1. LIST 4

2. VA Public School Test Scores Slip — Time for Different Tests? August 15, 2011 The new Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) scores are in, and the numbers are lower than the previous year's scores in Virginia. This year, only 38 percent of public schools in the state met the federal benchmarks, which are part of the No Child Left Behind law. That's down from 61 percent last year. Dr. Kitty Boitnott is president of the Virginia Education Association (VEA). She says, "They're not based on research, they're not based on what is possible or doable. They're arbitrary benchmarks that have been designed specifically for the purpose of setting public schools up to fail."

3. Arbitrary—(adj) The decision to spend $700 billion to help the economy was not an arbitrary decision but rather took a lot of planning and debate.

5. Aloof – (adj) After the death of his mother, Robert was aloof toward all his friends and wouldn’t talk to them.

7. The Tipping Point Proper etiquette dictates that restaurant-goers should leave behind at least a 15 percent gratuity. One brave columnist begs to differ. ByChristopher Sacco http://eastbrunswick.patch.com/articles/the-tipping-pointChristopher Sacco

8. Gratuity—(n.) The movie was rated R because of the gratuitous, unnecessary violence.

9. July 8, 2008...3:51 am UN report: Legal empowerment helps ameliorate poverty “They're not going to be able to stop a recession but they could certainly ameliorate it and get the economy going again," he said.

10. Ameliorate—(verb)

11. 3 more schools succumb to flu By David Pittman Three additional Texas Panhandle schools will close their doors for the remainder of the week as they struggle with absences from flu-related illness. Some or all campuses in at least eight Panhandle communities have closed their doors in the last two weeks because a large percentage of students were out sick with various aliments.

12. Cancer Stem Cells Succumb to Animal Drug By Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today Published: August 14, 2009 An antibiotic widely used in chicken feed selectively kills breast cancer stem cells in lab and animal experiments, researchers said.

13. Succumb -- v. Joan didn’t want to succumb to the peer pressure and so she left the party so she wouldn’t give in. to submit to an overpowering force; to reluctantly give in