Vocab Booster SAT Textbook Vocabulary, Reading Unit 1 Challenge, p. 18-9

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. appeal
    earnest or urgent request
    There are no employers to whom miners can appeal for improvements. (p. 19, q. 4, answer A)
    An appeal to authority is a kind of fallacy (bad logical reasoning) in which one states that an idea is true because an authoritative figure states that it is true. An example would the argument that a scientist making a claim about the scientific method must be right because they’re a scientist and know a lot about science.
  2. appease
    cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of
    In the comedy, Joe...accepts a new gig: jumping into an island volcano to appease a local god. (p. 18, l. 10-4)
  3. bleach
    make whiter or lighter
    There, the chunks are sold by weight to middlemen who resell them to manufacturers for use in vulcanizing rubber and bleaching sugar. (p. 18, l. 53-6)
  4. caldera
    a large crater caused by the violent explosion of a volcano
    The volcano's caldera is partially filled with what appears to be a crystal clear mountain lake.... (p. 18, l. 21-3)
  5. ceramic
    an artifact made of clay baked at a high temperature
    Harnessing the volcano's naturally occurring heat and pressure, workers channel red molten sulfur through ceramic pipes. (p. 18, l. 35-8)
  6. cliche
    a trite or obvious remark
    It's a firmly established American cliché to complain endlessly about one's job. (p. 18, l. 1-2)
    The word comes from French cliché, and may be spelled with an acute accent on the e, though the accent is not necessary.
  7. constrain
    hold back
    p. 19, q. 3, answer A. (constraining)
  8. depict
    give a description of
    ...depict the plight of Indonesian sulfur miners. (p. 19, q. 1, answer D)
  9. dismal
    causing dejection
    Ultimately, the promise of earning $13 per day is enough to keep the men coming back, despite the fact that life expectancy for a miner is a dismal 30 years. (p. 18, l. 70-2)
  10. freelance
    a writer or artist who sells services to different employers without a long-term contract with any of them
    This is primarily due to the fact that they are essentially freelance workers with no direct employer. (p. 18, l. 58-60)
    The word can also mean *any* worker who sells their services to different employers without long-term contracts.
  11. gig
    a job, especially a temporary job
    In the comedy, Joe...accepts a new gig: jumping into an island volcano to appease a local god. (p. 18, l. 10-4) (In this sentence, gig is simply a metaphor for a job.)
  12. grim
    harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
    While that was just crazy enough to serve as the plot for an offbeat American comedy, it is a grim daily reality for the sulfur miners on Kawah Ijena.... (p. 18, l. 15-7)
  13. harness
    exploit the power of
    Harnessing the volcano's naturally occurring heat and pressure, workers channel red molten sulfur through ceramic pipes. (p. 18, l. 35-8)
  14. menial
    relating to unskilled work, especially domestic work
    ...illustrate the fact that Americans are generally sheltered from the realities of menial labor. (p. 19, q. 2, answer B)
  15. middleman
    someone who buys large quantities of goods and resells to merchants rather than to the ultimate customers
    There, the chunks are sold by weight to middlemen who resell them to manufacturers for use in vulcanizing rubber and bleaching sugar. (p. 18, l. 53-6)
  16. noxious
    injurious to physical or mental health
    In order to collect this sulfur, workers must spend a good deal of time near sulfur vents, which literally spew with noxious, putrid gas. (p. 18, l. 41-3)
  17. offbeat
    strikingly unconventional
    While that was just crazy enough to serve as the plot for an offbeat American comedy, it is a grim daily reality for the sulfur miners on Kawah Ijena... (p. 18, l. 15-7)
  18. plight
    a situation from which extrication is difficult
    ...depict the plight of Indonesian sulfur miners. (p. 19, q. 1, answer D)
  19. precarious
    not secure; beset with difficulties
    Yet somehow, in temperatures that regularly surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit, workers perch precariously on the side—the inside—of the active volcano's massive crater. (p 18, l. 32-5)
  20. putrid
    of or relating to the process of decay
    In order to collect this sulfur, workers must spend a good deal of time near sulfur vents, which literally spew with noxious, putrid gas. (p. 18, l. 41-3)
  21. quantify
    express as a number or measure or quantity
    ...quantify the problem faced by Indonesian sulfur workers (p. 19, q. 2, answer D)
  22. rally
    gather or bring together
    ...rally support for efforts to improve working conditions abroad (p. 19, q. 1, answer C)
  23. ramshackle
    in poor or broken-down condition
    ...the job is not completed until the chunks of sulfur have been delivered to the ramshackle sulfur market... (p. 18, l. 49-51)
  24. spew
    eject or send out in large quantities
    In order to collect this sulfur, workers must spend a good deal of time near sulfur vents, which literally spew with noxious, putrid gas. (p. 18, l. 41-3)
  25. terminal
    causing or ending in or approaching death
    In the comedy, Joe...is a man so repulsed by his grinding 9 to 5 that, upon learning he has a terminal illness, accepts a new gig... (p. 18, l. 10-3)
  26. vulcanize
    undergo treatment with sulfur and heat to make stronger
    There, the chunks are sold by weight to middlemen who resell them to manufacturers for use in vulcanizing rubber and bleaching sugar. (p. 18, l. 53-6)
  27. moral
    concerned with principles of right and wrong
    A moral argument (p. 19, q. 6, answer A)
Created on Mon Feb 10 15:47:14 EST 2020 (updated Thu Jun 24 19:34:24 EDT 2021)

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