Ten Words from The New York Times - July 31, 2013

Ripped from the headlines! See full stories here: Manning Is Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy, Elite Colleges Differ on How They Aid Poor, and Mugabe Keeps Grip Before Vote, but the Opposition Grows Bolder.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. unprecedented
    novel; having no earlier occurrence
    Bradley Manning not guilty of “aiding the enemy” for his release of hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks for publication on the Internet, rejecting the government’s unprecedented effort to bring such a charge in a leak case.
  2. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    But as the hour drew near he grew more stoic, and he showed no emotion as he stood while Colonel Lind marched through the litany of charges.
  3. stagnate
    exist in a changeless situation
    With affirmative action under attack and economic mobility feared to be stagnating, top colleges profess a growing commitment to recruiting poor students.
  4. correlation
    a reciprocal connection between two or more things
    But among the elites, nearly all of them with large endowments, there is little correlation between a university’s wealth and the number of students who receive Pell Grants, which did not exceed $5,550 per student last year.
  5. virtuoso
    someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
    Colleges award financial aid based either on need or merit, which can be defined as anything from earning good grades to being a virtuoso cellist.
  6. hinder
    prevent the progress or accomplishment of
    The question of socioeconomic diversity has gained new urgency in recent years, as economists and sociologists debate whether social mobility is declining in the United States, and educators ask what role top colleges play in helping or hindering that movement.
  7. stratum
    a group of people sharing similar wealth and status
    Some private college administrators say they do not have the same moral obligation as public colleges to serve all strata of society, though they are loath to say so publicly.
  8. harangue
    a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion
    Mr. Mugabe has outlived virtually all his African contemporaries, but he showed few signs of his age at a rally for his party on Sunday, standing at a lectern for two hours, delivering a thundering harangue in a mix of clipped English and mellifluous Shona.
  9. mellifluous
    pleasing to the ear
    Mr. Mugabe has outlived virtually all his African contemporaries, but he showed few signs of his age at a rally for his party on Sunday, standing at a lectern for two hours, delivering a thundering harangue in a mix of clipped English and mellifluous Shona.
  10. quip
    make jokes or witty remarks
    Asked if he would run for yet another term if he won this time (he would be 94 then), he quipped, “Why do you want to know my secrets?”
Created on Wed Jul 31 09:17:14 EDT 2013 (updated Wed Jul 31 09:20:25 EDT 2013)

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