3/1-13/1-23/1 (SAT-READING)

mercurial

changing suddenly and often

incredulity

the feeling of not wanting or not being able to believe something:

squali

extremely dirty and unpleasant, often because of lack of money:

Many prisons, even today, are overcrowded and squalid places.

concede

to admit, often unwillingly, that something is true:

[ + (that) ] The government has conceded (that) the new tax policy has been a disaster.

tenuous

A tenuous connection, idea, or situation is weak and possibly does not exist:

The police have only found a tenuous connection between the two robberies.

synchronization

the fact of happening at the same time, or the act of making things happen at the same time:

The words flash on a TV screen in synchronization with the music.

peripheral

situated toward the outer bounds rather than the center

innocuous

completely harmless (= causing no harm):

Some mushrooms look innocuous but are in fact poisonous.

prescribe (expectation)

to tell someone what he or she must have or do, or to give as a rule:

A secretary of education cannot and should not prescribe the curriculum of the nation’s colleges.

intersect

overlap

involuntarily

without any control, or by reflex

empirical

based on what is experienced or seen rather than on theory:

 entrenched

not likely to be changed

professional trajectory

career path

 untenable

not able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection

Individual agency

a person's power and capacity to make their own independent choices and take actions that shape their life and the world, demonstrating personal autonomy and influence, often contrasting with external constraints like social structures or collective forces

fatalism

the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable.

"fatalism can breed indifference to the human costs of war"

catalyst

someone or something that causes a big change:

the catalyst behind sth The catalyst behind this welcome trend has been the mighty Bill Gates.

unwavering

never changing or becoming weaker:

Her belief in the project has been unwavering.

transcend

to go beyond or rise above a limit, or be greater than something ordinary:

The group makes music that transcends traditional pop categories.

antagonistic toward

actively opposing or showing unfriendliness towards something or someone:

He's extremely antagonistic towards all critics.

buttress

strengthen or defend