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READER’S DIGEST VOCABULARY RATINGS 5–9: Fair 10–12: Good 13–15: Word Power Wizard 1. viceroy – (A) appointed ruler. British kings installed 20 viceroys in India alone. 2. surplice – (A) crossed at centre. Though she originally wanted a strapless gown, Abigail chose one with a surplice neckline. 3. latticework – (C) decorative grid. One mark of a skilled gardener is when vines grow through woven slats of latticework. 4. licentiously – (A) lewdly. Partygoers disrupted the cruise, behaving licentiously at the pool and catcalling patrons. 5. serviceable – (B) usable. “Sure, I’d love a new car, but my old one is still serviceable,” Elena said. 6. caprice – (B) sudden whim. Fresh off her lottery win, Elaine bought a boat in an act of sheer caprice. 7. beneficent – (B) charitable. For years, the beneficent grocery store owner has donated her excess inventory to a food bank. 8. cornice – (C) ornamental moulding. The architect admired the carved cornice running the length of the ceiling. 9. suffice – (C) be adequate. Dad never yells; one stern look from him suffices to get us kids back in line. 10. sluice – (A) flow. Once engineers opened the floodgate, water immediately started to sluice down the trough. 11. artifice – (C) trickery. Unfortunately, some salespeople use artifice to get people to spend more than they can afford. 12. epicentre – (C) focal point. Thanks to the Beatles, 1960s Liverpool suddenly became the epicentre of a musical revolution. 13. pumice – (B) a volcanic rock. Use a pumice stone to exfoliate your feet. 14. coppice – (B) cut back. Foresters can coppice overgrown trees to encourage new growth. 15. avarice – (A) insatiable greed. Shareholders accused the CEO of unchecked avarice for raiding the company coffers. Answers Go with the Floe Howmany words for ice are there? Inupiaq speakers in Alaska alone have at least 120, including utuqaq for ice that lasts year after year, auniq for ice filledwith holes and siguliaksraq for the layer that forms as sea ice freezes. Documenting this diversity has become difficult, as the population of native speakers is fading almost as quickly as the polar ice itself. IMAGE: DIZOLATOR/GETTY IMAGES/TMBI LICENCE 26 June/July 2025