Vocabulary Words Week 4

1. intrepid - adj. fearless, courageous. The intrepid explorer walked into the dark cave, not knowing what he might find at the other end.
2. trepidation - n. hesitation, fear, or anxiety. It was with trepidation that the girl walked in to the room of lions, carrying only a large bottle of water and a magic scarf.
3. despondent - adj. depressed, without hope. Working on college applications makes me despondent; I feel like I could be writing essays forever.
4. decorum - n. proper manners or behavior. I plan to have advisory made into a decorum class, where students would be taught essential skill such as napkin folding and the samba.
5. aspire - v. yearn, hope, or dream. I aspire to be a top notch archer.
6. vacillate - v. constantly wavering, unable to choose. The young adolescent vacillated between hating all of humanity and wanting to cuddle with his girlfriend.
7. desultory - adj. unplanned, disorganized, and without enthusiasm. When the fat, balding man began questioning me about my love life, I answered him desultorily, making up short stories than would make him stop talking to me.
8. fallacy - n. an untruth, a lie. Johnny told Marie a fallacy when he said he only had eyes for her...because really, he was sneaking around behind her back with other potatoes.
9. formidable - adj. scary, large, foreboding. The large castle was scary enough, but the alligators in the moat were extremely formidable.
10. heritage - n. legacy, inheritance, culture. My heritage is mixed; I am a mutt of all breeds.
11. guru - n. a leader in some way, often religious or spiritual. My guru says I need to eat only grapes and drink only canola oil for the next week in order to cleanse my aura.

Vocabulary Words for Government Honors Wk 3

subtle: below the surface, hidden, not blatant
His subtle use of sarcasm made his co-workers confused whether or not he hated them.
vehement: positive, sure, loudly assertive
I am vehemently opposed to opposition.
zealous: crazy, passionate, often about religion
Enviornmental zealots often hold riots for causes they strongly believe in.
adverse: opposed to a thing
I will never go; I am completely adverse to bungee jumping.
averse: opposed to a person
She has an aversion to him...something about his giant eyebrows.
blatant: outright, shameless
His blatant disregard of both schedules and the contraints of time meant he was always late.
alleged: supposed, rumored
It is alleged that Jon is pregnant with an alien baby.
aggravate: anger, intentionally bother
It aggravates me when, at soccer practice, the field is wet because then I kick up mud all over myself when I run.
discreet: hidden, self-conscious, polite, well-mannered, taking care
Discretion is an important quality for both butlers and assasins.
factoid: something asserted as a fact, but might be made up
Texans often believe the factoid that the Texas State flag may be at an equal height with the American flag, because of Texas' previous status as a nation. However, by law all flags must be lower than the American flag.
flout: go around something, blatantly disregard,
He flouted the teacher by showing up for class late, wearing a baseball cap, and toting his teeny girlfriend, who went to another school. They then proceded to sit in the back of the class and make out. Loudly.
forte: area of interest or special talents
I love making any kind of food, but soup is my forte.
disinterested: objective, neutral, not taking sides.
Referees must be disinterested in the outcome of the game in order to remain impartial.
Pictures will be turned in on Monday.

Food Blog Update

After reading an excerpt from Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, we had to answer some questions about it. Following are the questions and my answers.

1)Why do people choose to eat products that are unhealthy for them? (food stuffs)

There are many reasons that someone might choose to eat unhealthy food. Sometimes other products are unavailable or are too expensive for the average consumer. Or people can simply be uneducated or think that they are making healthy choices. Another reason is addiction-to sweeteners or foods that taste good. People might be too busy to spend the extra effort to get the healthier food options.

2) What roles/responsibilities does the government have in framing your choice? (Should they be responsible for educating us? should they be responsible for managing all products we consume? GM included, plastic chemicals - poisonous additives)

I believe the government should be responsible for enforcing labeling of the food as well as the nutrients in it and where they come from or if they are genetically modified. Then they should let a free market and the demand of the consumers dictate what products remain in the market. I don't like the nutrition suggestions and percentages because they were made by corporations and do not apply to everyone.

Vocabulary Words for Government Honors Wk 2.

1. accord-to be in agreement, to come to a compromise or understanding
2. bias-prejudice, a previously held view or opinion
3. incognito-disguised, concealed
4. deduct-to conclude, to figure out
5. paradigm-a model or pattern for something to come
6. plagiarize-using other people's thoughts without giving them credit
7. objectivity-a state of mind without prejudices or biases
8. precipitous-steep
9. recapitulate-to go over again
10. reciprocate-to give back, to return in kind
11. empathy-feeling like someone else is, identifying with them and their emotions or reasonings
Pictures hand drawn and turned in.

