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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.
This Week's Word In The News 

IMPROBABLE

DEFINITION:
Unlikely to take place under the circumstances or in the usual course of events.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
That’s where Democratic candidates are trying to accomplish the improbable by flipping a pair of Trump-friendly congressional seats and carving into Republicans’ narrow 218 to 213 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Key West Citizen-Herald, 03/31/2025

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. Vacillate

Self-examination.

A diffuse mass of interstellar dust or gas or both, visible as luminous patches or areas of darkness

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

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


2. Polygon

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

The main character in a drama or other literary work.

To cringe in fear

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


3. Wretched

In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.

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

Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder

The arrangement of events in time


4. Voracious

Consuming or eager to consume great amounts of food; ravenous.

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

To pound, crush, or grind to a powder or dust.

To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark


5. Impertinent

To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark

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

Exceeding the limits of propriety or good manners; improperly forward or bold

A rebirth or revival.


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