Test your English vocabulary :)

20 words, 10 sentences.  Let's see how good you are at understanding these verbs!!!! :)


*to abduct -  to kidnap, to illegally capture and hold against one’s will
*to absolve – to formally wipe away the guilt of another
*to bellow – to yell out, often in emotional or physical pain, in a deep voice
*to chronicle – to document, to preserve for history
*to debunk – to disprove  
*to ebb – to decrease in intensity 
*to facilitate – to make more easy 
*to grapple with – to struggle with
*to hone – to perfect, to make better, to sharpen
*to incense – to make angry 
*to laud – to praise 
*to mollify – to soften s/o's anger or other emotional response
*to nurture – to care for, to raise from infancy
*to perjure oneself – to lie in court
*to ratify – to formally agree to, to approve before establishing
*to saturate – to fill or soak completely
*to taint – to poison or corrupt
*to unveil – to reveal something  
*to vacillate – to change, to not remain certain
*to yearn for – to desire intensely


If a student wishes to really ___________ a foreign language skill, he/she should probably go to a host country and immerse him/herself in the language.

Although the CIA engaged in brutal and inhumane forms of torture against suspected terrorists, the Obama administration has chosen to ___________ these officers of guilt and to not pursue criminal trials.

In times of economic or social crisis many people seem to miss and____________ more simple days when life was easier and there was less stress.

In Nanjing, during the Japanese occupation, many foreigners began to feel helpless to stop the Japanese massacre of innocent people; all they could do was ____________ what happened in the hopes that justice would be done at a later date.

Once a person in a position of authority makes a decision, he/she sometimes feels it is not a good idea to _______________; the public can interpret that as a sign of weakness.

The smart phone market world-wide has become _______________: virtually everyone has a cell phone and it’s really tough to sell more of them.

After Somali pirates _____________ members of a ship’s crew, they usually take them to dry land and hold them as hostage.

Perhaps the most difficult yet interesting topic a psychological researcher can _________________ involves our moral judgments: what is morality, how did it evolve and what control do we have over our moral actions?

No matter how many times scientists have ___________ ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), many people still believe that mind-reading is possible and there is one guy who even claims that he can bend spoons with the power of his thoughts (Yuri Geller)!

The government of China has stated that it will soon ___________ a new type of totally electric car that nobody outside of the Chinese auto industry has yet to see.











answers:

1. hone
2. absolve
3. yearn for
4. chronicle
5. vacillate
6. saturated
7. abduct
8. grapple with
9. debunked
10. unveil