STATED MEANINGS

A. Underline the meanings of the boldface words stated in the contexts of the following
sentences.
1. Some people are gullible—easily cheated or tricked because they believe everything that others
say.
2. Erika does many things well; she is an extremely versatile young woman.
3. Those who want careers as actors must be tenacious—persistent and stubbornly determined
to succeed.
4. Study for tests by reciting to yourself; it is futile (useless or ineffective) to try to learn
information by reading it over and over.
5. Some shoppers forgive, or overlook, poor service in stores, but others do not condone it.
6. He is confident that his rudeness will not impede (hinder) his success at work.
7. Please obliterate, or erase, from your mind all worry that you may fail.
8. If I say, "Please call me Jim," it is explicit (or clearly stated) that I want you to call me Jim.
9. When the going gets tough, the tough get going; they continue in spite of difficulty—they
persevere.
10. I perceive that you are displeased with me; I am very much aware that I have made you
unhappy for some reason.
11. The notion that it is sophisticated to smoke is passe—it's as old fashioned and out-of-date as
greasy hair.
12. However, if I introduce myself to you as "Jim," it is implicit—suggested, though not directly
stated—that I want you to call me "Jim”.
13. Standard desk dictionaries are comprehensive, or all inclusive, lists of commonly used words
and their meanings.
14. Our thoughts are covert—concealed, or hidden from others—until we share them.
15. Those who have contempt for others often have a total lack of respect for themselves as well.
16. The doctor’s prognosis (prediction about recovery) is that Luis will be strong enough to return
to work in two weeks.

B. Underline the meanings of the boldface words that are stated in the following excerpts from
English, business, and sociology textbooks.
1. The most familiar use of words is to name things—trees, cars, games, people, stars, oceans.
When words are used in this way, the things they refer to are called their denotations. The
word chair most commonly denotes a piece of furniture for sitting on. The denotation of Detroit
is the city of that name.
2. But words acquire connotations as well as denotations. Connotations are attitudes that we
associate with particular words. When we call an action "courageous" or "foolhardy," we are
not only describing it; we are expressing, and inviting a reader to share, an attitude toward it.
3. The writing is almost completely subjective—that is, it deals chiefly with how the writer feels
about the movie.
4. A fallacy is an error in the reasoning process that makes an argument unreliable.
5. In hunting, a strongly scented object drawn across a trail will distract hounds and cause them
to follow the new scent. In rhetoric, a red herring is a false issue used to lead attention away
from the real one.

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 6. The entire living world is a complex interwoven pattern of relationships in which organisms
affect each other and in which each organism is affected by the chemical and physical
components of its environment. The study of these complex interrelationships is called
ecology.
7. Both chemical and physical components constitute the "ground" factors that enable the biotic
components, or living organisms, to grow.
8. Carriers are people who harbor disease organisms in their bodies, sometimes permanently,
but have not had the actual disease.
9. This creates a molecule that is bipolar (that is, it has two poles, one positive and the other
negative).
10. Many of the pollutants emitted by automobile exhaust and industrial processes are
carcinogenic (cancer-producing)

C. Write the correct answers on the lines provided.

1. At the Zenith ………………. of her career, she was starring in four motion pictures each year.
a. trust b. peak c. perfection d. excellence
2. If there is something you must do that you can do today, do it today-don’t procrastinate
……………….
a. compute b. complain c. delay d. question
3. It is usually best not to divulge ………………. the unhappy moments of one’s childhood to
acquaintances at work
a. vomit b. squeeze c. tell d. reply
4. His work gives him great satisfaction, but the financial rewards he receives are
negligible………………..
a. small b. alluring c. complicated d. undisputed
5. In all of history there is no name more infamous ………………. than that of Adolf Hitler.
a. unfamiliar b. insightful c. detestable d. lackluster
6. Some of us expect physicians to be always correct, forgetting that they, like us, are fallible
………………..
a. believing b. disbelieving c. may be correct d. may be mistaken
7. Our next student council meeting will convene ………………. two weeks from today, on
November 18 at two o'clock.
a. break up b. get together c. proceed d. retreat
8. Audits by the Internal Revenue Service are a deterrent ………………. to cheating when
reporting taxable income.
a. prevention b. extermination c. duplication d. intervention
9. The error was inadvertent……………….; they did not intend to overcharge us.
a. cowardly b. effective c. unadvertised d. unintentional
10. The subway system in New York City is deteriorating……………….; it is dirtier, less reliable,
and more crime-ridden than ever before.
a. persistent b. worsening c. unhealthful d. unessential
11. Eating in restaurants became so expensive that we had to curtail ………………. dining out
from once a week to once a month.
a. erase b. engage c. discontinue d. decrease

