THINK YOU KNOW YOUR VOCABULARY? potx

THINK YOU KNOW YOUR VOCABULARY? Specialized Words Everyone Needs to Know NEW YORK ® Think_00_i-x.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:48 PM Page iii Copyright © 2009 Learning Express, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by LearningExpress, LLC, New York. Library of Congress Control Number: 2009926366 A copy of this title is on file with the Library of Congress. ISBN: 978-1-57685-687-1 Printed in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For more information or to place an order, contact LearningExpress at: 2 Rector Street 26th Floor New York, NY 10006 Or visit us at: www.learnatest.com Think_00_i-x.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:48 PM Page iv v CONTENTS Introduction: The Top 20 Reasons Why You—Yes, You—Need a Better Vocabulary v Pretest: How Much Do You Know? 1 PART ONE Vocabulary Boot Camp: Just the Basics 7 Day 1 Person, Place, or Thing? Commonly Used Nouns 9 Day 2 It’s Alive! Vivid, Vibrant Verbs 17 Day 3 Coming Close: Studying Synonyms 25 Day 4 When Opposites Attract: Awesome Antonyms 33 Day 5 What’s the Difference? Handling Homophones 39 Day 6 Make It Real: Adding Adjectives 49 Day 7 Make It Real—Again: Time for Adverbs 57 Think_00_i-x.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:48 PM Page v CONTENTS vi PART TWO In No Uncertain Terms: Specialized Vocabularies Everyone Needs to Know 63 Day 8 How Are You Feeling Today? Emotional Terms 65 Day 9 Just the Facts, Ma’am: Mathematical Terms 71 Day 10 Name That Tune: Musical Terms 77 Day 11 On the Hunt: Job Search Terms 83 Day 12 Sign on the Dotted Line: Contract Terms 91 Day 13 Politics on Parade: Political Terms 97 Day 14 The Weather Report: Meteorological Terms 103 Day 15 Where in the World? Geographical Terms 109 Day 16 Pieces and Parts: Mechanical Terms 115 Day 17 Patron of the Arts: Humanities Terms 121 Day 18 In the Doctor’s Office: Medical Terms 127 Day 19 The World Wide Web: Computer Terms 133 Day 20 Does It Take Batteries? Electronic Terms 139 Day 21 The Right Time and Place: Historical Terms 145 Day 22 What’s Cookin’? Culinary Terms 151 Day 23 If You Build It: Construction Terms 157 Day 24 Order in the Court: Legal Terms 163 Day 25 Between Your Ears: Psychological Terms 169 Day 26 It’s a Science: Scientific Terms 175 Day 27 People-Watching: Anthropological Terms 181 Day 28 Play Ball! Sports Terms 187 Day 29 You Design It: Interior Design Terms 193 Day 30 School Days: Educational Terms 199 Posttest: How Much Do You Know Now? 205 Answers 211 Think_00_i-x.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:48 PM Page vi vii INTRODUCTION The Top 20 Reasons Why You—Yes, You— Need a Better Vocabulary E veryone needs a strong, extensive vocabulary. Why, you ask? Simply put, a good vocabulary is something that you’ll use every single day, in one way or another. You’ll meet people all the time who use specialized words, and if you don’t understand them, you may be the one to pay the price. Take a look at the following top 20 reasons for developing a strong vocabulary. You’ll probably find yourself in there somewhere. Having an extensive vocabulary will help you to: 1. do better in school, from taking tests to writing papers. Better grades mean better colleges, better resumes, and better job opportunities. In the end, that can mean a better income and ultimately, more money! 2. impress teachers, bosses, friends, parents, mentors, and other relevant people. 3. understand more quickly and easily any materials you’re given in school or on the job. Think_00_i-x.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:48 PM Page vii INTRODUCTION viii 4. express your emotions and thoughts in a more articulate and accurate way. 5. be less likely to have people catch you off guard when they use words that are unfamiliar to you. 6. communicate easily with a wider variety of people. 7. most likely score higher on tests like the ACT or SAT; higher scores may mean more college opportunities. 8. ace magazine and newspaper quizzes and puzzles. 9. improve your overall self-confidence. 10. avoid feeling lost or confused when talking to experts in different fields. 11. watch PBS documentaries and History Channel shows without running for a dictionary. 12. fill up your conversations with more interesting words or phrases than like, you know, and whatever. 13. avoid being left out of conversations because you’re struggling to figure out what a certain word means. 14. better formulate your ideas, goals, and plans when speaking or writing about them. 15. improve the quality of your letters, memos, e-mails, and maybe even your text messages! 16. read faster because you won’t be slowed down by having to decipher, skip over, or look up unfamiliar words. 17. give stronger, more persuasive speeches whether going for a good grade, convincing your boss to give you a raise, or persuading your parents to let you have a new mp3 player. 18. understand the world better because you’ll have a stronger knowledge of what’s going on around you. 19. keep up with your favorite TV shows because you’ll finish your homework faster. 20. race through this book, laughing maniacally because you know every single word in it! A word about these words: The first thing to know is that almost all of the words are officially considered to be at the eleventh-grade level and up. Some of the words may have more actual definitions than are included here. You’ll mostly find the main definitions of words as they are used in normal conversa- tion, but feel free to look up additional ones at your leisure. Think_00_i-x.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:48 PM Page viii INTRODUCTION ix DO Try This at Home Think your vocabulary is just fine? Try this simple experiment. For the next seven days, every time you read or hear a word you can’t easily define, write it down. This includes words you hear on television as well as in conversations at home, school, and work. Write down any word you find in your textbooks, newspapers, books, magazines, or on the Internet that you can’t easily define. When you’re finished, you may be surprised at how many words you come across on a daily basis that, if you had to define, you couldn’t! Think_00_i-x.