五百基础词汇的使用和练习（26）

"What do you read, my Lord?"
"Words, words,words"
Shakespeare, Hamlet


Words to Learn This Week

possible
compel
awkward
venture
awesome
guide
quench
betray
utter
pacify
respond
beckon


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

Some Tall Tales

Do you think it is possible to defeat an opponent so fierce that a glance at her turns one to stone? This was he fate of anyone who looked upon the Medusa, a dreaded monster whose hair was made of hissing serpents. The brave Perseus undertook to fight the Medusa, but he was compelled to do battle in a most awkward manner. To help Perseus in his venture, the goddess Minerva had lent him her bright shield, and the god Mercury had given him winged shoes. Cautiously he approached the awesome monster. Using the image of the Medusa in his shield as a guide, he succeeded in cutting off her head and fixing it to the center of Minerva's shield.

Perseus then flew to the realm of King Atlas whose chief pride was his garden filled with golden fruit. Thirsty and near collapse, he pleaded with the king for water to quench his thirst and for a place to rest. But Atlas feared that he would be betrayed into losing his golden apples. He uttered just one word, "Begone!" Perseus, finding that he could not pacify Atlas, responded by beckoning him to look upon Medusa's head. Atlas was changed immediately into stone. His head and hair became forests, his body increased in bulk and became cliffs, and the gods ruled that the heaven with all its stars should rest upon his shoulders. Can there be a worse calamity than that which befell Atlas?

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

01. History has shown us that tyranny cannot __________ the human desire for freedom.

02. The sailors used the North Star _________ to them to their destination.

03. Our eyes ________ to sudden light by blinking.

04. The coach ________ to the pitcher to watch for a bunt.

05. Little Benny was foolish enough to _________ out on the thin ice.

06. If we are ________ to vote without hearing all sides of the issue, we could make a serious mistake.

07. Power in the hands of the ignorant is an __________ responsibility.

08. Benedict Arnold _________ his country.

09. The only ________ excuse for Barry's failure is his lack of effort.

10. It was not possible to _________ the excited woman after she was fined for jaywalking.

11. The last words _________ by the dying soldier were. "We must hold the fort."

12. Ralph found himself in an _________ situation when his blind date turned out to be a foot taller than he.