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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

DISABILITY

DEFINITION:
A physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain tasks or participate in daily activities.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
The agreement last week between Disability-rights groups and Secretary of State Shirley Weber follows an Oct. 2 ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim of San Francisco that the current system violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws.
►San Francisco Chronicle, 11/02/2026

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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. Tempestuous

► Shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane.

► A form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life,

► Tumultuous; stormy.

► An advocate of the extension of political voting rights, especially to women.


2. Nonsectarian

► Vacuously, smugly, and unconsciously foolish.

► To proceed completely around:

► Feeling or showing haughty disdain.

► Not limited to or associated with a particular religious denomination.


3. Photosynthesis

► Belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War.

► To insert or introduce between other elements or parts.

► The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source.

► To increase the positive charge or valence of (an element) by removing electrons.


4. Incognito

► The use of obstructionist tactics, especially prolonged speechmaking, for the purpose of delaying legislative action.

► Cheerfully confident; optimistic.

► Having one’s true identity concealed.

► Either of two points on the celestial sphere at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator.


5. Usurp

► To seize another’s place, authority, or possession wrongfully.

► Eating and drinking in moderation.

► Playfully jocular; humorous

► To modify, as by shortening or simplifying or by skewing the content in a certain manner.


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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.