Where Do We Go from Here?

Words in Use (Lesson 41)

complacent
wasp
rehabilitate
parole
vertical
multitude
nominate
potential
morgue
preoccupied
upholstery
indifference

Read the following passage to see how the new words are used in it.
  
Where Do We Go from Here?
When we grow too complacent with ourselves, along come writers who, wasp-like, sting us with reminders of the many problems we face-from rehabilitating former prisoners on parole to feeding the world’s hungry population. Those authors do not see civilization rising almost vertically to greater and greater heights. Though a multitude of problems beset America, they nominate the large urban centers as potentially the most dangerous and requiring the most immediate attention. They see the cities as the morgues of dead hopes and lost ideals. We are preoccupied with trifles* like the upholstery in our homes or personal matters like pension* and benefits, but now we are called upon to contribute to our community on every vital* level-moral,* political, economic. We are not being urged to give up our beloved possessions, but our civilization can be saved only if we overcome the epidemic* of indifference. We must begin to live with a new openness to others and a determination to become the best of which we are capable.