Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

BACKLOT

DEFINITION:
An area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who serves the 4th District, makes her way across an empty, unnamed backlot, presenting her case to be the city’s next mayor.
The Los Angeles Times, 05/18/2026

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Words in the News Quiz
5 Middle School Words

Click on the correct answer in the quiz below.
Then see if you can find the word in your newspaper -- the print edition, the website or the digital edition and copy the sentence for context. NOTE: High School words are much harder to find!


1. Yacht

To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.

Sharing the same opinions or views; being in complete harmony or accord.

Any of various relatively small sailing or motor-driven vessels used for pleasure cruises or racing.


2. Tsunami

A closed plane figure bounded by three or more line segments.

The act of resting or the state of being at rest.

A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption.

A proportional part or share.


3. Omnivore

The drawing of a conclusion by reasoning; the act of deducing.

To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.

One that takes in everything available, as with the mind.

The systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished.


4. Stereotype

A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.

A picture or decorative design made by setting small colored pieces, as of stone or tile, into a surface.

To stress or emphasize; intensify

Grossly offensive to decency or morality.


5. Divulge

A fungus, usually of the class Ascomycetes, that grows symbiotically with algae,

To proclaim publicly

Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles

The right or privilege of voting; franchise.


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Common Core State Standard
LS.CCS.4/5/6 Grades 3-12: Students are asked to determine the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words through multiple choice vocabulary quizzes. Quizzes are designed to help students demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in words, acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words, and gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. Students are then asked to find the words within the newspaper and copy the sentence for context to its overall meaning or function in a sentence.