美国Heritage的编辑们精心编辑了100个单词。他们认为，这100个单词对于高中毕业生来说，虽然无法做到完全翔实地反映语言水平，但仍然是一个很好的评判标准。"我们选择的单词，如果你知道如何正确运用，那么你将在语言方面没有问题" - 主编Steven Kleinedler
这100个单词如下：
abjure
abrogate
abstemious
acumen
antebellum
auspicious
belie
bellicose
bowdlerize
chicanery
chromosome
churlish
circumlocution
circumnavigate
deciduous
deleterious
diffident（缺乏自信的,懦怯的：She is diffident about expressing her opinions）
enervatve(v,使衰弱adj.衰弱的，无力的）
enfranchise
epiphany
equinox
euro
evanescent
expurgate
fatuous
feckless
fiduciary
filibuster
gamete
gauche
gerrymander
hegemony
hemoglobin
homogeneous
hubris
hypotenuse
impeach
incognito+
incontrovertible
inculcate
infrastructure
interpolate
irony
jejune
kinetic
kowtow
laissez faire
lexicon
loquacious
lugubrious
metamorphosis
mitosis
moiety
nanotechnology
nihilism
nomenclature
nonsectarian
notarize
obsequious
oligarchy
omnipotent
orthography
oxidize
parabola
paradigm
parameter
pecuniary
photosynthesis
plagiarize
plasma
polymer
precipitous
quasar
quotidian
recapitulate
reciprocal
reparation
respiration
sanguine
soliloquy
subjugate
suffragist
supercilious
tautology
taxonomy
tectonic
tempestuous
thermodynamics
totalitarian
unctuous
usurp
vacuous
vehement
vortex
winnow
wrought
xenophobe
yeoman
ziggurat