17：英検対策1級（Eiken Grade 1）

29: Eiken Grade 1 Vocabularies Lesson 29

Part 1: Vocabulary words

1. Quench verb [kwench]

to extinguish (fire); to satiate or satisfy; to suppress, put an end or destroy

◼ Example: Her husband’s excitement and enthusiasm at the thought of buying a new car was suddenly quenched when he heard his wife’s firm disapproval.
◻ Note: We commonly hear the word ‘quench’ with the word ‘thirst’.

2. Curtail verb [ker-teyl]

to diminish, reduce or cut off; to put restrictions or limitations

◼ Example: Deficit spending forced the company to curtail its expenditures on the new project.
◻ Note: How do you think people would react if the government curtailed their individual rights?

3. Diminish verb [dih-min-ish]

to make something appear less or smaller

◼ Example: The odds of grabbing the championship this year have already diminished after losing three consecutive games.
◻ Note: The synonyms of diminish are decrease, decline, reduce.

4. Eclipse verb [ih-klips]

to darken, diminish or obscure; to outshine or surpass

◼ Example: The comeback singer eclipsed all of the other shining stars on stage.
◻ Note: ‘Eclipse’ is also the term used for the partial or complete obscuring of one celestial body by another (solar or lunar eclipse).

5. Debase verb [dih-beys]

to lower or reduce character, quality, or value; to reduce

◼ Example: He made sure that he would never debase himself by doing blue-collared jobs.
◻ Note: It basically comes from the word ‘base’, which means ‘low’.

6. Demean verb [dih-meen]

to degrade or lower one’s dignity or honor

◼ Example: A number of politicians demeaned themselves by being involved in bribery and money laundering.
◻ Note: What’s the most demeaning thing that a person has ever done to you?

7. Detract verb [dih-trakt]

to draw or take a part away as from quality, reputation or value; to divert or distract; to reduce someone’s or something’s value, importance or quality

◼ Example: His aggressive behavior detracts from his good and diplomatic character.
◻ Note: We sometimes misuse the word ‘detract’ when we mean ‘distract’. For example: The noise from the party distracted the students’ attention.

8. Dwindle verb [dwin-dl]

to shrink; to gradually become smaller and smaller until little remains; to decline in quality

◼ Example: Pathological gambling dwindled away his vast fortune and riches.
◻ Note: How can you help in preserving the dwindling natural resources of the world?

9. Deviate verb [v. dee-vee-eyt; adj., n. dee-vee-it]

to turn aside from a path, course or way; to depart from a course of action, norm, purpose, subject or procedure

◼ Example: He doesn’t care about what other people think; that’s why he keeps deviating from what the society deems normal.
◻ Note: ‘Deviant’ is the adjective form of ‘deviate’.

10. Squander verb [skwon-der]

to extravagantly and wastefully spend or use time or money

◼ Example: Their government has been squandering billions of dollars on weapons.
◻ Note: Do billionaires have the right to squander their money on luxurious cars and properties?

Part 2: Exercise 1

Give the word being asked for each number.

◼ quench

◼ curtail

◼ diminish

◼ eclipse

◼ debase

◼ demean

◼ detract

◼ dwindle

◼ deviate

◼ squander

__________ 1. to shrink; to gradually become smaller and smaller until little remains; to decline in quality

__________ 2. to draw or take a part away as from quality, reputation or value; to divert or distract; to reduce someone’s or something’s value, importance or quality

__________ 3. to diminish, reduce or cut off; to put restrictions or limitations

__________ 4. to lower or reduce character, quality, value; to reduce

__________ 5. to make something appear less or smaller

__________ 6. to extravagantly and wastefully spend or use time or money

__________ 7. to degrade or lower one’s dignity or honor

__________ 8. to turn aside from a path, course or way; to depart from a course of action, norm, purpose, subject or procedure

__________ 9. to extinguish (fire); to satiate or satisfy; to suppress, put an end or destroy

__________ 10. to darken, diminish or obscure; to outshine or surpass

Part 2: Exercise 2

Choose the correct words to complete the sentences below.

1) A certain kind of behavior is considered abnormal if in a vivid sense, it ____________ from the norms or is differing from the typical standards of the society. However, what is standard is also relative and contentious.

a. deviates

b. diminishes

c. debases

d. demeans

2) Democrats condemned the Republicans for ‘disenfranchising’ or ____________ Blacks in the party’s attempts in state legislatures to pass a bill requiring voters to show a photo ID, which could be an attempt to keep Blacks from voting.

a. diminishing

b. eclipsing

c. dwindling

d. demeaning

3) The baby boomer generation stands by the viewpoint of organized indulgence and individual advancement and gain. They always put their emotional and personal needs on top of everything else, thus ___________ moral values among the youth.

a. demeaning

b. diminishing 　　　　　

c. detracting

d. debasing

4) The Gulf War was __________ not by the military victory of America and the Allies but by the mass desertion of thousands of Iraqi soldiers. However, even though the Gulf War ended, Iraqi mutinous troops turned their guns against the Iraqi state when they fled back to Iraq.

a. quenched 　

b. debased

c. dwindled

d. deviated

5) The news about the natural disaster that took place in their town last week ____________ the controversies against their mayor since everyone was grief-stricken with the high numbers of fatalities and casualties.

a. curtailed

b. detracted

c. debased

d. eclipsed

6) The government has been ____________millions of dollars of the people’s money on roads and infrastructures, which have proven to be a failure due to the defective and deplorable conditions under which the roads have been built.

a. quenching

b. squandering

c. deviating

d. dwindling

7) The Widener family was one of the wealthiest families in the United States and was actively involved in charitable works even though their fortune has __________ over time through estate taxes and the natural division and re-division by progenies.

a. dwindled

b. squandered

c. detracted

d. quenched

8) American Catholic bishops are seeking to ___________ individual freedom after the president’s call for universal birth control coverage. They called this “a serious moral concern”.

a. detract

b. eclipse

c. demean

d. curtail

9) Most of the time, defense lawyers do their best to ___________ from the testimony of the prosecutor’s witnesses so as to tarnish their credibility, leaving room for reasonable doubt.

a. deviate

b. dwindle

c. curtail

d. detract

10) The rise of the cost of gold due to the Eurozone crisis and the expansionary monetary policies of the major central banks _____________ the purchasing power of the global fiat currencies.

a. debases

b. detracts

c. squanders

d. eclipses