The Articulate Professional

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Quiz on Last Month's Words

July / August 2011                               Volume 12  No. 4

Here are the words that were featured last month:

For each of the eight examples below, select a word from the above list that best fits the blank. Then check your answers at the end. Note that the correct answer could be any of the word forms that were featured -- example: infantilize, infantilization, infantile, and so on.

1. In hotly contested elections, the intensity of the conflict sometimes . . . . . the rivals, with each opponent stooping to name-calling and mudslinging.
2. Yes, the expression on my face this morning reflects my plain-for-all-to-see . . . . . at the news that Jim's unit, which in the past has tried every which way to derail my department's progress, is to be shut down and all its people let go.
3. I've never held Congress in high regard, but the recent debt ceiling showdown, which created needless anxiety nationwide for days on end and diminished our image throughout the world, has further . . . . . my view of that supposedly august institution.
4. News about the debt crisis in Europe keeps getting grimmer. Yet, in the past couple of years, EU economic and finance leaders have indicated--on several occasions--that the financial crisis on the Continent is at its . . . . . and that the situation will only get better.
5. Talking about how Dada, the early-20th-century artistic and literary movement, came to be called that, MOMA curator Leah Dickerman said on CBS Sunday Morning: "They plucked the word from a French-German dictionary and liked the way it sounded . . . . . and suggested new beginnings."
6. The unprecedented flooding in Thailand has drawn pitiful contributions from around the world because, according to humanitarian experts, the sight of flooded towns and villages has a far lower "shock value" than, say, images of collapsed homes and buildings caused by a massive earthquake or tsunami, and therefore generates a . . . . . response.
7. Of the twelve people reporting to me, Celia is easily the smartest. The problem is her output: it's . . . . .! If only she were a little more consistent.
8. During last night's football game, our highly favored team played . . . . . and was defeated by a relatively mediocre group of mostly rookies.

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Give yourself one point for each correct answer.

A score of 8 = excellent; 7 = very good; 6 = not bad; 5 or less = you may want to revisit these words.

Please let me know by e-mail or phone (281-463-2500) what you think about this quiz and how it can be improved.

© 2012 V.J. Singal
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