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Tipos De Pistas De Contexto: Ejemplos Y Reafirmación - Aprenda Rápido Vocabulario y Ortografía en Inglés (page 4)

By LearningExpress Editors
LearningExpress, LLC
Updated on Jul 20, 2011

Definiciones y Fuentes

Aquí están las definiciones de la lista de hoy. También hay una explicación del origen de cada palabra.

bedlam: a scene of madness and confusion

    Bedlam was the popular name for the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem in London, an asylum for the insane.

chauvinistic: blindly loyal to a cause, gender, or country

    The loyalty of Nicholas Chauvin to his leader, Napoleon, was legendary.

cynical: distrustful of the motives of others

    The Cynics were a school of philosophy in ancient Greece who emphasized principles of self - reliance and criticism of society.

draconian: harsh and severe, usually pertaining to laws The ancient Athenian lawmaker

    Draco is remembered for writing an extremely harsh code of laws.

erotic: pertaining to physical love

    Eros was the god of love in Greek mythology.

forensic: pertaining to public speaking or to the legal aspects of medicine

    The forum in ancient Rome was the place for public speaking and the center of the law courts.

gerrymander: to redraw district boundaries to favor a particular candidate

    Elbridge Gerry was an eighteenth- century Massachusetts politician who redrew election lines to favor particular voting blocs. One such district resembled the outline of a salamander. Gerry's name was joined to the last part of salamander to make gerrymander.

jovial: happy, outgoing, sociable

    In Greek mythology, Jove was the chief god. He smiled indulgently on his people.

masochist: one who takes pleasure in pain, particularly self-inflicted pain (the adjective form is masochistic)

    Leopold von Sacher Masoch was a nineteenth - century writer who found pleasure in being punished or abused.

maudlin: tearfully sentimental

    In medieval art and theater, Mary Magdalene was often depicted as weeping excessively. The word maudlin comes from the old pronunciation of her name and indicates any weak emotionalism.

maverick: a political independent or nonconformist free spirit

    Samuel Maverick was a Texas rancher who refused to brand his animals. Therefore, a person who doesn't follow institutional policy is considered to be a maverick.

mecca: a goal or place of pilgrimage for groups of people

    Mecca, the birthplace of Mohammed in Arabia, is the goal of pilgrimages for the faithful of Islam.

mentor: a trusted advisor or counselor

    In Greek mythology, Mentor was Odysseus's friend who guided his actions.

mesmerize: to fascinate, hold spellbound

    Friedrich Mesmer was a nineteenth- century hypnotist popular in Vienna and Paris for his theory of "animal magnetism."

narcissistic: self- absorbed, conceited

    In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a handsome youth who drowned by falling into a pool in which he saw his own reflection.

quixotic: showing an impractical level of idealism

    Miguel Cervantes's book Don Quixote is named for its hero, who pursues dreams that are really illusions, such as trying to joust with windmills because he thinks they are actually giants.

stoic: bearing suffering without complaint

    The Stoa was an area in ancient Athens where a school founded by the philosopher Zeno met. The school emphasized emotional control and enduring hardships bravely.

tantalize: to tease or to hold just out of reach

    Tantalus in Greek mythology was doomed to the underworld where everything he needed was in sight but out of reach.

titanic: gigantic (the noun form is titan, a giant)

    The Titans were the gods of great strength and power in Greek mythology.

utopia: an ideal society

    Thomas More's book Utopia, written in the sixteenth century, described an ideal state. The word is also used satirically as the name of the country in the twentieth - century novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Ejercicio Final

Escoge cinco palabras de la lista de hoy y escribe unas oraciones con cada una en el espacio de abajo. Al escribir tus oraciones, trata de incluir todas las pistas de contexto y trata de identificar qué clase de pista has usado. Escribe las otras en tarjetas con su definición y añádelas a tu lista general de palabras.

Practica este concepto a Tipos De Pistas De Contexto: Ejemplos Y Reafirmación Ejercicios - Aprenda Rápido Vocabulario y Ortografía en Inglés.

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