Vocab In Context Questions and Strategies for ACT Reading

Vocab In Context Questions and Strategies for ACT Reading SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips What exactly are vocab in context questions, and what are the best ways to approach answering them? In this article, I'll start by going over the basics of what vocab in context questions are, then segue into an in-depth discussion of each of the two types (complete with examples). Finally, I'll wrap it up by suggesting strategies to use when tackling these types of questions. feature image credit: 7dc_b188407-zuleikha-reading by Wolfgang Lonien used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped from original. What Are Vocab In Context Questions? Vocabulary in context questions are the questions on ACT Reading that question you directly about vocabulary in the context of a paragraph. While having vocab knowledge can help you with other types of questions, for the purposes of this article I've focused on the types of questions where knowing vocabulary is essential to being able to get the right answer. From my reviewing of dozens ofofficial ACT practice tests, I've come to the conclusion that there are two types of ways the ACT Reading will question you on vocabulary: Based on how the word is used in the passage, what does that word mean? How would you sum up the meaning of a few lines or a paragraph, using one word as your answer? Read on for a more in-depth look at each of these types of vocab in context questions. Question Type 1: What’s The Meaning Of The Word In Context? These questions are probably among the most straightforward of all the ACT Reading questions. I like to think of them as asking â€Å"Here’s the word – what’s the definition?† Just because the questions are straightforward doesn’t mean that they can't be tricky, but the way the questions are phrased themselves are pretty simple. In fact, they are almost always asked in the following way: As it is used in line [number], the word [X] most nearly means... Or, to give a concrete example: As it is used in line 42, the word howled most nearly means†¦ Why does the ACT always use the phrase "most nearly," rather than just straight up asking "what does this word mean?" I believe there are two reasons: the phrase is designed to trick you into picking an answer that kind of works (after all, howled only has to NEARLY mean the answer choice, right?) it's the ACT’s way of covering its butt (nope, you can't just pick AN answer that works, you have to pick the BEST answer out of the available choices). Most often, these "Here's the word, what's the definition?" questions are about words that have multiple meanings. Since the ACT wants to trick you into rushing into thinking you know the answer, the test often will include an answer choice that is accurate for SOME definition of the word, just not the way it’s used in the passage. Here’s an example, taken verbatim from an official ACT practice test. Off the top of my head, the word read can be used to mean any of the answers, with the possible exception of choice C. In order to figure out which way read is being used in line 45, you'll have to go back to the passage. The source sentence is as follows: â€Å"Scientists determine an eel’s age using a microscope to read the growth rings of its otolith – a small, hard calcium deposit at the base of its skull.† (lines 44-47; italics mine) So how would you solve this question? First, rephrase the word or phrase in questionto make answering the question easier: â€Å"Scientists figure out how old an eel is using a microscope to look at and decipher the growth rings on the thing.† As you can see, the rephrasing does not have to be super elegant, just accurate. Next, substitute answers into your rephrased sentence – for this question, only â€Å"observe† makes sense (Scientists figure out how old an eel is using a microscope to observe the growth rings on the thing). Want another example? Not a problem! Here’s a trickier example I’ve modified from an ACTual ACT (I could only hold out on that wordplay for so long). Practice Example A: â€Å"The lycanthropic virus story is really nailed down,† says Giles. â€Å"The epicenters that have been mapped over thousands of years are likely the spots where werewolves are concentrated.† As it is used in this line, concentrated most nearly means†¦ (A) extracted (B) paid attention to (C) gathered together (D) directed to one topic If you replaced the word â€Å"concentrated† with any of the answer choices, it COULD make thematic sense. After all, werewolves could be extracted from a place, or be paid attention to (although it seems unlikely that the ACT would have you pick an answer choice that means ending a sentence with a preposition). Also, doesn’t â€Å"concentrated† sometimes have something to do with things being directed to one topic? Danger! Danger! This is all part of the ACT’s Cunning Planâ„ ¢ (NB: not actually trademarked) to trap you! It’s a trap by Mike Knell, used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped from original. Do NOT answer the question based on things that â€Å"could be right,† depending on information you do not know. Imagine you're a cranky English teacher, grading student interpretations of a book read for class. You're not a generous teacher who’s looking for reason to give a student points any way you can because she argued the point. No, you're looking for reasons to mark answers as WRONG. Take that mindset into the ACT Reading with you: Only the answer that is directly supported by the context of the passage is acceptable. In the case of example A above, the answer is (C) gathered together: the centers of the lycanthropic virus infection are likely the spots where werewolves are gathered together. None of the answer choices come even close to fitting into context of this sentence. On occasion, rather than asking about specific words, ACT Reading will instead ask about multiple words, making the question more like "Here's the phrase, what's the meaning?" See example B: Example taken from ACT website. In either case, these questions should be approached in the same way: always, always go back to the line in which the word or phrase appears – don’t let the ACT fool you into answering without checking! Question Type 2: What Word Is Defined By The Passage? These questions ask you to recognize the definition in the passage and relate it to the answer choice that matches it. In contrast to the previous question type of vocab-in-context questions, I think of these as asking â€Å"Here’s the definition, what’s the word?† The ACT has more varied ways of asking these questions than the â€Å"here’s the word, what’s the meaning?