Ultimate word success - Peterson's 2009

Day 11 Master Test-worthy Words About Learning
Part IV Unlock Key Words

Everyone has a weak, unguarded spot. We use the term “Achilles’ heel” to refer to this weak point. The term comes from Homer’s epic poem the Iliad. According to legend, Achilles’ mother, Thetis, plunged her infant son into the river Styx to make him invulnerable. Since she held him by the heel, it stayed dry—and vulnerable. Many years later, during the siege of Troy, Paris shot an arrow into Achilles’ heel, fatally wounding him.

This chapter will help make sure that words about learning aren’t your Achilles’ heel on standardized tests! As you work through this chapter, use all the techniques you learned on Day 3 to help you remember the words.

Distinguish Between Words with Multiple Meanings

Many words in English have a dual meaning, depending on their part of speech. No wonder the English language is so difficult to learn! Study the following examples:

• We must polish the Polish furniture.

• He could lead if he would get the lead out.

• The farm was used to produce produce.

• The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

• The soldier decided to desert in the desert.

• This was a good time to present the present. (And this last word could mean “gift” or “era of time.”)

• A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

• When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

• I did not object to the object.

• The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

• The bandage was wound around the wound.

• There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

• They were too close to the door to close it.

• They sent a sewer down to stitch the tear in the sewer line.

• To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

• The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

• Upon seeing the tear in my clothes, I shed a tear.

• I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

• How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

The moral of the story? Even supposedly “easy” words can stump unwary test takers because they are being used in unfamiliar ways. Therefore, it’s not enough to know the words; you also have to know how they are used. Apply this lesson today (and as you work through this book) by using each word in a sentence as you learn it.

Today, you’ll learn more words about learning. These test-worthy words will serve you in good stead on standardized tests. But first, a game. After all, learning words should be fun, not boring.

Time for Fun: Indefinite Definitions

The following twenty-one common words have uncommon meanings. Match each word in the left column to the word or phrase in the right column that best describes it. Write the letter of your answer on the line. The answers appear on here.

Study Ten Test-worthy Words About Learning

Every subject area has its special words, and learning is no exception. Below are ten words that test makers like to include on their standardized assessments. As you read each of the following words, try to visualize it in your mind. Then, “tag” each word to an object or a place to help it stick in your mind. Finally, say the word again.

Master Five More Words About Learning

In the Odyssey, Mentor is Odysseus’ friend. He also tutors Odysseus’ son, Telemachus. Today, the term mentor has come to mean a “trusted teacher or guide.” The following five words also concern scholarship and knowledge, though none has as interesting a history as mentor!

Read each word and its sentence. Then, try to create sentences of your own using these words.

Look into Six “Learning” Words with the Same Root

Study the following six words. Notice that they all contain the roots cogn or gno, “to know or learn.” How can knowing this root help you remember these words?

1. agnostic: noun, a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable

2. cognizant: adjective, involving conscious intellectual activity (as thinking, reasoning, or remembering)

3. cognizant: adjective, knowledgeable of something especially through personal experience

4. incognito: adjective, with one’s identity concealed

5. prognosis: noun, a prediction of the probable course and outcome of a disease

6. recognize: verb, to know something that has been perceived before

Seventh-Inning Stretch: Multiple Choice

Select the word that best completes each sentence. Write the letter of the word in the space. The answers appear on here.

1. Some people dismiss ______________, but subtle clues in our environment often help us recognize these sudden and unexplained insights.

(A) sedition

(B) agnostics

(C) conviction

(D) intuition

(E) vacillation

2. A few lucky people _____________ new skills easily, while others have to work hard to learn new ideas and concepts.

(A) reconnoiter

(B) bedaub

(C) acquire

(D) berate

(E) extradite

3. The student’s __________ and stubborn adherence to outmoded theories made it difficult for her to accept new ideas.

(A) abstract

(B) incognito

(C) agnostic

(D) pliant

(E) dogmatic

4. Due to a __________, the chemistry student mixed the wrong chemicals and nearly blew up the lab! Fortunately, the mistake was easily rectified.

