#77 , VOCABULARY TEST QUESTIONS 761 TO 770

THREE LETTER WORDS HAVE GREAT SIGNIFICANCE IN ANY LANGUAGE BECAUSE THEY ARE FACILE TO SPEAK, READ AND WRITE. While most of the letters such as "he, we, an etc." express simple essential basic meanings of a language, the task of conveying 'deeper meanings in a crisp and short manner' lies upon the three letter words. This Multiple Choice Vocabulary Test contains ten questions based on the meanings of three letter words. Pl. identify the three-letter-word used by the Classic Author in his book and after completing your answers pl. check up with the usage by the Great Authors. Click.

MEANINGS OF THE TEN SELECTED: THREE LETTER WORDS
To sigh heavily, to deride.
Waterlogged wet-ground.
To drink moderately and regularly.
A pointed tool.
A venomous snake.
To bleat.
To seize/arrest.
A tap or light blow.
A scoundrel.
To strive for superiority.

761. The next day, the Abbe wrote word that Madame Bontemps also said to him, "You came into the world almost black," and that this was the fact. This
colour, which lasted for some time, was attributed to a picture which hung at the foot of his, mother's bed, and which she often looked at. It represented a Moor bringing to Cleopatra a basket of flowers, containing the ___ by whose bite she destroyed herself. (Madame du Hausset in The Memoirs of Louis XV./XVI, v2)

762. Truly, Sir, all that I live by is with the ___; I
meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor women's matters, but with ___. I am indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes; when they are in great danger, I recover them. As proper men as ever trod upon neat's leather have gone upon my handiwork. (William Shakespeare in his play ' Julius Caesar ')

'763. Oh, quite easily! You hide yourself out there and ___ like a sheep, and I will go in the other direction and bleat like a kid. It will be all right, I assure you.' (Andrew Lang in 'The Lilac Fairy Book').

764. But during the week and about the house she wore a green gown, with apron and ___ over it, quite straight all the way
down, for she had no particular waist, and her hair, which was of a funny kind of flaxen grey, she bundled up and tied round, without any cap or anything else on her head (Charlotte M. Younge in 'Little Lucy's Wonderful Globe'.)

765. Picture to yourself a howling wilderness of grass and ___, bounded by low stony hills. Pick out one particular spot in that imaginary scene, and sketch me in it, with outstretched arms, curved back, and heels in the air, plunging headforemost into a black patch of water and mud. (Charles Dickens in his 'The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices').

766. The crowd began to hiss and ___ him for his unsportsmanlike conduct, but he sat unmoved. Another great outburst of applause was Danny's as he walked back across the ring. (Jack LOndon in his 'The Night-born'.)

767. "I won't spar with you. I know that you are alluding to Samson South, though the description is a slander. I never thought it would be
necessary to say such a thing to you, Wilfred, but you are talking like a ___." (Charles Neville Buck in his 'The Call of the Cumberlands'.)

768. But then, Ruaruga has a house--not so pretty a one, to be sure--but just as commodious as Marheyo's; and, I suppose, if he wished to ___ with his neighbour's establishment, he could do so with very little trouble (Herman Melville in his 'Typee'.)

769. ___, man, one fire burns out another's burning;
One pain is lessoned by another's anguish;
Turn giddy, and be holp by backward turning;
One desperate grief cures with another's languish.
Take thou some new infection to thy eye,
And the rank poison of the old will die. (William Shakespeare in his 'Romeo and Juliet')

770. "...If I were fool enough to believe in God, I should think that He had set Saint Michael on my tracks. Suppose that the devil and the police should let me go on as I please, so as to ___ me in the nick of time? ..." (Honore de Belzac in 'Melmoth Reconciled'.)

