Reader's Digest Use Your Words vol 2: Word Power Quizzes from America's Most Popular magazine

Want to feel smarter?  Want to have the perfect quip at the tip of your tongue?  Like the successful first volume in the series, Use Your Words, Volume 2 combines Word Power Quizzes and Quotable Quotes from Reader's Digest, America's Most Popular Magazine so you can do just that!

Following on the success of the first volume, Use Your Words, Volume 2, combines new selections from reader favorites Quotable Quotes and Word Power. Both of these columns have run in Reader’s Digest magazine for more than seventy years. In these pages you’ll find the best wit and wisdom from our brightest minds, along with more than fifty quizzes to enrich your vocabulary. With this gem in your hands, you’ll never be at a loss for just the right word.

Inside you’ll find:

—Quotes about everything from love to success to aging

—Toasts for every occasion

—Entertaining quizzes of amusing words

—And more!

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trusted Media Brands
• Release date: May 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781621454885

Book preview

Cover: Reader’s Digest Use Your Words vol 2: Word Power Quizzes from America’s Most Popular Magazine, by Reader’s DigestReader’s Digest Use Your Words vol 2: Word Power Quizzes from America’s Most Popular Magazine by Reader’s Digest, Reader’s Digest Trade Publishing

The mind is not a vessel that needs filling but wood that needs igniting.

—PLUTARCH

We know our readers love words—both learning new ways to express themselves and challenging their minds while learning the meaning of new words. In fact, we had such a positive response to Use Your Words—our very own hybrid of your favorite features, Quotable Quotes and Word Power—that we are pleased to offer another volume and another chance for readers to sharpen their word skills and wax poetic at social gatherings.

We’ve searched through the archives to find fresh new coinages from the movers, shakers, and influencers of today, as well as some long-forgotten words of wisdom from the past that never get stale. In this eclectic mix of quotes from voices old and new, young and old, conservative and progressive, we think we’ve found lots of gems for every occasion. Whether you’re looking for the right words to congratulate someone on a work promotion, express your deep gratitude to a loyal friend, need to give voice to something painful that needs release, or just want to break the ice with a witty remark, you’ll find the perfect Quotable Quote in these pages.

And while you’ll look pretty smart quoting Cicero or Eleanor Roosevelt, you’ll be even more impressive when your vocabulary matches the winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee as highlighted in our selection of Word Power quizzes.

We’ve enjoyed curating these selections for you, and we hope you’ll share your newfound knowledge with friends, family, coworkers, and acquaintances, and use your words to cheer, calm, teach, and inspire.

The Editors of Reader’s Digest

There’s nothing you’ve ever been successful at that you didn’t work on every day.

—WILL SMITH

WORKING FOR A LIVING

We all have the capacity to forge our own futures and create our own success in life, but it never hurts to hear some sage advice from those who have paved the way for us.

SUCCESS

You cannot be really first-rate at your work if your work is all you are.

—ANNA QUINDLEN

Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.

—MUHAMMAD ALI

There is no downside to winning. It feels forever fabulous.

—PAT CONROY

The person who knows how will always have a job. The person who knows why will always be his boss.

—DIANE RAVITCH

QUOTABLE TWEETS

Wow @serenawilliams plays so well, so proud, but proud win lose or draw.

@VENUSESWILLIAMS

WORK FOR IT

When you’re brought into this life, you’re given certain gifts, and you have to use them.

—JANE GOODALL

If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.

—JONATHAN WINTERS

Doing anything less than something amazing is squandering this whole reason that you’re here.

—BRANDON STANTON

Thankfully, perseverance is a great substitute for talent.

—STEVE MARTIN

A year from now you’ll wish you had started today.

—ANONYMOUS

FAILURE

The best of us must sometimes eat our words.

—J.K. ROWLING

Be bold. If you’re going to make an error, make a doozy.

—BILLIE JEAN KING

An inventor fails 999 times, and if he succeeds once, he’s in. He treats his failures simply as practice shots.

—CHARLES KETTERING

Failure is just another way to learn how to do something right.

—MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN

Failure is God’s way of saying, Excuse me, you’re moving in the wrong direction.

—OPRAH

Winning may not be everything, but losing has little to recommend it.

—DIANNE FEINSTEIN

TALENT

Whoever said It’s not whether you win or lose that counts probably lost.