(A) conviction

(B) reconnoiter

(C) preamble

(D) subpoena

(E) misconception

5. Sometimes, hands-on experience can help __________ students more than old-fashioned lecturing can.

(A) enlighten

(B) abstract

(C) reconnoiter

(D) obliterate

(E) nullify

6. Even on the first day, Nikki got the __________ that her teacher was determined to help her students learn how to write. This feeling was reinforced as the days went on.

(A) impression

(B) abstract

(C) subterfuge

(D) alibi

(E) precept

7. E. B. White’s writing style is often held up as a __________ of clear, concise, and elegant prose.

(A) conviction

(B) paradigm

(C) reconnoiter

(D) sedition

(E) cordial

8. The experiment made previously __________ ideas far more specific and concrete.

(A) incognito

(B) abstract

(C) agnostic

(D) reconnoiter

(E) explicit

9. From Sam’s __________, the island appeared to be a wasteland. Only upon a closer look was he able to see that there was indeed vegetation.

(A) reconnoiter

(B) incognito

(C) perspective

(D) concord

(E) increment

10. Bill is a __________ of the finer things in life: classic novels, cars, and chocolates. As an expert, he knows just which items are the best.

(A) greenhorn

(B) novice

(C) amateur

(D) reconnoiter

(E) connoisseur

Give It a Try: Word Scramble

To complete the following acrostic, first unscramble each of the vocabulary words so that it matches its definition. Then, use the words to fill in the appropriate spaces on the corresponding lines. When you have completed the entire puzzle, another vocabulary word will read vertically in the circles. The answers appear on here.

Explore Words About Linguistics

The following ten words all concern linguistics, the branch of learning that deals with words and how they are used. Write the especially challenging words on cards, as described on Day 3. Refer to the cards in your spare moments. Practice does make perfect!

Discover More Words About Linguistics

A person who speaks or writes in several languages is called a polyglot (pah-lee-glaht). Fortunately, to do well on most standardized tests, you need only know English. Below are twelve more words that often appear on these tests. Knowing these words can make it easier for you to earn a high score.

1. evocative (ih-vahk-uh-tiv) causing an emotional reaction

2. expletive (eks-pluh-tiv) word used as a filler

3. idiom (id-ee-um) a phrase that has a nonliteral meaning, such as “It’s raining cats and dogs.”

4. intonation (in-toh-nay-shun) pitch

5. lexicon (lek-sih-kahn) a dictionary

6. mnemonic (nee-mah-nik) memory aid

7. pejorative (puh-jor-uh-tiv) negative connotation

8. phonetic (fuh-net-ik) of or relating to spoken language or speech sounds

9. pidgin (pih-jun) a mixture of different languages

10. rebus (ree-bus) showing a word by pictures or symbols

11. rhetoric (ret-uh-rik) persuasion through argument

12. syntax (sin-taks) arrangement of words in a sentence

Time for Fun: Word-Find Puzzle

Time for a break. There are fifteen words hidden in this word-find puzzle. Ten words have already been covered in this chapter, but five are new. To complete the puzzle, locate and circle all the words. (See the word list below.) The words may be written forward, backward, or upside down. The answers appear on here. Good luck!

Word List

1. anagram: word game

2. agnostic: a person who doubts the existence of a Supreme Being

3. aphasia: loss of the ability to speak

4. anachronism: from another time

5. connoisseur: an expert in the arts

6. alliteration: repeating the same sound at the beginning of words

7. incognito: under an assumed name

8. assonance: repeating the same vowel sounds

9. rebus: showing a word by pictures or symbols

10. idiom: a phrase that has non-literal meaning

11. cadence: meter or beat in speech

12. connote: understood meaning

13. lexicon: dictionary

14. reconnoiter: to survey an area for information (about an enemy’s position)

15. pidgin: a mixture of different languages

Seventh-Inning Stretch: Word-Definition Match #1

Match each numbered word in the left column with its lettered definition in the right column. Write the letter of your answer in the space provided. The answers appear on here.

Read Words About Learning Literature

The following ten words all concern the study of books. Use each word in a sentence to help you fix it in your mind.

