English I- Vocabulary Unit 9
Choosing the Right Word
1. Despite the doctor’s gloomy (prognosis, flair) when I entered the hospital, I was up in a matter of days.
2. I must admit now that I was hurt when the coach took me out in the last minutes of the game, but I tried to
(scuttle, feign) indifference.
3. How can you say that the TV interview was spontaneous and (heterogeneous, candid) when it was rehearsed?
4. I don’t consider it (drudgery, rasping) to prepare meals every day because I love good food and good cooking.
5. The building is equipped with a(n) (repugnant, auxiliary) generator, ready to go into service whenever the main
power source is cut off.
6. “The noble Brutus has told you Caesar was ambitious; if it were so, it was a (grievous, candid) fault.”
7. I work in an office compartment, travel in a midget car, and sleep in a tiny bedroom. My life seems to take place
in a series of (envoys, cubicles)!
8. Instead of sending your little sister as a(n) (envoy, horde) to explain what went wrong, why don’t you stand up
and speak for yourself?
9. The poet Browning tells us that if we were to open his heart, we would find the word “Italy” (inscribed,
impelled) inside it.
10. After examining the price tag, I gingerly replaced the coat on the rack, (incredulous, grievous) at the
preposterous sum the store was asking for it.
11. People who boast of their high moral principles are often the ones who will (scuttle, escalate) them most quickly
to serve their own interests.
12. The expression of satisfaction that comes over her face when she talks of the failures of the people is highly
(expedient, repugnant) to me.
13. An army without strong leadership and firm discipline is no more than an armed (horde, drudgery).
14. I searched in vain through the (auxiliary, heterogeneous) pile of odds and ends for the spare part I had
inadvertently thrown away.
15. It’s one thing to be interested in writing; it’s quite another to have a (flair, monologue) for it.
16. Political analysts, students of statecraft, and historians tried to determine what caused a minor border incident
to (escalate, feign) into a full-scale war.
17. As soon as I heard (incredulous, rasping) noises coming from the workshop, I knew that someone was using a
saw of a file.
18. Was it patriotism, a desire to show off, or just self-interest that (inscribed, impelled) the foreign minister to take
those terrible risks?
19. Since the person I was trying to interview wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise, our conversation quickly
turned into a (prognosis, monologue).
20. Cut off from all supplies, the soldiers had to use various (expedients, cubicles), to keep their equipment in
working order.
21. It was wrong of me to be so curt with her, but it was the (expedient, incredulous) thing to do, since I was
already running late to my appointment.
22. I practiced my theatrical (feign, monologue) for weeks, hoping that a flawless performance would land me the
part I wanted.
23. When I jolted awake last night to the sound of a desperate (prognosis, rasping), I was cold with fear until I
realized that it was my old dog, who sometimes has breathing problems.
24. He handed me a (scuttle, cubicle) of slop for the pigs, and suddenly I was glad that this was a job I did not have
to do very often.
25. If I’m not available, ask my (cubicle, auxiliary) to sign the papers.