Vocabulary List 1

Heya! Let's do a simple recap - we have learnt quite a few new (to some of you) words in class 2 weeks ago. They are:
(1) discombobulated by
(2) prophetically
(3) facade
(4) aloof
(5) sieved out
(6) lethal
(7) infiltrated
(8) surreal

Today we are going to fit in 7 more words into your brain. (because a research shows anything more than 7, and your brains get overworked) :)

(1) I did not believe in the rigid school system with its unyielding (means inflexible) rules. I had no regard for authority and would often come to school late just to miss the morning reading period that I so detested. I also did not bother much with homework, and I reckoned that my teachers would be much too busy to chase me on a daily basis. I was right. Within two weeks of being a junior in the school, my reputation as a recalcitrant (continually disobedient with no regard for authority) child grew.

(2) I remembered that I hated my principal. She was a bespectacled woman of fifty, with piercing eyes that seemed to penetrate into your soul. I absolutely abhorred (regarded with contempt) her draconian (means harsh. However, you can only use 'draconian' to describe a method or a system) methods of punishing recalcitrant students.

(3) She would make us stay in school after our lessons and wash the school toilets for her. She seemed to take perverse pleasure (these 2 words go together. It means wicked pleasure) in watching us, behind her black spectacles, on our knees scrubbing away at her personal toilet in the General Office.

(4) Truth be told, her toilet was the worst of the lot. It  reeked (smells) of the potent (powerful. used to describe an odour or stench in this case) combination of stale urine and the odour of ripe papayas. I got the impression that she would sit at home and consume large quantities of papayas at night. Since they were in excess, the smell still lingered in the urine. Having seen (and smelled, even) her personal toilet and having formed these judgements of her, I could never maintain a straight face when I saw her.

Have fun with these 7 new words/terms. Remember, you need to try them yourself so that your brain can store them into active working memory! :))