I lost my GRE book, so I'm working on a different set of words now...

The 15 GRE Words of the Day

61. abate (verb) To lessen in degree. After three days, the hurricane started to abate
62. accolade (noun) An expression of praise. The movie has released with great accolades from the critics.
63. acerbic (adjective) Having a sour or bitter taste or charecter. Although she praised her competetion, her tone was acerbic
64. acumen (noun) Quick, keen, or accurate knowledge or insight. Ideally, you want a leader with accumen, not a trained chimp.
65. adultation (noun) excessive praise; intense adoration. J-Lo enjoys the adulation of millions.
66. alacrity (noun) Eager and Enthusaistic willingness. Bush has an alactrity for warfare
67. alchemy (noun) A medieval sceience aimed at the transmutation of metals, especially base metals into gold. Although alchemy is impossible, alchemists accidentally invented chemistry.
68. amenable (adjective) Agreeable; responsive to suggestion. I asjed her out, and she was anemable, so we went bowling.
69. approbation (noun) An expression of approval or praise. I received approbation from my boss for the project.
70. arduous (adjective) strenuous, taxing, requiring significant effort. Taking the northern trail to the top of Mt. Witney is more arduous than the south.
71. ascetic (noun) One who practices rigid self-denial, especially as an act of religious devotion. The ascetic rose every moring at 4:00, after only four hours of sleep, to say morning prayers
72. astringent (noun) Having a tightening effect on living tissue; hasrsh; severe The IMF reccomended measures were astringent, at least to the peasents, the foreign investors found them to be pleasent.
73. austere (noun) Without adornment; bare; severely simple; ascetic. The monk's dwellings were completely austere. In his room was a hard bed and a crucifix upon the wall and nothing else.
74. avarice (noun) Greed, especially for wealth. It was Martha Stewards avarice which lead to her downfall and her insider-trading.
75. axiom (noun) A universally recognized principle; taken as a given; possessing self-evident truth. The divitinity of Jesus ius an axiom of Christianity. axiomatic (adjective)

Usage:

I awakened in an utterly austere room. I was lying on a cot and bare lightbulb hung overhead. I tried to sit up, but fireworks exploded behind my eyes. Afetr a minute, the fireworks abated. I swung my legs around to stand up. Standing was arduous but I stayed on my feet.
The door at the end of the room opened and a man who looked quite a bit like me walked in. "Jane Smith, we meet at last." he said, "You're lucky some of my agents were aboard Dr. Cool's hovercraft, or you would be dead from astringent gas."
"You have my approbation for that." I replied. "Are you, by chance, Mr. Anderson?"
He smiled. "You demonstrate excellent acumen."
"Thank you for your accolade. Why is everyone looking for you?"
He smiled again, but this time it was acerbic. "They say everone wants to be wanted. But it's an axiom not to give away too much to your enemy. Ironically, my henchmen saved you because they thought you were me. If you're amenable you can remain here alive, but imprisoned. Otherwise, it's really the end for you."
"Where's Shelia?!" I demanded.
"Fine. Safe. She's practicing being an ascetic, as are you. I must say she had a bit more alacrity than you're demonstrating."
"Why do you want us imprisoned?"
"Because I'm guilty of avarice. There's a great fortune to be made out in the dessert, as JK, Dr. Cool and I all realize."
Just then, there was a large explosion in the hallway. A section of the wall collapsed, opening up the hallway and my cell to the outside. Mr. Anderson umped out of the way and two gaurds hustled him to safety. "Sieze them!" he cried, as he ran to safety. Shelia appeared in the hole grabbed my arm and we ran together outside, where we saw the hovercraft. "Jump in!" She said.
She got behind the controls and piloted us away. The gaurds shot, but their bullets ricochetted off the armored hull.
"How on earch did you escape and blow up the wall?" I asked, filled with adulation for her.
"Oh, just a litle alchemy. I realized that my soup, when compined with bird droppings that I scraped from the window and some household cleaner would make a powerful explosive. Anyway, we must get to Dr. Cool's hideout right away!"

Day 4 . Day 6