A Quick Current Events Quiz: Al Qaeda "Indoctrination" in Syria and More

Al Qaeda indoctrination in Syria, a new platform for Facebook, and Obamacare changes to address a hampered roll out.

Follow this week's news coverage from a vocabularian's perspective by learning 10 words from this week's New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post coverage.

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sanctuary
    a shelter from danger or hardship
    Syria is an appealing base for these operatives because it offers them the relative sanctuary of extremist-held havens — away from drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan — as well as ready access to about 1,200 American and European Muslims who have gone there to fight and could be potential recruits to carry out attacks when they return home.
    --Qaeda Militants Seek Syria Base, U.S. Officials Say, The New York Times, Mar. 25, 2014
    Sanctuary, which means a "safe place" derives from the idea of a place that is sacred, such as the area surrounding an altar in a church. In fact, churches used to be considered sanctuaries themselves--in the Middle Ages, you could go there to avoid arrest or capture.
  2. indoctrination
    teaching someone to accept beliefs uncritically
    But the fighters still bring a wide range of skills to the battlefield, such as bomb-building, small-arms tactics, logistics, religious indoctrination and planning, though they are not believed to have experience in launching attacks in the West.
    --Qaeda Militants Seek Syria Base, U.S. Officials Say, The New York Times, Mar. 25, 2014
    If you don't know what indoctrination means, you might not understand what's happening with Al Qaeda training camps in Syria. If you do, you'll understand the danger of the Qaeda recruits being taught to think uncritically. In this case, the word refers to religious education, but indoctrination can also refer to any form of mental training.
  3. systematic
    characterized by order and planning
    New classified intelligence assessments based on information from electronic intercepts, informers and social media posts conclude that Al Qaeda’s senior leadership in Pakistan, including Ayman al-Zawahri, is developing a much more systematic, long-term plan than was previously known to create specific cells in Syria that would identify, recruit and train these Westerners.
    --Qaeda Militants Seek Syria Base, U.S. Officials Say, The New York Times, Mar. 25, 2014
    Understanding systematic is key to understanding why new Qaeda training camps are so dangerous to Western interests. Systematic tells us that these camps are planned, intentional, organized, and prolific. This isn't an easy to quash, one-off operation but rather a formidable force to be reckoned with.
  4. acquire
    come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
    Facebook Inc. made its second blockbuster acquisition of the year, agreeing Tuesday to acquire Oculus VR Inc., a 20-month-old maker of virtual-reality goggles, for $2 billion in cash and stock.
    --Facebook to Buy Virtual Reality Firm Oculus for $2 Billion, The Wall Street Journal, Mar. 25, 2014
    Although acquire here is interchangeable, if slightly more formal, synonym of buy, it's worth noting what makes acquire stand apart. Coming from the Latin word for "to add," acquire suggests a more complete and thorough joining. You can acquire a signal, a skill, an education, a trait, whereas you can't really buy any of those things.
  5. revenue
    the entire amount of income before any deductions are made
    The deal also highlights the intense competition among big technology companies for promising startups, even when those startups, like Oculus and WhatsApp, have little revenue.
    --Facebook to Buy Virtual Reality Firm Oculus for $2 Billion, The Wall Street Journal, Mar. 25, 2014
    Revenue means earned income. When the Journal says that Oculus has little revenue, that means Oculus isn't making much money yet. This time of year, the word's tolls the bells of dread, as in the U.S., the Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, is the government agency that responsible for taxes, or government revenue, due from all of us on April 15.
  6. platform
    the combination of a computer and an operating system
    "We're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences," Mr. Zuckerberg said in a statement.
    --Facebook to Buy Virtual Reality Firm Oculus for $2 Billion, The Wall Street Journal, Mar. 25, 2014
    Although platform can mean "a raised, flat surface," "a political party's agenda," "a military structure or vehicle bearing weapons," or "a woman's shoe," here it refers to a piece of computer hardware, such as an iPad, a desktop, a phone. If an application is multi- or cross- platform, it means it works on lots of different devices.
  7. eligible
    qualified for or allowed or worthy of being chosen
    The extra time will not technically alter the deadline but will create a broad new category of people eligible for what’s known as a special enrollment period.
    --Obama administration will allow more time to enroll in health care on federal marketplace, The Washington Post, Mar. 25, 2014
    To remember eligible, think of the phrase "eligible bachelor," which means a man in a position to get married. Here, the term refers to people who qualify for government health insurance programs. Which of these tantalizing states of eligibility is most likely to spark a hit reality TV series? You decide.
  8. implement
    pursue to a conclusion or bring to a successful issue
    The change, which the administration is scheduled to announce Wednesday, is supported by consumer advocates who want as many people as possible to gain insurance under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. But it’s likely to be criticized by Republicans who oppose the law and have denounced the way the administration is implementing it.
    --Obama administration will allow more time to enroll in health care on federal marketplace, The Washington Post, Mar. 25, 2014
    It's probably impossible to fully understand the story of the 2010 Affordable Care Act without also understanding its botched implementation. To implement means to "put into place," or in the case of healthcare.gov, to try "to put in place," and only marginally succeed.
  9. surge
    a sudden forceful flow
    Amid signs of increasing interest, federal health officials have privately worried whether HealthCare.gov could withstand an expected last-minute enrollment surge this weekend.
    --Obama administration will allow more time to enroll in health care on federal marketplace, The Washington Post, Mar. 25, 2014
    When President George W. Bush effected a surge of troops into Iraq in 2007, we all learned that this word means a "sudden increase." That surge of course pertained to a flow of troops to an embattled war zone. Now the word applies to a surge of users for the embattled website Healthcare.gov.
  10. hamper
    prevent the progress or free movement of
    Last week, the governing board of Maryland’s exchange, which has been hampered by serious computer problems, decided to let residents complete their enrollments after the March 31 deadline, as long as they had started the process beforehand.
    --Obama administration will allow more time to enroll in health care on federal marketplace, The Washington Post, Mar. 25, 2014
    If you're wondering what hamper as in a laundry basket has in common with hamper as in the idea of preventing progress as the word is used here, you might want to note that the basket kind of hamper doesn't refer to laundry specifically but rather a basket with a lid. In other words, a basket that doesn't let its contents fly out the top when being carried.
Created on Wed Mar 26 08:48:04 EDT 2014 (updated Wed Apr 09 10:15:44 EDT 2014)

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