Latin and French phrases used in English

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Scene

   At the firm's dinner, the new intern congratulated the director on her retirement. The director, who had been named president that morning, smiled thinly, and everyone at the table studied their plates.

2. 1.

   Ren reads a dinner scene. Which phrase names the intern's remark?

   • persona non grata
   • faux pas
   • fait accompli
   • savoir-faire

3. Dispute

   The seller sold a used boat as is and refused to discuss the engine's history. The buyer later found a cracked block and learned that the law gave little help, since the sale carried no written warranty.

4. 2.

   Tala reads a sales dispute. Which phrase names the principle behind the law's answer?

   • caveat emptor
   • laissez-faire
   • quid pro quo
   • bona fide

5. Meeting notes

   Planners agreed the dam could go ahead without a new road, a visitor center or a parking lot, but not without a signed agreement from the downstream towns. Other items were negotiable.

6. 3.

   Zee reads a planning meeting. Which phrase names the signed agreement?

   • raison d'être
   • quid pro quo
   • sine qua non
   • ad hoc
7. 4.

   Ad nauseam, meaning to a sickening, tiresome degree. Ari checks four sentences. Which one uses ad nauseam correctly?

   • The candidates varied their talking points ad nauseam so that no point was ever repeated.
   • The candidates repeated the same talking points ad nauseam until viewers turned off the debate.
   • The chef seasoned the soup ad nauseam with one small pinch of salt, as the recipe asked.
   • The candidates' ad nauseam repeated the same talking points for viewers across the long debate.
8. 5.

   In loco parentis, meaning in the place of a parent. Bo checks four sentences. Which one uses in loco parentis correctly?

   • While the field trip lasted, the teachers acted in loco parentis, making choices a parent would make.
   • The principal insisted that parents keep full authority over students in loco parentis during the trip.
   • The teachers gave the students an in loco parentis during the field trip.
   • The club's treasurer served in loco parentis for the club's bank account.
9. 6.

   Laissez-faire, a hands-off policy that lets people act with little interference. Esme checks four sentences. Which one uses laissez-faire correctly?

   • The regulator laissez-faired the lenders for more than a decade, according to critics of the agency.
   • Critics said the regulator's laissez-faire approach left lenders free to set whatever terms they chose.
   • The regulator's laissez-faire approach included daily inspections of each lender and fines for late forms.
   • The pastry chef's laissez-faire dessert was a three-layer cake with raspberries and cream.

10. Sentence

    Having inherited the mill, the owner felt a noblesse oblige to keep the town's workers on the payroll through the winter.

11. 7.

    Kira asks what noblesse oblige adds that a plain word like duty would not. Which note is right?

    • It adds a hint that the owner secretly resents the duty.
    • It adds nothing; a plain word like duty keeps everything the phrase says.
    • It adds just that the owner is a noble by birth.
    • It adds the idea that privilege carries a duty toward people with less.

12. Sentence

    Rather than wait for a cheaper flight that might never appear, the couple booked the trip that evening: carpe diem, they told each other.

13. 8.

    Luz asks what carpe diem adds that a plain phrase like book now would not. Which note is right?

    • It adds nothing; a plain phrase like book now keeps everything the phrase says.
    • It adds just the idea of grabbing a single day, with no sense of an opportunity.
    • It adds a warning that the couple is acting recklessly.
    • It adds the urgent idea of using an opportunity before it passes.

14. Sentence

    After the ambassador's remarks about the host government, the ministry declared the ambassador persona non grata and gave a deadline to leave the country.

15. 9.

    Milo asks what persona non grata adds that a plain word like unwelcome would not. Which note is right?

    • It adds nothing; a plain word like unwelcome keeps everything the phrase says.
    • It adds just that the ambassador is an unpleasant person to deal with in meetings.
    • It adds the formal sense of an official ruling that a diplomat is unacceptable.
    • It adds a hint that the ambassador has committed a crime against the host country.
16. 10.

    The cellist's performance of the unaccompanied suite was a tour de force, holding the hall silent for forty minutes. Noah asks what tour de force adds that a plain word like good would not. Which note is right?

    • It adds a hint that the performance was showy and empty.
    • It adds the sense of a feat that shows unusual skill and strength.
    • It adds nothing; a plain word like good keeps everything the phrase says.
    • It adds just that the performance took physical force.