Poems by Robert Frost Vocabulary Warm-up Word Lists Word List A

boulders [BOHL duhrz] n. large rocks Being careful not to slip, we clambered over the wet boulders in the stream.

limp [LIMP] adj. drooping; lacking firmness or energy After a hard day’s work, my entire body felt limp with fatigue.

mischief [MIS chif] n. harm or damage; playful trick or prank; misbehavior Tom Sawyer’s aunt often suspected that he had been up to some mischief or other.

offense [uh FENS] n. wrong; occasion for disrespect Tina’s tactless remark did not mean to give any offense.

poise [POYZ] n. balance; confident, dignified bearing Many of Kate’s classmates admired her poise as a classical ballet dancer.

proclaimed [proh KLAYMD] v. formally announced Memorial Day was proclaimed as a national holiday at the end of the Civil War.

shed [SHED] v. to cast off In our area, birches are some of the first trees to shed their leaves in early autumn.

subdued [suhb DOOD] v. conquered; vanished In 1870, the Germans subdued the French in the Franco-Prussian War.

Exercise A Fill in the blanks, using each word from Word List A only once.

In his dream, Tom was up to [1]___ again, playing hooky from school. He officially [2]___ to Ralph, his best friend, that the weather was too nice to spend the day indoors studying reading and math. When Ralph objected that they would be punished, Tom [3]___ all his buddy’s doubts by pointing out that they could use their trip to the swimming hole as a field trip, collecting rock samples for science class. The boys spent all morning jumping over the large [4]___ in the river. Before they [5]___ their clothes to go swimming, Tom insisted that they carry out their field trip mission. With considerable [6]___ , he identified several types of mineral deposits in the rocks. Ralph discovered a dead fish, lying [7]___ at the bottom of a shallow pool. “I wonder what it died of,” he said. Tom suggested it might have been poisoned. Both boys knew it was a serious [8]___ to let polluted run-off get into the river, so they decided to report their finding at school the next day.