You couldn't play in this week's soccer game, so you call your friend's mom to find out who won. She doesn't know the score, but tells you that your team looked jubilant after the game. As you hang up the phone you:
a) [[Sigh deeply at having lost another game.|Incorrect answer 1]]
b) [[Do a short victory tap dance around the living room.|Correct answer 1]]
No need to feel so sad. The word jubilant means joyful or triumphant. Your team must have won for the players to be in such a good mood.
[[Return to question 1|Vocabulary Situations - Question 1]]
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 2]]
Yes, that's right. Jubilant means joyful or triumphant. So if your team won this game, your win-loss record is 10-2-1 (10 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie).
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 2]]
After going around twice on an amusement park ride, you begin to feel giddy . So the best thing to do would be to:
a) [[Sit down quietly until your head stops spinning.|Correct answer 2]]
b) [[Go and eat some amusement park food.|Incorrect answer 2]]
Giddiness, sometimes called "motion sickness," is a dizziness that can be caused by amusement park rides, airplanes, and even cars and buses. Reading a book or magazine in a moving car or bus can often cause giddiness. A good cure for giddiness is fresh air.
[[Return to question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 2]]
Yes, you're so sensible about your health! When you're feeling giddy, or dizzy, the best thing to do is to sit down quietly. The worst thing to do is to go and eat some fast food. You can imagine what would happen if you did.
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 3]]
You and your friends have spent hours creating a gingerbread house for a Christmas banquet. The best way to carry it from the kitchen to the dining room is:
a) [[hastily|Incorrect answer 3]]
b) [[gingerly|Correct answer 3]]
If you carried the gingerbread house hastily, it could very well end up splattered across the kitchen floor. The word hastily is an adverb meaning hurried, urgent, carelessly impatient.
[[Return to question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 3]]
You would be correct in carrying the house very gingerly. The word gingerly is an adverb meaning the careful and timid treatment of a delicate object.
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 4]]
While writing a school report you need to find a good synonym for the word intelligence. So you immediately reach for your trusty...
a) [[brontosaurus|Incorrect answer 4]]
b) [[thesaurus|Correct answer 4]]
If you reached for a brontosaurus, you must have an awfully strong arm. A brontosaurus is an extinct dinosaur that weighed over ten tons.
[[Return to question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 4]]
You're correct in reaching for a thesaurus. If you looked up the word intelligence in a thesaurus, you'd find the synonyms astute, shrewd, knowledgeable, quick-witted, bright, sharp, clever, and brainy. But you knew all that already.
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 5]]
You have aches and pains all over your body, with a bad case of the flu. The doctor asks you if you have pain in your abdomen. You should say yes if:
a) [[your shoulders hurt|Incorrect answer - question 5]]
b) [[your stomach hurts|Correct answer - question 5]]
Not quite. The word abdomen is the medical word for the part of the body that's often referred to as the stomach. It's helpful to know medical terms so that you can communicate well with your doctor.
[[Return to the question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 5]]
That's right. The word abdomen is the medical word for the part of the body also called the stomach. It's helpful to know medical terms so that you can communicate well with your doctor.
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 6]]
Your Uncle Bert has sent you a model railroad kit for Christmas. If the assembly directions are bewildering, you should:
a) [[ask an adult to help you|Incorrect answer - question 6]]
b) [[ask a younger kid to help you|Correct answer - question 6]]
Adults are hopeless. You turn to them for help at your peril.
[[Return to question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 6]]
Yes. Any five year old can figure out how to assemble a model railroad kit. Then you can make a paper airplane out of the assembly directions.
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 7]]
You're waiting in line to get into the monkey house at the zoo. You hear a lot of screeching and yelling coming out of the door. All this hubbub is probably coming from:
a) [[the class trip ahead of you|Correct answer - Question 7]]
b) [[the monkeys|Incorrect answer - Question 7]]
Yes, the hubbub is probably coming from the class trip ahead of you, although monkeys are really expert in the hubbub business. Another word for hubbub is "hullaballoo," which is the funniest eleven letter word in the dictionary.
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 8]]
Well, the noisy hubbub could be coming from the monkeys. But chances are the class trip ahead of you is screeching and yelling far louder than the monkeys. Hubbub is a word meaning the loud noise made by a lot of people (or animals) at once.
[[Return to question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 7]]
Your social studies teacher asks everyone in the class to find out more about his or her genealogy. The best person to talk with would be:
a) [[your grandmother.||Correct answer - Question 8]]
b) [[your family doctor.|Incorrect answer - Question 8]]
Yes, your grandmother could tell you a lot about your family genealogy, or history. She might know something about her own grandparents and where they came from. You can also find books on geneaology at your local public library.
