五百基础词汇的使用和练习（36）

"Here are a few of the unpleasant'st words
That ever blotted paper."
Shakespeare. The Merchant of Venice

Words to Learn This Week

prompt
hasty
scorch
tempest
soothe
sympathetic
redeem
resume
harmony
refrain
illegal
narcotic


Read the following story to see how the new words are used in it.

A Helping Hand

Youth workers Bill Nash and Jim Boyle are househunters, not so much for a house as for a concerned family willing to house and feed troubled youngsters temporarily. They try to give prompt attention to those who cannot or will not live at home.

For some, leaving home may have been the result of a hasty decision, based on a scorching remark and the subsequent tempest within the family. The cooling-off period away from the family is a time to soothe feelings. With sympathetic outsiders, youngsters have a chance to redeem themselves. The hope, of course, is that they will learn to relate to adults again and quickly resume a normal life of harmony with their own families.

Some people refrain from offering their homes, expressing vague fears of the harmful effects on their own children. But this has not been the case, even when the problem of the "visitor" was the illegal use of narcotics. One parent remarked, "With us it worked the other way. The horror of drugs became real to my own son. We got a lot more than we gave."

Place one of the new words in each of the blanks below.

01. I insist on a _______ answer to my question.

02. Harriet's anger was subsequently ________ by the apology.

03. The minister said those who are not ________from sin will perish.

04. Joseph could not _______ from embracing his long-lost brother.

05. My cat and dog, though traditionally enemies, have lived in perfect _______ for years.

06. Because he liked to be prompt, Sal ate only a _______ meal.

07. The farmers were grateful that the _______ had not destroyed their harvest.

08. Jenny picked up the hot iron just as it was about to ________ my shirt.

09. The couple seemed so _______ that the break-up baffled us.

10. Chris Pollaro _______ his former position with the company.

11. It is __________ to own firearms without a license.

12, It is impossible to estimate the harm caused by the illegal use of _______ .