< V > TOEFL Vocabulary (137)

Keen (adjective) 

possessing or displaying perceptions of great accuracy and sensitivity; mentally quick 

A student who writes and rewrites a writing assignment over several weeks has a keen

understanding of the processes involved.

Keynote address (noun) 

an address designed to present the issues of primary interest to an assembly as a political 

convention and often to arouse unity and enthusiasm

In a keynote address, Robert Kennedy Jr. recalled the confrontation between Wallace

and his father, U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

Kettle (noun) 

a metallic vessel for boiling liquids 

To purify water for drinking, a camper should put the water in a kettle and boil it for at

least 30 minutes. 

Kin (noun) 

a person connected to another person by blood

There is a clear pattern of lineage endogamy generated by marriages between sons and

daughters of brothers and other agnatic kin, accounting for approximately a quarter of

all marriages. 

Laden (adjective) 

to load, to pile on, as burden or freight

For the next topic of our lecture today, the cost analysis of a proper prescribed burn and

the cost of battling a blaze in the load fuel laden forests needs to be considered to see

which method is more economically feasible given the tight budgetary constraints with

which the government has to operate.

Lament (noun) 

a crying out in grief; complaint

In a world where there is a common lament that there are no more heroes, too often

cynicism and despair are perceived as evidence of the death of moral courage. 

Land (verb) 

gain, secure: land a job

Mary Blake arrived in San Francisco and landed work as a singer at the Paradise Hotel,

a gambling hall owned by Blackie Norton. 

Landing (noun) 

to set or put on shore from a ship 

The landings from the world's wild capture fisheries have continued to decline since

reaching a peak of 112 million metric tons (mmt) in 1995. 

Landslide (noun)  

downward and outward movement of soil and rock

The big earthquake of 1906 set off dozens of large landslides in the Santa Cruz

Mountains, some of which claimed human lives.

Larva (noun) 

the immature, wingless, and often vermiform feeding form that hatches from the egg of 

many insects After mosquito eggs hatch, the larvae hang from the surface film and get air through

tubes that break the water’s surface at the tail ends of their bodies.