Quiz created: 2020-04-24

Vocabulary Quiz 84

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. “Continuing excavations at Regio V, Pompeii, have recently unearthed a large and varied assortment of apotropaic amulets, charms, and small decorative items within a room in the service quarter s of the House of the Garden.” (2019-10, Current World Archaeology 97 [=9.1]:7) Something “apotropaic”
is associated with Roman religious traditions 
wards off evil 
is extremely fragile 
is made of a compound of lead and any of several other metals 
was been pawned but never reclaimed 
No Answer
2. “Russia’s prosecutor general, a central pillar of the country’s CAPRICIOUS law enforcement system throughout the rule of President Vladimir Putin, was removed from office Monday, marking the start of what is expected to be a major reshuffle of senior officials.” (2020-01-21, SDUT, p. A-3) Something “capricious” is
all-penetrating, ubiquitous 
central to the operation of a company or political unit 
harsh 
impulsive and unpredictable 
No Answer
3. “[David Schwimmer] … played the NEBBISHY paleontologist Ross Geller in the smash sitcom [‘Friends’].” (2020-02-14, The Week, p. 10) A “nebbish” is
handsome 
energetic 
self-centered 
wise-cracking 
condescending 
timid or weak-willed 
underhanded 
unaware of the surrounding social situation 
No Answer
4. “But Trump has refused to comply at all, and congressional Republicans, ignoring one of their most important duties —executive oversight— have ABETTED his position.” (2020-02-03, The New Yorker, p. 15) To “abet” means to
approve and encourage 
facilitate 
overlook 
proclaim 
defend against outside attack 
No Answer
5. “And in 2016, right after Trump had tweeted that Hillary Clinton was a ‘pathological liar’ for PLUMPHERING about her use of a private email server, [lawyer Jay] Sekulow posted the band playing the Three Dog Night hit ‘Liar.’” (2020-02-03, The New Yorker, p. 16) Someone who “plumphers”
talks at great length about something 
lies, even though everyone already knows the truth 
mumbles evasively 
ignores requests for information about something 
changes the subject if it seems embarrassing 
shouts in anger 
No Answer
6. “Calls for further testimony grew after the House released a TRANCHE of notes, text messages, and other records … .” (2020-01-24, The Week, p&nbps;5) A “tranche” is
a portion of a larger whole, especially a cut of meat or a portion of stock holdings 
a large box 
originally a barrel, as one used to ferment wine 
a loose measure of the time needed to process something, technically one person-year assuming 40-hour weeks 
No Answer
7. “Walter Benjamin’s 1936 essay ‘The Storyteller: Reflections on the Work of Nokolai Leskov,’ rich in aphorism and VATIC utterance, has for many years been a point of reference I return to when thinking about narrative and why its various forms play such an important part in our lives.” (2020-01-16, New York Review of Books, p. 49) Something “vatic” is
without content 
prophetic or oracular 
sententious 
self-consciously a model for stylistic imitation 
annoyingly pretentious 
No Answer
8. “P.T. Barnum’s has been shorthand for EBULLIENT humbuggery, maximalist entertainment, inexhaustible self-promotion, rags-to-riches industriousness —for fun.” ” (2020-04-23, New York Review of Books, p. 31) Someone “ebullient” is
zestfully enthusiastic 
outrageous 
vulgar 
always after other people’s money 
scheming and deceptive 
No Answer
9. “‘The two [coronavirus] samples look almost identical genetically,’ said Trevor Bedford …. ‘This strongly suggests that there has been CRYPTIC transmission in Washington State for the past 6 weeks.”
“Cryptic” disease transmission means that the transmission was
extremely rapid 
undetected 
narrowly focused in scope or scale 
large-scale 
identifiable only using artificial intelligence and powerful computers 
available for observation using a publicly available app 
of short duration 
No Answer

      Points out of 9:

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This consummately cool, pedagogically compelling, self-correcting,
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