—MARTINA NAVRATILOVA

Second place is just the first place loser.

—DALE EARNHARDT

I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots. I’ve lost almost 300 games. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

—MICHAEL JORDAN

Genius is immediate, but talent takes time.

—JANET FLANNER

Talent is only a starting point.

—IRVING BERLIN

I want to thank my parents for somehow raising me to have confidence that is disproportionate with my looks and abilities.

–TINA FEY

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire PR officers.

—DANIEL J. BOORSTIN

Just because someone has fancy sneakers doesn’t mean they can run faster.

—JON BON JOVI

You have to be first, different, or great. If you’re one of them, you may make it.

—LORETTA LYNN

Persistence trumps talent and looks every time.

—AARON BROWN

A peacock that rests on his feathers is just another turkey.

—DOLLY PARTON

QUOTABLE TWEETS

The world is our office.

@KANYEWEST

PRACTICE

If you don’t keep pushing the limits, you wake up one day and you’re the center square to block.

—ROBIN WILLIAMS

The talk you hear about adapting to change is not only stupid, it’s dangerous. The only way you can manage change is to create it.

—PETER DRUCKER

Assume any career moves you make won’t go smoothly. They won’t. But don’t look back.

—ANDY GROVE

I don’t know if I practiced more than anybody, but I sure practiced enough. I still wonder if somebody—somewhere—was practicing more than me.

—LARRY BIRD

THE PERFECT WORDS FOR

ENCOURAGEMENT

You never conquer a mountain. You stand on the summit a few moments; then the wind blows your footprints away.

—ARLENE BLUM

Success and failure. We think of them as opposites, but they’re really not. They’re companions— the hero and the sidekick.

—LAURENCE SHAMES

Success covers a multitude of blunders.

—GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.

—TRUMAN CAPOTE

It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded.

—ANNE MORROW LINDBERGH

Failure is an event, never a person.

—WILLIAM D. BROWN

MORNING PAPERS

Ever since 15th-century German printer Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press and ushered in the era of the modern newspaper, the medium has been a part of everyday life. Today millions start their mornings poring over the papers. From the strange to the straightforward, newspaper names from around the world form this month’s quiz. For answers, turn the page.

1. chronicle n.—A: daily ritual. B: widely held belief. C: account of events.

2. repository n.—A: paper shredder. B: medication-delivery device. C: container used for storage.

3. clarion adj.—A: high-pitched. B: partially obscured. C: loud and clear.

4. epitaph n.—A: editorial. B: clever headline. C: tombstone inscription.

5. ledger n.—A: accounting book. B: illustration. C: address book.

6. excelsior adj.—A: ever faithful. B: ever upward. C: ever changing.

7. flume n.—A: seabird with a wingspan four times its body length. B: narrow gorge with a stream running through it. C: warm summer wind.

8. Whig n.—A: staunch conservative. B: member of historical British political party. C: news editor appointed by the queen.

9. derrick n.—A: serif font. B: woody tropical plant. C: framework over an oil well.

10. gleaner n.—someone who…A: makes predictions. B: gathers information. C: classifies data.

11. dominion n.—A: control. B: large group of people. C: wisdom.

12. delta n.—A: high-altitude plain. B: triangular object. C: appointed officer.

13. laconic adj.—A: concise. B: weekly. C: circular.

14. hub n.—A: last-minute assignment. B: center of activity. C: funny caption.

DEEP ROOTS

Cyberspeak, geekspeak, California speak—we all indulge in jargon. The combining form -speak originated with Newspeak, the propagandistic language designed to diminish the range of thought, in George Orwell’s 1984.

Morning Papers Answers

1. chronicle—[C] account of events. Tom’s election chronicle included an hourly time line.

2. repository—[C] con-tainer used for storage. Donnie kept photos of the house’s history in a wooden repository.

3. clarion—[C] loud and clear. The pollution exposé was a clarion call to recycle.

4. epitaph—[C] tombstone inscription. Jed’s epitaph made the mourners cry even more.

5. ledger—[A] accounting book. The auditor recorded the baker’s expenses in his ledger.

6. excelsior—[B] ever upward. Climb-ing Mount Everest for an exclusive inter-view, Debbie exclaimed, "Excelsior!" to urge herself on.

7. flume—[B] narrow gorge with a stream running through it. Dejected, Doris watched the water rush down the flume and considered tossing in her failed first draft.

