Mental Floss
 
 
 
 
 
 

Academic Words. Skip if exempt.

1. He was obsessed with his new hobby; it totally __________(ed) his life.  a) acquire  b) vary  c) consume  d) perceive  e) design
2. The coach thought the rookie was a _____ starter.    a) achieve  b) acquire  c) impact  d) resource  e) potential
3. His expensive car was also expensive to _____.     a) achieve  b) impact  c) maintain  d) consume  e) resource
4. He didn't study, _____ he failed.     a) consequently  b) previously  c) principally  d) distinctly  e) potentially
5. The sun has many bad ___(s) on your skin.    a) affect  b) effect  c) potential  d) restrict  e) resource
6. Which academic word best matches this expression? "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  a) potential  b) distinctive  c) impact  d) restriction  e) perceive
7. He didn't realize the great ___ of his small action.  a) consume  b) perception  c) perceive  d) vary  e) impact
8. The Boy Scouts teach you to be _______(ful). a) design  b) resource  c) restrict  d) principle  e) site
9. The house was ______(ed) by fire before the firemen arrived.  a) obtain  b) vary  c) consume  d) perceive  e) design
10. The council studied the ______  _______ of the new shopping center. a) consume design  b) affect strategy  c) site affect  d) potential impact  e) potential principle
11. He _____(ed) the incident very differently than she did. a) vary  b) potential  c) maintain  d) perceive  e) secure
12. After his heart attack, his doctor told him to ___ the fat and salt he ate, and to exercise more.  a) acquire  b) restrict  c) principle  d) secure  e) potential

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    Vocabulary. Skip if exempt.
13. lazy : dogged :: flattered : _____ a) acquit  b) leery  c) bluff  d) indignant e) subside
14. fear : panic :: ask : _____  a) acquit  b) conducive  c) bluff  d) implore  e) gorge
15. I was _____ when Dad blamed me for breaking the lamp instead of my sister. a) acquitted  b) conducive  c) bluff  d) implore  e) indignant
16. Homesick away at camp, Stevie thought ______(ly) of his life back home.   a) bluff  b) dogged  c) conducive  d) wistful  e) gorge
17. inventive : resourceful :: suspicious : ______  a) dogged  b) leery  c) bluff  d) indignant e) subside
18. I tried to __________ my way out of trouble, but Mom wasn't buying my excuses.  a) wistful  b) leery  c) bluff  d) indignant e) subside
19. "Johnny and I __________(ed) ourselves on barbecue sandwiches and banana splits."  a) implore  b) leery  c) bluff  d) indignant e) gorge
20. A savvy person is usually more ____ than a credulous one. a) leery  b) dogged  c) conducive   d) wistful   e) bluff
21. Moisture and heat help create an environment _____ to the growth of bacteria.   a) indignant  b) dogged  c) conducive   d) wistful   e) gorge
22. Since I studied, I ______(ed) myself quite well on the test.   a) bluff  b) dogged  c) acquit   d) implore  e) go

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    Husker Du?
23. When Pony talks about the word dropout, and what it makes him think of, he is talking about the ___________ of the word.  a) harshness  b) connotation  c) denotation  d) stupidity  e) NOTA
24. She speaks so softly that I can hardly hear her.  a) softly - adjective,  hardly - not  b) softly - not,  hardly - adjective  c) both adjectives  d) both not
25. The paper said that the business man was a(n) __________ to society, but _________(ly), he was secretly a mobster.  a) facade, roguish  b) asset, ironic  c) elite, facade,   d) ironic, facade  e) elite, ironic
26. It is ironic that Ponyboy pulled out his switchblade in biology class. a) True  b) False
    
27. Instruction books are usually written in...  a) 1st person  b) 2nd person  c) 3rd person  d) 4th person
    

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    Verbs.
28. Millie felt scared as she peeked around the corner.  Verb(s)?  a) scared, peeked  b) felt  c) felt, scared  d) felt, peeked  e) peeked
29. "I am wet," she cried.  Verb(s)?  a) wet  b) am  c) cried  d) am, cried  e) NOTA
    
30. Without a verb, it's not a sentence.  a) True  b) False
31. Only verbs have a past, present and future tense.  a) True  b) False
32. "Mr. Morton is the ____ of the sentence, and what the ____ says, he does."  a) predicate, subject  b) noun, subject  c) subject,  adjective  d) subject, predicate  e) NOTA
    

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    Outsiders. Open Book.
33. Ponyboy says he sees huge differences between the Socs and the greasers.  a) True  b) False
34. When Cherry raves about a river-bottom party to a friend, she tells Pony, she's hiding behind a facade.  a) True  b) False
35. Pony says that he and Johnny get along so well because they can really talk to each other.  a) True  b) False