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:48 PM Page ix Think_00_i-x.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:48 PM Page x 1 PRETEST: HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW? B efore you begin reading and learning all the new words in this book, test the strength of your vocabulary as it stands right now. This pretest gives you examples of words you’ll find in each lesson. Good luck! Read each statement below and circle the correct answer. 1. The word faction refers to a a. body part. b. clique. c. political party. d. equation. 2. To add decoration or embellishments to something is to a. admonish it. b. chastise it. c. garnish it. d. redress it. Think_01_001-062.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:51 PM Page 1 THINK YOU KNOW YOUR VOCABULARY? 2 3. A more descriptive word for pretty is a. accoutrement. b. belligerent. c. gregarious. d. winsome. 4. Someone who is laconic tends to be a. terse. b. wealthy. c. attractive. d. polite. 5. A person who is admired or worshipped is known as a. an idle. b. an idol. c. an idyll. d. idyllic. 6. A nebulous answer is one that is a. negative. b. gruesome. c. offensive. d. confusing. 7. To behave ignominiously is to act a. dishonorably. b. anxiously. c. logically. d. consistently. 8. A truly miserable person is a. credulous. b. bellicose. c. disconsolate. d. zealous. Think_01_001-062.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:51 PM Page 2 [...]... 12:51 PM Page 14 THINK YO U KNOW YO UR VO CABULARY? 4 To get the party started, you might decide to stand up and read the fantastic _ you wrote as part of earning your honors status in your senior year 5 Your teacher told you that it was so amazingly well written that a new has begun in student essays, although he was rolling his eyes when he said it 6 Even though everyone at your party would... you and your high school buddies decided to get together after you graduated, you would host a(n) _ party 2 If you refused to serve a certain kind of chip dip because you discovered that the company that made it didn’t pay their workers well, you started your own 3 Despite the lack of chip dip, you would make sure to serve more than one for the hot dogs and burgers 13 Think_ 01_001-062.qxd:Essentials... you can’t do so without a verb For a sentence to be complete, you need both nouns and verbs; they work hand in hand Remember that message you left for your parents? Well, if you wrote another one with nouns but no verbs, you d end up with something like the following: John and I the mall Dinner too My job today See? Still, there is no clear message John and you what? What about dinner? What about your. .. money, what would you hope it did as quickly as possible? a accrue b delineate c inveigle d officiate 2 If your muscles start to atrophy, it means you ll get _ a stronger b taller c weaker d older 3 If you were asked to officiate at your sister’s basketball game, it would mean that you were allowed to a play in the game b throw the first ball c sit in the stands d make the rules 4 If your parents... your parents are upset with you, they’re most likely going to _ you a beguile b admonish c inveigle d modulate 21 Think_ 01_001-062.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:51 PM Page 22 THINK YO U KNOW YO UR VO CABULARY? 5 If you are vacillating, it means you are a exhausted b undecided c educated d delighted 6 Your teacher would probably be very upset to find out that you d a plagiarized b... So you can avoid what your teacher might label “vague and abstract terms,” like things or stuff To give you an idea of how synonyms work, I’ve organized this section a little differently Hopefully, it will give you a glimmer of how synonyms can improve your writing and speaking, and show you the many options the English language offers if you just take the time to go beyond the usual “stuff.” 25 Think_ 01_001-062.qxd:Essentials... “stuff.” 25 Think_ 01_001-062.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:51 PM Page 26 THINK YO U KNOW YO UR VO CABULARY? Thesaurus: No, It’s Not a Dinosaur! You already know that a dictionary is for looking up what a word means It may list a synonym of the word, but what if you want to know as many synonyms as possible to enrich your vocabulary? You re in luck A thesaurus does just that Words may be in alphabetical... and speaking They’re where the action is; they tell you what’s happening Without verbs, you d be unable to do anything—or at least, your communication about the things you were doing would be seriously lacking in substance Being able to use a wide variety of verbs when you talk or write will make it far easier to explain what you mean For example, you might write, “The wind blew.” That’s straightforward,... the flavor _ 2 The people who go to the same school as you do are known as kindred _ 3 An exact copy of a document or illustration is a facsimile _ 4 Your neighborhood can be referred to as a metropolis _ 5 A pacifist is unlikely to be interested in negotiation 15 Think_ 01_001-062.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:51 PM Page 16 THINK YO U KNOW YO UR VO CABULARY? Activity 6: CROSS-A-WORD Read each... Think_ 01_001-062.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:51 PM Page 10 THINK YO U KNOW YO UR VO CABULARY? Is there a message there? No! The recipient of the note wouldn’t know where you were going or with whom, when you would return, or what you re doing Just Be Glad Be thankful this is a vocabulary book and not a grammar book If it was, you d see instructions on how nouns relate to appositives, articles, pronouns, . USED NOUNS Think_ 01_001-062.qxd:Essentials style 4/22/09 12:51 PM Page 9 THINK YOU KNOW YOUR VOCABULARY? 10 Is there a message there? No! The recipient of the note wouldn’t know where you were. grade, convincing your boss to give you a raise, or persuading your parents to let you have a new mp3 player. 18. understand the world better because you ll have a stronger knowledge of what’s. of what’s going on around you. 19. keep up with your favorite TV shows because you ll finish your homework faster. 20. race through this book, laughing maniacally because you know every single word