WORKING WITH WORDS: LESSON 3
Instructions:
(1) Give the part of speech of each of these word forms. Notice that some of the words are used in
different forms than they appeared on the original list. (2) Fill in the blank with the appropriate word.
(3) Finally, match the words with their synonyms.
WORD BANK
(PART 1)
MARTIAL __________
FOIBLE __________
PHILISTINE __________
MESMERIZED ________
JEOPARDY __________
EROTIC __________
FORTE _________
CUPIDITY ________
PRECARIOUS ___________
CATHOLIC ___________
(PART 2: Each word must be used only once.)
When I was a little boy, I was (1)__________________________ by an exhibition of tae kwon do, a
Korean form of karate. I begged my parents to let me study the (2)__________________ arts so that I
could defend myself from the neighborhood bullies. The walk home from school was indeed
(3)__________________________, for I never knew when I would be challenged to a fight and possibly
lose a baby tooth considerably earlier than nature had planned. Not only did I fear bodily harm, but
sometimes I felt hat my very life was in (4)__________________________. At last, my parents gave their
consent for my studying tae kwon do, provided that I pay for the lessons myself. Luckily, the local tae
kwon do master was not known for his (5)_______________________; on the contrary, he had a
reputation for being generous and charitable. He was no (6)_________________________, but had a
broad and deep appreciation of the music, art, literature, and philosophy of both Asian and Western
culture. Born in Korea, he had come to the United States in his twenties and was now in his sixties.
However, at that time, I didn’t care at all hat he was a man of broad, refined, (7)____________________
taste; I simply wanted to learn how to fight. After listening to my reasons for learning the martial arts
and discovering that my allowance would hardly cover the fees, the kindly, compassionate teacher
agreed to teach me for nothing if I would clean up the tae kwon do studio after workouts. I studied with
him from the time I was ten until I was seventeen so that self-defense, originally my weak point, became
my (8)______________________. I am eternally grateful to my teacher, whose only (9)______________
in all the years I knew him was to occasionally sneak off at night to see the latest X-rated
(10)______________ movie.
(PART 3)
_____1. EROTIC
a. enthrall, spellbind
_____2. JEOPARDIZE
b. unbiased, broad
_____3. FOIBLE
c. amatory, passionate
_____4. CUPIDITY
d. aptitude, talent
_____5. MARTIAL
e. barbarian, materialist
_____6. PRECARIOUS
f. avarice, possessiveness
_____7. FORTE
g. endanger, risk
_____8. MESMERIZE
h. flaw, defect
_____9. PHILISTINE
i. combative, militant
_____10. CATHOLIC
j. risky, unsafe
(PART 5: BONUS WORDS FOR QUIZ—You can receive up to 105% on the quiz.)
PATH—feeling, suffering, disease (sympathy)
1. APATHETIC (ADJ.)—lacking feeling or interest; synonym-unconcerned
2. EMPATHIZE (V.)—to identify with or fully understand another’s feelings and thoughts; synonymunderstand
3. ANTIPATHY (N.)—strong dislike; synonym-hate
4. PATHOS (N.)—the quality of arousing pity or sadness; synonym-pitiableness
5. PSYCHOPATH (N.)—a mentally ill or unstable person, especially one showing aggressive antisocial
behavior; synonym-maniac