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 12. The gist of etiquette is "Treat others kindly—make them feel comfortable."
a. trust b. heart c. comfort d. equality
13. He doesn't need to study chemistry, but it is obligatory for him to take a natural science to
earn a degree.
a. required b. disclosed c. effective d. fashionable
14. Jack and Jill are incredibly ostentatious………………. —they used fine silver, china, and
crystal at a picnic on the beach.
a. many-sided b. ornamented c. Showy d. influential
15. Bart was mortified ………………. when his friends learned that he was failing most of his
college courses.
a. concise b. mistaken c. frightened d. embarrassed
16. Only a few of the many new businesses started each year are successes—most are
fiascos………………..
a. failure b. paradox c. fashion d. contradiction

D. Write the correct answers on the lines provided.

1. Abigail Adams managed to keep her family solvent ………………. during the war primarily by
selling small luxurious items her husband John sent at her request from the diplomatic posts
in Europe.
a. spiritually b. financially able c. physically weak d. mentally alert
clean
2. Infant mortality ………………. in the first year of life exceeded 10 percent. In the South in
1860 almost five out of ten children died before age five, and among all South Carolinians
younger than twenty, fewer than four in the ten survived to reach the 20-to-60-year-old
category.
a. death b. life c. burial d. birth
3. And in the influx ………………. of immigrants to the cities
a. odor b. copy c. slight bend d. great flow
4. compounded ………………. social tensions by pitting people of different backgrounds against
each other in the contest for jobs and housing. Ironically, in the midst of the dirt, the noise, the
crime, and the conflict, as if to tempt those who
a. devised b. improved c. increased d. excluded
5. struggled to survive, rose the opulent ………………. residences of the very rich.
a. ornamented b. luxurious c. increasing d. out-dated
6. Most immigrants gravitated ………………. toward the cities, since only a minority
a. send b. move c. rise d. flow
7. had farming experience or the means ………………. to purchase lands and equipment.
a. equal b. cause c. wealth d. center
8. Marshall was an astute ………………. lawyer who was always to be found on the winning side.
a. clever b. crooked c. cranky d. humble
9. Don't squander ………………. money on products that are supposed to open or
a. waste b. drown c. wonder d. crush
10. close pores, prevent or erase wrinkles, enhance ………………. skin beauty, stimulate hair
follicles, grow hair, or alter secretions of the sebaceous glands.

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 a.improve b. erase c. confine d. bewilder
11. It is true that protein is essential for optimum ………………. growth and wellbeing, but protein
is utilized in conjunction with other nutrients in the complex process of metabolism, rather like
parts of an extremely sophisticated biochemical factory.
a. superb b. chosen c. silent d. mindful
12. In an indirect way, vitamin C helps to facilitate ………………. wound healing, prevent bleeding
gums, and enhance a person's resistance to infections.
a. commingle b. manufacture c. make cleaner d. make easies
13. By definition, a vegetarian is a person who abstains ………………. from eating meat as a food,
and this abstention may or may not include dairy products and eggs.
a. tie or bind b. free or unfetter c. withhold from d. remove from
14. It might be worthwhile to self-examine the criteria ………………. you use to make decisions
about things that influence the quality of your life. Is the information you use to make such
decisions founded upon scientific data or is it a product of hearsay, your friends' opinions, and
the influence of mass media?
a. facts b. standards c. research d. opinions
15. Perhaps no other health issue warrants as much attention as the proliferating ……………….
use and misuse of nonprescription drugs, commonly called proprietary drugs, that are sold over
the counter.
a. hastening b. aggravating c. complicating d. multiplying
16. As for breath odor caused by the ingestion ………………. of certain foods, such as onions,
garlic, or alcohol, it is important to understand that most of the odor is from the lungs and not
the mouth.
a. answering b. questioning c. swallowing d. chewing

