Quiz created: 100101

Vocabulary Quiz 13

Instructions: Answer the multiple choice questions, guessing if necessary; then click on the "Process Questions" button at the end of the quiz to see your score in the adjacent message box. The program will not reveal which questions you got wrong, only how many points you have. Go back and change your answers until you get them all right. (The message box will rejoice at that point and the page will change color to show it is tickled pink.)

Points to note: (1) Questions with only one possible answer are one point each. (2) Questions with one or more possible answers (represented by check boxes) give a point for each correct answer, but also subtract a point for each wrong answer! (3) The program will not attempt to score your efforts at all if you have not tried at least half of the questions. (4) This quiz is for your own use only. No record of your progress is kept or reported to anyone.

1. "Abkhazia had the trappings of a NASCENT state, but South Ossetia was a chessboard of villages (Georgian and Ossetian) which suffered under a Moscow-sponsored, thuggish, and corrupt regime whose main job seemed to be to provoke Georgia." (The Economist, 080830, p. 49) A state is "nascent" when it is
dominated by another state 
undergoing economic decline 
undergoing economic improvement 
coming into political existence 
denied an independence that it formerly enjoyed 
No Answer
2. "After more than two years' work, the panel [on inequality and health of the World Health Organisation] has issued a call to arms with a SONOROUS title: 'Closing the gap in a generation'." (The Economist 080830, p. 59) The title is "sonorous" because it
sounds good 
is up-beat 
means there is a plan for action 
is slightly silly 
is ambiguous (Is it a generation gap or is a generation the projected time to close another gap?) 
No Answer
3. "DALLIANCES between conventional pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology firms are nothing new. Big Pharma, eager to refill its emptying drug pipelines, has in recent years looked hopefully to biotech's upstarts." (The Economist, 080830, p. 61) A "dalliance" is a
playful flirtation 
corporate merger 
illegal alliance of firms in restraint of normal trade 
large investment by one firm in the stock of another 
divestiture by a company that decides to sell off unprofitable "sideline" businesses it owns 
No Answer
4. "At first meeting 58-year-old Mr Penny [the new directory of London's National Gallery of Art] is bit daunting. Tall, thin, and DIFFIDENT around the edges, he speaks at twice normal speed, often inserting parenthetical commentary on his thoughts as he gallops ahead." (The Economist 080830, p. 81) A diffident person is
badly groomed 
shy 
self-promoting 
unlike others 
slightly frightening 
No Answer
5. "Electrochromic glass, with changeable OPACITY, is one new avenue of exploration. Some of the most promising is produced by a firm called Sage Electrochromics, based in Minnesota. Its product, which consists of sheets of glass with a metal-oxide coating, was first used in skylights in 2003." (The Economist, 080906, p. 37) "Opacity" refers to
the angle at which the glass is mounted 
the electrical properties of the surface coating on the glass 
the ability of the glass to transmit light 
the amount of silica in the glass 
No Answer
6. "Worse, bribing students is an abdication of authority. It puts the school in the role of wheedler and CAJOLER, rather than disciplinarian. Such a supine approach would be indefensible even if worked, but it doesn't." (The Week 081031: 17) A cajoler is a person who
offers a reward to supporters but punishment to others 
sings and dances for money 
uses repeated teasing or flattery to urge action 
goes house to house collecting charitable contributions 
No Answer
7. "Worse, bribing students is an abdication of authority. It puts the school in the role of wheedler and cajoler, rather than disciplinarian. Such a SUPINE approach would be indefensible even if worked, but it doesn't." (The Week 081031: 17) A person who is supine is
lying on his back 
a megalomaniac 
working it a kitchen 
self-centered and uninterested in other people 
friendly to small children but hostile to adults 
No Answer

      Points out of 7:

Return to top.

This consummately cool, pedagogically compelling, self-correcting,
multiple-choice quiz was produced automatically from
a simple text file of questions using D.K. Jordan's
dubiously original, but publicly accessible
Think Again Quiz Maker
of October 15, 2009.