Summer Assignment
1. Atrophied (verb)- waste away, typically due to the degeneration of cells, or become vestigial during evolution.
His leg muscles had atrophied after he went away on vacation, not exercising for 11 days.
2. Bacchanalian (adjective)- characterized by or given to drunken revelry; riotously drunken.
Her 21st birthday party turned into a bacchanalian disaster, after people began to drink too much.
3. Baleful (adjective)- threatening harm; menacing.
Frank’s dog gave the bird a baleful glance after not eating all day.
4. Balladeer (noun)- a singer or composer of ballads.
The balladeer of the most famous ballad in France is unknown, as when the ballad was being passed down no one ever revealed the identity of the composer.
5. Ballast (noun)- something that gives stability (as in character or conduct) .
The brace Franklin had to wear, after injuring her neck, provided the ballast she needed.
6. Blitzed (verb)- intoxicated by drink or drugs.
Maria became so blitzed at the party after drinking excessively, that she began to vomit.
7. Bodhisattva (noun)- a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays so out of compassion in order to save suffering beings.
Henry should be considered a bodhisattva as he delays his process of reaching nirvana to help the homeless and those who are in homeless shelters.
8. Bordellos (noun)- a brothel
A man walked out of the bordellos feeling guilty as he had just cheated on his wife.
9. Carnage (noun)- the killing of a large number of people.
The plague was carnage, killing almost half of the population of medieval Europe.
10. Crypt (noun)- an underground room or vault beneath a church, used as a chapel or burial place.
Francis began to feel claustrophobic sitting in the crypt, as if the walls were caving in on her.
11. Desperado (noun)- a desperate or reckless person, especially a criminal.
The news covered a story about a desperado who escaped prison and was armed and dangerous, warning people to stay inside and to call the police if they saw him.
12. Drudgery (noun)- hard menial or dull work.
Her drudgery work began to extinguish her interest in that area of work, and it also made her question her prior decisions.
13. Enthralling (adjective)- capturing and holding one’s attention; fascinating.
Her stories were so enthralling that she could go on talking for hours and she would still have the audiences full attention.
14. Fatwa (noun)- a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority.
The fatwa given by the leader of the mosque prohibited one from going to lavish parties where alcohol was present.
15. Gunslinger (noun)- a man who carries and readily uses a gun.
Often times characters in movies that are set in the Wild West depict cowboys as gunslingers, who carry a gun with them while riding a horse and wearing a cowboy hat.
16. Listlessness (adjective)- (of a person or their manner) lacking energy or enthusiasm.
Jimmy became more and more listlessness as he began to realize how much work the extra credit really was.
17. Locomotion (noun)- movement or the ability to move from one place to another.
After his car accident, Anthony became paralyzed from the neck down and was unable to experience the same means of locomotion as before; he was now dependent on others.
18. Marauders (noun)- a person who marauds; a raider.
The marauders roamed the parking lot looking for valuable items in the cars; however, they were chased off by police officers who happened to be nearby.
19. Myopia (noun)- Nearsightedness. Lack of imagination, foresight, or intellectual insight.
Scott was not useful in the debate she was having in her social studies class, as he lacked myopia and was not adding valuable insight and meaningful information into the discussion.
20. Roust (verb)- cause to get up or start moving; rouse.
Lee smelled the coffee brewing in the coffee pot, and he suddenly began to roust and made his way to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee.
Christopher McDougall´s main argument in the book Born to Run is that sometimes technology does not always yield the best or expected results. This idea can be seen throughout the book as the author tries to find a solution to his various injuries that he acquires when he runs. The first example in the book can be seen when the narrator is trying to find someone who knew a cure to his running issues and comes across the Tarahumara, also known as the Raramuri or “the Running People”. He is in awe after reading about them, as they can run 300 miles without stopping and without wearing modern running shoes. This lead to the idea that maybe modern running shoes only injure us more and provide no real support when it comes to running. The second example is of Caballo Blanco, someone who suffered from ankle injuries and tried ankle wraps, tape, and expensive running shoes but nothing alleviated his pain. Caballo Blanco decided to follow the lead of the Raramuri and traded in his running shoes for thin soled sandals. Following this change he was faster and healthier, and it shocked him to think that he spent all this money on supportive running shoes but all he really needed was to go backwards, ditch running technology and use sandals. Later on Caballo decides to use a pair of thick soled Nike trail shoes to run that were gifted to him and ends up hurting his ankle. He and McDougall realize that it wasn’t his form that got him injured but rather the thick soled shoes he was wearing. However, McDougall truly realizes that maybe running shoes, a modern advancement, aren’t yielding the best results is when he starts training Tarahumara- style and realized that he was born to run; now he felt free when he was running and was finally injury free for the first time in quite some time. Moreover, another example of how technology does not always yield the best results is when the Stanford University track team began running barefoot despite the fact that they were sponsored by Nike and received shoes from them. The coach made a revelation- his runners ran faster without running shoes and suffered from less injuries as well. Finally, Dr. Daniel Lieberman, a professor at Harvard University, said that modern running shoes actually cause our feet to weaken which causes us to over- pronate, giving us knee problems. This can potentially have deadly consequences as people may begin to stop running due to their injuries, which without exercise people can develop heart disease, diabetes, and many other diseases that are often seen in developed countries. Therefore, the development of modern running shoes is actually having an adverse effect and worsens people’s health, showing that sometimes technology doesn’t yield the best results but sets us back. This has changed my view on but just running but modern technology as a whole. I have realized that maybe modern technology isn’t always the best option, and that maybe we should stick to what has worked in the past even if it isn’t the latest and greatest invention.