South Africa Vocab Day 1 & 2

Name:__________________
South African Vocabulary
Day One

New Words: crackling irony apartheid omniscient Afrikaner

A Tale of Turmoil
In South Africa, during the time of Afrikaner rule, there were many crimes against humanity. The great irony of the system of apartheid that was set in place was that the black South Africans outnumbered the white South Africans two to one. Through the government policy of apartheid, however, the white Afrikaners were able to control the country. They left the black South Africans eating the crackling, while the whites feasted on the finest meats. Although many Afrikaners thought they were special and more important, one did not have to be an omniscient being to see that this was not true at all. This unfair system had to end.

Sample sentences: Try your hand now at using your new words by writing them in their correct form (change endings if necessary) in these sentences:

1. The system of ______________ caused many black South Africans to live indigent lives.
2. The teacher appeared ________________ to the first grade students; it was as if she could read their minds and see everything they did.
3. The ____________ of the situation was that she was a vegetarian and she worked in a meat packing factory.
4. The boy loved to eat _____________ on his toast every morning to add some flavor to the dryness.
5. The ______________ lived in a beautiful house in Cape Town where he employed many black South Africans.

Definitions: Match the new words with their dictionary meanings.

6. Afrikaner___ a. An official policy of racial segregation formerly practiced in the Republic of South Africa, involving political, legal, and economic discrimination against nonwhites
7. apartheid___ b. An Afrikaans-speaking South African of European ancestry, especially one descended from 17th-century Dutch settlers
8. crackling___ c. having total knowledge; knowing everything
9. irony ___ d. the use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning
10. omniscient___ e. the crisp bits that remain after rendering fat from meat or frying or roasting the skin, especially of a pig or a goose

Today’s Idiom to keep a stiff upper lip--to be courageous in the face of trouble
It was admirable to see how the British managed to keep a stiff upper lip in spite of German bombing.


Name:__________________
South African Vocabulary
Day Two

New Words: blatant arbitrary oust succumb sporadic
The Class

As I walked into the classroom I realized immediately that the day was going to be filled with sporadic surprises but I didn’t expect the events that followed. The teacher began by arbitrarily choosing students who would be in charge for the day. Why wasn’t I picked!! I was forced to succumb to their every whim as they blatantly made me do such horrid things as sing, clean desks, and write poetry about how great they were. What an abuse of power!! By the end of the lesson I was so frustrated I was ready to oust the six students and the teacher. Let’s just hope they never put me in charge of the class. Grrrrr!

Sample sentences: Try your hand now at using your new words by writing them in their correct form (change endings if necessary) in these sentences:

1. Besieged by debt, the corporation finally had to ____________ to bankruptcy.

2. The body guards moved rapidly to __________ the student crowd-surfing at the rock show.

3. With ___________ discourtesy the reporters continued to harass the bereaved family.

4. The lackluster battle was punctuated by ______________ , staccato gunfire.

5. To my mind the decision to randomly choose the six students to be singled out was unreasonable and _____________.

Definitions: Match the new words with their dictionary meanings.

6. sporadic ___ a. occasional
7. arbitrary ___ b. disagreeably loud, very showy
8. oust ___ c. to give way, yield
9. succumb ___ d. based n a whim, dictatorial
10. blatant ___ e. to drive out, eject

Today’s Idiom a bitter pill to swallow--a humiliating defeat
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the famous billiard player to be beaten by the 12-year-old girl.