Name____________________________________ English III - _____ Date_______________________
Warm-Ups – Unit 3, Appositives, and Compound Sentences
Vocabulary – Antonyms
Select the answer choice that best represents the opposite of the stem word.
1. baffling
indescribable
capricious
understandable
sincere
2. ascertain
release
guess
praise
blame
3. scoff
jeer
insult
cough
praise
4. aspersion
revelation
understanding
truth
rumor
5. nebulous
frequent
precise
resolute
amorphous
6. reticent
outspoken
friendly
certain
ambivalent
7. verbose
wordy
succinct
literal
long-winded
8. caprice
predictability
irony
whimsy
change
9. reticent
sustained
active
mumbling
talkative
10. disdain
respect
humor
ridicule
contempt
Vocabulary – Name the Speaker
Read the statement and identify which term from the list below is most closely associated with the statement.
allusion
ambiguity
aspersion
caprice
denunciation
diatribe
disdain
raillery
rhetoric
verbosity
________________ 1. “I am the easy, insincere language that rolls off the tongue of a smooth salesperson.”
rhetoric
________________ 2. “ I am fault-finding and blame put into strong language.” raillery
________________ 3. “ I am lack of clarity and lucidity; I am designed to baffle.” ambiguity
________________ 4. “I am a disrespectful way to treat someone who is less powerful than myself.” disdain
________________ 5. “I am the sustained verbal attack that you think will never end.” diatribe
________________ 6. “I will put you down in public without a second thought.” denunciation
________________ 7. “I am the ‘short version’ of a much longer story.” allusion
________________ 8. “I am unpredictability and sudden change; watch out!” caprice
________________ 9. “I run out of paper before I run out of words.” verbosity
________________ 10. “I am a horrible untruth.” aspersion
Vocabulary – Synonyms
Identify the two choices that are closest in meaning to the question word.
1. diatribe
harangue
association
tirade
lineage
2. disparage
criticize
denigrate
separate
divide
3. aspersion
comedy
memory
slander
calumny
4. scoff
insult
tussle
belittle
revise
5. ineffable
incommunicable
horrid
appalling
unspeakable
6. scorn
contempt
flattery
derision
ruin
7. rail
transport
berate
censure
convey
8. reticent
quiet
verbose
reserved
repetitive
9. chide
pretend
scold
nag
influence
10. deride
cease
halt
mock
ridicule
Grammar – Appositive Phrases
Create your own sentences with an appositive phrase and at least one vocabulary word.
Underline your appositive phrase and circle your vocabulary word.
1. ____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________________
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Scenarios
Match the scenario with the word that best fits it.
allusion
aspersion
capricious
chide
denounce
diatribe
disdain
nebulous
reproach
reticent
________________ 1 The candidate took the opportunity of being on national news to criticize his opponents’
views. denounce
________________ 2 I could never quite name exactly what touched me about that situation, but the memory has
stayed with me my whole live and I have often wondered exactly what it means to me.
nebulous
________________ 3 No one realized how intelligent she was because she never raised her hand or contributed to
the discussion. reticent
________________ 4 The professor’s article mentioned hundreds of other articles to show that his findings
related to an important ongoing scholarly debate. allusion
________________ 5 I have always tried to be a good person, but he besmirched my good name by spreading
false rumors. aspersion
________________ 6 The feelings that she had kept bottled up inside burst out and she ranted about his past
failings for the next two hours. diatribe
________________ 7 I believe that it is your fault that all of this happened. reproach
________________ 8 His résumé showed that he had worked an astonishing array of positions, moving from one
job to another, taking an erratic path to the present without any perceptible long-term goals.
capricious
________________ 9 Preston always forgot to do his homework so his teacher lectured him each and every day
about the importance of an education. chide
________________ 10 When Sam made the varsity team, he followed the example of his new teammates and
began to snub his former friends on the junior varsity team. disdain
Grammar – Compound Sentences
Compound sentences are created when two independent clauses are connected with a comma and a coordinating
conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
Directions: complete the sentence by filling in an appropriate coordinating conjunction.
1. John and Caleb both play football for the Wildcats, _________ their friends Todd and Jamal play for the
Panthers. but
2. I do not like incomplete sentences, _______ do I like run-on sentences. nor
3. Gloria forgot to fill her tank, ________ she ran out of gas on the way to school. So
Write your own compound sentence including a vocabulary word.
4. ____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Vocabulary – Fill in the Blank
Select the best term from the Word Bank to complete each blank. Each term will only be used one time.
allusions
aspersions
chiding
denounce
disdain
disparaging
equivocations
platitudes
rail
scoffed
________________ 1. The boss’s haughty attitude and evident ----- for his employees has made him universally
disliked. disdain
________________ 2. Politicians often use intentional ----- to try to walk the line so that they do not offend any
potential supporters. equivocations
________________ 3. My older sister often slips into her “mom” role, gently ----- me to keep me in line with her
standards of proper public behavior. chiding
________________ 4. The movie critic’s ----- remarks were rude and far more critical than acceptable; clearly the
movie struck a bad chord with that reviewer. disparaging
________________ 5. While it is important to stand up for what is right and ----- what is wrong, it is even more
important to do something to correct the injustices in the world. denounce
________________ 6. Among my friends, it is easy for us to make brief references to things we have done
together in the past; often, such ----- will have us laughing out loud in moments. allusions
Name____________________________________ English III - _____ Date_______________________
________________ 7. Casting ----- at another person is an underhanded and unworthy way to attack someone’s
character. aspersions
________________ 8. It is often easier to ----- at others, at life, or at fate than it is to assume a sense of personal
responsibility and take charge of one’s own life. rail
________________ 9. The other students initially ----- at the new teacher’s strange methods, but quickly came to
see that they were more efficient and worth adopting. scoffed
________________ 10. Oftentimes, when it is difficult to find something meaningful to say, people resort to the
tried and true -----. platitudes
Vocabulary - Matching
Match each term with its definition
ambiguous
anecdote
denounce
deride
rail
scoff
aspersion
diatribe
scorn
chide
disdain
verbose
_______________ 1. to scold, reproach, or nag chide
_______________ 2. to ridicule harshly deride
_______________ 3. to communicate; to transport; to transmit convey
_______________ 4. contempt for someone seen as inferior disdain
_______________ 5. to find fault and express blame using harsh language rail
_______________ 6. a slanderous remark aspersion
_______________ 7. to criticize publicly denounce
_______________ 8. having several possible meanings ambiguous
_______________ 9. wordy verbose
_______________ 10. to insult or mock scoff
_______________ 11. contempt scorn
_______________ 12. a short version of an event, often for entertainment anecdote
_______________ 13. fanciful or unpredictable whimsical
_______________ 14. a bitter criticism or attack diatribe
_______________ 15. a trite statement platitude
convey
platitude
whimsical