| A | B |
|---|
| extraneous - adj. not essential; superfluous "No wonder Ted can't think straight! His mind is so cluttered up with extraneous trivia, he can't concentrate on the essentials." | When none of the committee members acknowledged that she had even spoken, Jane realized that her presence at the meeting was completely ______. |
| credulous - adj. trusting; gullible "Con artists take advantage of the credulous nature of inexperienced investors to swindle them out of their savings." | Although some four-year-olds believe in the Easter Bunny, only the most ______ nine-year-olds do. |
| repudiate - v. disown; disavow "On separating from Tony, Tina announced that she would repudiate all debts incurred by her soon-to-be-ex-husband." | The old woman's claim that she was Russian royalty was ______ when DNA tests showed she was not related to them. |
| coercion - n. use of force to get someone to obey "The inquisitors used both physical and psychological coercion to force Joan of Arc to deny that her visions were sent by God." | The mayor was willing to use ______ to get the voters to support his tax bill. |
| ascendancy - n. controlling influence; domination "Leaders of religious cults maintain ascendancy over their followers by methods that can verge on brainwashing." | The abusive husband maintained ______ over his battered wife. |
| preclude - v. make impossible; eliminate "The fact that the band was already booked to play in Hollywood on New Year's Eve precluded their accepting the New Year's Eve gig in London." | The family dinner ______ Betsy's chance to play in the final softball game. |
| refute - v. disprove "The defense called several respectable witnesses who were able to refute the false testimony of the prosecution's sole witness." | She made such a persuasive argument that nobody______ could it. |
| piety - n. religious devotion; godliness "The nuns in the convent were noted for their piety, spending their days in worship and prayer." | The monk's ______ inspired Matt to go to church again. |
| censure - v. blame; criticize "The senator was censured for behavior inappropriate to a member of Congress." | People are quick to ______ alleged criminals without knowing the facts. |
| rectify - v. set right; correct "You had better send a check to rectify your account before Visa cancels your credit card." | After she found out that her best friend was mad at her, Becca tried to ______ the situation by writing her a letter explaning what had happened. |
| reticence - n. reserve uncommunicativeness' inclination to silence "Fearing his competitors might get advance word about his plans from talkative staff members, Rob preferred reticence from his employees to loquacity." | Pysically small and ______, Sally often went unnoticed by those upon whom she was reporting. |
| quandary - n. dilemma "When both Harvard and Yale accepted Laura, she was in a quandary as to which school she should attend." | Bill found himself in quite a ______ when he realized he had no soap with which to do his laundry. |
| opportunist - n, individual who sacrifices principles for expediency by taking advantage of circumstances "Joe is such an opportunist that he tripled the price of bottled water at his store as soon as the earthquake struck." | She was an ______, always investing in stocks the minute they went up. |
| ostentatious - adj. showy; pretentious; trying to attract attention "Trumps's latest casino in Atlantic City is the most ostentatious gambling palace in the East." | Whenever the millionaire gave a party, the elaborate decorations and enourmous amounts of food were always part of his ______ display of wealth. |
| fervor - n. glowing ardor; intensity of feeling "At the protest rally, the students cheered the strikers and booed the dean with equal fervor." | Betty expressed ______ when she made a speech about her experiences in a concentration camp. |
| garrulous - adj. loquacious; wordy; talkative. garrulity, n. "My uncle Henry can out-talk anyone I know. He is the most garrulous person in the whole state!" | The ______ parakeet distracted its owner while he was studying. |
| peripheral - adj. marginal; outer "We lived, not in central London, but in one of those peripheral suburbs that spring up on the outskirts of a great city." | Beth used her ______ vision to look at the hot guy, so he wouldn't notice that she was checking him out. |
| profusion - n. overabundance; lavish expenditure "Seldom have I seen food and drink served in such profusion as at the wedding feast." | I used a ______ of apologies after I dropped my mother's fine china. |
| pervasive - adj. spread throughout every part "Despite airing them for several hours, Martha could not rid her clothes of the pervasive odor of mothballs." | The beliefs of Islam are ______ in the Middle East. |
| volatile - adj. changeable; explosive; evaporating rapidly "The political climate today is extremely volatile: no one can predict what the electorate will do next." | Harry's mood was incredibly ______; one minute he was laughing and the next he was yelling. |
