Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

PARLIAMENTARIAN

DEFINITION:
A consultant who advises the presiding officer and other officers, committees, and members on matters of parliamentary procedure.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Mia Cooper, a parliamentarian for the district, brought her daughter to district meetings and state-level education forums as the girl grew up.
►The Los Angeles Times, 03/09/2026

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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. Quandary

► A state of uncertainty or perplexity.

► Having a backbone or spinal column.

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

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

2. Commemorate

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

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

► A proportional part or share.

► To honor the memory of with a ceremony

3. Tariff

► The arrangement of events in time

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

► A schedule of prices or fees.

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

4. Cower

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

► To cringe in fear

► A disorderly commotion or disturbance.

► A relationship of mutual benefit or dependence.

5. Typhoon

► A weather phenomenon in the Eastern Pacific that is precisely equivalent to a hurricane.

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

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

► Being without or almost without hope

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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.