#78 , VOCABULARY TEST QUESTIONS 771 TO 780

HERE IS A LIST OF TEN WORDS which have nearly the same meaning as "USELESS'. Below is given, a set of ten quotations from Classic Writers. Pl. write to chose the word originally used by the Author. The name of the book has also been given. If there is a difference between your choice and the writer's choice, examine which word fits the most in the sentence and decide for yourselves. For answers: Click.

WORD CHOICE LIST

Worthless           Barren
Futile              Bootless
Vain                Otiose
Ineffectual         Sleeveless
Unavailing          Nugatory.

771. Friedrich's feelings at this juncture are not made known to us by
himself in the least; or credibly by others in any considerable
degree. As indeed in these confused Prussian History-Books,
copulent in ________ pedantisms and learned marine-stores, all
that is human remains distressingly obscure to us; so seldom, and
then only as through endless clouds of ever-whirling idle dust,
can we catch the smallest direct feature of the young man, and of
his real demeanor or meaning, on the present or other occasions! (Thomas Carlyle in his 'History of Friedrich II of Prussia'.)

a) Nugatory
b) Worthless
c) Barren
d) Futile.

772. There is a popular philosophical joke intended to typify
the endless and useless arguments of philosophers; I mean
the joke about which came first, the chicken or the egg?
I am not sure that properly understood, it is so ______ an inquiry
after all. (G.K. Chesterton in his "Wanted an Unpractical Man").

a) Nugatory
b) Worthless
c) Barren
d) Futile.

773. Such is the fate of Gosford's knight,
Who keeps his wisdom out of sight;
... ...Who send my mind (as I believe) less
Than others do, on errands _________; (Jonathan Swift in his poem "The Dean's reasons for not building at Drapier's Hill").

a) Otiose
b) Ineffectual
c) Sleeveless
d) Unavailing.

774. O my cousin, shallow-hearted! O my Amy, mine no more!
O the dreary, dreary moorland! O the ______, ______ shore! (Tennyson in his poem "From Lockslay Hall").

a) Nugatory
b) Worthless
c) Barren
d) Futile.

775. Richard cried 'Charge, and give no foot of ground!'
And cried 'A crown, or else a glorious tomb!
A sceptre, or an earthly sepulchre!'
With this we charg'd again; but out alas!
We bodg'd again; as I have seen a swan
With ________ labour swim against the tide
And spend her strength with over-matching waves. (William Shakespeare in his play "King Henry VI, Part III, Scene IV).

a) Bootless
b) Vain
c) Otiose
d) Ineffectual.

776. The candle fell from my hands. I flung out my arms in a ____ effort to thrust that ponderous blackness away from me, and lifting up my voice, screamed with all my might, once, twice, thrice. (H.G. Wells in his novel "The Red Room".)

a) Bootless
b) Vain
c) Otiose
d) Ineffectual.

777. His style became, in a literary sense, vicious, a thing of
tricks and conventions: blank-verse rhythms--I am sure there are a
hundred blank-verse lines in the play--and ______ adjectives crept in and spoilt it as prose (Robert Lynd in his Essay "The Fame of J.M. Synge")

a) Bootless
b) Vain
c) Otiose
d) Ineffectual.

778. A separation of 5000 miles was not a trifling cause of grief; but it
was a pity to tinge the next month of their existence with
__________ melancholy. (Ms. David Osborne in her "The World of Waters"

a) Otiose
b) Ineffectual
c) Sleeveless
d) Unavailing.

779. He thought of the unprecedented population that
had been sucked up by this sponge of halls and
galleries -- the thirty-three million lives that were
playing out each its own brief ___________ drama below
him, and the complacency that the brightness of the
day and the space and splendour of the view, and above
all the sense of his own importance had begotten,
dwindled and perished. H.G. Wells in his book "When the Sleeper Wakes"

.
a) Otiose
b) Ineffectual
c) Sleeveless
d) Unavailing.

