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Today’s article talks about UGC’s pressing policy of conducting examinations for terminal semester across all Universities in India.
The article title is: ‘UGC guidelines on examinations binding on states’.
Did you find words that were absolutely new? Great! Below are the explanations given for some of those difficult words you found. Go through them slowly and don’t forget to do the exercises at the end.
Important words and idioms from the article
TERMINAL
Pronunciation: tuh-muh-nuhl
Part of Speech: adjective, noun
Meaning: a) forming the end or extremity of something(adjective)
b) the ending point(noun)
Synonyms: extremity, end, ultimate, utmost
Antonyms: introductory, beginning, initial
Usage: He died of a terminal illness.
Forms: terminatel(verb), termination(noun)
BINDING
Pronunciation: bain-ding
Part of Speech: adjective
Meaning: an agreement that cannot be broken
Synonyms: irrevocable, conclusive, mandatory
Antonyms: optional, secondary, inessential
Usage: The laws in the constitution are binding on all citizens of the country.
Forms: bind(verb)
COMPLY
Pronunciation: kuhm-plai
Part of Speech: verb
Meaning: act in accordance with someone’s wish or command
Synonyms: adhere, obey, acquiesce, acceed
Antonyms: disobey, dissuade, ignore
Usage: We complied with the decision of the school administration.
Forms: compliance(noun)
WITHDRAW
Pronunciation: vidh-draw
Part of Speech: verb
Meaning: take away something or someone from a place or a person
Synonyms: retreat, eliminate,. quit
Antonyms: begin, continue, engage
Usage: She withdrew her name from the essay-writing competition
Forms: withdrawal(noun).
AUTONOMY
Pronunciation: aw-taw-nuh-mee
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: the right to exercise self-government
Synonyms: self-rule, sovereignty, liberty
Antonyms: dependence
Usage: The colleges under the University exercised autonomy in controlling exams.
Forms: autonomous(adjective)
SLAM
Pronunciation: slam
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: criticise severely
Synonyms: slur, stricture, reprimand
Antonyms: praise, compliment
Usage: He was slammed for not following orders.
RECONSIDER
Pronunciation: ree-kuhn-si-duh
Part of Speech: verb
Meaning: thinking something over again, especially a decision
Synonyms: reassess, reevaluate, rethink, review
Antonyms: ignore, refuse
Usage: We reconsidered our plan because of lack of support.
Forms: consider(verb)
POPULIST
Pronunciation: paw-pyoo-luhst
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: democratic, relating to the people
Synonyms: egalitarian, socialist, popular
Usage: The government took a more populist approach towards their policy-making.
Forms: popular(adjective)
ADOPT
Pronunciation: uh-dawpt
Part of Speech: verb
Meaning: take up or follow or use
Synonyms: accept, approve, endorse, ratify
Antonyms: deny, disallow, disagree
Usage: We adopted a new filing technique.
GUIDELINE
Pronunciation: gaid-lain
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: a general rule or advice
Synonyms: code, instruction, protocol, rule
Usage: All guidelines were given to the students regarding the function schedule.
Practice Questions
Q1) If the words ‘binding’ and ‘mandatory’ make a perfect pair, select the correct pair from the following set of words following the same logic:
- Withdraw-Continue
- Comply-Adhere
- Reconsider-Refuse
- Terminal-Initial
Q2) Create sentences of your own with the following words:
- Populist
- Autonomy
- Slam
- Reconsider
- Guideline
Tell us your answers in the comments below.
