| Name _____________________________ | Date ___________________ |
| Multiple Choice |
| ______ | 1. | ominous |
| a. indicating or threatening future evil or unpleasantness. | ||
| b. having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning | ||
| c. done quickly and as a matter of routine; performed without care. | ||
| d. unusual or extreme paleness, as from fear, ill health, or death; wanness. |
| ______ | 2. | penchant |
| a. a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something | ||
| b. to act as a patron toward (an artist, institution, etc.); support. | ||
| c. to commit or carry out (a crime, act of mischief, or the like). | ||
| d. an adherent or supporter of a person, group, party, or cause, esp. a person who shows a biased, emotional allegiance. |
| ______ | 3. | prerogative |
| a. a right or privilege enjoyed by a person or group. | ||
| b. a usu. long trip undertaken for religious purposes, such as to visit a holy place. | ||
| c. excessively decorated. |
| ______ | 4. | pinnacle |
| a. to present, execute, or do in a poor or tasteless manner | ||
| b. any pointed, towering part or formation, as of rock. | ||
| c. an area of land surrounded on nearly all sides by water, and connected to a mainland by a usu. narrow strip of land. |
| ______ | 5. | pivotal |
| a. of vital or critical importance | ||
| b. the belief that good is outweighed by evil in the universe. (Cf. optimism.) | ||
| c. to go before, as in place, order, rank, importance, or time. |
| ______ | 6. | optic |
| a. a soft, unctuous preparation, often medicated, for application to the skin; unguent. | ||
| b. a poor or ridiculous attempt at something serious; travesty. | ||
| c. a small tower, steeple, or other pointed architectural element. | ||
| d. of or pertaining to the eye or sight. |
| ______ | 7. | pontificate |
| a. an area of land surrounded on nearly all sides by water, and connected to a mainland by a usu. narrow strip of land. | ||
| b. a pontiff's office or term of office. | ||
| c. an assertion that contradicts itself, yet follows from logical reasoning. |
| ______ | 8. | overwrought |
| a. extremely or excessively excited or agitated | ||
| b. pertaining or relating directly and significantly to the matter at hand; relevant | ||
| c. not keen or quick to notice, feel, or comprehend; dull or insensitive. | ||
| d. a person who receives benefits or hospitality from others but does not give anything in return. |
| ______ | 9. | peninsula |
| a. being such in part only; not total or general; incomplete | ||
| b. awkward because of weight or size. | ||
| c. any trip made to visit a venerated place or person or to seek something important. | ||
| d. "the Peninsula,"Spain and Portugal together; Iberian Peninsula; Iberia.a district in SE Virginia between the York and James rivers: Civil War battles. |
| ______ | 10. | poll |
| a. of or concerning the science of sight and the properties of light; optical. | ||
| b. fit for drinking. | ||
| c. a sampling or collection of opinions on a subject, taken from either a selected or a random group of persons, as for the purpose of analysis. | ||
| d. to come before in rank, order, or importance. |
| ______ | 11. | pervade |
| a. to spread or be present everywhere in; permeate. | ||
| b. to inflate the importance of; exaggerate. | ||
| c. smallness or insufficiency of number; fewness. |
| ______ | 12. | postulate |
| a. to put forth a claim or request for; demand. | ||
| b. portending evil or harm; foreboding; threatening; inauspicious | ||
| c. deeply touching; arousing strong emotion, esp. sadness or sympathy; piercing; penetrating. |
| ______ | 13. | premature |
| a. pertaining or relating directly and significantly to the matter at hand; relevant | ||
| b. occurring, coming, or done too soon | ||
| c. an area of land almost completely surrounded by water except for an isthmus connecting it with the mainland. |
| ______ | 14. | poignant |
| a. casual, unceremonious, or brusque. | ||
| b. keen or strong in mental appeal | ||
| c. dull and labored |
| ______ | 15. | plateau |
| a. a land area having a relatively level surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at least one side, and often cut by deep canyons. | ||
| b. of or concerning the eye or the sense of sight. | ||
| c. pleasantly calm or peaceful; unruffled; tranquil; serenely quiet or undisturbed |
| ______ | 16. | oration |
| a. without advance planning or thought; casually. | ||
| b. to order or recommend (a drug or the like) as a medical remedy. | ||
| c. a formal public speech, esp. one delivered on a special occasion, as on an anniversary, at a funeral, or at academic exercises. |
| ______ | 17. | placid |
| a. calm, smooth, or tranquil. | ||
| b. the usual course of one's life or range of one's activities. | ||
| c. a pontiff's office or term of office. | ||
| d. of vital or critical importance |
| ______ | 18. | overstate |
| a. a difficult or dangerous situation with no obvious or completely satisfactory solution. | ||
| b. to state too strongly; exaggerate | ||
| c. a pontiff's office or term of office. |
| ______ | 19. | prescribe |
| a. to esteem too highly; overvalue. | ||
| b. a technique of depicting volumes and spatial relationships on a flat surface. Cf."aerial perspective, linear perspective." | ||
| c. to order or recommend (a drug or the like) as a medical remedy. | ||
| d. unusual or extreme paleness, as from fear, ill health, or death; wanness. |
| ______ | 20. | plaintive |
| a. outwardly appearing as such; professed; pretended | ||
| b. expressing sorrow or melancholy; mournful | ||
| c. an assertion that contradicts itself, yet follows from logical reasoning. |
| ______ | 21. | premise |
| a. (pl.) a piece of land and the buildings on it, or a building and its grounds. | ||
| b. excessively decorated. | ||
| c. a person who precedes another in an office, position, etc. | ||
| d. able to be touched, felt, or handled. |
| ______ | 22. | philanthropy |
| a. a poor or ridiculous attempt at something serious; travesty. | ||
| b. a charitable donation or act. | ||
| c. well-spoken and apparently, but often deceptively, worthy of confidence or trust | ||
| d. marked by showiness or bombast. |
| ______ | 23. | partial |
| a. biased or prejudiced in favor of a person, group, side, etc., over another, as in a controversy | ||
| b. a period or state of stability or minimal change. | ||
| c. fit or suitable for drinking |
| ______ | 24. | omniscient |
| a. an omniscient being. | ||
| b. the belief that events will turn out badly; tendency to expect the worst. (Cf. optimism.) | ||
| c. a tendency to think favorably of something in particular; partiality; preference |
| ______ | 25. | posthumous |
| a. born after the death of the father. | ||
| b. narrow in mind, outlook, or interests. | ||
| c. a lofty peak. | ||
| d. an elevated, relatively level area of land. |