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Vocabulary as such is not tested on most standardized tests.
In other words, you won't be expected to answer questions
in which you have to define difficult words. However, these
don't exclude indirect and hidden vocabulary questions-of
which you will probably find plenty.
Reading comprehension passages sometimes include vocabulary-in-context
questions. These focus on particular words in the passage
and ask you to determine their meaning in the passage. Sometimes
the words chosen are obviously "hard" words (like
inception, a recent real example). More often they are seemingly
"easy" words that are tricky because they have
several possible meanings (gasps and engages, for example).
In both cases, the broader, more varied, and more accurate
your vocabulary knowledge, the better your chances of answering
these questions quickly and correctly.
Also, the better your vocabulary knowledge, the easier you'll
find it to understand the large amount of reading you must
do on most standardized tests. Many tests are built around
extensive, often complicated passages you must read and
accurately interpret. Even an occasional math item is made
a little more complicated by the use of a challenging vocabulary
word. Vocabulary knowledge will make a clear and significant
difference in your overall performance.
So how do you build your vocabulary? By practicing the
following tips.
1. Create Your Own Word List
Get into the habit of reading a little every day with your
dictionary nearby. When you encounter a new word in a newspaper,
magazine, or book, look it up. Then jot down the new word,
its definition, and the sentence in which you encountered
it in a notebook set aside for this purpose. Review your
vocabulary notebook periodically-say, once a week. Your
notebook will reflect the kinds of things you read and the
kinds of words you find most difficult. And the fact that
you've taken the time and made the effort to write down
the words and their meanings will help to fix them in your
memory. Chances are good that you'll encounter a few words
from your vocabulary notebook on the exam.
2. Study Vocabulary Daily
There are some topics you can easily cram. Vocabulary isn't
one of them. Words generally stick in the mind not the first
or second time you learn them but the fourth or fifth time.
Try to begin your vocabulary study several weeks before
the exam. Take 15 or 20 minutes a day to learn new words.
Periodically review all the words you've previously studied;
quiz yourself, or have a friend quiz you. This simple regimen
can enable you to learn several hundred new words before
you take your test.
3. Learn a Few Words at a Time
Don't try to gobble dozens of words in one sitting. They're
likely to blur into an indistinguishable mass. Instead,
pick a reasonable quantity-say, 10 to 15 words-and study
them in some depth. Learn the definition of each word and
try writing a couple of sentences of your own that include
the word.
4. Learn Words in Families
Language is a living thing. Words are used by humans, innately
creative beings who constantly twist, reshape, invent, and
recombine words. (Think of the jargon of your favorite sport
or hobby, or the new language currently blossoming in cyberspace,
for some examples.) As a result, most words belong to families,
in which related ideas are expressed through related words.
This makes it possible to learn several words at once.
For example, the adjective anachronistic means "out
of the proper time," as illustrated by the sentence:
The reference, in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, to "the
clock striking twelve" is anachronistic, since there
were no striking timepieces in ancient Rome. When you meet
this word, you should also get to know its close kinfolk.
The noun anachronism means something that is out of its
proper time. The clock in Julius Caesar, for example, is
an anachronism; in another way, so are the pants worn by
modern baseball players, which reflect a style in men's
fashions that went out of date generations ago. When you
learn the adjective, learn the noun (and/or verb) that goes
with it at the same time.
5. Learn Root Words
The two words we just discussed-anachronistic and anachronism-are
like brother and sister. Their origins can be traced back
to another language: The Greek word chronos = time. Ultimately,
this is the root from which the English word anachronistic
grew. As you explore vocabulary, you'll find that many words
come from roots in Latin and Greek. There are complicated
(and interesting) historical reasons for this, but the nub
is that, for several centuries, learned people in England
and America knew ancient Latin and Greek and deliberately
imported words from those languages into English. They rarely
imported just one word from a given root. Thus, many word
roots can enable you to learn several English words at once.
The root for anachronistic tells you that chronos is also
the source of the English words chronic, chronicle, chronograph,
chronology, and synchronize. All have to do with the concept
of time.
Learning the word root chronos can help you in several
ways. It will make it easier to learn all the words in the
chronos family, as opposed to trying to learn them one at
a time. It will help you to remember the meanings of chronos
words if they turn up on the exam. And it may even help
you to guess the meaning of an entirely new chronos word
when you encounter it.
6. Use the Words You Learn
Make a deliberate effort to include the new words you're
learning in your daily speech and writing. It will impress
people (teachers, bosses, friends, and enemies) and it will
help solidify your memory of the words and their meanings.
Maybe you've heard this tip about meeting new people: If
you use a new acquaintance's name several times, you're
likely never to forget it. The same is true with new words:
Use them, and you won't lose them.
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