TIE | The Los Angeles Times in Education

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. Tariff

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

► A schedule of prices or fees.

► A state of uncertainty or perplexity.

► Any of several rod-shaped bacteria, of the genus Salmonella, that cause food poisoning and other diseases.

2. Jaunty

► Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.

► Something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition.

► To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

► An intricate structure of interconnecting passages through which it is difficult to find one’s way; a maze.

3. Light-Year

► The distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year.

► A person with masterly skill or technique in the arts.

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

► A disorderly commotion or disturbance.

4. Inference

► The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.

► A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen.

► Either of two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator.

► A cult or religious movement, a group sharing particular (often unorthodox) political and/or religious beliefs.

5. Jovial

► A cult or religious movement, a group sharing particular (often unorthodox) political and/or religious beliefs.

► The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

► Marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer.

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

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.

OVERZEALOUS

Words in the News Quiz
5 Middle School Words

OVERZEALOUS
DEFINITION: Showing too much energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective.	FOUND IN THE NEWS: Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest police union, attributed the encounter to an “overzealous poll worker who was complaining to the officer that the councilor shouldn’t have even been inside.” ►The Boston Herald, 11/17/2025

OVERZEALOUS

Words in the News Quiz5 Middle School Words

Words in the News Quiz
5 Middle School Words