch): turn white.

When you blanch, all the blood leaves your face, and you turn pale (usually with fear or shock).

copiously: abundantly, a lot. You have a copious amount of homework right before the end of the semester.

curtail (rhymes with, shirt tail): shorten. “cut the tail” off to shorten it.

You ask your friend to curtail her story about her date when your dad tells you to get off the phone because dinner is ready.

dubious: doubtful.

dub means doubt; —ous means full of.

You are wise to be dubious when a TV ad says that a certain product will make you lose ten pounds “without any exercise or diet!”

You may think a painting is “of dubious authenticity,” when you’re not sure whether it’s a forgery.

exculpate (ex culp ate): remove guilt or blame from; get off the hook.

prefix ex— means out of or away from;

the root cuip means guilt or blame.

You exculpate yourself when you prove you didn’t do something your mom is trying to blame you for.

frank: openly, honestly, candidly. When you want a frank response to a question, you want your buddy to tell you the truth, not just say what he thinks you want to hear.

frenzied (friends heed): hyperactive, upset, running around like a chicken with its head cut off. The last day of school, all of the seniors are frenzied, zooming up and down the halls, unable to concentrate on anything.

glower (rhymes with, shower): glare, look angrily. You glower at someone who takes the parking spot you’re waiting for.

solicitously (sole is it us lee): concernedly, showing care and compassion. You are solicitous toward a friend who has just been dumped, asking, “So are you feeling any better now?”

ultimate (rhymes with, cult tim ate lee): final, conclusive.

The ultimate word on a topic is the last word.

Penultimate word is the next-to-last word.

antepenultimate? Ante means before;

the antepenultimate word is the “before the second to last word,” meaning the third to last word.

Attack of the Killer SAT Book

“That is sooooo lame!” Josh glowered at me, as if it were my fault that the SATmath had so many tricks in it. “I can’t believe you actually did that to me!”

“Hey, don’t blame me!” I said, trying to exculpate myself. “I don’t write the test; I just teach you how to recognize and avoid the traps that are lurking there waiting for you. Come on, settle down, and let’s do the next question. You’ll love it: It’s even nastier!”

When Josh missed the second problem, his choleric temper got the better of him. He picked up his book in both hands and slammed it down on the table repeatedly. After the third slam, the book slipped out of his hands, and flew across the desk — slamming into my forehead! The edge of the book cut my temple, and blood starting gushing out. Head wounds bleed copiously, and it was only a few seconds before I had what seemed like a geyser of blood flowing down my face.

Josh freaked out. “Oh my gawd — are you okay?” He blanched and looked so pale that I thought for a minute he was going to pass out. He ran to the telephone, and I heard him call 911. I went over and grabbed the phone out of his hand.

“Josh, it’s just a cut, no big deal. I’ll put some ice on it, and the bleeding will stop. There’s no need to panic and call 911, for heaven’s sake.” In the meantime, the 911 operator was saying solicitously, “Ma’am, are you all right? Do you want me to send an ambulance? Are you able to talk? Is someone threatening you?”

This was getting crazy. I had a frenzied teenager running around, and a 911 operator thinking I was being beaten and unable to talk frankly in front of my “assailant.” I forced myself to calm down and explained everything to the operator. It took some doing, but I finally convinced her everything was okay, and no ambulance — or police! — needed to come. That done, I turned to Josh.

“Josh, please put some ice cubes in a towel and give them to me. All I have to do is stop this bleeding. I’m fine, so please stop being so agitated. Really, it’s just like a paper cut, except it’s on my temple.”

I could tell by the dubious look Josh gave me that he didn’t believe me, but he did as I asked. In just a few minutes, the bleeding had stopped. We started working again, but as soon as I put my head down to read a question, the wound started bleeding again. Josh jumped up and said, “I’m going to call my dad; he’ll know what to do!” Josh’s dad was a physician. I tried to wrestle the phone out of Josh’s hand, but he was a burly kid and managed to hang on to the receiver. When he told his dad what had happened, his father wanted to talk to me.

I explained everything to Dr. Jones, who insisted I go to the emergency room of the hospital to get some stitches and a head X-ray and have it charged to him. I thought that was really insane, total overkill, but the doctor said, “Look, not only do we care about your health, we don’t want you suing us later on!”

To curtail a long story, I went to the emergency room. The doctors didn’t even bother with stitches; they just put a bandage on my head. I refused to let Josh go with me; I made him go home to calm down. Of course, I accepted his apology. . . but I couldn’t resist having some fun with the guy.

The next time he came over, a few days later, I had wrapped an entire roll of gauze around my head and looked like someone from a World War II hospital ward! Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep a straight face and was laughing from the moment Josh walked in the door. But he had the ultimate word. He looked at me and said, “I don’t know which is sicker, you or the SAT!”

Exercising Your Options

1. blanched a. openly, honestly

2. frenzied b. upset, disturbed

3. solicitously c. final

4. curtail d. shorten

5. exculpate e. glared

6. agitated g. hyperactive

7. copiously g. hyperactive

8. ultimate h. abundantly

9. glowered I. remove guilt from

10. frankly j. turned white

11. dubious k. concernedly