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This section presents terms and phrases that are central to understanding the text and may present a challenge to the reader. Use this list to create a vocabulary quiz or worksheet, to prepare flashcards for a standardized test, or to inspire classroom word games and other group activities.
1. apprise (verb):
inform someone about something
“[Eldest sister] was to apprise me and warn me. She said I had been seen talking with this man.” (Chapter 1, Page 4)
2. encroachment (noun):
a usually slow or subtle intrusion into someone else’s space, rights, property, etc.
“At eighteen, I had no proper understanding of the ways [milkman’s behavior] constituted encroachment.” (Chapter 1, Page 6)
3. lewd (adjective):
sexually suggestive in an offensive way, vulgar
“Other things about [third brother-in-law] were that he never gossiped, never came out with lewd remarks or sexual sneers or sneers about anything.” (Chapter 2, Page 11)
4. ambivalent (adjective):
having mixed or contradictory feelings about something
“At this [maybe-boyfriend's neighbors] cast a last look, now more of an ambivalent look, towards the supercharger.” (Chapter 2, Page 33)
5. spurious (adjective):
fake, baseless, or having only the appearance of truth
“The motor-trade aspect [of middle sister’s love interest] came across as spurious, as artificial, as a weak and fabricated attempt by [ma’s] good friend Jason and those other kindly neighbours to cheer her up in the midst of this bombshell.
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