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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

WILDFIRE

DEFINITION:
An unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
It was not yet clear how the wildfires started, but a long drought, low humidity and strong winds were fueling them.
►The Key West Citizen, 04/27/2026

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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. Tempo

► A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

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

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

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

2. Despondent

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

► Harmful, malevolent, injurious. Harmfully cancerous.

► Being without or almost without hope

► 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. Alliteration

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

► A relationship of mutual benefit or dependence.

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

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

4. Metaphor

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

► A proportional part or share.

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

► One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

5. Xylem

► The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

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

► Incorrectness of reasoning or belief

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

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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.