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After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who
had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would
be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic
mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than
Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent
action was the answer.
A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert
Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to
do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the
King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were
making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be
known as extremists, or terrorists.
To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36
barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of
Lords.
But as the group worked on the plot, it
became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack,
including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of
the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent
an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the
Parliament on November 5th.
The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces
made plans to stop the conspirators.
Guy Fawkes who was in
the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the
authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured
and executed.
It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able
to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been
betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be
useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying
to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.
Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the
Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact,
even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on
what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the
Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of
the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe this
tradion.
On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on
November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the
King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with
fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.
Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue
in cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execution or
honoring his attempt to do away with the government.
Vocabulary 4: words
and definitions
1.
atrophy
(noun) - the wasting away of a body
organ or tissue, any progressive decline or failure; (verb) to waste away; degenerate, deteriorate, wither
2. bastion (noun) – a fortified place; a
stronghold, citadel, rampart, bulwark, parapet
3. concord (noun)- a state of agreement,
harmony; a treaty, pact or covenant;
4. consummate (verb)- to
bring to a state of completion; (adj) complete or perfect in the highest
degree; (verb)
clinch, conclude,
5. disarray (noun) –disorder, confusion;
(verb)- to put into disorder; dishevel, mess up
6. exigency (noun; often
plural- exigencies)- urgency, pressure, pressing need, emergencies;
requirement, crisis;
7. flotsam (noun) –floating debris,
homeless, impoverished people; floating wreckage
8. frenetic (adj) –frenzied, highly
agitated; frantic, overwrought
9. glean ( verb) – to gather bit by bit;
to gather in small quantities; collect, cull, pick-up
10. grouse (verb) –to complain; (noun) – a
type of game bird; (verb) gripe, kvetch, belly-ache
11. incarcerate (verb) – to imprison,
confine, jail; intern, immure
12. incumbent (noun) – one who holds a specific office at
the time spoken of; (adj) obligatory, required; mandatory, necessary.
13. jocular (adj) – humorous, jesting, jolly,
joking; waggish, facetious, droll, witty
14. ludicrous (adj)- ridiculous, laughable,
absurd; risible, preposterous
15. mordant (adj) – biting
and caustic in manner or style; sharply or bitterly harsh; acrimonious,
acidulous, sardonic, scathing.
16. nettle (verb) – to arouse displeasure,
impatience or anger; to vex; (noun) –a prickly, stinging plant
17. pecuniary (adj) –consisting of or measured
in money; monetary, financial
18. pusillanimous (adj) – contemptibly
cowardly or mean spirited; craven, lily-livered
19. recumbent (adj) – in a
reclining position, lying down; in a posture of sleeping or resting, prone, prostrate, supine, inactive.
20. stratagem (noun) –a scheme to outwit or
deceive an opponent; ruse, trick, ploy, subterfuge
Vocabulary 4, exercise 1 Use the correct form!
1. They will
______________________________ the felon at the state penitentiary.
2. When the
court order was issued, the department made a _____________________________
search for the missing report.
3. It is
often said that bullies, when tested, are the most
______________________________ people of
all.
4. The patient’s
leg muscles have ______________________ , and he can no longer walk.
5. The
governor emphasized the __________________________ of the situation by
requesting the immediate dispatch of rescue teams.
6. The tired
toddlers were __________________________ on the couch after playing all
afternoon in the yard.
7. Those who
stand around and _______________________ about their low salaries are not
likely to get raises.
8. The two
lawyers could not ______________________ the settlement until the two parties
met face to face.
9. The
burgled apartment was in a state of _______________________________.
10. After
receiving the news that she was ahead in the poles, the candidate was in a
delightfully
__________________________ mood.
11. The
principle was __________________________ by the student’s disrespectful
behavior.
12. After the
two ships collided, the passengers clung to various pieces of
_______________________ and hoped to be rescued.
13. The
defense attorney used a clever _____________________________ to curry sympathy
for her client.
14. Contrary
to popular belief, the military is not always a ______________________ of
conservative belief.
15. The couple was forced by
_________________________ considerations to sell their large home and buy
a smaller one.
16. By means
of painstaking investigation, the detectives were able to ____________________
the truth.
17. A spirit
of ________________________ was restored when the company compensated its
employees.
18. The actor
was upset by the _______________________ criticism of the gossip columnist who
seemed out to ruin his reputation.
19. Her
comment was so _______________________ that we finally understood that she was
joking.
20. Voting on
Election Day is a duty _____________________ on all Americans who value a
democratic government.
Vocabulary 4, exercise 2
1. I get
all my ideas by lying down; the _______________________ position seems to
stimulate my brain.
2. It was pleasant to see
the usually restrained and quiet Mr. Baxter in such a _________________ and
expansive mood.
3. The
_______________________ that we observed here and there in the harbor bore mute
testimony to the destructive power of the storm.
4. Since I had only one
year of high school French, my attempts to speak the language on my trip to
Paris were ______________________________.
5. The high ground east of
the river formed a natural __________________, which we decided to defend with
all our resources.
