Lesson Plan: Serena Lost…to Serena
II. While Reading Tasks: Word Inference
- superior |səˈpi(ə)rēər| adjective-higher in rank, status, or quality: a superior officer.
- immortality |ˌi(m)ˌmôrˈtalitē| noun-the ability to live forever; eternal life: eating the fruit gave the gods immortality.
- pressure |ˈpreSHər| noun-the feeling of stressful urgency caused by the necessity of doing or achieving something, esp. with limited time: you need to be able to work under pressure and not get flustered
- journeywoman (man) |ˈjərnēmən noun- | a worker or sports player who is reliable but not outstanding:
- crucial |ˈkro͞oSHəl| adjective-of great importance: this game is crucial to our survival.
- confident |ˈkänfədənt, -fəˌdent| adjective-feeling or showing certainty about something: this time they’re confident of a happy ending |
- tailspin |ˈtālˌspin| noun- a state or situation characterized by chaos, panic, or loss of control: the rise in interest rates sent the stock market into a tailspin.
- desperately |ˈdespəritlē| adverb-used to emphasize the extreme degree of something: he desperately needed a drink
- dormant |ˈdôrmənt| adjective-temporarily inactive.
- feat |fēt|-noun-an achievement that requires great courage, skill, or strength: the new printing presses were considerable feats of engineering.
Grammar Focus: Preposition Exercise
The word choking was thrown around on Twitter, but that’s not the right word here. Serena’s loss was the culmination of nine months of building pressure that finally reared its paralyzing head. You could tell from Serena’s overreactions to points: She desperately needed to win.
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