English – Vocabulary BuilderBENE

BENE is Latin for “well.” A benefit is a good result or effect. Something

beneficial produces good results or effects. The Latin root can be heard in

other languages as well: “Good!” or “Fine!” in Spanish is “Bueno!”; in

French, it's “Bon!”; and in Italian, just say “Bene!”

WORD FORMATION1. Benediction: A prayer that asks for God's blessing, especially a prayer that concludes a worship service.Usage: The moment the bishop had finished his benediction, she squeezed quickly out of her row and darted out the cathedral's side entrance.2. Benefactor: Someone who helps another person or group, especiallyby giving money. Usage: An anonymous benefactor had given $15 million to establish an ecological institute at the university.3. Beneficiary: A person or organization that benefits or is expected to benefit from something, especially one that receives money or property when someone dies.Usage: Living in a trailer in near- poverty, she received word in the mail that her father had died, naming her as the sole beneficiary of his life-insurance policy.4. Benevolence: Kindness,generosity.Usage: In those financially desperate years, the young couple was saved only by the benevolence of her elderly great-uncle. AM

AM comes from the Latin amare, “to love.” The Roman god of love was

known by two different names, Cupid and Amor. Amiable means

“friendly or good-natured,” and amigo is Spanish for “friend.”

WORD FORMATION1. Amicable: Friendly, peaceful.Usage: Their relations with their in-laws were generally amicable, despite some bickering during the holidays.2. Enamored: Charmed or fascinated; inflamed with love.Usage: Rebecca quickly became enamored of the town's rustic surroundings, its slow pace, and its eccentric characters.3. Amorous: Having or showing strong feelings of attraction or love.Usage: It turned out that the amorous Congressman had gotten his girlfriend a good job and was paying for her apartment.

4. Paramour: A lover, often secret, not allowed by law or custom.Usage: He had been coming to the house for two years before her brothers realized that he was actually the paramour of their shy and withdrawn sister.BELL

BELL comes from the Latin word meaning “war.” Bellona was the little-

known Roman goddess of war; her husband, Mars, was the god ofwar.WORD FORMATION1. Antebellum: Existing before a war, especially before the American

Civil War (1861–65).

Usage: When World War I was over, the French nobility found it impossible to return to their extravagant antebellum way of life.2. Bellicose: Warlike, aggressive,quarrelsome.Usage: The more bellicose party always got elected whenever therewas tension along the border and the public believed that military action would lead to security.3. Belligerence: Aggressiveness, combativeness.Usage: The belligerence in Turner's voice told them that the warningwas a serious threat.4. Rebellion: Open defiance and opposition, sometimes armed, to a person or thing in authority. Usage: A student rebellion that afternoon in Room 13 resulted in the new substitute teacher racing out of the building in tears.PAC

PAC is related to the Latin words for “agree” and “peace.” The Pacific

Ocean—that is, the “Peaceful Ocean”—was named by Ferdinand

Magellan because it seemed so calm after he had sailed through the storms near Cape Horn. (Magellan obviously had never witnessed a Pacific typhoon.)WORD FORMATION1. Pacify: (1) To soothe anger or agitation. (2) To subdue by armed action.Usage: It took the police hours to pacify the angry demonstrators.2. Pacifist: A person opposed to war or violence, especially someone who refuses to bear arms or to fight, on moral or religious grounds.Usage: Her grandfather had fought in the Marines in World War II, but in his later years he had become almost a pacifist, opposing every war for one reason or another.

3. Pact: An agreement between two or more people or groups; a treaty or formal agreement between nations to deal with a problem or to resolve a dispute.Usage: The girls made a pact never to reveal what had happened on that terrifying night in the abandoned house.4. Pace: Contrary to the opinion of.Usage: She had only three husbands, pace some Hollywood historians who claim she had as many as six.CRIM

CRIM comes from the Latin words for “fault or crime” or “accusation.”

It's obvious where the root shows up most commonly in English. A crime is an act forbidden by the government, which the government itself will punish you for, and for which you may be branded a criminal. A crime is

usually more serious than a tort, a “civil wrong” for which the wronged

person must himself sue if he wants to get repaid in some way.WORD FORMATION1. Criminology: The study of crime, criminals, law enforcement, andpunishment.Usage: His growing interest in criminology led him to become a probation officer.2. Decriminalize: To remove or reduce the criminal status of. Usage: An angry debate over decriminalizing doctor-assisted suicide raged all day in the statehouse.3. Incriminate: To show evidence of involvement in a crime or a fault.Usage: The muddy tracks leading to and from the cookie jar were enough to incriminate them.4. Recrimination: (1) An accusation in answer to an accusation made against oneself. (2) The making of such an accusation.Usage: Their failure to find help led to endless and pointless recriminations over responsibility for the accident.PROB

PROB comes from the Latin words for “prove or proof” and “honesty or

integrity.” A probe, whether it's a little object for testing electrical

circuits or a spacecraft headed for Mars, is basically something that'slooking for evidence or proof. And probable originally described

something that wasn't certain but might be “provable.”

