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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. Tranquility

► One that speaks for, represents, or advocates

► An elevated, comparatively level expanse of land; a tableland.

► The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

► 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.

2. Phloem

► The food-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting of sieve tubes, fibers, parenchyma, and sclereids.

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

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

► Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.

3. Lichen

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

► Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.

► An ammunition belt, worn over the shoulder, having loops or pockets for cartridges.

► A fungus, usually of the class Ascomycetes, that grows symbiotically with algae,

4. Flourish

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

► To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

► 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

► Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd

5. Formidable

► A teacher and guide in spiritual and philosophical matters.

► A movement or procedure involving skill and dexterity.

► Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder

► A schedule of prices or fees.

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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.