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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

PROACTIVE

DEFINITION:
Taking action to control a situation rather than responding to it after it has happened.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
LoPilato said the policy aims to be proactive, rather than allowing more violence to take place before regulating the problem.
The Los Angeles Times, 07/20/2026

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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. Toxin

A dense evergreen forest occupying a tropical region with an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches.

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

One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

A poisonous substance, especially a protein, that is produced by living cells or organisms.


2. Solstice

Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.

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

Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.

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


3. Boycott

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

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

Self-examination.

To take in by elaborate methods of deceit


4. Quandary

Self-examination.

To take in by elaborate methods of deceit

Harmful, malevolent, injurious. Harmfully cancerous.

A state of uncertainty or perplexity.


5. Strategy

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

The science and art of using all the forces of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as possible during peace or war.

The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables


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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.