Ask whether abundance serves a purpose
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
Preparing a small apartment dinner, Jae worried that renting a second set of decorative plates would be an extravagance when enough suitable plates were already available. Her friend planned lavish refreshments, offering guests an abundant variety without requiring each person to try everything. Jae then had a whim to buy a dramatic table lamp after seeing it in a shop window. She wrote down the idea and returned to the dinner plan, distinguishing generous provision from unnecessary spending and from a sudden, unsettled wish.
The refreshments were lavish because they were provided generously, although the adjective alone did not decide whether their cost was excessive. The duplicate plates looked like an extravagance in Jae's circumstances because they added spending without serving a needed purpose. The lamp began as a whim rather than a decision grounded in a settled plan for the room. By checking each choice against the occasion and the available resources, Jae could decide what she valued without assuming that every abundant gesture was wasteful.
Before you move on
Look away from the passage. Can you explain each focus word in your own words?
Original fictional passages for vocabulary practice.