Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

SUREFIRE

DEFINITION:
Certain or likely, especially to succeed.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Kirby taught himself how to count cards, a surefire way to get barred from gambling at a casino, “raking in money on trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas,” the article stated.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal, 05/04/2026

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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. Quota

A proportional part or share.

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

Any of various nonplacental mammals, including kangaroos, opossums, bandicoots, and wombats, found principally in Australia and the Americas.

A schedule of prices or fees.


2. Typhoon

A schedule of prices or fees.

The method or result of concealing personnel or equipment from an enemy by making them appear to be part of the natural surroundings

A weather phenomenon in the Eastern Pacific that is precisely equivalent to a hurricane.

To honor the memory of with a ceremony


3. Metaphor

Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

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


4. Light-Year

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

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

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

Incorrectness of reasoning or belief


5. Flourish

To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

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

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

Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles


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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.