† questions. I've listed below just a few examples that I came across in my reviewing of ACT practice tests. Disclaimer: I have edited the questions so that they all refer to the same subject matter; these are not how the questions appeared on the actual ACT. Sample "Here's the definition, what's the word?" questions: Which of the following words best describes the narrator’s father working as he prepares for the full moon? Which of the following best describes how the victim referred to in the fifth paragraph (lines 58-71) is said to have started to transform into a werewolf? Lines 42-53 suggest that, prior to W. Rosenberg’s research, medical researchers had thought of the werewolf as†¦ Halloween Duck: Werewolf Duck by Joshua Smith, used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped from original. Answer to the last question: Apparently as round, yellow, and half-wolf, half†¦duck in a shirt? "What word is defined by the passage?" questions can actually be easier than the "here's the word, what's the definition?" questions. Why? Because since the definitions are in paragraph form, you may be able to gather more information to help answer the question. Here's another actual ACT sample question: Example taken from ACT website. If you know the definition of the word â€Å"discernment,† you have an easy shortcut to the answer: â€Å"The problem with reevaluating and devaluing men poets is that it’s difficult to be sure you have good judgment when you’re doing it. How SHOULD you do it? With caution, or by being cautious.† Even if you don’t know exactly what discernment means, however, the author goes on to explain further in the rest of the paragraph: "The author thinks that taking men poets down a peg too immediately, or quickly, is a problem†¦that means that people who do it should be cautious." Using that clue, you could solve the question, even if you didn'tknow what"discernment" meant. Strategies To Master Vocabulary In Context Questions So what strategies can you use to master these two types of ACT Reading questions? I've put together a 3-step strategy guide below. Strategy 1: Rephrase the information given For questions that ask about words in context, define the word first in your head (or on scrap paper, whichever is easier) in the context of the sentence or paragraph, without looking at the answer choices. Remember, your rephrasing does not have to be elegant as long as it conveys the meaning. For instance, take a look at example C: "She thinks I have a power that she doesn’t have and this brings out her envy and bad humor." In this line, humor most nearly means†¦ My thought process: Let me replace the word with one that keeps the meaning of the sentence. â€Å"She thinks I have a power that she doesn’t have and this brings out her envy and bad state of mind.† Okay, that makes sense and is what the original passage said. For questions that ask you to take a paragraph and choose the best answer that describes it, answer the question in your own words before looking at the answer choices. See example D: My thought process: Question is asking about what researchers thought about the brain. Okay, what does the paragraph say? We need a "new view of the brain" that includes the idea that the brain is "dynamic", "active", and "adaptive," NOT "programmed and static." So medical researchers used to think the brain didn’t change, but now they think it does. Okay, got it, now what're my answer choices? Strategy 2: Cross out answers that clearly don’t fit Sometimes, you can get to the right answer just by knowing what the wrong answers are. This is an especially useful strategy if there's an answer choice with a word that you don't know the meaning of. If you know that the other three answers are definitely wrong, it doesn't matter that you don't know what the meaning of the fourth answer is; by process of elimination, it must the correct choice. Let's take a look at this strategy in the context of example C, from before: My thought process: Choices are personality, whim, mood, and comedy. I rephrased the sentence asâ€Å"She thinks I have a power that she doesn’t have and this brings out her envy and bad state of mind.† Which choice is closest to â€Å"state of mind?† Personality: not really. Whim: No. Mood: yes. Comedy: no. The answer must be C. mood. This strategy still works if you are trying to sum up the meaning of a paragraph in one word. I'll copy and paste example D again, so you don't have to scroll back up: My thought process: The choices are dynamic, unchanging, paradoxical, or creative. My rephrasing of the paragraph was that medical researchers used to think the brain didn’t change, but now they think it does. Which of the choices are closest to meaning "didn't change" or "not changing"? Well, unchanging, obviously. What about the others? Dynamic is what they say the NEW view should be, so no. Paradoxical: there’s nothing about that in the text. Creative: nothing about that in the text. Answer must be B. unchanging. Strategy 3: (Optional) Plug the definition back in This strategy works best for the "here's the word, what's the meaning?" questions, because word-for-word substitutions are a lot simpler than word-to-sum-up-entire-paragraphs-of-information substitutions. Let's take one more look at example C, a "here's the word, what's the meaning?" question: "She thinks I have a power that she doesn’t have and this brings out her envy and bad humor." In this line, humor most nearly means†¦ My thought process: â€Å"She thinks I have a power that she doesn’t have and this brings out her envy and bad mood.† Yeah, that seems right. But I’ll double check: â€Å"She thinks I have a power that she doesn’t have and this brings out her envy and bad personality.† That doesn’t really make sense – why would your personality need to be brought out? No. Especially when â€Å"mood† works better in this sentence. Get Plugged In by Rennett Stowe, used under CC BY 2.0. Whew. Where Do I Go From Here? Are these strategies fine in theory, but you always run out of time on real ACT Reading sections? Discover how to avoid that terrible fate here. Want more in depth guides like this? Read our other guides on Big Picture, Detail, Function, and Inference ACT Reading questions, as well as our deep dive into ACT Reading paired passages. And subscribe to this blog on the upper right. What are the other types of questions you’ll find on the ACT, and what’s the best way to read the passage to answer them? We have strategies for reading passages effectively. Want a breakdown of all the skills you’ll need to excel on the ACT Reading? Read about what's actually tested on ACT Reading. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Reading lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

