Expanding Your Word Knowledge

Expanding Your Word Knowledge

Understand the concept

All of the word study activities you’ve done this year have helped you to expand your word knowledge, unlock the meanings of new words, and apply your word skills to new situations. Now you need to take responsibility for applying this knowledge to your daily life.

Continue to read and listen actively and to keep track of new words you discover. Remember the following tips that can help you build your vocabulary:

When you encounter an unfamiliar word, use one of these techniques to determine its meaning

• Keep a word study notebook

• Use PAVE to learn and practice using new words

• When you encounter an unfamiliar word, use the following techniques to determine its meaning:

– Examine context clues – Break the word into its parts

– Check for diagrams, footnotes, and other text support – Look the word up in a dictionary

– Ask for help

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I s E A

Use one or more of the strategies above to determine the meaning of the underlined word in the sentence below. Then, on your own paper, create a word study notebook page for the word. Include the word’s definition, pronunciation, and origin, along with an example sentence or drawing to help you remember it.

Rather than try to talk over her students, Mrs. Karasarides stood quietly at the front of the room until the kerfuffle died down.

Become a collector of exotic, colorful words, and talk about the words you are learning. Discussing the meanings of new words will help you remember them. Not only will you be able to express more precisely what you mean, but you will be able to entertain your friends with unusual terms. You will also be helping to preserve the English language in all its variety.

You can learn new vocabulary by listening to people talk. The key is to pay attention to how words are used in context.

Tip

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I s E B

Here are some quirky words to add to your vocabulary. Write a sample sentence for each word.

1. finagle: get by indirect means or by trickery

2. glabrous: smooth, even

3. bursiform: purse-shaped

4. puce: brownish-purple

5. carp: nitpick or complain about trivial things

6. sully: soil, stain, or defile

7. majuscular: a large letter, such as a capital

8. purfle: decorate the edge or border

Once you learn a new word, try to use it several times within the next few days so that you become comfortable with it.

Tip

Create a word study website.

Sites such as geocities.yahoo.

com and www.cybersoup.com offer free webspace for personal and educational pages. You can include lists of unusual words, words that have interesting sounds, word games, slang dictionaries, and many other word wonders.

Just for Fun

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

LEvEL Iv, UnIt 6

78 Exceeding the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling © EMC Publishing, LLC

Time Out for Test Practice

Using Word Attack skills on standardized Tests

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

from Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

The history of life on earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings. To a large extent, the physical form and the habits of the earth’s vegetation and its animal life have been molded by the environment. Considering the whole span of earthly time, the opposite effect, in which life actually modifies its surroundings, has been relatively slight. Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species—man—acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.

During the past quarter century this power has not only increased to one of disturbing magnitude but it has changed in character. The most alarming of all man’s assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials. This pollution is for the most part irrecoverable;

the chain of evil it initiates not only in the world that must support life but in living tissues is for the most part irreversible. In this now universal contamination of the environment, chemicals are the sinister and little-recognized partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world—the very nature of its life. Strontium 90, released through nuclear explosions into the air, comes to earth in rain or drifts down as fallout, lodges in soil, enters into the grass or corn or wheat grown there, and in time, takes up its abode in the bones of a human being, there to remain until his death. Similarly, chemicals sprayed on croplands or forests or gardens lie long in soil, entering into living organisms, passing from one to another in a chain of poisoning and death. Or they pass mysteriously by underground streams until they emerge and, through the alchemy of air and sunlight, combine into new forms that kill vegetation, sicken cattle, and work unknown harm on those who drink from once pure wells. As Albert Schweitzer has said, “Man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation.”

