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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

ACQUAINTANCE

DEFINITION:
A person one knows slightly, but who is not a close friend.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
When photographer Peter Turnley was just 20 years old, an acquaintance from the California Office of Economic Opportunity reached out to him with a question.
The Los Angeles Times, 12/01/2025

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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. Hieroglyphic

Marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer.

The arrangement of events in time

Relating to a system of writing, such as that of ancient Egypt, in which pictorial symbols are used to represent meaning or sounds or a combination of meaning and sound.

An embankment built to prevent flooding


2. Parasite

Having a backbone or spinal column.

A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy.

An alteration or change, as in nature, form, or quality.

One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.


3. Fallacy

A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy

Appropriateness of behavior or conduct

Incorrectness of reasoning or belief

Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline


4. Rainforest

To move in waves or with a smooth, wavelike motion.

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

To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark

A dense evergreen forest occupying a tropical region with an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches.


5. Zoology

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

To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

An intricate structure of interconnecting passages through which it is difficult to find one’s way; a maze.

To honor the memory of with a ceremony


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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.