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. Parasite

► A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.

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

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

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

2. Vacillate

► To honor the memory of with a ceremony

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

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

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

3. Nocturnal

► A treeless area between the icecap and the tree line of Arctic regions, having a permanently frozen subsoil and supporting low-growing vegetation

► Of, relating to, or occurring in the night

► Having or demonstrating enthusiasm

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

4. Kilometer

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

► 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

► A metric unit of length equal to 1,000 meters (0.62 mile).

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

5. Heritage

► The locus of points for which the sum of the distances from each point to two fixed points is equal

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

► In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.

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

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