LESSON 3 ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL WORDS

 

ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL WORDS LESSON 3

 

1 typical (tip'ə kəl) usual; of a kind a The sinister* character in the movie wore a typical costume, a dark shirt, loud tie, and tight jacket. b The horse ran its typical race, a slow start and a slower finish, and my uncle lost his wager. c It was typical of the latecomer to conceal* the real cause of his lateness. 2 minimum (min'ə məm) the least possible amount; the lowest amount a Studies show that adults need a minimum of six hours sleep. b The minimum charge for a telephone, even if no calls are made, is about $30 a month. c Congress has set a minimum wage for all workers. 3 scarce (skậrs) hard to get; rare a Chairs that are older than one hundred years are scarce. b Because there is little moisture in the desert, trees are scarce. c How scarce are good cooks?     Words in Use Read the following passage to see how the new words are used in it. An Unusual Strike The baseball strike of 1994–95, which kept the public from seeing the annual World Series, was not a typical labor dispute in which low-paid workers try to persuade their employers to grant a raise above their minimum wage. On the contrary, players who earned millions of dollars yearly, who were visible on TV commercials, drove expensive autos, and dined with presidents, withheld their essential skills until the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of our government were forced to devise solutions to the quarrel. The team owners, a blend of lawyers, manufacturers, corporate executives, etc., felt that something had to be done about the huge salaries that the players were demanding. Since the talent beyond the major leagues was scarce, they had to start spring training in 1995 with a wholesale invitation to replacement players. The regular athletes returned in late April but there was a feeling that the strike could happen again.   Fill in the Blanks Place one of the new words in each of the blanks below. 1 The March of Dimes makes its ________ appeal in the early spring. 2 Oil paints ________ easily to form thousands of different shades. 3 The ________ passing mark in most schools is 65%. 4 The producer always had her eye out for young ________ . 5 Your gifts do not tempt* me and will not ________ me to change my mind. 6 In the cemetery the corpse* was ________ in the bright moonlight. 7 A ________ day in Florida is full of sunshine and warm breezes. 8 Let’s ________ a plan for doing away with homework. 9 Everyone agrees that friendship is ________ for all of us. 10 A sharp rise in ________ prices is bound to affect the prices in our neighborhood stores. 11 The buffalo, which once roamed the plains, is quite ________ today 12 Government experts told us to buy chicken without realizing how ________ it had become.   Creativity Exercise Now make up your own sentences, one for each of the new words you have just been taught. 1 ____________________________________________________________________ 2 ____________________________________________________________________ 3 ____________________________________________________________________ 4 ____________________________________________________________________ 5 ____________________________________________________________________ 6 ____________________________________________________________________ 7 ____________________________________________________________________ 8 ____________________________________________________________________ 9 ____________________________________________________________________ 10 ____________________________________________________________________ 11 ____________________________________________________________________ 12 ____________________________________________________________________   Spotlight On expensive—The definition given to you was “costly, high-priced.” Other synonyms could have been provided because English is quite rich in that area. Webster’s Dictionary of Synonyms, for example, contains ten entries that explain expensive or show us slight variations of the word: costly, dear, valuable, precious, invaluable, priceless, exorbitant, excessive, immoderate. When would you use costly as a synonym for expensive and when would you use excessive?   Picture It Which of the words studied in this lesson is suggested by the picture?

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