Reading One

Front 1

dilapidated

Back 1

ADJ
A building that is dilapidated is old and in a generally bad condition.
= run-down

Seward park high school, which sat in the midst of dilapedated tenement buildings on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Front 2

yearing for

Back 2

N-VAR : oft N for n, N to-inf
A yearning for something is a very strong desire for it.
He spoke of his yearning for another child.
He always had a yearning to be a schoolteacher.
=longing

Front 3

poverty

Back 3

N-UNCOUNT
Poverty is the state of being extremely poor.
According to World Bank figures, 41 per cent of Brazilians live in absolute poverty.
=penury

Front 4

shame

Back 4

N-UNCOUNT
Shame is an uncomfortable feeling that you get when you have done something wrong or embarrassing, or when someone close to you has.
She felt a deep sense of shame.
-=disgrace

Front 5

hopelessness

Back 5

N
despair
= despair
He was overwhelmed by a feeling of hopelessness.

Front 6

misries

Back 6

. N-VAR
Misery is great unhappiness.
All that money brought nothing but sadness and misery and tragedy.
the miseries of his youth.
=unhappiness

Front 7

sordid

Back 7

ADJ
If you describe someone's behaviour as sordid, you mean that it is immoral or dishonest.
I don't want to hear the sordid details of your relationship with Sandra.
=seedy

Front 8

tormented

Back 8

N-UNCOUNT
Torment is extreme suffering, usually mental suffering.
The torment of having her baby kidnapped is written all over her face.
=anguish

Front 9

meager

Back 9

ADJ
not enought

=inadequate

Front 10

defeated

Back 10

VERB
If you defeat someone, you win a victory over them in a battle, game, or contest.
His guerrillas defeated the colonial army in 1954.
= beat

Front 11

abandonment

Back 11

N-UNCOUNT : oft N of n
The abandonment of a place, thing, or person is the act of leaving it permanently or for a long time, especially when you should not do so.
memories of her father's complete abandonment of her.
= desrtion