Upgrade to remove ads
Only $2.99/month

Giver Vocabulary Excerpts

Terms in this set (34)

distraught
__________ is too strong an adjective to describe salmon-viewing. He turned and wrote _________ on the instructional board. Beside it he wrote "distracted"
wheedle
Sometimes Jonas and his sister, Lily, argued over turns, over who would get to go first. Their parents, of course, were part of the ritual; they, too, told their feelings each evening. But like all parents—all adults—they didn't fight and __________ for their turn.
disposition
He was a sweet little male with a lovely __________. But he isn't growing as fast as he should, and he doesn't sleep soundly.
supplementary
We have him in the extra care section for __________ nurturing, but the committee's beginning to talk about releasing him.
transgression
You know there's no third chance. The rules say that if there's a third __________, he simply has to be released.
adherence
He was fascinated. It didn't seem a terribly important rule, but the fact that his father had broken a rule at all awed him. He glanced at his mother, the one responsible for __________ to the rules, and was relieved that she was smiling.
aptitude
Well, it was clear to me—and my parents later confessed that it had been obvious to them, too—what my __________ was. I had always loved the new children more than anything.
chastise
Jonas glared at her. He didn't like it that she had mentioned his eyes. He waited for his father to __________ Lily. But Father was busy unstrapping the carrying basket from the back of his bicycle.
remorse
No one had mentioned it, not even his parents, because the public announcement had been sufficient to produce the appropriate __________. He had, of course, disposed of the apple and made his apology to the Recreation Director the next morning, before school.
conviction
So Jonas laughed too, and with his laughter tried to ignore his uneasy __________ that something had happened.
invariably
The Eights almost __________ set out on their first volunteer hours on Recreation Duty first, helping with the younger ones in a place where they still felt comfortable.
gravitating
But with guidance, as they developed self-confidence and maturity, they moved on to other jobs, __________ toward those that would suit their own interests and skills.
indulgently
At every other public ceremony, the audience was silent and attentive. But once a year, they all smiled __________ at the commotion from the little ones waiting to receive their names and families.
reprieve
Gabe was back at the Nurturing Center today, being cared for by the night crew. He had been given an unusual and special __________ from the committee, and granted an additional year of nurturing before his Naming and Placement.
exuberant
The audience applause, which was enthusiastic at each Naming, rose in an __________ swell when one parental pair, glowing with pride, took a male newchild and heard him named Caleb.
buoyancy
My swimming instructor said that I don't have the right boyishness or something. __________, Jonas corrected him. Whatever. I don't have it. I sink.
retroactive
In fact, the Chief Elder continued, chuckling a little herself, we even gave a little thought to some __________ chastisement for the one who had been Asher's Instructor of Threes so long ago. At the meeting where Asher was discussed, we retold many of the stories that we all remembered from his days of language acquisition.
crescendo
The audience was clearly ill at ease. They applauded at the final Assignment; but the applause was piecemeal, no longer a __________ of united enthusiasm. There were murmurs of confusion.
benign
She smiled. The community, relieved from its discomfort very slightly by her _________ statement, seemed to breathe more easily.
anguish
I have caused you anxiety, she said. I apologize to my community... Jonas, I apologize to you in particular. I caused you __________.
indolence
What we observe as playfulness and patience—the requirements to become Nurturers—could, with maturity, be revealed as simply foolishness and __________.
integrity
__________, she said next. Jonas has, like all of us, committed minor transgressions. She smiled at him. We expect that. We hoped, also, that he would present himself promptly for chastisement, and he has always done so.
steeled himself
He felt no reaction to rule number 7 at all. It had never occurred to him that under any circumstances, ever, he might apply for release.
Finally he __________ to read the final rule again. He had been trained since earliest childhood, since his earliest learning of language, never to lie.
admonition
Jonas listened. He was very aware of his own __________ not to discuss his training.
sinuous
Now he saw another elephant emerge from the place where it had stood hidden in the trees. Very slowly it walked to the mutilated body and looked down. With its __________ trunk it stroked the huge corpse...
fretfully
Jonas rose and went to him. Gently he patted Gabriel's back. Sometimes that was all it took to lull him back to sleep. But the newchild still squirmed __________ under his hand.
pervaded
Jonas felt the joy of it as soon as the memory began. Sometimes it took a while for him to get his bearings, to find his place. But this time he fit right in and felt the happiness that __________ the memory.
exempted
Adults were __________ from the day's work, children from school and training and volunteer hours. The substitute Laborers, who would be given a different holiday, took over all the necessary tasks: nurturing, food delivery, and care of the Old; and the community was free.
permeated
But he knew he couldn't go back to the world of no feelings that he had lived in so long. And his new, heightened feelings _________ a greater realm than simply his sleep.
luminous
The Giver chuckled ruefully. The explanations are difficult. The whole thing is so beyond one's experience. But I tried. And she listened carefully. Her eyes were very __________, I remember.
imploringly
I had to, Jonas. It was my job. And she had been chosen.; The Giver looked at him __________. Jonas stroked his hand.
rueful
Jonas found himself using the nasty, sarcastic voice again. Then we'll have a sharing of feelings. The Giver gave a __________, anguished, empty laugh. Jonas, you and I are the only ones who have feelings.
haphazard
But the frequency of the planes diminished. They came less often, and flew, when they did come, less slowly, as if the search had become __________ and no longer hopeful. Finally there was an entire day and night when they did not come at all.
resignation
But his mind was alert now. Warming himself ever so briefly had shaken away his lethargy and __________ and restored his will to survive.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...