780. "No, no; it is not love that I feel for thee, and therefore it is that I do not blush to nourish and confess it. Shame on me if I loved, knowing myself so ___________ a thing to thee!" (E.B. Lytton in his book "Zanoni".)

a) Worthless
b) Barren
c) Futile
d) Bootless.

#79 , VOCABULARY TEST QUESTIONS 781 TO 790

MATCHING TEST - LATIN PHRASES

Given below, is a list of meanings of ten Latin phrases. Also furnished, are ten quotations in which the ten Latin phrases have been used. Now, match the quotations with their English meanings. PL. write your answers on a peace of paper and compare with the answers at the following URL: Click.

1. Presupposing, conceiving before seeing the facts.
2. Something for something (exchange of one thing for another).
3. Going on forever
4. By the first instance, (or on the face of it)
5. With suitable changes.
6. I came, I saw, I conquered.
7. Face to face, compared with, in relation to.
8. Common in practice, but not recognised/supported by law.
9. Man is a wolf to man.
10. to the value (expressed often, as % of value).

781. This is a valuable anecdote, for it proves, what might have been concluded 'a priori', that Bunyan was a man of too much genius to be a fanatic. No two qualities are more contrary than genius and fanaticism. (Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 'The Literary Remains'.)

782. MAM. But when you see th' effects of the Great Medicine,
Of which one part projected on a hundred
Of Mercury, or Venus, or the moon,
Shall turn it to as many of the sun;
Nay, to a thousand, so ad infinitum:
You will believe me. (Ben Jonson in his 'The Alchemist').

783. "... Nicaragua slapped an
import duty of 48 per cent. ad valorem on all bottled goods last
month. The President took a bottle of Cincinnati hair tonic by mistake for tobasco sauce, and he's getting even. Barrelled goods is free. ... (O. Henry in his story 'The Trimmed Lamp')

784. Your colonel, as I am informed, is an excellent man--for a Presbyterian; but you will remember your duty to God, the
Church of England, and the--' (this breach ought to have been supplied,
according to the rubric, with the word KING; but as, unfortunately, that
word conveyed a double and embarrassing sense, one meaning de facto and the other de jure, the knight filled up the blank otherwise)--'the Church
of England, and all constituted authorities.' (Sir Walter Scott in his 'Waverley or the It is sixty years hence"

785. I do not know, but suppose that the microscopical structure of the luminous organs in the most different insects is nearly the same; and I should attribute to inheritance from a common progenitor, the similarity of the tissues, which under similar conditions, allowed them to vary in the same manner, and thus, through Natural Selection for the same general purpose,
to arrive at the same result. Mutatis mutandis, I should apply the same doctrine to the electric organs of fishes; but here I have to make, in my
own mind, the violent assumption that some ancient fish was slightly electrical without having any special organs for the purpose. (Charles Darwin in his 'Letters, volume 7')

786. I, who dreamed not when I came here
To find the antidote of fear,
Now hear thee say in Roman key,
Paean! Veni, vidi, vici.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson in his poem 'Titmouse').

787. "... neighbor is for them not only a potential helper or sexual object, but also someone who tempts them to satisfy their aggressiveness on him, to exploit his capacity for work without compensation, to use him sexually without his consent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to cause him pain, to torture and to kill him. Homo homini lupus (Sigmond Freud, in his 'Civilization and Its Discontents'.)

788. This judgment seems more complicated, but has certainly gained in precision. Even now, however, it falls short of complete precision, since similarity is not prima facie measurable, and it would require much discussion to decide what we mean by greater or less similarity. To this process of the pursuit of precision there is strictly no limit. (Bertrand Russel, in his 'Analysis of Mind')

789. It was the policy of Mr. K- to ask no questions in his dealings with the trade. 'They bring the body, and we pay the price,' he used to say, dwelling on the alliteration - 'QUID PRO QUO.' And, again, and somewhat profanely, 'Ask no questions,' he would tell his assistants. (Robert Louis Stevenson, in his 'the Body Snatcher').

