VOCABULARY ENRICHMENT KAPLAN (21-40)

clandestine compassion complement comprehensive conciliatory

concordant confound contemptuous controversial convergence

conviction crude curtail debacle debilitating

debunk deficit demean derelict derivative

1. Davey’s father scolded him for being ……………derelict………….. in his household chores; he
hadn’t thrown out the garbage in a week.

2. The company relocation was ………………debilitating……….. to its employees; they lost all will to
work in their new environment.

3. The team’s imminent victory somehow transformed into a complete …………debacle……….. as

they made countless errors and failed to communicate.

4. Many people are very upset by the ……………controversial…………….. increase in gasoline taxes
that the government has authorized.

5. Bruce, ……………………concordent…….. with his mother’s wishes, didn’t follow his friends to the
rally.

6. In a touching show of ……………compassion………………, the little girl presented the grieving

widow with a flower.

7. The editor felt that it would ……demean…………….. the newspaper to publish letters containing
obscenities.

8. The brilliant professor’s latest book seeks to …………debunk………… prevailing explanations of

the extinction of the dinosaurs.

9. I had to ………curtail…………. my vacation in the Bahamas after I ran out of money.

10. Sally would not be swayed from her ………conviction………… that the best color for a sports car
is red.
11. The difficult algebra problems ……confound…………….. Vince, who threw his math book at the
wall in utter frustration.

12. The double agent paid many …………clandestine………… visits to the president’s office in the
dead of night.

13. Gina’s pink sweater …………complemented………….. her red hair perfectly.

14. The TV show is so obviously ……derivated……………. that viewers who prize originality are not
interested in watching it.

15. The team rallied back from a four-run ………deficit…………. to win the ballgame and the series.

16. After two months of ignoring Billy’s ………crude……… remarks, Denise summoned the courage
to ask him to stop.

17. No one in the quiet neighborhood could have predicted the mass ………………
convergence……….. of artists, writers, and musicians, and the birth of a miniature renaissance.

18. Roger shot Mary a …………contemptous……………………. look after she insulted him repeatedly
without cause.

19. Fred made the ……conciliatory…………………… gesture of buying Abby flowers after their big
fight.

20. The class was duly impressed by the guest lecturer’s …………comprehensive………………
knowledge of popular music.