WORD FORMATION1. Approbation: A formal or official act of approving; praise, usually given with pleasure or enthusiasm.

Usage: The senate signaled its approbation of the new plan by voting for it unanimously.2. Probate: The process of proving in court that the will of someone who has died is valid, and of administering the estate of a dead person.Usage: When her father died, she thought she would be able to avoid probate, but she wasn't that lucky.3. Probity: Absolute honesty and up rightness.Usage: Her unquestioned probity helped win her the respect of her fellow judges.4. Reprobate: A person of thoroughly bad character.Usage: His wife finally left him, claiming he was a reprobate who would disappear for weeks at a time, gambling and drinking away all his money.GRAVGRAV comes from the Latin word

meaning “heavy, weighty, serious.”

Gravity is, of course, what makesthings heavy, and without it therewouldn't be any life on earth,since nothing would stay on earthat all. This doesn't stop us fromyelling in outrage when thefamiliar laws of gravity causesomething to drop to the floor andbreak.WORD FORMATION1. Grave: (1) Requiring seriousthought or concern. (2) Serious andformal in appearance or manner.Usage: We realized that thesituation was grave and that theslightest incident could spark all-out war.2. Gravitas: Great or very dignifiedseriousness.Usage: The head of the committeenever failed to carry herself withthe gravitas she felt wasappropriate to her office.3. Gravitate: To move or be drawntoward something, especially bynatural tendency or as if by aninvisible force.Usage: On hot evenings, the town's

social life gravitated toward thelakefront, where you could strollthe long piers eating ice cream ordance at the old Casino.4. Aggravate: (1) To make (aninjury, problem, etc.) more seriousor severe. (2) To annoy or bother.Usage: She went back to the soccerteam before the knee wascompletely healed, which naturallyaggravated the injury.LEVLEV comes from the Latin adjective

levis, meaning “light,” and the verb

levare, meaning “to raise or

lighten.” So a lever is a bar used

to lift something, by means ofleverage. And levitation is themagician's trick in which a bodyseems to rise into the air by itself.WORD FORMATION1. Alleviate: To lighten, lessen, orrelieve, especially physical ormental suffering.Usage: Cold compresses alleviatedthe pain of the physical injury, butonly time could alleviate the effectof the insult.2. Elevation: (1) The height of aplace. (2) The act or result oflifting or raising someone orsomething.Usage: Her doctor is concernedabout the elevation of her bloodpressure since her last visit.3. Cantilever: A long piece ofwood, metal, etc., that sticks outfrom a wall to support somethingabove it.Usage: The house's deck,supported by cantilevers, jutted

out dramatically over the rockyslope, and looking over the edgemade him dizzy.4. Levity: Lack of appropriateseriousness.Usage:The Puritan elders tried toban levity of all sorts from thecommunity's meetings, but found itincreasingly difficult to control theyounger generation.

Idioms: A gate crasherMeaning: Someone who attends a party without being invitedSentence: Nitish warned his friendsto expect Gaurav and Ayushi at theparty because they are known to be a gate crasher.Idioms: A heart-to-heart talkMeaning: A frank and open discussionSentence: I, wet and Owen had a heart-to-heart talk about their troubled friendship.Idioms: A go-getterMeaning: Someone who is determined to succeed in lifeSentence: Uma is a go-getter; she will do anything to achieve her dreams.Idioms: A necessary evilMeaning: A negative / unpleasant thing that has to be done in order to surviveSentence: Divya needn't regret her decision as it was a necessary evil ground her son in order to teach him an important lesson.Idioms: A nest eggMeaning: Money saved for the futureSentence: Neeraj has very wisely started a nest egg for his retirement.Idioms: A queer fishMeaning: A strange personSentence: Geronimo is a queer fish--he behaves in the strangest way and says the oddest thingsIdioms: A rap on the knucklesMeaning: A scolding , criticismSentence: The Mayor received a rap on the knuckles from the Prime Minister for allowing the streets in the town to remain dirty .Idioms: A rotten appleMeaning: someone who is a bad influence on othersSentence: Tom's friend avoid him because he is a rotten appleIdioms : A skeleton in the cupboard Meaning : A secret

