The Week in Vocab
Review the Biggest Buzzwords of the Week!
When you follow national and worldwide affairs, you get access to presidential visits, statement-making representatives, cheating scandals, deep sea dives, box office hits and more. Each week, we’ll highlight the top buzzwords or terms that your students might not have known or even heard until now. All these words are featured in the most recent edition of The Week in Rap. And once students beef up their vocab, the news will make a lot more sense.
THIS WEEK
impoverished (adjective) — reduced to poverty; poverty-stricken
Why it matters: President Obama, on an official visit to Korea, compared the impoverished North to the thriving South.
rally (noun) — a gathering, especially one intended to inspire enthusiasm for a cause
Why it matters: In Florida, and across the country, supporters of the late Trayvon Martin have organized rallies to show their support.
chastise (verb) — rebuke or reprimand severely.
Why it matters: Representative Bobby Rush was chastised for wearing a hoodie on the House of Representatives floor as he spoke out against racism and profiling. He donned the hoodie in solidarity with the controversies surrounding Travyon Martin’s attire when he was shot.
precaution (noun) — an action taken to avoid a dangerous or undesirable event
Why it matters: In light of a recent cheating scandal, SAT and ACT administrators are taking stricter precautions with students registering for tests. To refresh your knowledge of prefixes, like the “pre” in precaution, listen to Flocabulary’s prefixes rap song.
ceasefire — a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions; also known as a truce
Why it matters: U.N. envoy Kofi Annan negotiated a ceasefire between the Syrian President’s regime and the rebels. For a two hour period each day, neither side will attack and they will allow humanitarian groups to administer aid.
revenue — the amount of money a company receives during a specific period
Why it matters? This weekend, The Hunger Games premiered with a $155 million opening. The movie set a revenue record for a non-sequel. After the final installment of Harry Potter and The Dark Knight, The Hunger games is the biggest debut ever in terms of revenue.
Did you hear any other big terms this week? Share them in the comments!
Learn all about these stories and more in The Week in Rap.