Quiz created: 121013

Vocabulary Quiz 26

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. “After 9/11, the neocons [= neo-conservatives] captured one Republican president who was naïve about the world. Now, amid contagious Arab rage sparked on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, they have captured another would-be Republican president and vice president, both JEJUNE about the world.” (New York Times, Global Edition, 120917, p. 7) Someone who is “jejune” is
full of hatred 
stupid 
childish 
knowledgeable in most ways but with exploitable gaps in his or her understanding 
sophisticated and knowledgeable 
No Answer
2. “[Former Vice-President] Cheney, described by Romney as a ‘person of wisdom and judgment,’ is lurking. On Monday, he CHURLISHLY tried to deny President Obama credit for putting Osama in the cross-hairs, cattily referring to a report that Obama had not gone to all his intelligence briefings.” (New York Times, Global Edition, 120917, p. 7) A person or viewpoint that is “churlish” is
insightful 
unpopular 
completely wrong 
boorish and surly 
manipulative 
insincere 
politically astute 
No Answer
3. “By such measures, the Democrats’ tight, high-energy [national convention] production in Charlotte last week clearly bested the Republicans’ undisciplined, TEPID affair in Tampa the week before.” (The New Yorker, 120917, p. 27). Something “tepid” is
limp 
rigid 
disorganized 
ineffective 
luke-warm 
No Answer
4. “The militias, which started forming soon after the uprising against [Libyan dictator] Gadhafi, emerged as a parallel and often menacing authority after his downfall, seizing territory for themselves and asserting their authority over the FLEDGLING government.” (New York Times News Service, 120922) “Fledgling” means
ineffective 
central 
newborn and inexperienced 
distracted 
impecunious 
No Answer
5. “Germany is right to fret that relieving market pressure on debtors could create MORAL HAZARD and slow down badly needed reforms. Equally, though, MORAL HAZARD applies to creditors. When the pressure is off, Germany shows too little urgency about repairing the euro.” (The Economist 120929, p. 61.) The expression “moral hazard” refers to
an institutional structure that inadvertently motivates anti-social behavior 
the risk of one or more people ending up in prison 
the risk of one or more people ending up in hell 
a temptation to hurt someone out of pure spite 
No Answer
6. “…when victories are increasingly assembled from coalitions of coddled partisans and scientifically targeted special interest voters, politicians should be more willing to reach across party lines and embrace compromise. That would not please the base, but in today’s bitterly divisive politics, a bit more DIFFIDENCE could go a long way.” (The Economist 120929, p. 61.) “Diffidence” means
clarity about where one stands 
persuasiveness and rhetorical skill 
differentiation 
informality 
cooperation 
humility and/or self-doubt 
No Answer
7. “The Supreme Court’s FRAUGHT New Term” (Headline, The Week, 121012, p. 4) The term is described as “fraught” because
scheduled 
loaded with difficult cases 
hard to predict 
heavily politicized 
fresh 
backlogged with tasks carried over from a previous session 
No Answer
8. “When not speaking, he [Mr. Obama] looked down at the lectern, apparently taking notes, as if afraid he’d forget what he wanted to say. His famous grin, when he flashed it, was mirthless —a RICTUS, not a sunbeam. He was, plainly, not enjoying himself.” (The New Yorker, 121015, p. 23) A “rictus” is
a corpse 
a gaping mouth, especially of a bird 
a scowl 
a destructive lightning 
an ominous cloud 
a sneer 
No Answer
9. “No doubt the President was further cheered by the news that the unemployment rate had fallen from 8.1 percent to 7.8 percent. The new statistic derives its power less from its economic import than from whole-number FETISHISM, but at least Romney can no longer say …” (The New Yorker, 121015, p. 23) “Fetishism” refers to
statistical error 
simplicity 
good news after a period of bad news 
a finding based on too narrow a data base to be credible 
unquestioning awe and devotion 
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.