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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

ACQUAINTANCE

DEFINITION:
A person one knows slightly, but who is not a close friend.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
When photographer Peter Turnley was just 20 years old, an acquaintance from the California Office of Economic Opportunity reached out to him with a question.
►The Los Angeles Times, 12/01/2025

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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. Random

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

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

► Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective.

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

2. Repose

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

► A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

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

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

3. Nebula

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

► The supporting and water-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting primarily of tracheids and vessels; woody tissue.

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

► Having or demonstrating enthusiasm

4. Technique

► Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.

► The systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished.

► The drawing of a conclusion by reasoning; the act of deducing.

► The branch of biology that deals with animals and animal life, including the study of the structure, physiology, development, and classification of animals.

5. Formidable

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

► 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.

► Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder

► An unstable, poisonous allotrope of oxygen.

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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.