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. Tsunami
► Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative
2. Repose
► Appropriateness of behavior or conduct
► To stress or emphasize; intensify
► The act of resting or the state of being at rest.
► The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.
3. Gargoyle
► Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.
► Of, relating to, or occurring in the night
► A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.
4. Vacillate
► To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.
► A person with masterly skill or technique in the arts.
► A fungus, usually of the class Ascomycetes, that grows symbiotically with algae,
5. Embargo
► A prohibition by a government on certain or all trade with a foreign nation
► A closed plane figure bounded by three or more line segments.
► A teacher and guide in spiritual and philosophical matters.
► Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd
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.