Lesson 1: Vocabulary Questions on Pre-College Tests

Analogy questions test your ability to see the relationship between two words and find another pair with the same connection. Let's look at the words used to build these puzzles.

Key Words

Example Usage

• To solve the analogy VORACIOUS : APPETITE, you must first define the relationship. You can create a sentence like, "A voracious person has a large appetite."
• Next, you test that same sentence structure on the answer choices. For choice (E), you would test: "A gullible person has a... well, a gullible mind." This shows a relationship where the first word describes a quality of the second.
• This relationship does not work for a pair like keyboard : piano, where the connection is "a keyboard is a part of a piano."

For these questions, you must use context clues within the sentence to find the perfect word to fill in the blank. The words below were all possible answers in the textbook's examples.

Key Words

Example Usage

• In the sentence about Dr. King's argument against violence, context clues like legacy, aftermath, and clutters all point to a word meaning "something left behind." This makes residue the only logical choice.
• In a sentence with two blanks, both words in your chosen answer must fit perfectly. For instance, as video games become more sophisticated, it makes sense that players become more discriminating in their search for new challenges.
• An incorrect pair like garish and alert fails because while players may be alert, video games are not typically described as garish (or tastelessly showy) in this context.

These questions challenge you to figure out a word's meaning based purely on how it's used in a specific paragraph. Let's examine the vocabulary from the textbook's example.

Key Words

Example Usage

• To understand the word tractable in the passage, you can look for contrast clues. The text says the bulls, which had been tractable, "suddenly turned savage." This contrast implies that tractable means the opposite of savage, or "easily controlled."
• The theme of rebelliousness provides another clue. The passage describes how different animals defied humans, reinforcing the idea that they were previously obedient, or tractable.
• When determining the meaning of hunters, you must use common sense within the context. Since the animals were refusing their fences and throwing their riders, it's clear that hunters refers to "horses trained for hunting," not people or dogs.

Mastering analogies requires understanding the relationships between different types of words. Here are some examples of words you might find in an analogy practice test.

Key Words

Example Usage

• An analogy like RIPPLE : TIDAL WAVE shows a relationship of degree. A ripple is a very small version of a tidal wave, just as a breeze is a small version of a hurricane.
• The pair WINCE : PAIN demonstrates a cause-and-effect relationship. One winces as a result of pain, just as one trembles as a result of fright.
• In WEAVE : CLOTH, the relationship is action to product. One weaves to create cloth, just as one writes to create a narrative.

The words in sentence completion questions often require you to understand subtle shades of meaning. Below are some vocabulary words from the practice test.

Key Words

Example Usage

• The phrase "lack of exercise" points directly to a word describing muscles that have become weak and soft, making flabby the best choice.
• When Andy Warhol commented on fame lasting only "fifteen minutes," he was describing its short-lived or transient nature.
• To describe two points of view that cannot logically exist together, you would say they have an incompatibility.
• Settlers moving to the dry Southwest would need to acclimate themselves to its stark or austere beauty.

When a test asks for a word's meaning in a passage, you must use the context as your primary guide. Here are some words from the "As Used In" practice test.

Key Words

Example Usage

• If a government offers something to illegal aliens to pardon them, that offering is an amnesty, or an official pardon.
• In a passage discussing a ruler who supported a musician, that ruler is acting as a financial supporter or patron.
• When a novel is described as a "literary puzzle" and a "mystery," a word used to describe it like enigmatic must mean "puzzling."
• If female characters' fates are "entirely dependent" on male heroes, their roles are of lesser importance, making them subordinate or minor characters.