The abuse of power Essays

The abuse of power Essays The abuse of power Essay The abuse of power Essay Danforths status does not change during the play as he is a judge but it can be argued that he is a judge that does not listen to sense and evidence, and will believe anything. The final character I am going to focus this essay on is Mary Warren. Marys character does not manipulate others but is manipulated herself. In comparison to Abigail, Mary can be seen as weak and fragile. She is mainly manipulated by Abigail throughout the play. Abigail: (Shivering visibly. ) It is a wind, a wind! Mary Warren: Abby, dont do that! In my opinion, Arthur Miller created such a character so the audience can easily view the lengths Abigail goes to, to influence and control a situation that could end up unfavourably for her. This illustrates how selfish she is as a person and because of Mary Warren, it helps us to understand the character of Abigail. Danforth, who always seems to believe Abigail, turns against Mary Warren, who was a part of the group of girls accusing people in the public of using witchcraft, and asks Mary Warren about what she is supposedly doing to Abigail, Danforth: (Himself engaged and entered by Abigail. ) Mary Warren, do you witch her? I say to you, do you send your spirit out? This then eventually causes John Proctor to prove to Danforth that Abigail can not be trusted by telling everyone what has happened between him and Abigail. Mary, as a character, is not strong enough to stand up to a character like Abigail for a fear of what could happen to her. This shows us that the point of Marys character is to show the audience Abigails evil qualities and possibly what Abigail is capable of to protect herself. In conclusion, Abigail had the ability to push around anybody, something she would not have been able to do if the trials for witchcraft had not taken place. Abigail is possibly the most manipulative character in modern literature. By creating Abigail, I believe that Arthur Miller was trying to capture the events of what was happening within his own society at the time. From writing this essay, I have learned that this play is a study of power and manipulation as there is a vast amount of it within just one piece of literature. By writing The Crucible, Arthur Miller has shown his readers that if one person is given too much power, no good would possibly come from it.

