Vocabulary in context

The one move

Cover the hard word. Read the sentence without it and ask: what has to go in that gap for this sentence to make sense? Then check the options against that, not against your memory of the word.

You are not being tested on whether you know the word. You are being tested on whether you can read the sentence around it.

Try it · 1 of 3

The path was so treacherous after the rain that the guides turned everyone back.

What does treacherous mean here?

Four clues worth hunting for

• Contrast — but, however, although, unlike, whereas. The answer is roughly the opposite of something already in the sentence.
• Result — so, therefore, which meant, so … that. The consequence tells you how strong the word has to be.
• Example — such as, for instance, including. The examples quietly define the word for you.
• Restatement — that is, in other words, or a pair of dashes. The sentence hands you the definition outright.

When you have no idea at all

Ask one easier question: is this word approving or critical? You can usually feel the charge of a sentence even when the word is a stranger.

Cross out every option with the wrong charge. Two of four typically go straight away, and you have turned a guess into a coin toss you understand.

The trap that catches everyone

When a word has two meanings, the famous one will always be offered. A grave error is a serious one, not a burial. A novel idea is a new one, not a book. A spare figure is thin, not extra.

If an option matches the meaning you already knew, that is a reason to check it harder, not a reason to pick it.

1. 'The instructions were so convoluted that even the teacher gave up halfway.' Convoluted means —

2. 'Although the review was scathing, the director thanked the critic for it.' Scathing means —

3. 'She kept a spare frame even after months of good meals.' Spare here means —

4. 'The soil there is arid — dry, dusty and hostile to almost every crop.' Which clue type gives the answer away?