VOCABULARY WORDS: Theme 4
STORY 16: The School Story
tempted: If you are tempted to do something, you really want to do it, even though you know you shouldn’t
insights: If you have insights, you notice or understand important things that other people may not see.
essence: The essence of something is the most basic important quality.
indication: An indication is a sign that something exists or might happen
proposed: If a person proposed something, he or she suggested it.
instinct: An instinct is a natural, almost automatic way that people or animals react to something.
baffled: Someone who is baffled by something cannot understand or explain it.
STORY 17: Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street
hiatus: A hiatus is a break for a period of time between events.
embarked: If you have embarked on a journey, you have began a new adventure.
unimaginable: If something is unimaginable, it is impossible to think that it might happen or exist.
extravagant: Something that is extravagant is much more costly or elaborate than what is really needed.
gourmet: Gourmet is food that is expensive, rare, or carefully prepared.
throng: A throng is a crowd of people.
precarious: In a precarious situation, things are uncertain and can suddenly become dangerous.
STORY 18: Project Mulberry
compartments: An item that has compartments has separate sections for keeping things.
swayed: Something that swayed was moving back and forth.
phobia: TO have a phobia is to be terrified of something without having a good reason for the fear.
invasion: An invasion happens when many people or animals enter a place all at once.
vetoed: If someone has vetoed something, he or she has rejected it.
wispy: Something that is wispy is thin, lightweight and easily broken.
STORY 19: Inventing the Future: A Photobiography of Thomas Alva Edison
tendency: To have a tendency is to have a habit of doing something in a certain way.
feat: A feat is a difficult act that impresses people.
irrepressible: A feeling or action that is irrepressible cannot be controlled or held back.
prestigious: Something that is prestigious is highly respected and admired.
device: A device is an object that has been made for a special purpose.
industry: An industry is all the people and companies that make a certain type of product or proved a certain type of service.
STORY 20: The Invention Convention
scours: If someone scours a place for something, he or she searches thoroughly for it.
appropriate: If you wear appropriate clothing, you chose an outfit that is right for the situation.
practical: Something that is practical is useful.
portable: Something that is portable can be moved or carried by hand.
circulate: When you circulate, you move freely around an area.
protrude: To protrude is to stick out.
boisterous: A boisterous person or animal is noisy and has lots of energy.
deduction: A deduction is a conclusion you reach, based on the information you have been given.
fickle: Fickle people keep changing their minds about what they like or want.
measly: A measly amount of something is a very small amount.