8. Whig—[B] member of historical British political party. His right- wing friends often joked that liberal-leaning John would have made a great Whig.

9. derrick—[C] framework over an oil well. Sunlight on the derrick cast a fitting shadow over the oil town.

10. gleaner— [B] someone who gathers information. A natural gleaner of racy details, Jane was the perfect choice for editor of the new gossip blog.

11. dominion—[A] control. As owner of both the newspap-er and the bank, Morgan held the town under his dominion.

12. delta—[B] triangular object. The group of friends would often gather in secret at the sandy delta where the river splits.

13. laconic—[A] concise. Laconic yet creative: That was Colin’s MO when he sat down to write captions.

14. hub—[B] center of activity. After sundown, the beach town’s lone restaurant became the hub for tourists and locals alike.

BUILDING BLOCKS

Do you know your adze from your auger? And what exactly is a grommet? Sharpen your verbal edge by mastering these words related to construction and tools, then check the shed—or the next page—for answers.

1. serrated (‘seh-ray-ted) adj.— A: primed for painting. B: toothed like a saw. C: waterproof.

2. vise (viys) n.—A: clamp that holds an object in place. B: mechanism to lift a car. C: flaw in building materials.

3. adze (adz) n.—A: ax-like tool with a curved blade. B: small rubber mallet. C: piece of scrap wood.

4. flanged (flanjd) adj.—A: sealed with wax. B: with a protruding rim. C: wound tightly.

5. torque (tork) n.—A: twisting force. B: mechanical failure. C: electrical current.

6. auger (‘ah-ger) n.—A: master woodworker. B: spiral drill bit. C: sailor’s knife.

7. dowel (dowl) n.—A: toilet plunger. B: peg. C: paint roller.

8. ferrule (‘ferr-uhl) n.—A: beveled edge. B: tape measure. C: protective cap.

9. cambered (‘kam-berd) adj.—A: encircled. B: arched. C: stained.

10. gauge (gayj) n.—A: deep groove. B: plumber’s wrench. C: measuring instrument.

11. loupe (loop) n.—A: cutter. B: gripper. C: magnifier.

12. awl (all) n.—A: pointed tool for piercing holes. B: large wheelbarrow. C: system of pulleys.

13. casters (‘kass-terz) n.— A: swiveling wheels. B: ball bearings. C: fishing reels.

14. grommet (‘grah-meht) n.— A: ring that reinforces. B: copper pipe. C: gutter.

15. kludge (klooj) n.—A: blueprint. B: makeshift solution. C: tangled wire.

Building Blocks Answers

1. serrated—[B] toothed like a saw. The fiery dragon’s back was serrated, its claws razor-sharp.

2. vise—[A] clamp that holds an object in place. Before sanding the board, Louisa secured it in a vise.

3. adze—[A] ax-like tool with a curved blade. Adzes have been used to shape wood since the Stone Age.

4. flanged—[B] with a protruding rim. Bobby’s model train has flanged wheels to keep it on the tracks.

5. torque—[A] twisting force. If you use the wrong torque setting on your drill, you could strip the screws.

6. auger—[B] spiral drill bit. To fish in the winter months, anglers use augers to bore holes in the ice.

7. dowel—[B] peg. Ethan decided to construct the birdhouse using wooden dowels instead of nails.

8. ferrule—[C] protective cap. Your hatchet’s handle wouldn’t have split if you’d braced it with a ferrule.

9. cambered—[B] arched. The highway is cambered in the middle to promote runoff of rain.

10. gauge—[C] measuring instrument. Christine used a homemade rain gauge to track the precipitation in her yard.

11. loupe—[C] magnifier. After examining the antique ring with his loupe, the appraiser determined the stone was glass.

12. awl—[A] pointed tool for piercing holes. Jerry used an awl to poke through the tough leather.

13. casters—[A] swiveling wheels. The heavy-duty casters on the dolly really helped make the move easier.

14. grommet—[A] ring that reinforces. Everything in Ashley’s bathroom is pink, from the towels to the custom grommets she installed on the shower curtain.

15. kludge—[B] makeshift solution. I’ve patched together some of these cables; it’s a bit of a kludge, but it just might work!

QUICK FIXES

What’s the difference between jury-rigged and jerry-built? Not much—they both mean