Question

ten words in context
in the space provided, write the letter of the meaning closest to that of each boldfaced word. use the context of the sentences to help you figure out each word’s meaning.
1 ambiguous (äm - bigyoo - as) - adjective

• the portrait known as the “mona lisa” is famous for the woman’s ambiguous expression. is she smiling or not?
• lee left an ambiguous message on my answering machine: “meet me at twelve o’clock.” i couldn’t tell whether he meant noon or midnight.

a ambiguous means
a. unclear.
b. unintentional.
c. unpleasant.
2 dissident (disə - dənt) - noun

• some dissidents in the catholic church favor such changes as allowing women to be priests and allowing priests to marry.
• in a dictatorship, dissidents are not tolerated. people who speak out against the government may be imprisoned or even executed.

a dissident means
a. a rebel.
b. a dishonest person.
c. a foolish person.
3 embellish (ĕm - bĕlĭsh) - verb

• lauren embellished the door of her locker with postcards from her friends and photos of her cats.
• the cover of the biology textbook was embellished with a pattern of colorful seashells.

b embellish means
a. to hide.
b. to decorate.
c. to damage.
4 fritter (frĭtər) - verb

• i thought my little sister would fritter away her entire allowance on m&m’s, but instead of wasting her money, she put it in her piggy bank.
• vince fritters away both his time and his money playing game after game in video arcades.

c fritter away means
a. to earn.
b. to count.
c. to waste.
5 inadvertent (ĭn - ǎd - vûrtnt) - adjective

• alexander fleming’s discovery of penicillin was inadvertent. he forgot to cover a dish of bacteria, and some mold got into it. the next day, fleming found that the mold had killed the bacteria.
• the final draft of nancy’s paper was shorter than the previous version, but this was inadvertent. she had accidentally deleted an entire page without realizing it.

c inadvertent means
a. not required.
b. not finished.
c. not intended.
6 inane (ĭn - ān) - adjective

• the conversation at the party was inane, consisting mainly of foolish comments about whose clothes were the most “awesome.”
• television programming is often so inane that tv has been described as “bubble gum for the mind.”

a inane means
a. silly.
b. interesting.
c. shocking.

Explanation:

1. In the examples of "Mona Lisa" and the answering - machine message, the meaning of "ambiguous" is shown as unclear.
2. The examples of people in the Catholic church and in a dictatorship who oppose certain things indicate that "dissident" means a rebel.
3. Decorating a locker door with post - cards and a textbook cover with a pattern show that "embellish" means to decorate.
4. Wasting money on M&M's and time in video arcades illustrate that "fritter away" means to waste.
5. Fleming's accidental discovery and Nancy's accidental deletion show that "inadvertent" means not intended.
6. The foolish comments at the party and the description of TV programming as "bubble gum for the mind" show that "inane" means silly.

Answer:

1. A. unclear
2. A. a rebel
3. B. to decorate
4. C. to waste
5. C. not intended
6. A. silly