6. I regret that that
Nancy was _______________________ by unfavorable review of her short story, but
I had to express my opinion honestly.
7. Almost
every case of muscle or tissue _________________________ is the result of
disease, prolonged disuse or changes in cell nutrition.
8. The
____________________________ of my present financial situation demand that I
curtail all unnecessary spending for a month.
9. It is
_________________________ on all of us to do whatever we can to help our
community with this crisis.
10. Even critics of our
penal system admit that so long as hardened criminals are ____________________
they cannot commit crimes.
11. Despite all their
highfalutin malarkey about helping the poor, I suspect their interest in the
project purely _________________________________.
12. The purpose of
our________________________ was to draw in the safety so that Tom could get
behind him to receive the long pass.
13. The defeated army fled
in such ______________________ that before long it had become little more than
a uniformed mob.
14. As soon
as he struck the opening chords of the selection, we realized that we were
listening to a _________________________ master of the piano.
15. Though
next to nothing is known about Homer, historians have been able to
____________________ a few odd facts about him from studying his works.
16. Shakespeare’s
Timon of Athens is a disillusioned misanthrope who spends his time throwing
___________________ barbs at the rest of mankind.
17. Peace
is not just an absence of war, but a positive state of _____________________
among the nations of the world.
18. I have yet to meet an
adult who did not _________________________ about the taxes he or she had to
pay.
19. Most people regarded the
government’s attempt to avert a war by buying off the aggressor as not only shameful
but ______________________________________.
20. People who are used to
the unhurried atmosphere of the country town often find it hard to cope with
the _____________________________ pace of big city life.
Vocabulary 4,
exercise 3
Synonyms
1. floating wreckage
in the harbor
___________________________
2. gripes about
every change in routine
___________________________
3. received financial
compensation
____________________________
4. the ill-conceived ruse
_____________________________
5. collected
tidbits of information
_____________________________
6. a longtime bulwark
of resistance
_____________________________
7. prostrate on a
hospital bed
____________________________
8. craven
behavior
_____________________________
9. enthusiasm that withered _____________________________
10. left the room in a state of disorganization
___________________________
11. a handshake that clinched
the deal
____________________________
12. immured for
years in a dark dungeon
____________________________
13. irks her
coworkers with senseless chatter ____________________________
14. the obligatory responsibilities of the
new administrator.
_____________________________
15. the requirements
of a wartime economy
____________________________
Antonyms
16. maintained a leisurely
pace
______________________________
17. disagreement
among the family members
____________________________
18. the poignant
story
_______________________________
19. a gentle reproof
_______________________________
20. a humorless
manner
_______________________________
Vocabulary
4, exercise 4
1.We were fascinated by the (mordant, frenetic) scene from the floor of
the stock exchange as brokers struggled to keep up with the sudden price
changes.
2.Before the ceremony began, we all bowed our heads and prayed for unity,
peace and (concord, atrophy) among
all nations.
3.It has been said that the only way to handle a (nettle, stratagem), or any difficult problem, without being stung
is to grasp it firmly and decisively.
4.There are few things in life as (frenetic,
ludicrous) as an unqualified person trying to assume the trappings of
authority.
5.In the shelter, I saw for the first time people who had been beaten
and discouraged by life—the so called (flotsam,
incumbents) of the great city.
6.Do you really think that those (jocular,
recumbent) remarks are appropriate on such a solemn occasion?
7.The affairs of our city are in such (disarray, flotsam) that the state may have to intervene to restore
some semblance of order.
8.I have always regarded out schools and colleges as citadels of
learning and (bastions, stratagems)
against ignorance and superstition.
9.The huge influx of wealth that resulted from foreign conquests led in
part to the physical and moral (atrophy,
flotsam) of the Roman ruling class.
10.A born leader is someone who can rise to the (incumbents, exigencies) of any crisis that he or she may be
confronted with.
11.Comfortably, (recumbent,
frenetic) in the shade of the elm tree, I watched the members of the
football go through a long, hard workout.
12.In Victorian times, fashionable ladies (disarrayed, incarcerated) their waists in tight corsets to achieve
a chic “hour glass” figure.
13.I noticed with approval that his (pecuniary, mordant) remarks were intended to deflate the pompous
and unmask the hypocritical.
14.All that I needed to (consummate,
nettle) the most important deal of my career was her signature on the
dotted line.
15.During the 19th century, it was fashionable to spend a few weeks in
the fall hunting (grouse, nettles),
pheasants, and other game birds.
16.Of the ten congressional seats in our state, only one was won by a
new member; all the other winners were (incumbents,
bastions).
17.To feel fear in difficult situations is natural, but to allow one’s
conduct to be governed by fear is (jocular,
pusillanimous).
18.We were able to (consummate,
glean) only a few shreds of useful information from his long, pretentious
speech.
19.What we need to cope with this crisis is not cute (grouping, stratagems), but a bold,
realistic plan, and the courage to carry it out.
20.The only way we’ll be able to increase productivity is to offer our
employees a few solid (frenetic,
pecuniary) incentives to work harder.
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