Vocabulary Words for Government Honors

Photo Credits: www.leapuckett.com/images/portfolio/flourish.gif

FLOURISH - to thrive, to live thoroughly. The bean tree started to flourish once it was moved to a bigger pot and put in the sun.

guerilla - an unexpected, unconventional type of warfare or marketing. When warfare, often consists of wearing the enemy down with rape, traps, and other secret activities until they can be defeated in normal combat. The guerilla marketing plan was simple but effective; thousands of flyers were printed and placed on all the windows of gas station bathrooms.

renegade - outlaw, criminal, running from the law. The renegade quickly flipped up the kickstand and sped off, sending gravel flying.

Photo Credits: http://www.web-wise-wizard.com/web-graphics-design/wild-animals-gallery-photos-photographs.html REPOSE - rest, a short hiatus. The lady in the painting was shown in repose; her arm lay limply along the sofa, holding a fan.

Photo Credits:xunax.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/stereotypes.jpg STEREOTYPE - a greatly exaggerated and often made up caricature of a type of person, often intended as humorous. The stereotype of blondes is that they are unintelligent.

Photo Credits: http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Symbiosis-Posters_i838292_.htm SYMBIOSIS - the state when two or more organisms or things live in harmony, assisting each other and being assisted. Clown fish live in a symbiotic relationship with anemone. Clown fish trick other fish into believing the trap is safe, while anemones provide a safe home for the clown fish.

tariff - taxes. Ships coming into the San Diego port must pay a tariff to the port authority on all brown sugar held in the holds.

Photo Credits: www.myspace.com/tempojazz TEMPO - beat, rhythm (as of music). The quick tempo of the brainwashing tape made his heart beat faster.

tranquility - peace, a sense of well being, calmness. She floated in a sea of tranquility...nothing mattered anymore.

tumult - chaos, quickly moving. Her thoughts were tumultuous and ever changing. She couldn't focus on anything and felt she was going insane.

tundra - a treeless region near the poles of the Earth, or at high elevation. Poison oak, the scourge of the planet, cannot survive in a tundra.

Photo Credits: www.inmagine.com/bldvcd033/bld060195-photo UNANIMOUS - every last person agrees on something. The decision to go graffiti afterschool was unanimous.

Deviancy Experiment

Our latest project involved Starbucks, milkshakes, and tantrums. Check out my friend's blog below to see the video and read more about the project.
http://melaniesattempttopassgovernmet.blogspot.com/2009/10/sociology-experiment.html

Investigating Novalina Jennie Betancourt

For this project, our teacher brought in someone we knew nothing about. We had about 45 minutes to ask them any questions we wanted to try to find out their life story. Then, we wrote a short biography. Following is mine.

Love, connection, growth, authenticity, and relationships. These five words not only describe Novalina Jennie Betancourt’s most important values, but also influenced the path she chose for her life. From her book, The Total Female Package, to what she looks for in a relationship, Novalina is always searching for her five important values. Her basic core values were instilled her close-knit Puerto Rican family in San Francisco, especially her father who followed his true dream instead of the sanitation career suggested by his parents. These values determined her life path-from her choice to go to college at UC Davis, far away from her hometown, because of the extremely connected professors she found there, to her decision to quit her long term job for a technology company. She worked at the company as a personal development director, making teams work together well, but when she left she become a radio DJ, combining her love of women and music, especially hip hop, with a great speaking voice. She now works as a writer whose new book (The Total Female Package), along with the book she co-authored with some of the authors from the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and the book The Secret, called Strategies for Success, is helping women to become fulfilled people through her five values. Novelina also knows what she wants in a relationship. She intends to get married someday and have two children of her own before adopting “lots” and she is convinced she will know the right person when she finds them. Novalina has had a few long relationships, which ended on mutual and friendly notes. In fact, she still remains good friends with her old flames. What’s in the future for Novalina? Her ideal world would include, of course, her ultimate marriage- “A perfect me, for a perfect mate. Imperfectly.” Her book would have expanded into a franchise series that she discussed on her reality talk show where she would have 13 weeks to turn a woman with a dream into a passionate, fulfilled, woman “package”. The love that Novalina gives to everyone she meets and everything she does shines through brightly. This is one woman to watch out for in the years to come!