_____ 1. Interaction most likely means A. back and forth action or effect.

B. exchange of goods.

C. avoidance.

D. conversation among two or more parties.

_____ 2. A synonym for magnitude is A. depth.

B. size.

C. government.

D. building.

_____ 3. A synonym for lethal is A. loyal.

B. damaging.

C. deadly.

D. significant.

_____ 4. The word that comes closest to the meaning of irrecoverable is

A. pollution.

B. universal.

C. irreversible.

D. sinister.

_____ 5. Alchemy most likely means A. supernatural power.

B. reference to literature or history.

C. incredible danger.

D. method of transformation.

Analogies

_____ 1. GOOD : ANGELIC ::

A. bad : poor B. glad : joyous C. mean : human D. sweet: musty _____ 2. GRIEF : DOLEFUL ::

A. melancholy : hopeful B. greed : successful C. anger : wrathful D. reaction : involuntary _____ 3. POLYGLOT : LANGUAGE ::

A. teacher : students B. handyman : odd jobs C. polygamist : children D. mentor : drills

_____ 4. CONQUER : SUBJUGATE ::

A. esteem : respect B. slander : vilify C. discern : observe D. ponder : deliberate _____ 5. MUFFLE : SILENCE ::

A. cover : report B. sound : alarm C. cry : hear D. stymie : defeat

sentence completions

_____ 1. Unruly people will often become _____ if they are treated with _____

by those around them.

A. angry…kindness B. calm…respect C. peaceful…abuse D. dangerous…love

_____ 2. British _____ in India resulted in widespread nonviolent _____

throughout the country.

A. investment…revolt B. oppression…cooperation C. racism…reform

D. colonialism…uprisings _____ 3. _____ believe that war is _____.

A. Hawks…futile B. Protesters…urgent C. Pacifists…unnecessary D. Generals…archaic

_____ 4. Although reviewers considered his work _____ when it first appeared, the writer is now _____ for his literary accomplishment.

A. insignificant…revered B. derivative…dismissed C. brilliant…lauded D. lucid…vilified

_____ 5. As a staunch _____ of our right to leisure time, Jed had few _____.

A. proponent…friends B. advocate…defenders C. opponent…duties D. defender…equals

level Iv

80 Exceeding the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling © eMC Publishing, llC

Lesson 1: Keeping a Word Study Notebook, page 1

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

Responses will vary. Students should include the pronunciation, origins, definition, and a sentence illustrating the meaning of the word they have chosen. They may also include a drawing.

E x E r c I S E B

Responses will vary.

Lesson 2: Word Study Skills in reading, page 3

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

1. The word fetal probably refers to the unborn baby.

2. The words pregnant and development gave clues to the word’s meaning.

E x E r c I S E B

1. exist together relatively peacefully 2. set in motion

3. badly adapted or poorly suited to an environment

4. a chord consisting of four notes (with an interval of a perfect fourth between first and last note)

5. the study of speech sounds

E x E r c I S E c

1. fragment, portion 2. a net for catching fish 3. having a smooth, rich flow

4. a woman’s ornate cap popular in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries 5. deficient in brightness; dull, gloomy

Lesson 3: PAVE—Predict, Associate, Verify, Evaluate, page 5

Try It Yourself

Responses will vary. Definitions for each word are given.

1. to disqualify oneself to avoid conflict of interest

2. a vigorous or rapid projection of many things at once

3. lying down

4. modest, free from ostentation or elegance 5. animal life

Lesson 4: Using context clues, page 7

Try It Yourself

1. The author uses examples to indicate that archetypal means “an idea shared among members of a culture or other group.”

2. The author uses restatement to define cairns as “monuments consisting of piled stones.”

3. The second clause clarifies that escalated means “became greater.”

4. A cause and effect clue indicates that if anthropologists can’t make sense of something, that thing is extremely puzzling.

Enigmatic must mean “very puzzling.”

