Vocabulary in Context
These questions ask what a specific word means in this passage. They look like Word Knowledge items, but the answer key is different: the right choice is not the dictionary's first definition — it is the one the author is using here.
Many test words have multiple meanings. Bank can be a financial institution, the side of a river, or a tilt in flight. Charge can mean a fee, an electrical state, an accusation, or to rush forward. The wrong-but-common-dictionary choice will be sitting in the answer list to trap students who glance at the word without reading the sentence.
The substitution method: 1. Cover the answer choices. 2. Read the sentence containing the target word, plus one sentence on either side. 3. Predict a one- or two-word replacement that fits the sentence's meaning. 4. Reveal the choices. Pick the closest match to your prediction. 5. Plug the candidate back in. The sentence's meaning should not change.
Use the same four context clues from Word Knowledge: - Definition — the author defines the word nearby (often with or, that is, meaning, or a comma + appositive). - Synonym / restatement — a familiar word in the same sentence carries the same idea. - Antonym / contrast — but, however, unlike flag an opposite, which gives you the meaning by negation. - Inference from situation — the surrounding facts narrow the plausible meanings.
Be alert to figurative language. Passages sometimes use a word in a non-literal sense — crystal-clear evidence, the campaign foundered, a brittle peace. If the literal definition does not fit the sentence, the intended meaning is figurative; pick the choice that captures the idea, not the dictionary entry.
Connotation and tone clues. When a passage praises a subject, target words near the praise carry positive shading; when it criticizes, the same words tilt negative. Ambitious sounds positive in a passage about a successful general and negative in a passage about a reckless executive.