NorcrossVivaldi essays

NorcrossVivaldi essays The Fitchburg Art Museum is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary. For the first time in this museums history, there is a gallery reflecting its founders passions. The art that is now on exhibit is that of Eleanor Norcross. These pieces are from Norcrosss own collection and long term loans from museums and private collections. This is one of the exhibits that launches a look at pioneering American artists of the 19th century. Norcrosss exhibit is titled, Norcross: Character is Everything. Other permanent exhibits at the Fitchburg Art Museum are that of; Egyptian art and artifacts, European and American paintings and graphics, decorative art, and contemporary American and regional artists. The selections of paintings shown at the Fitchburg exhibit are only a small portion of her entire collection. After her father died in 1898, she had always wished of establishing an art museum in Fitchburg. She began exhibiting her work in the spring of 1886, when she showed a portrait of her father in the National Academy of design in New York, as well as in a Paris salon. She continued to show fairly regularly after that. She displayed her work mostly in French exhibitions. Until 1905 she painted mainly portraits and views of the interior of her studio. While she was living in Washington, she began attending classes at the Art Student League in New York, in either the fall of 1878 or spring of 1879. She spent the winters with her father in Washington and her summers in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. She continued living like this for five years, as she was traveling frequently between Washington, Fitchburg, and New York. In June of 1883, Norcross made the decision to reside in Paris. In the late fall of 1883, she entered the Paris studio of Alfred Stevens. Stevens was a prominent Belgian-born painter who taught a class for women. She remained a student of Alfred Stevens for two years. As a stud...

Achievements of Heron Alexandria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 146

Achievements of Heron Alexandria - Essay Example Heron Alexandria was a man whose some of his ideas were derived from the work of Greek physicist and inventor Ctesibius. Heron Alexandria was a lecture of mechanics, physics, pneumatics and even mathematics at the Museum, where he presented some of his first official research work into the trans-disciplinary approach for exploring regulatory systems, their structures, constants, and possibilities. He was the first engineering to come up with a wind wheel operating machine using wind to extract energy. A force pump also invented by him which is a kind of pump that has a solid piston and valves that are employed to raise a liquid or force it out by mechanical means. The hydraulic machine called Heron’s Fountain which is operated by its energy which is hydrostatic in nature was also invented by the man. He also came up with the formula that the path taken between two points by a ray of light is the path that can be traversed in the least time, which is sometimes taken as a definition of a ray of light. A portion of a solid which is cone or pyramid by chopping the top off a pyramid was also described by Heron Alexandria a method of iteratively or involving repetition, recurrence or repetitiousness for computing the square root which is nowadays known us Heron’s formula for f calculating the area of triangles which sides, relates. Heron Alexandria as an engineer and also a mathematician come up with several formulated method in his book 1, of his treatise Metrica which basically major on areas of triangles, regular polygons of a range of 3 to 12 sides, quadrilaterals, prisms, pyramid, spheres, and other useful shapes in mathematic calculations There is a memorable line in William Shakespeare’s ‘’twelfth night’ ’Methinks this line perfectly describe Heron Alexandria, which fully describes the fact that there is always an inborn ability in some men as contrasts the acquired attributes by others.

Urban Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Urban Tourism - Essay Example The discussion shows that urban tourism does not always directly benefit the neighbourhood. The consequences of tourism growth, much to the opposite is dependent on the kind of tourism development that exists, the community’s intrinsic characteristics and resources, the extra-local circumstance in which they find themselves entrenched, as well as in the way tourism development is organised and operated (Hunning and Novy, 2006). Tourism activity as a matter of fact has stigmatized the neighbourhood in recent years, due to the increased interest of tourists (Sharma, 2004). Within a shortest range of time, Glasgow has evolved into an internationally recognized tourist’s destination. It has attracted people from different social and cultural backgrounds with its historical sites and its neighbourhood slums. Initially, Glasgow had limited and underwhelming number of visitors (Heeley, 2011). This is especially due to the fact that it has all the elements necessary to support successful tourism. It has risen from being a part city to a ‘must visit’ city (Gretzel, Christou and Sigala, 2012). The image of Glasgow can be compared to that of Harlem. Harlem’s improved image is associated with a greater appreciation and valorisation of the neighbourhood’s culture and history. Hunning and Novy suggest that: Harlem’s history as the â€Å"Black Mecca† of the United states as well as its cultural richness ranging from the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance to the community’s role as an epicenter of contemporary black culture, are not only sources of local pride and confidence, but are also increasingly recognized as marketable assets to build upon- by actors within and beyond the boundaries (2006, p. 6). A part from the revenue and publicity to the community, tourism has shaped Glasgow’s reputation and shaped awareness of the public and other influential actors within the town. Tourism is

