The Mark of Athena: Chapters 21–30

by Rick Riordan
With help from Roman demigods, Annabeth must use her wits to retrieve the stolen statue of Athena. Now test your wits against these words from Rick Riordan.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–10, Chapters 11–20, Chapters 21–30, Chapters 31–40, Chapters 41–52

Here are links to our lists for The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan: The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena, The House of Hades, The Blood of Olympus

And here are links to our lists for the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan: The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, The Last Olympian
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. inspect
    look over carefully
    They hadn’t found anything in the Civil War sub or elsewhere in the museum; just a few elderly tourists, a dozing security guard, and—when they tried to inspect the artifacts—a whole battalion of glowing zombie dudes in gray uniforms.
  2. latitude
    angular distance between the equator and a parallel line
    “But I’ve got coordinates. Can you input latitude and longitude in this thing?”
    “I can input star charts and order you a smoothie, if you want. Of course I can do latitude and longitude!”
  3. gauge
    judge tentatively or form an estimate of
    She kept her eyes on the horizon, but Leo got the feeling she was gauging his mood, considering what to say.
  4. mull
    reflect deeply on a subject
    “You were amazing,” Hazel said. “I’ve been mulling it over, how much you reminded me of—”
  5. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    Meanwhile, Flathead Rufus was still trying to punk Hazel out of a diamond, oblivious to Fake Leo’s arrival.
  6. resonate
    produce a deep, clear sound
    He’d designed the hull to resonate every few seconds, sending waves through the Mist and alerting Festus to any nearby monsters, but it only worked in one mode at a time: water or air.
  7. scold
    censure severely or angrily
    “I’m stupid!” Leo scolded himself. “Stupid, stupid! I forgot the sonar!”
  8. clarify
    make clear and comprehensible
    “Fish-horse guys,” Frank clarified, which wasn’t very clear. “They must have grabbed us when we fell in the ocean and dragged us ... wherever this is.”
  9. curiosity
    a state in which you want to learn more about something
    Frank’s angry expression started to unknot, replaced by curiosity. “Did she ... did you figure it out?”
  10. connection
    the process of bringing ideas or events together in memory
    Hazel had been sweet on his bisabuelo, a guy who had died when Leo was a baby. Leo hadn’t made the connection before, but he had a vague memory of older family members calling his grandfather Sam Junior.
  11. focus
    direct one's attention on something
    Frank shook his head glumly. “My shape-shifting doesn’t work. I don’t know why. Maybe they cursed me, or maybe I’m too messed up to focus.”
  12. specialty
    a distinguishing trait
    He couldn’t feel any kind of latch or other mechanism. Either the door could only be opened by magic or sheer force was required—neither of which was Leo’s specialty.
  13. determine
    find out or learn with certainty, as by making an inquiry
    “The one called Hazel told us this, but we will determine the truth. Come.”
    Leo didn’t like the sound of determine the truth. It made him think of torture racks and red-hot pokers.
  14. interrogate
    pose a series of questions to
    Leo wasn’t sure whether he felt relieved or insulted that the combat trainer was interrogating Frank, while Leo got the home economics teacher.
  15. discern
    perceive, recognize, or detect
    “I am quite good at discerning lies. I hear none from you. Your story also fits with what Hazel Levesque told us.”
  16. gear
    a mechanism for transmitting motion for some purpose
    His brain shifted into high gear. He remembered what Frank had said about his weakness... a piece of firewood.
  17. attune
    adjust or accustom to; bring into harmony with
    He thought about why this kid would have a fear of fire, and why Hazel would be so attuned to those feelings.
  18. property
    a basic or essential attribute shared by members of a class
    He started thinking about the properties of wood and the corrosiveness of saltwater. “Is the firewood okay in the ocean like this? Does the layer of air around you protect it?”
  19. mechanical
    relating to or concerned with machinery or tools
    “As for you, Leo Valdez, stay close to Hazel and Frank when you reach Rome. I sense they will face... ah, mechanical difficulties that only you can overcome.”
  20. effective
    producing or capable of producing an intended result