[[Next question.|Vocabulary Situations - Question 9]]
Your family doctor might know a little bit about your family genealogy, or history, but your grandmother probably knows a lot more. Ask her what she remembers about her own parents and grandparents, and you'll hear all sorts of interesting stories.
[[Return to question.|Vocabulary Situations - Question 8]]
You're planning a trip to India in July, and hear that July is the monsoon season. So you should bring along a nice, folding:
a) [[rowboat|Incorrect answer - Question 9]]
b) [[umbrella|Correct answer - Question 9]]
Yes, an umbrella would come in handy during the heavy monsoon rains. If you get caught in a flash flood, you can always hitchhike a ride in someone else's inflatable boat.
[[Next quesetion|Vocabulary Situations - Question 10]]
A rowboat would come in handy if you were suddenly caught in a flash flood, caused by the heavy monsoon rains. But an umbrella would be more practical to carry around.
[[Return to question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 9]]
If your grandfather started sounding nostalgic, would you:
a) [[immediately call a doctor?|Incorrect answer - Question 10]]
b) [[ask him to tell you more about his childhood?|Correct answer - Question 10]]
No need to call a doctor. If your grandfather is sounding nostalgic, that means he is enjoying talking and thinking about the past. Another word that describes someone thinking happily about the past is reminiscing. Older people often reminisce about the "good old days."
[[Return to question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 10]]
That's right. If your grandfather is sounding nostalgic, that means he is enjoying talking and thinking about the past? Ask him what types of hobbies and games he played when he was a child, and you'll hear all sorts of interesting tales.
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 11]]
Your best friend from Iran is irate. You should:
a) [[playfully placate.|Correct answer - Question 11]]
b) [[flagrantly frustrate.|Incorrect answer - Question 11]]
You're so sensible. If someone is irate, or very angry, one of the best things to do is to placate them. Placate is a verb meaning to soothe or quieten down. When you get tired of placating irate Iranians, you can try assuaging Argentinians.
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 12]]
Oh, you better watch out. If someone is irate, that means that they're very angry. If you flagrantly frustrate them, they might totally explode in anger. Flagrant is an adjective meaning outrageously bad or severe. Usually the word flagrant is used in describing someone who has broken a law in a very severe, serious way. The commonly used expression describing such a person is as a flagrant violator.
[[Return to question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 11]]
In an emergency situation, would you trust your life in the hands of:
a) [[a convicted felon?|Incorrect answer - Question 12]]
b) [[a convicted melon?|Correct answer - Question 12]]
Melons usually don't commit crimes, so you would be correct in trusting your life in the hands of a convicted melon. The worst crime a melon ever committed was spoiling his kids rotten.
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 13]]
In an emergency situation, it would be safest not to trust your life in the hands of a convicted felon. A convicted felon is someone who has been found guilty of committing a serious crime, such as armed robbery or murder. People who are convicted of smaller, less serious crimes are guilty of committing misdemeanors.
On a hot summer day, would you prefer to jump into a nice, cool:
a) [[bassoon?|Incorrect answer - Question 13]]
b) [[lagoon?|Correct answer - Question 13]]
It would be just a little bit difficult to jump into a bassoon. A bassoon is a musical instrument that is part of the woodwind family of instruments.
[[Return to question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 13]]
Yes, jumping into a lagoon would be quite refreshing. A lagoon is a shallow pool of water located beside a tropical island. (Most lagoons have crystal clear blue water, so inviting for a delightful swim.)
[[Next question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 14]]
You peek over your neighbor's fence and notice that she's hosing down her spouse . You should:
a) [[Be glad she's cleaning the side of the house.|Incorrect answer - Question 14]]
b) [[Be glad she's watering down her husband.|Correct answer - Question 14]]
Even though the word spouse rhymes with the word house, it actually means someone's husband or wife.
[[Return to question|Vocabulary Situations - Question 14]]
Yes, it sounds like your neighbor's husband is getting a real drenching. A spouse is a word meaning someone's husband or wife.
[[Next question|Vocbulary Situations - Question 15]]
If someone in your class performs an infraction during a math test, you should:
a) [[reduce it to its lowest possible terms.|Incorrect answer - Question 15]]
b) [[tell the appropriate authorities.|Correct answer - Question 15]]
Errr, that's not going to help much. Infractions cannot be reduced.
[[Return to question|Vocbulary Situations - Question 15]]
That's right. An infraction is a violation of some rule or regulation.
Congratulations! You've made it to the end of the questions.
Now it's your turn to make something creative.
Vocabulary Situations created by Phil Shapiro
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