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. Nuisance
► A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace
► One that is inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious; a bother.
► A metric unit of length equal to 1,000 meters (0.62 mile).
2. Xylem
► An embankment built to prevent flooding
► A fungus, usually of the class Ascomycetes, that grows symbiotically with algae,
► A prohibition by a government on certain or all trade with a foreign nation
3. Hypocrisy
► A relationship of mutual benefit or dependence.
► The main character in a drama or other literary work.
► An unstable, poisonous allotrope of oxygen.
4. Metaphor
► One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.
► To condescend to give or grant
► In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.
5. Vacillate
► In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.
► To rejoice greatly; be jubilant or triumphant
► Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles
► To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.
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.