    Fighting Shrimpzilla with a dagger and a pretty voice? Not so effective. Then the monster had sunk into the deep and disappeared along with three of her friends, and she’d been powerless to help them.
  21. artifact
    a man-made object
    But the more I think about it... there’s only one artifact that could fit the legend.
  22. theory
    a belief that can guide behavior
    At least, that’s one theory, and it fits the legend I heard at Camp Jupiter. To break the Greeks’ spirit, the Romans carted off the Athena Parthenos when they took over the city of Athens. They hid it in an underground shrine in Rome. The Roman demigods swore it would never see the light of day. They literally stole Athena, so she could no longer be the symbol of Greek military power.
  23. appreciate
    be fully aware of; realize fully
    Piper stared at Annabeth with awe, just starting to appreciate the huge responsibility her friend had taken on.
  24. pensive
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    Hazel twirled her hair pensively. “I don’t like the idea of you risking your life alone, but you’re right. We saw what recovering the golden eagle standard did for the Roman legion. If this statue is the most powerful symbol of Athena ever created—”
  25. soothe
    give moral or emotional strength to
    “We’ll deal with that when we get to Rome,” Piper suggested, putting a little charmspeak in her voice to soothe her friend’s nerves. “It’s going to work out. Annabeth is going to kick some serious booty, too. You’ll see.”
  26. expert
    a person with special knowledge who performs skillfully
    If only she knew more about making relationships work. She was supposed to be an expert, being the head counselor for Aphrodite cabin. Other campers at Camp Half-Blood came to her for advice all the time. Piper had tried to do her best, but with her own boyfriend, she was clueless.
  27. anticipate
    make a prediction about; tell in advance
    Annabeth gazed at the Rock of Gibraltar. Piper recognized that brooding expression on her friend’s face. It almost always meant that she anticipated trouble.
  28. ambassador
    a diplomat of the highest rank
    “I’ve got a better idea,” Annabeth said. “We send ambassadors ashore. A small group—one or two at most. Try to talk with him.”
  29. diplomat
    a person who deals tactfully with others
    And we need our best diplomat. Somebody who’s good with words.
  30. tendency
    a natural inclination toward a certain condition
    Great, Piper thought. Jason finally gets along with Annabeth, and her brainiac tendencies start rubbing off on him.
  31. muster
    summon up, call forth, or bring together
    “Let him go!” Piper charged her voice with all the persuasiveness she could muster. “I promise I won’t let Hercules get the horn!”
  32. contemplate
    consider as a possibility
    Achelous arched his back as if contemplating a trick. Piper pressed the knife harder against his throat.
  33. challenge
    a demanding or stimulating situation
    It was one of the challenges of dating an Athena girl. Still, Percy wondered what he had to do to get her attention.
  34. distinguish
    mark as different
    He heard heavy footsteps, and the twin giants Ephialtes and Otis shuffled out of the gloom. Percy could distinguish them only by their hair—Ephialtes had the green locks braided with silver and gold coins; Otis had the purple ponytail braided with ... were those firecrackers?
  35. recover
    get or find back
    By the time Percy had recovered his wits, the enemy was everywhere.
  36. indication
    something that serves to suggest
    He wanted to put his arm around her protectively, but he doubted she’d appreciate the gesture, and he didn’t want to give this golden guy any indication that Annabeth was his girlfriend. No sense giving the enemy more leverage than they already had.
  37. dwell
    think moodily or anxiously about something
    “So your brother is a winged horse. But you’re also my half brother, which means all the flying horses in the world are my... You know what? Let’s forget it.” He’d learned years ago it was better not to dwell too much on who was related to whom on the godly side of things.
  38. underestimate
    make too low an approximation of
    “But don’t underestimate me. My name means the Golden Sword for a reason.”
  39. advantage
    the quality of having a superior or more favorable position
    Could Frank actually turn into a swarm of bees? Percy hoped so. If he was free aboard the ship somewhere, that could be an advantage, assuming Percy could figure out how to communicate with him.
  40. mentor
    a wise and trusted guide and advisor
    Without meaning to, Percy heard the voice of Luke Castellan, his first sword-fighting mentor at Camp Half-Blood, throwing out suggestions.
Created on Wed Apr 26 09:27:03 EDT 2017 (updated Wed Sep 12 15:18:47 EDT 2018)

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