Resources for Bay Area
Teachers and Students
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.
Words in the News Quiz
5 High 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. Oligarchy
► Government by a few, especially by a small faction of persons or families.
► An underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system.
2. Abjure
► Division into ordered groups or categories.
► To renounce under oath; forswear.
► To insert or introduce between other elements or parts.
► The side of a right triangle opposite the right angle.
3. Vacuous
► The side of a right triangle opposite the right angle.
► The use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language.
► Lacking serious purpose or occupation; idle.
4. Diffident
► The basic unit of currency among participating European Union countries.
► Of the same or similar nature or kind
► Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree.
► Lacking or marked by a lack of self-confidence; shy and timid.
5. Deciduous
► A doctrine holding that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated.
► Falling off or shed at a specific season or stage of growth:
► To separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate.