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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

THRESHOLD

DEFINITION:
A level, point, or value at which something is true.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Child poverty — an assessment of whether pretax income for households with children falls below the latest poverty threshold — declined more significantly in New Mexico in the last three years, dropping from an estimated rate of 24.2% between 2022 and 2024 to 20.9% from 2023 to 2025.
►The Albuquerque Journal, 09/28/2026

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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. Spectrum

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

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

► The distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source, arranged in order of wavelengths.

► A teacher and guide in spiritual and philosophical matters.

2. Inference

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

► The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.

► An embankment built to prevent flooding

► To condescend to give or grant

3. Hieroglyphic

► 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.

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

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

► A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

4. Sect

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

► A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

► A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy

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

5. Vertebrate

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

► To proclaim publicly

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

► Having a backbone or spinal column.

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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.

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