Question

1. sam became so ____ that he ran away and climbed a tree, and nothing could ____ him to come down.

a. protracted; intractable
b. conducive; evince
c. petulant; induce
d. provincial; retract

1. nothing ____ bens tendency to act without thinking more than his ____ decision to become a daredevil pilot.

a. evinces; impetuous
b. retracts; impetuous
c. induces; intractable
d. deduces; provincial
exercise iv. complete the sentence by drawing an inference about the italicized word from its context.

1. if one boy induces another boy to tip over a garbage can, we can assume the second boy is...
2. if the new family in the city apartment is looked down upon for being provincial, they probably came from...
3. when a businessman is criticized by his boss for being impetuous, we can assume the businessman has probably not...

exercise v. fill in the blank with the word from the unit that best completes the sentence, using the root we supply as a clue. then, answer the questions that follow the paragraphs.
illusion or reality?
the american mass media has an abiding interest in the paranormal. television infomercials advertise \psychics\ who convince the public that they can communicate with the dead; popular television programs pander to the publics love of occult phenomena; hollywood produces movies that depict supernatural occurrences as factual. as billions of dollars are wasted on 900 numbers, cable subscriptions, and movie tickets, we americans must become more critical in our acceptance of subjects and events portrayed as legitimate, from seances and esp to ufos and alien abductions.
what could ______ (duc) so many americans to part with hundreds of dollars to learn news of the future or have some last glimpse of a departed loved one? is it because we do not have the knowledge to protect ourselves from intellectual fraud? surely we can exercise enough sense to stop calling hotline psychics after dozens of them have been prosecuted for criminal intent to mislead. yet, 900 numbers exist, offering mind reading, spirit - channeling, and fortune - telling with monotonous regularity; television watchers continue to be convinced of the validity of telepathy, clairvoyance, and reincarnation.
one organization, the committee for the scientific investigation of claims of the paranormal, believes that the mass media plays a predominant role in leading the public to accept paranormal events uncritically. if americans were to think critically about what they were reading and viewing, says the committee, and were also to reject the scientifically unsupported ideas about the paranormal that the media puts forth, the industry that relies so heavily on our credulity would be bankrupt.
the committee has attempted to counter these popular media claims. in televised specials, members of the committee carefully explain each step of an unexplainable phenomenon, such as the supposed mind - reading of a telephone clairvoyant. even when these illusions are revealed, however, the public has a hard time accepting that sensationalism is not reality. we can ______ (duc) from this reluctance that shrewd analysis of seemingly occult phenomena is less appealing than the mystique of the unknown.

Explanation:

For question 4: "petulant" means irritable or bad - tempered, which could describe someone who runs away and climbs a tree. "induce" means to persuade or cause someone to do something, which fits the context of nothing being able to make Sam come down.
For question 5: "evince" means to show or reveal, and "impetuous" means acting without thinking, which fits the description of Ben's tendency and decision.
For Exercise IV:

1. If one boy "induces" another to tip over a garbage can, the second boy is probably easily influenced.
2. If a family is looked down upon for being "provincial", they probably came from a small - town or rural area.
3. If a businessman is criticized for being "impetuous", he probably has not thought carefully before acting.

Answer:

1. C. petulant; induce
2. A. evinces; impetuous

Exercise IV:

1. easily influenced
2. a small - town or rural area
3. thought carefully before acting