Quality Assurance Procedure With Regard To Student's Ability-Based Essay

Quality Assurance Procedure With Regard To Student's Ability-Based Assessment - Essay Example This paper will explore an analysis of quality assurance with regard to Student ability-based assessment. The paper will also develop and examine the underlying issues and causes that trigger student’s ability-based assessment as a way of quality assurance in college. Student’s Ability-Based Assessment Institutions of higher learning for adults are very complex and dynamic. It is, thus, necessary to carry out student ability-based assessments for lecturers to be able to understand whether what they teach in the classroom is being understood by the students. Student ability-based assessment is seen to lead to program assessment. Wilkin (2000 p.18) notes that the ultimate goal is not only to determine the student’s competency but also to determine corrective actions that may be taken to ensure that competency is reached. Student assessment scores are also used by the college as a measure of yearly progress (Denton and Brown 2009 p.217-229). Cicchelli and Ashby-Davi s (2011) argues that one of the major determinants of achievement of the learning task is to be able to establish the cognitive-entry characteristics of a person. Therefore, it is important to assess such entry characteristics before issuing instructions since many lecturers today are faced with teaching exceptional students and adults in the regular classroom. What triggered the introduction of student ability-based assessment in my college was the fact that a number of students were found only to show competencies in some of the subjects without due regard to the others. For example, in a course that exhibits two abilities as outcomes targets, some students were found to perform superbly in one, in which they even obtain a grade (â€Å"A†) but could completely show a big contrast in the other with a grade â€Å"F†. In some situations, the overall grade of some students would reflect an average performance of grade â€Å"C† giving the student opportunity to pro gress through the curriculum. However, the truth of the matter is that the student lacks the ability to be deemed necessary by the faculty of the college. For this reason, the college administration, through assessment division, deemed it necessary for student assessments to be done as a quality assurance procedure so that a curriculum based on the student’s ability can be introduced as suggested by Denton and Brown (2009 p.217-229). The introduction of student ability-based assessment was also to enable the college set a curriculum that is able to nature students with competence in their areas of study that meet labor market demands. This is after a survey showed that many graduates of the college lacked expected competency that meets the skills demanded in the labor market. The initial perception among the students was that the assessment was being carried out as a normal exam test procedure. It was until late that students came to discover that it was a way of examining in dividual student competency so that the college administration could come up with student curriculum validation procedures that meet the skills required in the labor market. Analysis of the Incident Wilkin (2000 P.6) argues that national demand for educational accountability has triggered interest in a number of assessment techniques through which institutions of learning can demonstrate responsibility and effectiveness. Ability-based education is such an approach used as

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 27

Management - Essay Example This is a motivational approach with significant gain on its overall governance performance. On the side of service delivery, such a conducive working environment has significantly boosted the spirit of the staff to deliver quality services. According to the customer feedback data, it can be seen that efficiency and reliability characterize the company in as far as its interaction and relationship with customers is concerned. In regard to past the past accident that involved the company’s train in 2005, there has been significant change approaches to address any possibility of a similar scenario (Schaeffer 36). This has been incorporate to organization culture that emphasizes human welfare above profit maximization motive. Communication among departments is considered critical in co-ordination of various activities to ensure consistency in service delivery. This boosts the overall interpersonal relations within the workforce hence improved productivity. The company has a strong customer care services and this promotes its image and public relations. This is critical management principle that emphasizes use of communication to facilitate efficiency in the organization