Quiz created: 051018

Vocabulary Quiz 1

Instructions: Answer the multiple choice questions, guessing if necessary; then click on the "Process Questions" button at the end of the quiz to see your score in the adjacent message box. The program will not reveal which questions you got wrong, only how many points you have. Go back and change your answers until you get them all right. (The message box will rejoice at that point and the page will change color to show it is tickled pink.)

Points to note: (1) Questions with only one possible answer are one point each. (2) Questions with one or more possible answers (represented by check boxes) give a point for each correct answer, but also subtract a point for each wrong answer! (3) The program will not attempt to score your efforts at all if you have not tried at least half of the questions. (4) This quiz is for your own use only. No record of your progress is kept or reported to anyone.


Words in this quiz are taken from The Economist, Oct 15, 2005

1. "Neither of these men was a STELLAR academic." (p. 30) This means that neither of them
was important enough to have a monument erected in his memory 
flunked out of school 
was good in school 
specialized in astronomy 
was involved in cheating in school 
No Answer
2. "Fed watchers had to INFER whether the central bankers had loosened or tightened policy." (p. 30) This means that the watchers had to
make a moral judgment 
make a legal judgment 
decide on the basis of indirect evidence 
insinuate to the press 
conceal what they knew 
No Answer
3. "Mr Greenspan … retains a PENCHANT for circumlocutory phrases." (p. 30) This means that such phrases
are disliked by him 
cause him much amusement 
are part of his retirement contract 
are frequently produced by him 
occur in his writing but not in his speech 
No Answer
4. "Mr Greenspan … retains a penchant for CIRCUMLOCUTORY phrases." (p. 30) This means that such phrases
are vulgar 
are blunt 
beat around the bush 
are filled with precise legal and financial terminology 
are officially classified as secret 
contain extremely long words 
No Answer
5. "… this broad strategy is likely to be EMULATED by any successor." (p. 30) This means that a successor, no matter who, will
copy the strategy 
avoid the strategy 
publicly praise the strategy, but secretly not follow it 
publicly condemn the strategy, but secretly continue to follow it 
No Answer
6. "GM … might … also have to honour guarantees it made in the event that Delphi ever came under 'financial distress'-that presumably ENCOMPASSES bankruptcy." (p. 71) This means that the term "financial distress"
envisions bankruptcy as very likely 
excludes bankruptcy 
eschews bankruptcy 
is a legal maneuver to avoid bankruptcy 
includes bankruptcy 
No Answer
7. "…governments… have been led by folly or KNAVERY to meddle needlessly in the affairs of a region not their own…" (p. 90) This means that meddling governments not acting out of foolishness were acting out of
ignorance 
enlightened self interest 
benign neglect 
a sense of daring 
malice 
fear 
No Answer
8. "When a legendary figure has been dead for 16 years, a REVISIONIST biography is welcome." (p. 92) The welcome biography is one which
reviews the person's whole life 
differs from popular belief 
includes new information 
reviews all of the biographies published earlier 
required many changes before it was published 
was ghost-written by a professional editor 
No Answer
9. "[The author's] biography … is authorised by the family. But that does not mean he is SYCOPHANTIC." (p. 92) To be sycophantic means to be
paid by the family 
exploitative of the family 
unrealistically positive in order to please the family 
unrealistically negative in order to please the family 
part of a scheme to challenge distribution made under a will 
unsympathetic 
No Answer
10. "It was in Kashmir … that [the earthquake] WROUGHT devastation." (p. 25) This means that that it
avoided devastation 
followed devastation 
preceded devastation 
created devastation 
could properly be called devastation 
No Answer
11. "But unseasonable torrential rain and hail … also HERALDED a marked drop in the temperature." (p. 25) This means that the rain and hail
foretold the drop in temperature 
followed the drop in temperature 
were the main cause of the drop in temperature 
were not the cause of the drop in temperature 
led to greater suffering because of the following drop in temperature 
No Answer

      Points out of 11:

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This consummately cool, pedagogically compelling, self-correcting,
multiple-choice quiz was produced automatically from
a simple text file of questions using D.K. Jordan's
dubiously original, but publicly accessible
Think Again Quiz Maker
of August 27, 2005.