Vocabulary in context and details

English (Précis and Composition) · Comprehension. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

In a vocabulary-in-context question you do not need to know the word already. The passage explains it. Writers follow a hard word with examples, a restatement or a contrast, and these are your context clues.

Cover the word, read the sentences around it, and put your own simple word in the gap. Then choose the option closest to your word and read the sentence again with it in place.

Detail questions ask what the passage states. Find the exact sentence and match it; do not answer from memory. Some ask you to separate fact from opinion. A fact can be checked: a date, a length, a number. An opinion is a judgement, and words such as best, weakest, beautiful and should reveal it.

Rules to remember

Example clue: a colon, such as or for example, followed by instances that show the meaning.
Contrast clue: but, yet, unlike or although point to the opposite of the word.
Restatement clue: the next sentence says the same thing in plainer words.
Many words have several meanings; choose the one that fits this passage, not the commonest one.
A fact can be proved true or false: figures, dates, names, measurements.
An opinion judges: it uses value words (finest, dull, wrong) or should and ought.
A sentence that reports an opinion (critics say, residents believe) is evidence of a view, not proof that the view is true.

Common mistake

Candidates pick the meaning they know best for a word without testing it in the sentence, and they treat a reported claim as a fact. Always substitute your choice and reread.

Worked example

The old clerk was parsimonious: he reused envelopes, walked four miles to save a bus fare, and counted the matches in every box. Here parsimonious most nearly means: A careless, B energetic, C extremely unwilling to spend, D very poor.

The colon introduces three examples that explain the word.
All three show a man avoiding even the smallest expense.
D is tempting, but the passage shows his habits, not his income.
Put C in place: the old clerk was extremely unwilling to spend. It fits all three examples.

Answer: C, extremely unwilling to spend.

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