Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know (MCQ Test + PDF) Week 39

Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know (MCQ Test + PDF) Week 39 - Day 3

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Question 1

A FAMOUS MUTINY

One of the most repugnant names in popular legend is that of Captain William Bligh. He was the captain of the H.M.S. Bounty in 1789, and the mutiny that erupted aboard that ship was the basis for a film in which Charles Laughton portrayed Bligh as an awesome bully and an unmitigated villain. He would flay both the body and the spirit of anyone who crossed him. The crew developed such an aversion to Bligh’s mortifying actions and demeanor that, led by Fletcher Christian, they set the captain and 18 shipmates off in a lifeboat in the South Pacific. The ship eventually reached Pitcairn Island, where some of the mutineers settled with the Tahitians who had come with them. Laughton’s delineation of Bligh remains as the image we have of him. Only recently has any attempt been made to vindicate Captain Bligh and to remove the heinous reputation that permeates history.

Sample Sentences: Use the new words in these sentences.

The mayor tried to _____ his actions that had been called capricious and irrational by critics.

A	demeanor
B	delineation
C	heinous
D	vindicate
E	flay

Question 1 Explanation:

Vindicate means to clear someone of blame or to show that someone or something was right or justified. The critics described the mayor's actions as capricious and irrational, so he tried to defend and justify them. Flay means to criticize or attack someone severely, so it does not fit the sentence: the mayor was defending his actions, not attacking them.

Question 2

He castigated his opponents and went to great lengths to _____ them with accusations of megalomania.

A	demeanor
B	delineation
C	heinous
D	vindicate
E	flay

Question 2 Explanation:

Flay literally means to strip the skin off, and figuratively to criticise or scold someone very harshly. The clues castigated (punished with words) and with accusations show a verb of fierce verbal attack: to flay them with accusations. Not vindicate, which means the opposite: to defend or clear someone of blame.

Question 3

His _____ was atypical; usually phlegmatic, he was belligerent and garrulous during the broadcast.

A	demeanor
B	delineation
C	heinous
D	vindicate
E	flay

Question 3 Explanation:

Demeanor (American spelling; British demeanour) means a person's outward behaviour, manner or bearing. The sentence contrasts his usual calm (phlegmatic) manner with how he behaved on the broadcast (belligerent and garrulous), so the gap needs a noun for behaviour: His demeanor was atypical. Not delineation, which is a description or sketch of something, not the way someone behaves.

Question 4

“The most _____ thing I have done,” he said in a stentorian voice, “is eradicate the untruth that my party is not compatible with progress.”

A	demeanor
B	delineation
C	heinous
D	vindicate
E	flay

Question 4 Explanation:

Heinous means hatefully or shockingly evil, as in a heinous crime. The gap comes after the most and before the noun thing, so it needs an adjective, and heinous is the only adjective among the options. Here the speaker uses it to describe his most extreme act: wiping out a claim made by his rivals.

Question 5

Then he gave an incisive _____ of his fulsome opponents as an antiquated group, complacent about the noisome conditions in a moribund city.

A	demeanor
B	delineation
C	heinous
D	vindicate
E	flay

Question 5 Explanation:

Delineation means a sketch or description in words, a portrayal of someone or something. The speaker described his opponents as an antiquated group, and this fits the pattern give a delineation of X as Y (give a description of X as Y): an incisive delineation of his opponents. Not demeanor, which refers to a person's own manner, not a description of others.

Question 6

Definitions: Match the new words with their definitions.

flay

A	hatefully evil
B	absolve, justify
C	sketch, description in words
D	conduct, bearing
E	strip off skin, scold harshly

Question 6 Explanation:

Flay literally means to strip off the skin, and figuratively to scold or criticise someone harshly. In the passage, Bligh would flay both the body and the spirit of anyone who crossed him, so he punished them physically and attacked them with words.

Question 7

demeanor

A	hatefully evil
B	absolve, justify
C	sketch, description in words
D	conduct, bearing
E	strip off skin, scold harshly

Question 7 Explanation:

Demeanor means a person's conduct, manner or bearing: the way they behave and appear to others. In the passage, the crew hated Bligh's demeanor, meaning his harsh way of behaving towards them.

Question 8

delineation

A	hatefully evil
B	absolve, justify
C	sketch, description in words
D	conduct, bearing
E	strip off skin, scold harshly

Question 8 Explanation:

Delineation means a sketch or a description in words, a portrayal. In the passage, Laughton's delineation of Bligh is the way the actor portrayed Bligh on film. That portrayal shaped how people still imagine him.

Question 9

vindicate

A	hatefully evil
B	absolve, justify
C	sketch, description in words
D	conduct, bearing
E	strip off skin, scold harshly

Question 9 Explanation:

Vindicate means to absolve (clear of blame) or to justify. In the passage, recent attempts to vindicate Captain Bligh try to show he was not the villain the film made him out to be.

Question 10

heinous

A	hatefully evil
B	absolve, justify
C	sketch, description in words
D	conduct, bearing
E	strip off skin, scold harshly

Question 10 Explanation:

Heinous means hatefully or shockingly evil, as in a heinous crime. In the passage, Bligh's heinous reputation is his image as a wicked, cruel captain.

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NEW WORDS

flay [flā]

“There is no shortage of critics who flay the journalists for being sensation seekers rather than news gatherers.” Herbert Brucker, Journalist

demeanor [di mē´ nər]

“You could tell by her demeanor that she was more than a bit upset by the unexpected news.” New York Times, 9/7/99

delineation [di lin´ ē ā´ shən]

“There is no need for an exact delineation of a standard for a permit to hold a street meeting.” Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, decision, 1951

vindicate [vin´ də kāt]

“His family was certain that his actions would be vindicated when all of the facts became available.” “Pilot Blamed in Crash,” New York Post, 11/26/99