Reading Fusion-Book 2 Unit 09 (E)

adequate

enough; sufficient

Without adequate notice of the road block, they will have to turn around.

arise

to occur

A revolt will arise if the government does not find ways to feed its people.

asteroid belt

region of space between Mars and Jupiter that contains many asteroids

This area is known as the asteroid belt.

backing

support

The foreign secretary won the backing of opposition parties.

bombard

attack; assault

The audience bombarded the candidate with many comments about healthcare.

chamber

room

We are in his torture chamber.

considerably

significantly; very much

He makes considerably less money than his wife.

criss-cross

go back and forth across something (often many times)

the green hill was criss-crossed with a network of sheep tracks.

daunting

challenging; formidable

Due to the schedule change, she faced the daunting task of studying for five exams in a single night.

embark

begin a journey; board a ship

He embarked on a trip around the world in order to learn about and study many different cultures.

fitting

appropriate

For the owner of the fishery, the government offered him a fitting position in a firm.

initiative

undertaking; program set up to accomplish a specific goal

I don't know enough about the initiative.

invisible

unable to be seen

The monster was invisible, nonetheless, the little girl was still terrified of it.

menacing

threatening; fierce

Disease, enemies and starvation are always menacing primitive man.

orbit

revolve around a star, planet, etc.

Smooth sailing after the storm, the aircar arrived at the orbit of the Island of Paradise.

oxygen

type of gas (the most common component of breathable air)

Most living things need oxygen to live.

peer

To peer at something is to watch it carefully.

She peered at people through the window.

pioneer

person who is one of the very first in an area or field

Florence Nightingale was a pioneer in hospital reform.

radiation

the process in which energy is emitted as particles or waves.

The radiation leak from the nuclear power plant almost killed the local residents.

retrieve

to go get and bring back

After her computer crashed, there was no way to retrieve the information from the hard drive.

revive

bring back to life; raise interest again (ex: in an art form)

Unless new plays are given a chance today, there will be nothing to revive in the future.

rover

vehicle (usually designed to explore uneven, rough land)

The Mars Exploration Rovers will act as robot geologists while they are on the surface of Mars.

speculation

guess; uninformed opinion

There has been widespread speculation that he plans to quit.

stepping stone

something that lets you move on to a farther point

The original path was a series of stepping stones laid in the lawn, which I was able to reuse.

tantalizing

creating a lot of interest; very attractive

She has the tantalizing fragrance of fried bacon.