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. Toxin
► A poisonous substance, especially a protein, that is produced by living cells or organisms.
► Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles
► A weather phenomenon in the Eastern Pacific that is precisely equivalent to a hurricane.
2. Solstice
► The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.
► The right or privilege of voting; franchise.
3. Spectrum
► Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative
► The distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source, arranged in order of wavelengths.
► The drawing of a conclusion by reasoning; the act of deducing.
► A person with masterly skill or technique in the arts.
4. Jaunty
► Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder
► A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.
► Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.
► A movement or procedure involving skill and dexterity.
5. Levee
► An embankment built to prevent flooding
► To pound, crush, or grind to a powder or dust.
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.