Track 04 Disc1 Babble-Brevity 25 - 47 25. babble s: talk nonsense, prattle The child babbled on about her day in kindergarten. 26. baffle s: confound, confuse a: clarify Scientist were baffled by the unexpected discovery. 27. baleful s: threatening, harmful a: inviting The dangerous criminal stared at her with baleful eyes. 28. balk s: stop short, recoil a: charge ahead The horse balked at the finish line thereby losing the race. 29. banal s: trite, dull a: original The banal speech said nothing new. 30. barren s: infertile, empty a: fertile The fields were left barren during the winter. 31. barter s: swap, exchange It was common for people to barter for goods and services. 32. bastion s: stronghold, fortress Family is the last bastion of sanity in an insane world. 33. beacon s: inspiration, encouragement The hero was the city's last beacon of hope in the fight against the evil villain. 34. beckon s: signal, summon a: dismiss He beckoned her to come forward with the wave of his hand. 35. belligerent s: aggressive, argumentative a: agreeable The belligerent man had to be removed by security. 36. beneficiary s: receiver a: benefactor, giver She had no idea she would be the beneficiary of the grandmother's fortune. 37. benevolent s: charitable, giving a: malevolent Giving toy's to the children who can’t afford them is a benevolent act. 38. benign s: harmless a: malignant The patient was relieved to find out the tumor was benign. 39. bequeath s: leave to, hand down a: keep, withhold The king bequeathed his entire kingdom to a poor and faithful servant. 40. biased s: prejudiced, unfair a: fair The SAT 's biased towards upper-class students. («Scholastic Aptitude Test» or «Scholastic Assessment Test». The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States) 41. bibliography s: book sources, works citied Students should cite their research sources in the bibliography. 42. biology s: type of science, study of life Students in the biology class were dissecting frogs. 43. blasphemous s: sacrilegious. profane, offensive a: pious Committing a crime in the place of worship is a blasphemous act. 44. blatant s: obvious, unconcealed a: furtive The boss did not like his employee's blatant disregard for company's rules. 45. bluff s: fool, deceive He acted like he had very good cards but she knew he was bluffing 46. blunt s: direct, honest a: sharp Her blunt comments may have offended her friend 47. brevity s: shortness, briefness a: length Because of the speakers brevity the audience could leave the event early.