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Unit 2: Vocabulary from Readings 2

This list covers Swimming to Antarctica, Becoming a Composer, and "The Obligation to Endure."
15 words 5 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    This frigid and ominous sea is behaving like an enormous vampire slowly sucking the warmth, the life from my body, and I think, Oh my God, pick up your pace.
  2. deteriorate
    grow worse
    When they spoke to David, he said he was doing okay, and the decrease in his body temperature was so gradual, they didn’t notice his deteriorating condition.
  3. pervasive
    spreading or spread throughout
    With every part of my being I am reaching forward, racing against time and the pervasively cold sea.
  4. pensive
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    “I still don’t like the looks of those clouds,” he said pensively.
  5. unbridled
    not restrained or controlled
    I was immersed in unbridled energy and supernatural beauty, and I wanted to see what would happen next.
  6. alleviate
    provide physical relief, as from pain
    And after he was born, to alleviate her depression, she played recordings of the works of her other favorite classical composers—Chopin and Beethoven, chiefly—over and over.
  7. transcend
    go beyond the scope or limits of
    It can also be characteristic of genius, of course, but at this time no one suspected that Hikari’s preoccupation would ultimately lead him to transcend the usual limits of his condition.
  8. preclude
    make impossible, especially beforehand
    Hikari’s physical handicaps precluded his developing much skill as a pianist. It was hard for him to see the notes and to see and control his fingers on the keys.
  9. reprimand
    censure severely or angrily
    She reprimanded him for not trying hard enough; after all, he had been able to learn everything up to that time, however slowly and laboriously.
  10. transcribe
    write out, as from speech or notes
    “I was especially eager for him to learn to transcribe music,” Yukari remembers. “I had read about how Mozart would write down music as his father played it, and it seemed like the kind of thing Hikari would enjoy a lot.”
  11. barrage
    the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area
    Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poisons on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life?
  12. advent
    arrival that has been awaited
    Over the course of time since man’s advent, a small percentage of the more than half a million species of insects have come into conflict with human welfare in two principal ways: as competitors for the food supply and as carriers of human disease.
  13. inevitable
    incapable of being avoided or prevented
    Have we fallen into a mesmerized state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or the vision to demand that which is good?
  14. detrimental
    causing harm or injury
    Have we fallen into a mesmerized state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or the vision to demand that which is good?
  15. prudent
    marked by sound judgment
    Future generations are unlikely to condone our lack of prudent concern for the integrity of the natural world that supports all life.
Created on Mon Feb 22 15:26:19 EST 2021 (updated Wed Mar 03 15:30:47 EST 2021)

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