790. But now--you must have your coach--Vis-a-vis, and three powder'd Footmen before your Chair--and in the summer a pair of white cobs to draw you to Kensington Gardens--no recollection when you were content to ride double, behind the Butler, on a docked Coach-Horse?

#79A , THE SPELLING AND GRAMMAR CHECK OF MS WORD

At the following URL, you can see a piece titled "A Demonstration of the Futility of Using Microsoft Word’s Spelling and Grammar Check {scroll down for FAQ and other goodies}
Sandeep Krishnamurthy, {sandeep} [at] {u} [dot] {washington} [dot] {edu}, http://faculty.washington.edu/sandeep, http://sandeepworld.blogspot.com". Click.

The example given by the write up:

A Colleague Observes- I have always found it interesting that the message we receive after the spelling and grammar are checked reads: “The spelling and grammar check is complete”. To me these are two different types of checking and in my opinion the message should read "the spelling and grammar checks are complete." [Thanks, Neosha Mackey]

I rarely use the MS word spelling and grammar check. I do not wish to go deeply into that now. I wish to discuss only the above example.

The error under discussion : Subject-verb Agreement.
Grammar point in question : Whether the phrase 'The spelling and grammar check' used as subject in the sentence, is singular or plural. If it is singular, the singular verb 'is' will be correct and the message of the MS word will be correct. If 'spelling' and 'grammar checks' are two separate nouns, the correction shown above (...are correct) will be right.

We can write the sentence in three ways:

1. The spelling and the grammar checks are complete. (Here use of 'the' separates the two nouns and plurality becomes clear. In the correction shown above, the definite article is missing before 'grammar'.

2. The spelling check and the grammar check are complete. (Seems to be clearer than the sentence 1 above.

3. The message of the MS Word can be taken as intending a singular subject, because there is no definite article before 'grammar'.

The spelling and grammar check

is complete. 'The spelling and grammar check' becomes a phrasal noun.

Use of hyphens, improves clarity; but increases clumsiness.

E.g. : The spelling-and-grammar-check is complete.

I request my readers to correct me if I am wrong. I also invite alternatives.

I dealt with a similar grammatical error, in a Multiple Choice Questions in English Grammar Test #194, question No.1938 posted on Feb. 16, 2008. If interested, pl. Click.

#080 ASSORTED WORKS

This Multiple Choice Question Quiz contains 10 questions relating to English Literature and VOCABULARY. Pl. try to answer them by noting answers on a piece of paper. Then compare your answers to standard answers and explanations by clicking the following link.
[Click].

Here is a list of ten words which are near synonyms dealing with 'GOSSIP and GRAPEVINE'. The sentences below are quotes of great writers. Select the word originally used by the writer and fill in the blanks. If you have time, ponder over whether you will use the same word in a similar setting, when you are engaged in your own creative writing.

1. Babble
2. Prattle
3. Gossip
4. Idle talk
5. Petty talk
6. Small talk
7. Chatter
8. Rumor
9. Hearsay
10.Twaddle.

791. The duke, my husband and my children both,
And you the calendars of their nativity,
Go to a ________ feast and go with me;
After so long grief, such festivity! (Shakespeare : The Comedy of Errors).

792. I _______ over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles. (Tennyson: The Brook)

793. Pull your wits together and answer me straightly. In what form has the foul fiend appeared, and how has he done this grievous scathe to our brethren?Have you seen him with your own eyes, or do you repeat from _______? (Arthur Conan Doyle: Sir Niger).

794. Men that meet to talk of physicks or metaphysicks, or law or history, may be immediately acquainted. We look at each other in silence, only for want of __________ upon slight occurrences. (Dr. Samuel Johnson: Piozzi letters).