5. The examples indicate that amphibians are animals that are born in water but live on land.

Lesson 5: Using context clues, page 9

Try It Yourself 1. angered 2. natural; innate 3. depressed 4. moving clumsily 5. avoiding the point 6. studied

7. chaos; frenzy 8. hesitant

9. completely unaware 10. highly regarded

Time Out for Test Practice, page 11

Using context clues 1. C. declare again as valid

2. B. having confidence in and exercising one’s own powers

3. D. call to remembrance

4. A. marked by danger or insecurity 5. D. growing rapidly

6. B. quality of enduring 7. A. legacy; tradition

8. C pursuit of or search for something

Answer Key

9. B. shine coming from within 10. D. custom-made

11. D. vague 12. A. calm 13. A. fastener 14. B. fashionable 15. B. easy

16. C. pretended sickness 17. A. extreme poverty 18. D. apologetic 19. B. instinctive 20. C. theory

Lesson 6: reference Materials for Vocabulary Words, page 13

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

1. wallow: to roll about in mud or filth; to be stuck or mired in a situation or state of mind that is difficult to get out of

2. mortify: to destroy the strength or vitality of;

to severly embarrass

3. chasm: a deep, steep-sided valley; a large difference of opinion

4. advocate: (v) to promote an idea, to speak or argue in favor of something; (n) a person who promotes an idea or cause

5. cliché: a tired or trite phrase or expression;

something that has become commonplace

E x E r c I S E B

Responses will vary. Possible answers are given.

1. detrimental

definition: something that causes damage or synonyms: harmful, damaging, injurious, harm

hurtful, risky 2. lament

definition: to express regret

synonyms: mourn, grieve, bemoan, rue, deplore

3. synthetic

definition: something that is not natural or synonyms: artificial, fake, mock, imitation, real

unnatural 4. mentor

definition: a teacher or advisor who takes a particular interest in the training and/or success of a student or young person

synonyms: counselor, tutor, guide, teacher, advisor

5. eloquent

definition: well-spoken; expressive synonyms: articulate, ardent, fluent,

poignant, passionate 6. fiasco

definition: a total mess of a situation

synonyms: debacle, disaster, mess, shambles, calamity

7. profound

definition: having intellectual depth and insight

synonyms: philosophical, thoughtful, weighty, deep, serious

8. exhilaration

definition: a state of excitement and happiness

synonyms: delight, elation, joy, exultation, euphoria

Lesson 7: Words with Multiple Meanings, page 15

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

Sentences will vary. Definitions are given.

1. n., an aromatic spice derived from nutmeg n., a heavy, often spiked staff or club used in

the Middle Ages

2. v., to erect and fix firmly in place n., slope

3. adj., marked by considerable departure from the original; extreme

n., root

E x E r c I S E B

1. (k5m> paund) adj., composed of the union of two or more things

(k@m paund>) v., make larger or of greater intensity

2. (en> tr@ns) n., opening through which one enters

(in trans>) v., to carry away with delight, wonder, or rapture

3. (mi> n@t) n., unit of time comprised of one- sixtieth of an hour

(m8 n2t>) adj., extremely small

level Iv

82 Exceeding the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling © eMC Publishing, llC

Lesson 8: review of Synonyms and Antonyms, page 17

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

Responses will vary. Sample responses are given.

1. synonyms: annoyed, miffed; antonyms:

soothed, calmed

2. synonyms: youthful, juvenile; antonyms:

elderly, old

3. synonyms: grin, leer; antonyms: frown, grimace

4. synonyms: little, tiny; antonyms: large, gargantuan

5. synonyms: alter, modify; antonyms:

reinstate, preserve

E x E r c I S E B

1. ordeals 2. irresponsible 3. cheap 4. deeply 5. seriousness

Lesson 9: connotation and Denotation, page 19

Try It Yourself

1. Strong-willed is more positive than stubborn, which has a negative connotation.

2. Flighty has a negative connotation similar to unreliable, whereas unpredictable is more neutral and can even be positive, as in someone who is not boring.

3. Solitude has a negative or positive connotation, while loneliness is almost always negative.

4. Selective has a positive connotation—as in someone who is careful about what he or she eats, reads, and so on—while picky has a negative connotation.

