Red Scarf Girl: List 1

by Ji-li Jiang
Ji-li Jiang lived a happy life in China until the Cultural Revolution of 1966. As political unrest and division swept the country, her father was imprisoned and her life was turned upside down. In this memoir, she provides a window into a transformative period in Chinese history.

This list covers the Prologue–"Writing Da-zi-bao."

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
15 words 3157 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. tantalizing
    very pleasantly inviting
    The sounds and smells of the tantalizing May afternoon drifted in through the window.
  2. contemplate
    consider as a possibility
    What did the Liberation Army woman want? Could she want to choose me for something? It was too much to contemplate.
  3. oppression
    the state of being kept down by unjust use of authority
    A Liberation Army soldier! One of the heroes admired by all, who helped Chairman Mao liberate China from oppression and defeated the Americans in Korea.
  4. strive
    attempt by employing effort
    She was easygoing and did not always strive to be the best, as I did.
  5. elude
    escape, either physically or mentally
    After school I would stay in the library until it closed, just to elude the family’s overconcerned looks.
  6. pernicious
    exceedingly harmful
    Every day since then on the radio we heard about the need to end the evil and pernicious influences of the “Four Olds”: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits.
  7. socialist
    advocating the state ownership of industry
    Chairman Mao told us we would never succeed at building a strong socialist country until we destroyed the “Four Olds” and established the “Four News.”
  8. clamor
    loud and persistent outcry from many people
    Amid a clamor of support, the two men moved the board half onto the sidewalk.
  9. auspicious
    indicating favorable circumstances and good luck
    Besides, Grandma, there’s no such thing as an auspicious date. That’s superstition, and superstition is fourolds.
  10. martyr
    one who voluntarily suffers death
    We were proud of our precious red scarves, which, like the national flag, were dyed red with the blood of our revolutionary martyrs.
  11. detrimental
    causing harm or injury
    What’s more, they are detrimental to the revolution, so we must oppose them resolutely.
  12. ideology
    an orientation that characterizes the thinking of a group
    “Take your fourolds with you. Go home and thoroughly remold your ideology.”
  13. revel
    take delight in
    Du Hai reveled in the new phrase he had learned from the newspaper.
  14. fervor
    the state of being emotionally aroused and worked up
    The classrooms buzzed with revolutionary fervor.
  15. insidious
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
    They fill us with insidious revisionist ideas. They teach us that scholars are superior to workers. They promote personal ambition by encouraging competition for the highest grades. All these things are intended to change good young socialists into corrupt revisionists.
Created on Sat Nov 14 20:17:19 EST 2015 (updated Fri Jun 20 18:58:42 EDT 2025)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.