795. The innocent prattle of his children takes out the sting of a man's poverty. But the children of the very poor do not _______. It is none of the least frightful features in that condition, that there is no childishness in its dwellings. (Charles Lamb: The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, Vol.2)

796. "Soon did the spot become my other home,
My dwelling, and my out-of-doors abode.
And, of the Shepherds who have seen me there,
To whom I sometimes in our _________
Have told this fancy. ..." (William Wordsworth: Lyrical Ballads)

797. Portia: Prithee, listen well.
I heard a bustling __________ like a fray,
And the wind brings it from the Capitol. (Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene IV)

798. "Do tell me something amusing but not spiteful," said the ambassador's wife, a great proficient in the art of that elegant conversation called by the English, __________ (Leo Tolstoy: Anna Karenina)

799. Then the jury'll _______ and twaddle and twaddle, and finally they'll fetch in a verdict that he got shot or stuck or busted over the head with something, and come to his death by the inspiration of God.
(Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer Detective).

800. This is mere moral __________, and direct
Against the canon laws of our foundation.
I must not suffer this; yet 't is but the lees
And settlings of a melancholy blood. (John Milton : Comus)

#81 , VOCABULARY TEST QUESTIONS 801 TO 810

Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is a word spoken in right circumstances -- Proverbs 25/11

This Multiple Choice Question Quiz contains 10 questions relating to English Literature and VOCABULARY. Pl. try to answer them by noting answers on a piece of paper. Then compare your answers to standard answers and explanations by clicking the following link.
[Click].

Here is a list of ten words which are near synonyms dealing with 'affection and love'. The sentences below are quotes of great writers. Select the word originally used by the writer and fill in the blanks. If you have time, ponder over whether you will use the same word in a similar setting, when you are engaged in your own creative writing.

WORDS LIST
1. Affection 2. Love 3. Fondness 4. Affinity 5. Adoration 6. Passion 7. Attraction 8. Warmth 9. Fervor 10. Yearning.

801.

'What black melancholy is tormenting you? Either you are wasting with _______, or some star is casting an evil spell over you. Saturn's star has often been baleful to shepherds, and his slant leaden shaft has pierced your inmost breast.' (John Milton: Damon's Epitaph)

802.

Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy mighty acts? the ______ of thy bowels and thy compassions are restrained toward me. (Isaiah: 63/15)

803.

This queen will live: nature awakes; a ______
Breathes out of her: she hath not been entranced
Above five hours: see how she grins to blow
Into life's flower again! (Shakespeare: Pericles, Prince of Tyre)

804.

Now Conscience chills her, and now _____ burns;
And Atheism and Religion take their turns;
A very heathen in the carnal part,
Yet still a sad, good Christian at her heart. (Alexander Pope: Essay on Man)

805.

Indeed, his passionate _______
of the Emperor was even stronger: he wished to sacrifice something--everything, even himself--to prove his complete devotion. (Leo Tolstoy: Father Sergius.)

806.

All observers were struck by the intense _______ of the frontiersmen for the woods and for a restless, lonely life. (Theodore Roosevelt: The winning of the West).

807.

The sun's a thief, and with his great ______ robs the vast sea: the moon's an arrant thief, and her pale fire she snatches from the sun. (Shakespeare: Timon of Athens)

808.

"... Who shall say there is not _______ enough between (at least the bundle of sticks that produced) many of these pieces, or granulations, and those blue berries?" (Walt Whitman: Complete Works of Prose, Volume 5)

809.

"... he had drawn forth
A passionate light such for his spirit was fit--
And yet that spirit knew--not in the hour
Of its own _______ --what had o'er it power." (Edgar Allan Poe: In Youth I have known one)

810.

"... Whatever earthly _______ he abandoned or grasped, the great Admiral was always, before all, beyond all, a lover of Fame. He loved her jealously, with an inextinguishable ardour and an insatiable desire--he loved her with a masterful devotion and an infinite trustfulness. ..." (Joseph Conrad: The Mirror of the Sea. [The Great Admiral here referred-to was: Lord Nelson])