Sentence : Roxy wanted to get more information from Layla as she knew there was a skeleton in the cupboard.Idioms : A sight for sore eyesMeaning : Something very beautiful to look at.Sentence : Khushi was a sight for sore eyes in her new party dress.Idioms : drop in the bucketMeaning : something that is not important because it is very small.Sentence : "I'm sorry I scratched your car." Reply: "Don't worry about it. It's just a drop in the bucket. That car has more scratches on it than I can count."Idioms : Give somebody The SlipMeaning : to escape, or get away from that personSentence : Quick-there is a police car behind us; let's give him the slip.Reasoning QuizStudy the following informationcarefully and answer thequestions given below:Seven professionals A, B, C, D, E, F and G are practicing their professions in different cities Chennai, Banglore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Bhubaneshwar not necessarily in the same order.Each has adifferent profession Doctor, Engineer, Pharmacist, Lawyer, Counsellor, Professor and Artist not necessarily in the same order.A is a Pharmacist and practises in Bhubaneshwar. D practises in Banglore but is not Doctor or an Artist. The one who practises in Hyderabad is a Professor. G is a Counsellor and does not practice in Mumbai or Chennai. E is a Lawyer and practises in Ahmedabad. F practises in Chennai but is not an artist. C practises in Mumbai.1. What is D's profession?(a) Doctor(b) Professor(c) Engineer(d) Cannot be determined(e) None of theseAns : (c)2. Who is the professor?(a)B(b) C(c) D(d) E(e) None of theseAns : (a)3. Which of the followingcombinations of profession and

place is correct?(a) Pharmacist - Jaipur(b) Engineer - Chennai(c) Doctor - Bangalore(d) Artist - MumbaiAns : (d)(e) None of these4. Which of the following personswork in Jaipur?(a) B(b) G(c) C(d) B or G(e) None of theseAns : (b)5. Who is the Doctor?(a) D(b) B(c) C(d) B or C(e) None of theseAns : (e)Ques. Three ladies and four men are a group of friends i.e. P, K, R, Q, J, V and X. Each one has a different profession i.e. Lawyer, Travel Agent, Air-hostess, Doctor, Professor, Consultant and Jeweller and each one owns a different car i.e. Alto, Corolla, Santro, Lancer, Ikon, Scorpio and Esteem, not necessarily in that order. None of the ladies is a Consultant or a Lawyer. R is an Air-hostess and she owns a Ikon car. P owns a Scorpio. K is not a Doctor. J is a Jeweller and he owns a Corolla. V is a Lawyer and does not own Alto. X is a Consultant and owns Santro. The Doctor owns Esteemcar whereas the Professor owns Scorpio. The Travel Agent owns an Alto. None of the ladies owns a Scorpio. 6. Who are the three ladies in the group?(a) V, R, K(b) R, P, J(c) R, K, Q(d) Data inadequate(e) None of theseAns : (c)7. What car does Q own?(a) Esteem(b) Lancer(c) Alto

(d) Santro(e) None of theseAns : (a)8. Who owns the car Lancer?(a) V(b) X(c) K(d) Data inadequate(e) None of theseAns : (a)9. What is the profession of K?(a) Doctor(b) Professor(c) Travel Agent(d) Data inadequate(e) None of theseAns : (c)10. Which car does V own?(a) Alto(b) Lancer(c) Esteem(d) Can't be determined(e) None of theseAns : (b)

Quantitative Aptitude QuizDirections (1-3) : What should come in place of the question mark (?) in the following question ?1. 186 x ? ÷ 14 = 1302(1) 98(2) 92(3) 88(4) 84(5) None of theseAns : (1)2. 18.4 x ? x 8= 1840(1) 11.0(2) 12.5(3) 14.5(4) 10.0(5) None of theseAns : (2)3. 5482.24 + 2548.56 + ? = 9626.26

(1) 1959.46(2) 1546.95(3) 1946.56(4) 1569.45(5) None of theseAns : (5)Directions (4-6) : What approximate value should come In place of the question mark (?) in the following question ?4. 18.505% of 550.010 = ?(1) 135(2) 85(3) 100(4) 120(5) 90Ans : (3)5. 969.69 + 996.96 + 966.66 = ?(1) 2560(2) 2870(3) 2930(4) 2390(5) 2900Ans : (3)6. 8599.999 ÷ 420.002 x 14.996 = ?(1) 250(2) 325(3) 275(4) 300(5) 350Ans : (4)Directions (7-11) : In the following number series only one number is wrong. Find out the wrong number.7. 5, 348, 564, 689, 716, 780, 788(1) 716(2) 788(3) 348(4)689(5) 780Ans : (1)8. 4444, 2224, 1114, 556, 281.5,142.75, 73.375(1) 2224(2) 281.5(3) 1114(4) 556

(5) 142.75Ans : (4)9. 4.5, 16, 25, 33, 38.5, 42, 43.5(1) 33(2) 38.5(3) 42(4) 43.5(5) 25Ans : (5)10. 180, 181, 210, 333, 676, 1405(1) 181(2) 210(3) 333(4) 676(5) 1405Ans : (2)11. 38, 567, 998, 1369, 1658, 1883(1) 567(2) 998(3) 1369(4) 1658(5) 1883Ans : (2)