5. Arrogant has a very negative connotation, whereas self-confident has a positive connotation.

Time Out for Test Practice, page 21

connotation and Denotation 1. D. talkative

2. B. eager 3. A. travel

4. B. dismantle 5. D. want Word Meanings 1. B. purse 2. D. analyze 3. C. scarce 4. D. bizarre 5. C. conservative 6. C. hefty

7. A. irate

8. A. overindulgent

Lesson 10: Spelling correctly, page 22

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

1. balmy

letters that form long e sound: y definition: mild; soothing 2. decipher

letters that form long e sound: e

definition: to figure out what something means

3. keen

letters that form long e sound: ee definition: eager; sharp

4. tedious

letters that form long e sounds: e and i definition: boring; dull; tiresome 5. leaping

letters that form long e sound: ea definition: springing free

E x E r c I S E B

1. vain

letters that form long a sound: ai

definition: useless; excessively interested in one’s own appearance

2. gale

letters that form long a sound: a definition: strong wind

3. array

letters that form long a sound: ay

definition: a display or range of something 4. convey

letters that form long a sound: ey definition: to communicate information 5. heinous

letters that form long a sound: ei definition: shockingly evil

E x E r c I S E c

1. f sound

forest, cliff, laugh 2. sh sound

shining, chute, vacation, cushion, schnauzer 3. j sound

jam, gerbil

Lesson 11: Spelling Patterns I, page 24

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

1. irresponsible 2. gradually 3. cooperate 4. actually 5. unnecessary 6. skiing

E x E r c I S E B

1. the y is preceded by a consonant; the y is preceded by a vowel

2. A. shabbier B. boyish C. airily D. flying E. employer F. coyly

E x E r c I S E c

1. the suffix begins with a vowel; the suffix begins with a consonant

2. A. infringing B. irately C. remoteness D. distributed E. recuperation F. arrangement

3. because the e makes the c or g sound soft rather than hard

4. because otherwise they would be confused with dying and singing

Lesson 12: Spelling Patterns II, page 27

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

1. sopranos 2. crutches

3. apartment complexes 4. Tuesdays

5. bullies 6. videos

7. trenches 8. personalities

E x E r c I S E B

1. crises

2. tomatoes, peppers, chives 3. analyses

4. sheep, children 5. alumni, c’s, s’s.

E x E r c I S E c

1. weird, shrieked, neighbor, disbelief 2. chief, siege, believed, beige

3. conceited, succeeded, receding 4. proceed, conceded, exceed 5. field, intercede

Lesson 13: Spell-check Software and What It Fails to Do, page 29

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

Responses will vary.

E x E r c I S E B

When researching an author, keep in mind that it takes time to find a quality, informative site among the clutter and gigantic mass of the Internet. Web browsers are a great place to start;

most of the sites you will find there will be well organized and in-depth. The best sites are often those that the authors put together themselves.

When a writer creates a home page, you can often find personal messages and anecdotes that allow you to get a real sense of who he or she is.

Good secondary sites include those authorized by the author or his or her agent, literary societies, publishers, and fans of the author.

Time Out for Test Practice, page 31

Spelling 1. A. calendar 2. B. competitive 3. A. embarrasses 4. B. extraordinary 5. B. attach

6. A. heroes 7. A. mischievous 8. B. temperature 9. A. humorous 10. B. repetition 11. A. weird

level Iv

12. B. recommends 13. A. indispensable 14. A. surprised 15. B. harass 16. A. eligible 17. A. cemetery 18. A. feminine 19. B. conscience 20. A. amateur 21. A. parallel 22. B. vengeance 23. A. sponsor 24. A. privilege 25. B. committee

Lesson 14: Morphemes—The Building Blocks of Words, page 33

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

Responses will vary. Sample responses are given.

