LESSON 1 ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL WORDS

 

ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL WORDS LESSON 1

 

1 abandon  desert; leave without planning to come back; quit a When Roy abandoned his family, the police went looking for him. b The soldier could not abandon his friends who were hurt in battle. c Because Rose was poor, she had to abandon her idea of going to college. 2 keen (kēn) sharp; eager; intense; sensitive a The butcher’s keen knife cut through the meat. b My dog has a keen sense of smell. c Bill’s keen mind pleased all his teachers.   Words in use Read the following passage to see how the new words are used in it. My Brother, the Gentleman The story of Sir Walter Raleigh, who spread his cloak on the ground to keep Queen Elizabeth from the hardship of crossing a muddy puddle, can qualify that nobleman for an award as a man of tact and good breeding. My brother Kenny, a bachelor with a keen interest in history, was impressed by that anecdote and thought he might demonstrate his excellent upbringing in a parallel situation. Accordingly he decided to abandon his subway seat in favor of a woman standing nearby. Although unaccustomed to such generous treatment, the young woman was pleased to accept Kenny’s kind offer. However, her jealous boyfriend swore an oath under his breath because he thought my brother was flirting with his girlfriend. I don’t have any data on the number of young men who get into similar trouble as a result of a gallant gesture, but it’s probably one in a thousand. Poor Kenny! He pointed to the now vacant seat.   Picture it Which of the words studied in this lesson is suggested by the picture?   Fill in the Blanks Place one of the new words each of the blanks below. 1 As I looked at all the ________ the salesman showed me, I knew that I was getting more and more mixed up. 2 I used ________ when I told my fat uncle that his extra weight made him look better. 3 When the guard saw that the cot was ________ , he realized that the prisoner had left the jail. 4 Although he took an ________ on the Bible, Sal lied to the jury. 5 My aunt was so ________ of our new couch that she bought one just like it. 6 I enjoyed reading the story of the ________ man who put his cloak over a mud puddle so that the queen would not dirty her feet. 7 The loss of Claudia’s eyesight was a ________ which she learned to live with. 8 The driver was forced to ________ his car when two of the tires became flat. 9 Betty could not ________ for the Miss Teenage America Contest because she was twenty years old. 10 The blade was so ________ that I cut myself in four places while shaving. 11 ________ to being kept waiting, the angry woman marched out of the store. 12 Because he was a ________ , the movie actor was invited to many parties.   Word Detective From the list of 12 new words that follows, choose the one that corresponds to each definition below. 1 a promise that something is true ________________________________ 2 sharp; eager; intense ________________________________ 3 to desert; to leave without planning to come back ________________________________ 4 something that is hard to bear ________________________________ 5 to become fit ________________________________ 6 wanting what someone else has ________________________________ 7 brave; showing respect for women ________________________________ 8 a man who has not married ________________________________ 9 acts; information ________________________________ 10 the ability to say the right thing ________________________________ 11 empty; not filled ________________________________ 12 not used to something ________________________________   Spotlight On abandon—This is an interesting word with a French background; in that language it meant “to put under another’s control,” hence, “to give up.” In Lesson 19 you will find the new word ban, and may discover how it is related to abandon. A good dictionary will also show you the connection with other words such as bandit and contraband.

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