E. Choose the best meaning of the underlined word.

1. The first review on the Harry Potter movie was favorable. Many people attended and enjoyed
the movie. Some people even saw the movie three times!
a. negative b. uncertain c. positive d. clear
2. Her quiet, timid ways made us guess at her true feelings about the story because she kept her
ideas to herself and never spoke in the class.
a. shy b. boisterous c. kind d. seriously
3. He was found running down the street after curfew, and his parents were penalized. The ticket
read: "Illegally in the streets at 1:00A.M." Now he would have to pay the ticket with his own
money.
a. crooked b. fined c. delicate d. informed
4. The woman crossed her fingers as her daughter did the cheer. She was hoping that everything
would work out for her daughter as she vied for a position on the squad. Her daughter wanted
to be a cheerleader.
a. shouted b. enclosed c. expanded d. tried
5. The boy knew that the lake was teeming, and overflowing with bass, so he brought a big net to
help get the fish in the boat.
a. rare b. enclave c. full d. sparse

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 6. It was difficult to listen to Tommy speak because he droned on and on just like a buzzer that
won't stop buzzing.
a. ideal b. same tone c. lively d. scared
7. The lithe girl was perfect for the basketball team because she was all muscle and could play
well.
a. lean b. cubed c. thick d. eerie
8. Thomas went to the apex of the mountain, and because it was so high, he had to take a tank of
oxygen with him.
a. bottom b. breathe c. top d. clear
9. The apparatus that Jill used to connect the fabric was similar to a sewing machine, but this
one did all of the work while she just pushed a button.
a. idea b. zipper c. instrument d. singular
10. The frigid air seemed to suck his breathe away as he attempted to finish his first snowman of
the season
a. deficient b. sappy c. thick d. cold

F. Circle the correct answer.

1 . Sometimes when reading, words are defined within the sentence where they are found. This is
referred to as:
a. Context Clue b. Point of Reference c. Helping Verb d. Main Idea
2. Context Clues that define a word are often found after:
a. clues b. The word "or" c. A comma d. Both C and D are correct

Read the passages below to answer the questions that follow:

The Five Spanish Missions of Old San Antonio
(adapted from http://www.lsjunction.com/facts/missions.htm)
A chain of five missions established along the San Antonio River in the 18th century became the
largest concentration of Catholic missions in North America. Built primarily, or mostly to expand
Spanish New World influence northward from Mexico, the missions also served to introduce native
inhabitants, people, into Spanish society.
Four of the missions (San Jose, San Juan, Concepcion, and Espada) were originally founded and
started in East Texas. As the East Texas missions succumbed, or gave way to drought, malaria,
and French incursions, however, they were relocated, or transferred to San Antonio. The missions
flourished, or grew during the middle of the 18th century, but later declined due to inadequate or
too little military sdupport, disease, and increased hostitlities, or conflicts with Apaches and
Comanches.
3 . In the passage, the word inhabitants means:
a. People b. Spanish c. Spanish Culture d. Weapons
4. In the passage, the word succumbed means:
a. helped by b. did well c. grew d. disturbed or gave away
5. Relocated means:
a. destroyed b. moved or transferred c. grew d. populated
6 . In the passage, flourished means:
a. fell apart b. became wealthy c. grew and developed d. flowered

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7. Inadequate means:
a. huge amounts of b. not enough of c. great wealth shown d. plenty
8. Hostility means:
a. friendly behavior b. aggressivebehavior and conflict
c. positive models d. undetermined
9. San Jose (1720)
Soon after the building of the Alamo, a secondmission was founded in 1720 about five miles
downstream. Named San Jose, this new mission was established by Fray Antonio Margil de
Jesus, who had previously left a failed mission in East Texas. A model among the Texas
missions, San Jose gained a reputation as a major social and cultural center. Among the San
Antonio missions, it also provided the strongest garrison against raides from Indians.
The word model means:
a. a person that shows something b. a good example
c. a bad example d. a plan to destroy
10. A garrison is a:
a. mission b. area c. fort d. raid