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. Quarantine

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

► To move in waves or with a smooth, wavelike motion.

► Relating to a system of writing, such as that of ancient Egypt, in which pictorial symbols are used to represent meaning or sounds or a combination of meaning and sound.

► Enforced isolation or restriction of free movement imposed to prevent the spread of contagious disease.

2. Jaunty

► Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.

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

► A rebirth or revival.

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

3. Vertebrate

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

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

► Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

► Having a backbone or spinal column.

4. Enthusiastic

► A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen.

► To abstain from or act together in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with as an expression of protest or disfavor or as a means of coercion

► Having or demonstrating enthusiasm

► Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative

5. Decorum

► A prohibition by a government on certain or all trade with a foreign nation

► To proclaim publicly

► Appropriateness of behavior or conduct

► An elevated, comparatively level expanse of land; a tableland.

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.

ROOSTER TAIL

Words in the News Quiz
5 Middle School Words

ROOSTER TAIL
DEFINITION: A high-arching spray (as of water, dust, or snow) thrown up behind a fast-moving motorboat, motor vehicle, or skier.	FOUND IN THE NEWS: A second red flag was waved during the fifth race of the day when Rollin Transport got into a rooster tail on the turn of the first lap, resulting in the boat going onto its side before flipping. ►The Key West Citizen, 11/10/2025

ROOSTER TAIL

Words in the News Quiz5 Middle School Words

Words in the News Quiz
5 Middle School Words