Explore Eight More Literary Words

A few of our most test-worthy words come from literature. For example, in 1726, Irish writer Jonathan Swift created the word “Lilliput” for the imaginary country he described in his famous satire Gulliver’s Travels. The inhabitants of Lilliput were no more than six inches tall. To them, Lemuel Gulliver looked like a giant. Today, we use the noun “lilliput” or the adjective “lilliputian” to describe a small person or a person of little importance.

Below are eight more words associated with literature and books. Write the new words on note cards to study in your spare moments.

It’s Your Turn: Fill-in-the-Blank

Complete the following story with words from the box. You will have words left over. The answers appear on here.

Sally Student wrote a _____________ that _____________ all the people in the school. The verse was low-quality _____________, it’s true, but it was funny bad poetry. The long poem was such a strong _____________ that Sally decided to protect her reputation by circulating the poem under a _____________ so no one could guess her identity. Soon, everyone had a copy of the _____________, and people were actually reciting lines! There’s a rumor that the poem was put into an _____________ of poetry, but we all know that story is surely _____________.

In the poem, she made an _____________ to the principal and mocked his funny way of walking and talking. Sally used the _____________ or repeated element of the school bell to unify her poem. It was a funny joke, but Sally knew she’d never put the poem on her résumé or _____________.

Seventh-Inning Stretch: Word-Definition Match #2

Match each numbered word in the left column with its lettered definition in the right column. Some of the eighteen words have already been covered in this chapter, but others are new. The answers appear on here.

Calculate Test-worthy Words from Mathematics

The following words all concern mathematics. These are especially important words for test takers because many of them are used in other fields as well. For example, the word congruent (kahn-groo-ent) is an adjective that means “equivalent” when applied to math. However, we also use this word to show that other objects have exactly the same size and shape.

A matrix (may-triks) is a series of numbers arranged in columns and rows. The word ordinal (or-duh-nul), an adjective, indicates the order, position, or rank of an item among others in a group or set. We distinguish the ordinal numbers (first, second, third, fourth, etc.) from the cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). The noun permutation (per-myoo-tay-shun) refers to changing a set of numbers. We also use the word permutation to refer to any change.

It’s Your Turn: Less Is More… More or Less

The following words all have to do with adding, reducing, or completeness. Determine which of the following two phrases better describes each word in the list that follows. Write the number of your answer choice on the line to the left of each entry. The answers appear on here.

1. to fill or complete

2. to lessen or reduce

Answers and Explanations

Indefinite Definitions (here)

1. r

2. h

3. n

4. b

5. u

6. j

7. i

8. l

9. k

10. d

11. o

12. p

13. c

14. g

15. f

16. s

17. a

18. t

19. m

20. q

21. e

Multiple Choice #1 (here)

1. D

2. C

3. E

4. E

5. A

6. A

7. B

8. B

9. C

10. E

Word Scramble (here)

ape

brittle

spit

theoretical

rake

acquire

conviction

table

Reading down: abstract

Word-Find Puzzle (here)

Word-Definition Match #1 (here)

1. d

2. h

3. f

4. i

5. c

6. b

7. g

8. j

9. a

10. e

Fill-in-the-Blank (here)

Sally Student wrote a ballad that lampooned all the people in the school. The verse was low-quality doggerel, it’s true, but it was funny bad poetry. The long poem was such a strong satire that Sally decided to protect her reputation by circulating the poem under a pseudonym so no one could guess her identity. Soon, everyone had a copy of the parody, and people were actually reciting lines! There’s a rumor that the poem was put into an anthology of poetry, but we all know that story is surely apocryphal.

In the poem, she made an allusion to the principal and mocked his funny way of walking and talking. Sally used the motif or repeated element of the school bell to unify her poem. It was a funny joke, but Sally knew she’d never put the poem on her résumé or vita.

Word-Definition Match #2 (here)

1. f

2. n

3. h

4. i

5. g

6. m

7. r

8. l

9. d

10. p

11. c

12. j

13. b

14. e

15. k

16. a

17. q

18. o

Less Is More… More or Less (here)

1. to fill or complete

aggrandize: to make greater

append: to add

augment: to add to

consummate: to complete

sate: to satisfy

2. to lessen or reduce

abate: to diminish

attenuate: to weaken

mitigate: to lessen