Free Rice and Words, First Essay

No, this isn't the title of a new best-seller by an epigone of Dr. Seuss. It is a web site (freerice.com) and an idea, an idea that has caught on so incredibly quickly (the web site has been up for only 2 1/2 months) that, in my judgment, success will be too much for it within a few months. I would like to thank my friend Ann for pointing out the site to me. The concept behind it is terribly simple. There are hungry people in the world, people who need rice. We, in the developed world, don't send much money or rice to those in need. But, we would participate in a challenge to improve ourselves if it might send rice to the needy. Thus, the idea was born. When you go to the web site you are given a word, with four possible definitions. You chose the right answer and then, presto, 20 grains of wheat gets donated to the hungry. Who donates it? The sponsors who advertise on the pages. Then, you get another word, with four choices. If you get words correct, you go up in levels of difficulty. The highest level of difficulty is 50; the lowest is 1. If you get the first four words correct, which come at you with increasing difficulty, you start at level 40. Then, in order to move up a level, you must get three consecutive words right. If you get one wrong, you fall back one category. So, one step backwards for a wrong choice; one step forward for every three correct words. Thus, you can see why they say it is very difficult to make it to the top; indeed, they say that few, if any, make it past level 48.

Getting to Level 50

What I would like to do in this and the next essay is to walk you though two examples of each level, beginning with level 41, so that you can see how you would do. I frankly confess that it is addicting; you learn new words, some of which you can immediately bring into your vocabulary. You also learn to make educated guesses on words and, all the time, you have the feeling that you are actually, for once in your life, contributing someting of value to truly needy people in the world. Here are two of the three words at level 41.

BRAE

1. bother
2. rigor
3. hillside
4. difficult choice

PAEAN

1. pore
2. amends
3. theory of knowledge
4. song of praise

Well, how did you do on these? Here is how I did it. For "brae," I recalled the name of a road in the town where I grew up. My friend Toby lived on "Briar Brae Rd." I had no idea what it meant at that time, but since I recall that it was built on a hillside, I knew that 3. must be right. Right. Then, for paean, I have an advantage because I have studied classical Greek, but I think it should be a fairly common word "out there." Answer is 4. Ok, ready for 42?

ELEGIAC

1. mournful
2. unwieldy
3. being everywhere
4. curving inward

DEFEASIBLE

1. big
2. cunning
3. obliging
4. voidable

Now how are you doing? Well, behind the first one is "elegy," which is one of the ancient Greek forms of poetry. For what kind of occasion is an elegy composed? You got it, a funeral. Therefore, something elegiac is mournful. The second, defeasible, is a legal term, so it helps if you have a legal background sometimes as you go through life. But, even if you don't, you can take the word apart. Something that is "feasible" is "doable" or "possible." Thus, something "de"-feasible takes away that possibility, so it is "voidable." Isn't this fun? Well, let's move on to 43 and see how you do.

VICINAL. 1. everyday; 2. aspiring; 3. chatty; 4. local
COURSER. 1. horse; 2. skin layer; 3. order; 4. extraterrestrial

If you look at the word vicinal, what do you see? Of course, you see the word "vicinity." And, if you know just a little of your Latin, you will know that the Latin word standing behind it is vicinus, which means "neighbor." In fact, I wondered whether Mr. Rogers, in running the "first draft" of his show, might have initially composed the song, "Won't You Be My Vicinus?" Nah, I guess not. Well, in any case, the answer has to be 4. For the word courser, you need to go no further than Clement Clark Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas," which you should be reciting right now to your kids or grandkids. How does the line go?

"More rapid than eagles the coursers they came,
and he whistled and shouted and called them by name...

In the context of Moore's poem, of course, a courser is a reindeer, but it really can be any kind of animal that pursues a "course." That can only be one thing, and it is 1. horse.

Oh, let's quickly do one more, level 44. No one is forbidding it.

INCIPIENCY. 1. character; 2. beginning; 3. suspension; 4. irreverence.
TARANTELLA. 1. boo; 2. chunk; 3. fast dance; 4. stronghold.

I hope you were able to get the first one right away. Something in its "incipient" stages is just beginning, and so the answer is "2." The next one is harder, perhaps, but if you are in the world of music, it is an easy word. I recall taking piano lessons as a boy, and one of the pieces I had to play was named "Tarantella." It was dance music. Thus, the tarantella is a fast dance.

Conclusion

Each of these levels had one more word to it, but you see how it works. How did you do? The next essay will take us further. Indeed, it will take us all the way to 50, and we will manage to stay at 50 for quite some time. How did that happen? Well, how do you think?

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