Active Vocabulary General and Academic Words - Amy E. Olsen 2013

Chapter 9. Word Parts II
Part 1 General Words

Look for words with these prefixes, roots, and/or suffixes as you work through this book. You may have already seen some of them, and you will see others in later chapters. Leming basic word parts can help you figure out the meanings of unfamiliar words.

prefix: a word part added to the beginning of a word that changes the meaning of the root

root: a word's basic part with its essential meaning

suffix: a word part added to the end of a word; indicates the part of speech

Self-Tests

1 Read each definition, and choose the appropriate word from the list below. Use each word once. The meaning of the word part is underlined to help you make the connection. Refer to the Word Parts list if you need help.

Vocabulary list

optimize

misuse

zoologist

expensive

subterranean

controversy

transmit

credible

sensitive

plagiarism

1. to operate the wrong way ...

2. turn against; an argument ...

3. capable of being believed ...

4. the action of using another's words as one's own ...

5. to make the best use of ...

6. to send across ...

7. paving a lot for ...

8. underground ...

9. a person who studies animals ...

10. aware of the feelings of others ...

2 Finish the sentences with the meaning of each word part. Use each meaning once. The word part is underlined to help you make the connection.

Vocabulary list

below

feels

across

wrong

to turn

practice

best

trusts

hanging

a person who

1. A sentimental person ... strongly about old items.

2. If you make a mistake, you do the ... thing.

3. When a company gives a person credit, it ... that the person will pay his or her bills.

4. A subordinate works ... his or her boss.

5. Racism is the ... of believing one's ethnic background is better than other people's.

6. The child wanted to divert attention from the mess he had made, so he tried ... his mother's interest to the sound of a siren out front.

7. The diamond pendant was ... around her neck.

8. People often need to transfer from one bus to another when they take a trip ... town.

9. A soloist, is ... performs alone.

10. June's optimism makes her fun to be around; she always looks for the ... in a situation, even when it is easy to see the worst.

3 Finish the story using the word parts below. Use each word part once. Your knowledge of word parts, as well as the context clues, will help you create the correct words. If you do not understand the meaning of a word you have made, check your dictionary for the definition or to see whether the word exists.

Word parts list

trans

pend

ist

vert

cred

sup

ism

mis

opt

sent

All Fired Up

My excursion to the art gallery became quite an adventure. While I was looking at a sculpture, a fire alarm sounded. I hur­ried outside. Lingering out front, I heard a rumor that an arson(1)... had started the fire. I have been study­ing criminology, so I began talking with people to discover any motives. They didn't (2)...press their opinions. I heard that one of the gallery owners, Pierre, and his wife were having problems. I also discovered that Pierre's business partner had several gambling debts. Problems in Pierre's life seemed to be omnipresent.

Then I heard a man shout, "C est une catastrophe!” It was Pierre; he was in shock. It seemed like the (3)...imal time to offer my assistance. I told him he could de(4)... on me for help because I was going to be an insurance investigator, and I had studied similar cases in college. Pierre con(5)...ed to my helping him. While we waited to return to the gallery, we talked about the (6)...itory nature of life, which seemed to calm Pierre a bit.

After the fire was out, we went in to survey the damage. It was in(7)...ible, but only one painting was seriously damaged. When Pierre began to pick up bits of the frame, I told him to be careful not to disturb any evidence. If we (8)...handled the situation at the beginning, we would never find what caused the fire. Pierre began to complain that we would never discover who tried to ruin him. Just when his pessim(9)... was at its greatest, I noticed wax on a nearby table. Pierre's eyes lit up—he had inad(10)...ently set a candle there when he had gone to answer the phone. We had found the guilty party.

4 Pick the best definition for each underlined word using your knowledge of word parts. Circle the word part in each of the underlined words.

a. best or most favorable

b. to feel angry

c. pay

d. below the required level

e. crossing the sea

f. a person who commits blackmail

g. evidence that one is qualified or can be trusted

h. a turning away; hatred

i. the action of putting great value on objects

j. given wrong information

1. Because Larry's work for the last three months had been substandard, his boss called him in to see what was wrong.

2. The reporter showed his credentials to gain access to the crime scene.

3. For optimum results, I study early in the morning when I can clearly focus my mind.

4. The transoceanic voyage took us a week. It was a peaceful vacation.

5. We were misinformed about the meeting. We thought it began at three o'clock, but it really began at two.

6. I had to spend more than one hundred dollars on dry cleaning last month; I need to get more machine washable clothes.

7. I have an aversion to getting up early. I could easily sleep until ten o'clock every morning.

8. I resent that I did all the work while my colleagues got all the credit.

9. The family's materialism led to financial problems; they couldn't afford everything they bought.

10. The extortionist asked for $10,000 to be delivered by noon the next day or he would reveal the mayor's secret.

5 A good way to remember word parts is to pick one word that uses a word part and understand how that word part functions in the word. Then you can apply that meaning to other words that have the same word part. Use the following words to help you match the word part to its meaning.

Set One

1. mis-: misgivings, mislead, mistake

2. sub-, sup-: submerge, submissive, suppress

3. -cred-: credibility, incredible, credit

4. -opt-: optimist, optimum, optimize

5. -sens-, -sent-: consensus, sentimental, dissent

Set Two

6. trans-: transfer, translate, transitory

7. -vers-, -vert-: aversion, covert, avert

8. -ist: naturalist, optimist, artist

9. -pend-, -pens-: suspend, dependable, expensive

10. -ism: patriotism, optimism, colloquialism

a. best

b. to feel, to be aware

c. below, under

d. wrong

e. to believe, to trust

f. a person who

g. across

h. action, practice, theory

i. to turn

j. to hang, to weigh, to pay

Interactive Exercise

Use the dictionary to find a word you don't know that uses each word part listed below. Write the mean­ing of the word part, the word, and the definition. If your dictionary has the etymology (history) of the word, see how the word part relates to the meaning, and write the etymology after the definition.

Tips for Enjoying a Novel or Short Story

Readers enjoy a book more when they become involved with it. Try to put yourself in the novel or short story by imagining yourself in a character's situation. What would you do if you had to stop an alien invasion, cope with a broken heart or solve a murder? Learn to appreciate the descriptions of the places in the story. Try to visualize yourself hiking through the jungle, cooking a big meal in the kitchen, or hiding under a bed. Look for the author's message as you read. Ask yourself what point the author is trying to get across. Do you agree or disagree with the author's point? By putting yourself in the story and thinking about the significance of events, you will want to keep reading to see what happens to the characters because now they and their world are a part of you.

Match each photograph to one of the word parts below, and write the meaning of the word part.

mis-

sub-/sup-

-cred-

-pend-/-pens-

-ist

Internet Activity: How Often Is It Used?

Here is an activity that will illustrate different contexts for the vocabulary words and emphasize the enormity of the Internet. Type a vocabulary word into a search engine such as Google or Yahoo. See how many times the word is found. Read through the first few entries and see how the word is used. Find a Web site that seems interesting. Open it and look for the word again to see it in its full context. For example, the word amiable turned up 10,700,000 results. Among the first few entries, it was used in the contexts of a limousine service, dog training classes, and on a site that describes customer personality types. Sometimes you will get a lot more results. Covert turned up 28,900,000 results. And sometimes the results can be surprising. For lax several of the 35,700,000 results had to deal with LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) and quite a few with lacrosse. Have fun seeing what is out there.

Your word: ...

Number of results: ...

A sample context: ...

Name of the Web site you visited: ...

Share your finds with classmates. What words did people pick to look up? Which had the least results, and which had the most?Did anyone find a really interesting site?