Chapter 21—soph.
1. credible
- adjective
2. cursory
- adjective
3. designate
- verb
-Some jurors doubted the witness’s testimony, but most of them found it
credible.
-As credible as Mr. Bower’s resume may seem, I don’t think you
should hire him without checking that it is really truthful.
a. boring
b. long
c. believable
-Most people do only a cursory job of brushing their teeth. To avoid
cavities, however, you must take the time to brush carefully.
-Because James had to work late, he had only enough time to give his
apartment a cursory cleaning before his parents arrived.
a. careful
b. consistent
c. quick
-At the party, Betty drank soda rather than beer, so her friends
designated her as the driver for trip home.
-A coworker was designated to present Donnie with the “Employee of
the Year” award at the company banquet.
a. to forbid
b. to assign
c. to hire
4. deviate
- verb
-Having taken the wrong exit off the highway, we had to deviate
somewhat from the route marked on the map.
-If you deviate even a little form the test’s directions, you might hurt
your grade.
a. to follow
b. to depart
c. to gain
5. improvise
- verb
-Nadia can improvise accompaniments on the piano to songs that she’s
never heard before. I don’t know how she plays so well without any
preparation or sheet music.
-When I rang the doorbell, I wasn’t expecting Ellen’s father to come to
the door, so I had to quickly improvise an explanation for my visit.
a. to remember
b. to keep away from c. to invent
6. interim
- noun
-Cassie hasn’t seen her nephews for years. In the interim, they had
grown from troubled boys into serious men.
-After the secretary left, it took two weeks for her replacement to arrive
at the real-estate office. In the interim, the agents had to do their own
typing.
a. to remember
b. the future
c. the meantime
7. latent
- adjective
-Certain viruses, such as AIDS, can be latent in the body for years
before symptoms appear.
-After he retired, my father discovered his latent artistic talent. He took
up oil painting and now sells much of his work.
a. spiritual
b. inactive
c. absent
8. secular
- adjective
-While our government is secular, some governments are directly tied
to a religion.
-Devoting himself to a deeply religious life, the Hindu holy man denied
himself most secular pleasures.
a. spiritual
b. reliable
c. nonreligious
9. shun
- verb
-I used to see a lot of Tracy, but since our argument, she shuns me
whenever possible.
-The Amish live without many modern conveniences. For example, they
shun automobiles and electric light.
a. to keep away from b. to recognize
c. to observe
10. simulate
- verb
-The tan plastic of our kitchen table, with its wood-grain design,
simulates oak.
- Equipment that simulates a human heart can keep someone alive only
temporarily, until an actual heart can be substituted.
a. to contrast with
b. to imitate
c. to be made of
1. __________________
2. __________________
3. __________________
4. __________________
5. __________________
6. __________________
7. __________________
8. __________________
9. __________________
10. __________________
Believable
Done quickly and without attention to detail
Not directly related to religion; not spiritual; worldly
Present but hidden or inactive
The period of time in between; meantime
To act or look like; imitate
To compose, perform, or provide without, preparation
To keep away from; avoid consistently
To name to an office or duty; appoint
To turn aside or stray, as a path, direction, or standard
credible
interim
cursory
latent
designate
secular
deviate
shun
improvise
simulate
1. Nadia’s _________________ ability in basketball became apparent when she turned
twelve. Her movements had once been clumsy, but now they were smooth and
controlled.
2. Presidents _____________________ as Supreme Court justices people who share
their political views.
3. I hear Andy dropped out of college. What caused him to _________________
from his plan to get his degree?
4. Because his story about a flat tire sounded ________________, my parents allowed the
stranger to use our telephone.
5. In the _________________ between applying to college and getting the letter of
acceptance, I spent a lot of time worrying.
6. Margo couldn’t identify the driver of the car that had hit her. She’d given him only
a(n) _________________ glance at the time of the accident.
7. The chorus is known for its gospel music, but it also performs ________________
compositions, including show tunes.
8. When the actor forgot his lines, he was forced to ______________________
some dialog until the stage manager whispered to him from offstage.
9. Tony found the hardest part of overcoming his addiction was learning to
____________________ people and places that would tempt him to use drugs again.
10. The zoo’s exhibits ________________________ the natural environments of
animals. The orangutans, for example, live in a space that looks much like an Asian rain
forest.
credible
interim
cursory
latent
designate
secular
deviate
shun
improvise
simulate
I remember so well the time my mother’s back injury prevented her from going to church with
my brother and me. For five weeks, we were supposed to go by ourselves. Zach and I preferred
(1) _________________________ activities to religious ones, so we decided to (2)
______________________ church while Mom was recovering. We (3)
_______________________(e)d the churchgoers she wanted us to be by getting dressed every
Sunday in our good clothes and leaving home and returning at the right times. We spent the (4)
_____________________ at a restaurant or at the movies. Of course, we knew Mom would
question us about the service. Each week one of us was (5) _______________ (e)d to invent a
sermon. I thought Zach’s sermon sounded not only (6) _____________________, but also
inspiring. I, conversely, tended to (7) ________________ on the spot and didn’t sound so
believable. But Mom never seemed to notice how weak my sermons were or how (8)
____________________ our answers were when she asked whom we’d seen and what news
we’d heard.
Finally, she was ready to attend church again. Over dinner Saturday evening, she began what
seemed to be an innocent conversation. Gently, but showing a previously (9)
____________________ talent for cross-examination that could have made her a star attorney,
she questioned us in a quiet, but relentless manner about our “church-going”. The more she
persisted, the more Zach and I stumbled and (10) ________________(e)d from our official story.
We eventually concluded we were caught, and the realization mortified us. Looking downward
in shame, we divulged all the details of our secret scheme. We felt pretty foolish when we
learned she’d known all along that we never set foot in church.