Quiz created: 131001

Vocabulary Quiz 28

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. “By 2006, the proposal [to provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens] had become ANATHEMA to most conservatives, who ridiculed it as “amnesty for illegals.” (The New Yorker, 121119, p. 54) “Anathema originally referred to an church decree banning a person from participation. Today, however, it refers to
all people that the speaker considers wicked 
something completely off of the agenda of a meeting or movement 
anything which evokes physical disgust and a need to vomit 
anything completely unacceptable 
No Answer
2. “[The musical Annie] doesn’t play with the same effervescent charm or conviction now, in the face of our current financial and environmental woes. Was I the only person in the audience, I wondered, who wasn’t buying the candid carrot-top’s BUOYANT ballyhoo?” (The New Yorker, 121119, p. 94) Something “buoyant”
floats 
is intensely musical 
is transparently foolish 
can be amusing but only for a brief time 
is deliberately misleading 
No Answer
3. “Barack Obama can take pride in having fought off a formidable array of deep-pocketed [Republican] REVANCHISTS. (The New Yorker, 121119, p. 25) A “revanchist” is someone who
smells bad 
finances your opposition 
seeks to reclaim lost territory 
bent upon vengeance for an imagined slight 
eager to cut budgets 
No Answer
4. “When a SUAVE uncle materializes after her father’s death, she and her mother (played by Nicold Kidman) compete for the newcomer’s attentions.” A man who is “suave” is
rich 
handsome 
ominous 
unexpected 
debonair 
powerful 
mysterious 
discovered to be alive after being thought dead 
No Answer
5. “Stopping [the] Keystone [pipeline project] would be a PYRRHIC, symbolic victory. Environmentalists would better serve their cause by chaining themselves to the White House gates to demand a carbon tax ….” A victory is said to by “pyrrhic” when it
costs more than it is worth 
has no effect on the outcome of a war 
is called a victory but is really a defeat 
is accomplished through law courts rather than on the battlefield 
No Answer
6. “But thanks to low corporate tax rates and lax regulations, this island nation [Cyprus] has become a haven for Russian money of sometimes dubious PROVENANCE.” Something’s “provenance” (or “provenience”) is its
place of origin 
destiny 
proper ownership 
size or quantity 
authenticity 
No Answer
7. “Some of the most stirring passages in ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ are devoted to the defense of Isabelle’s walled city, Cloister, which is presided over by a SATURNINE king (Ian McShane).” (The New Yorker, 130318, p.87) A person who is “saturnine” is
red 
fat 
bumbling 
melancholy 
sadistic 
No Answer
8. “Research shows that Plan B prevents pregnancy after an episode of unprotected sex and is very safe. There’s no good reason to restrict its sale, except the squeamishness many people may feel at the idea of LIBIDINOUS teenagers.” (The Week 130517, p. 19) Teenagers who are “libidinous” are
short of money 
stupid 
sex-crazy 
gullible 
pregnant 
No Answer
9. “Guantánamo is ‘contrary to who we are, it is contrary to our interests,’ said Obama, suggesting that if weren’t for Congress blocking him, he would have shut this disgraceful GULAG down long ago.” (The Week 130517, p. 18) A “gulag” is a
huge expense 
island 
colony directly governed by the government of a distant state 
shameful historical event 
prison or prison camp 
No Answer

      Points out of 9:

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This consummately cool, pedagogically compelling, self-correcting,
multiple-choice quiz was produced automatically from
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dubiously original, but publicly accessible
Think Again Quiz Maker
of April 25, 2010.