PAIRS OF POPULAR
OPPOSITES
NOTE: You are responsible for knowing ALL words defined in this list as well
as the prefixes/suffixes and words defined in the boxes.
abstract/concrete. lax/stringent. atrophy/burgeon.
aHluent/indigent. cacophony/euphony. optimism/
pessimism • gravity/levity • desecrate/consecrate •
resolute/irresolute • obiective/subiective • refutable/
irrefutable
ABSTRACT adj. indefinite; vague; tbeoretical; intangible
CONCRETE adj. definite or specific; rea' tangible
When I watch our team captain wrestle, I'm seeing a concrete display of
courage, which is itself an abstract concept. Friendship is another
abstractton, but my friends are real, concrete human beings.
LAX adj. loose; unstfUctured; notfirm; negligent; slack
STRINGENT adj. tigbt or constricted; rigid, adberingfirmly to
accepted standards
At orientation for new counselors, the camp director handed us a
stringent set of rules for the camp. "If rules are dangerously lax," he
said, "we have a dangerous camp."
ATROPHY v. to witber, degenerate; to waste away
BURGEON v. to flourisb; to grow and quickly expand,- bloom
Ideas burgeon in people's minds just as flowers or weeds burgeon in
soil. By contrast, anything that atrophies is faring poorly, like muscles
that atrophy from illness.
AFFLUENT adj. wealtby in a material sense
INDIGENT adj. very poor; lacking necessary material goods
A guest lecturer at our school spoke on the contrast between Haiti's few
affluent people and all the others-people so indigent that they live on
the hills in three-sided shacks.
63
64
SAT WORD FLASH PHON" sound
phorucs--a system of sounds for letters, groups of letters,
and syllables; acoustics, tbe science of sound
learned pbonics early in school
a new phonics system
symphony-harmonious musical composition; sympbony
orchestra
beauty of a Beethoven symphony
the Boston Symphony
Also: telephone, sousaphone, phonetlcs, phonograph,
euphony, cacophony
CACOPHONY n. displeasing, harsh sound; horrible noise
EUPHONY n. pleasing or sweet sound; harmony (of speech)
Parents and kids have different ideas about euphonious sound. Our folks
often call our music cacophony when it is absolute euphony to us. Any
judgment about cacophony versus euphony seems pretty subjective.
OPI1MISM n. a positive, upbeat, favorable outlook on life
PESSIMISM n. a negative, discouraging outlook on life
For Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer represented optimism. Huck Finn, who
was a stark realist, embodied pessimism. Comics joke that a pessimist is
a person who has all the facts. An optimist, of course, focuses on the
encouraging facts.
SACR/SECR/SANC
=
sacred, holy
sacrllege-tbe desecration (profaning) of sometbing holy
the inescapable sacrilege of war
his swearing, a sacrilege
sanctlty--boUnes~ sac~dness
the sanctity of the church for the sanctity of her soul Also: sacrosanct, inner sanctum, sacred, consecrate, desecrate
----
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.........
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PAIRS OF POPULAR OPPOSITES
65 GRAVITY n. weighty importance; seriousness LEVITY n. lightness of approach or treatment; humor We probably should treat the SATs with gravity, as the results can make a big difference in our lives. But I'm not just a number, and my score doesn't say who I am. My friends and I joke about SATs a lot, because levity helps us get past tough challenges. DESECRATE v. to defile or profane something sacred or very special CONSECRATE v. to make sacred or holy or worthy of respect; to haUow Most Americans don't want anyone to desecrate our flag, our national anthem, or our monuments-anything that has special, emotional significance to us. Those things have been consecrated over time in our culture. RESOLUTE adj. firmly determined; steady; faithful IRRESOLUTE adj. uncertain about behaVior; vaciUating I acted in a totally resolute manner last Halloween when I took some neighbor kids through a famous "haunted house." If I'd seemed nervous or irresolute for even a second, those kids would have bolted like spooked horses. OBJECTIVE adj. lacking personalfeeling or involvement; in a detached, unbiased, fair manner SUBJECTIVE adj. colored by personalfeeling or opinion All kids wish that the grading of writing were more objective than it is; unfortunately, subjective factors always creep in. Our English teachers mark one grade on papers for the objective items like grammar, with a separate grade for creativity, which is a more subjective judgment. REFUTABLE adj. shaky in foundation, therefore able to be refuted (proved wrong or false) IRREFUTABLE adj. impossible to refute (prove wrong or false) My lawyer cousin said he's only interested in irrefutable evidence that can't be disproved in court. Refutabe evidence is clearly worthless. MEMORY FIX To learn these new words, write each one on a sheet of paper. Also write a synonym or definition for each and say the words aloud as you work. 66
SAT WORD FLASH WORD ANALYSIS
Fill in the blanks in the sentences below based on this chapter's word
list.
1. Euphonious sound makes you feel _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ contrasted with cacophony, which is _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ 2. The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ sees the glass as half full; the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ sees it as half empty. 3. Psychologists say that somewhat _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, depend­
able rules provide children the necessary "fences" needed for
security, whereas _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, unstable guidelines
undermine their security.
4. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ judgments are unclouded by emotion,
whereas _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ judgments reflect the feelings of
the judge.
5. A poem is a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ thing; poetry itself, an _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ idea. 6. We speak of plants as things that _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and
grow, then eventually wither. Ideas or muscles that waste away or
wither are said to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ from lack of use.
7. The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ '80s saw people busily acquiring
lUXUries, not just the necessities of life, which _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ people lack. 8. Humor provides the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ that enables us to survive the
control. of situations beyond our 9. We _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ the senior medallion in the entryway
of our school with a solemn ceremony. Any underclassman who
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ it will be dead meat.
PAIRS OF POPULAR OPPOSITES
67 10. Mom's
skill with homemade brownies was
proved at the last bake sale. Now, if she says we don't need her
brownies at a bake sale, that notion will be easily
11. The Cowardly Lion was a timid, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ fellow in
the Oz books, but as soon as he had courage he behaved in a
most _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ manner, full of determination.
USING 'HI WORDS
Write the new words from this chapter on the correct lines below.
1. to wither away = to flourish, bloom =
2. can't be proved wrong =
apt to be disproved = 3. impersonal =
colored by feeling
=
=
to hallow = 4. to profane
5. vague, indefinite
=
deftnite, real =
6. loose, lenient
=
tight, rigid =
7. horrible noise =
pleasing sound
8. rosy outlook
=
=
negative outlook =