Quiz created: 121013

Vocabulary Quiz 22

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. “Smart devices are sometimes empowering. They put a world of information at our fingertips. They free people to work from home instead of squeezing onto a train with MALODOROUS strangers. That is a huge boon for parents seeking flexible work hours.” (The Economist 120310, p. 80.) Strangers who are “malodorous”
are noisy 
are untrustworthy 
smell bad 
are too numerous and fill all the space 
No Answer
2. “Whenever you check the glowing rectangle [on your mobile telephone], there is a fair chance you will see a message from a client, a HEROGRAM from your boss, or at least an e-mail from a Nigerian gentleman offering you $1m if you share your bank details with him. Smartphones are the best excuse yet devised for procrastination.” (The Economist 120310, p. 80.) A “herogram” is
a command or order from someone higher in a hierarchy 
a message of thanks or congratulation 
an electronic sound file similar to an old fashioned singing telegram 
a warning that something is about to happen or someone is about to arrive 
a secret assignment such as might be passed among spies or members of a secret society 
No Answer
3. “Ever since the 18th century, England’s established church has harboured a suspicion of religious enthusiasm. Anglicanism’s cosy UBIQUITY as a reassuring, if vestigial, presence in every English suburb and village is regarded as a defence against the sort of fanaticism that leads to social or ethnic conflict. But every so often in English church history compromise and emollience have triggered a countervailing reaction: an upsurge in faith of a more passionate kind. Such a change may be underway now. … 40% of Anglicans attend evangelical parishes these days, up from 26% in 1989.” (The Economist 120310, p. 69) Something which is “ubiquitous” is
harmless 
controversial or often criticized 
homey and familiar 
old-fashioned 
found everywhere 
No Answer
4. “Ever since the 18th century, England’s established church has harboured a suspicion of religious enthusiasm. Anglicanism’s cosy ubiquity as a reassuring, if vestigial, presence in every English suburb and village is regarded as a defence against the sort of fanaticism that leads to social or ethnic conflict. But every so often in English church history compromise and EMOLLIENCE have triggered a countervailing reaction: an upsurge in faith of a more passionate kind. Such a change may be underway now. … 40% of Anglicans attend evangelical parishes these days, up from 26% in 1989.” (The Economist 120310, p. 69) Something “emollient” is
limp 
soothing to the skin 
decorative 
politically weak 
conducive to doubt 
conducive to belief 
No Answer
5. “On the ground, the [Syrian] army’s tactical victories against bands of poorly armed rebels seem simply to prompt the HYDRA HEADS of revolt to sprout elsewhere.” (The Economist 120324, p. 47) As used here, a “hydra head” is one which
is difficult to see because it blends in with its background 
is very wet 
is newborn 
is especially ugly 
is instantly replaced by two heads when it is cut off 
No Answer
6. “The … satellite launch [opposed by the Americans] … will be self-defeating. The [earlier] agreement [between North Korea and the United States] seemed to send a clear signal that Kim Jong Un intended to see through the easing of tension with America that North Korea was negotiating in Kim Jong Il’s last days. On the other hand, this type of MERCURIAL diplomacy is just the thing Mr Kim might have learned at his father’s knee.” (The Economist 120324, p. 44) Diplomacy is “mercurial” if it is
inscrutable 
subtle 
counter-productive 
dictated by a single person 
the result of military intervention in diplomatic affairs 
volatile 
No Answer
7. “Mr Obama, a champion of the liberal Zionism he picked up from Jewish friends and mentors in Chicago and Harvard, is CALUMNIATED as Israel’s enemy.” (The Economist 120324, p. 36) If a person is “calumniated,” he is maligned
for being a turncoat 
by uninformed people 
in a way that historians will find ironic 
ineffectually 
with knowingly false statements 
No Answer
8. “ [The Taliban] … planed to pick up where it left off as winter snows give way to spring … and opening the annual fighting season. Compounding fears of renewed violence in Kabul was what appeared to be COMPLICITY of Afghan soldiers in the plot [to kill police].” (New York Times News Service, March 28, 2012) “Complicity” means
voluntary involvement in an evil undertaking 
active cover-up of an illicit activity 
central position in a movement 
ingenuity in devising battle tactics 
successful concealment from discovery 
No Answer
9. “The Defense Ministry refused to even ALLOW that a breach [of security] had occurred; it denied any attempted bombings and said no soldiers had been arrested.” (New York Times News Service, March 28, 2012) The word “allow” is here used in a rare and rather old-fashioned way to mean
announce to the public 
make an alliance between government agencies 
conceal 
permit 
acknowledge 
No Answer

      Points out of 9:

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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 April 25, 2010.