1. proceed, progress, provision, prologue 2. prospect, introspection, spectacle, spectator 3. project, reject, interject, conjecture, eject 4. specify, dignify, vilify, magnify, glorify

E x E r c I S E B

1. stup, root, stun

–ify, suffix, make or cause to be cause to be stunned

2. pro , prefix, before or forward tract–, root, draw or drag draw forward

3. serv, root, serve

–itude, suffix, quality or state of state of having to serve

4. sheep, base word, animal that tends to follow –ish, suffix, like

–ly, suffix, in such a manner acting in the manner of a sheep

Lesson 15: Prefixes, roots, and Suffixes, page 35

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

1. semiannual: half-year or occurring twice per year

2. disassemble: to take apart or the opposite of assemble

3. bimonthly: every two months

4. interfaith: several faiths or religions joined or considered together

5. midtown: middle of a town or city 6. unknown: not known

E x E r c I S E B

1. fatherhood: the condition of being a father 2. southerner: one who is from the South 3. relationship: the state of relations

4. preparedness: the quality of being prepared 5. scholarly: characteristic of a scholar

6. hopeful: full of hope

E x E r c I S E c

Responses will vary.

Lesson 16: More about Prefixes, page 37

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

Sentences will vary. Definitions are given.

1. area before the room

2. glow or good feeling that lasts after something is over

3. something written after one is dead 4. an indicator before (in this case before the

disease culminates in death)

E x E r c I S E B

Sentences will vary. Definitions are given.

1. to turn away or apart from something 2. to work together

3. to turn or move in separate directions

Lesson 17: More about Suffixes, page 39

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

1. pollution 2. adoptee 3. frigidity 4. bachelorhood 5. correspondence 6. defendant 7. amateur

E x E r c I S E B

1. perishable 2. vigilant 3. contemptible 4. asteroid 5. cosmic

6. crossly: resembling someone who is irritable

7. recklessly: resembling someone who is acting in a heedless manner

8. toward: in the direction of

E x E r c I S E c

Sentences will vary. Words are given.

1. glorify 2. standardize 3. motivate 4. hasten 5. familiarize

Lesson 18: Word Origins, page 42

Try It Yourself

Word definitions and origins will vary slightly;

sentences will vary.

1. sequester: to set apart; segregate

origin: [Middle English sequestren, from Anglo-French sequestrer, from Latin sequestrare, meaning “to hand over to a trustee,” from sequester meaning “third party to whom disputed property is entrusted, agent,” from secus meaning

“beside, otherwise;” akin to Latin sequi meaning “to follow”]

2. banal: lacking originality, freshness, or novelty

origin: [French, from Middle French “of compulsory feudal service, possessed in common, commonplace,” from ban]

3. bestow: to put to use, to put in a particular or appropriate place

origin [Middle English from be- + stowe meaning “place”]

4. clammy: being damp, soft, sticky, and usually cool; lacking normal human warmth origin: [Middle English, probably from clammen “to smear, stick” from Old English clổman; akin to Old English clổg or “clay”]

5. ecology: a branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their environments

origin: [Greek ệkologie, from ửko-/eco- + -logie/-logy]

6. harmony: tuneful sound; the combination of simultaneous musical notes in a chord origin: [Middle English armony, from

Anglo-French armonie, from Latin harmonia, from Greek, “joint harmony,”

from harmos “joint”]

7. hence: from this place; away

origins: [Middle English hennes, henne, from Old English heonan; akin to Old High German hinnan “away,” and Old English hēr

“here”]

8. jeopardy: exposure to or imminence of death, loss, or injury; danger

origin: [Middle English jeopardie, from Anglo-French juparti, jeuparti alternative, literally “divided game”]

9. legacy: a gift by will, especially of money or other personal property; something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past

origin: [Middle English legacie “office of a legate, bequest” from Anglo-French or Medieval Latin; Anglo-French office of a legate, from Medieval Latin legatia, from Latin legatus]

10. zeal: eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something

origin: [Middle English zele, from Late Latin.

zelus, from Greek zēlos]

Lesson 19: root Families, page 44

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I S E A

Sentences will vary. Definitions and explanations are given.

1. take back; recall

2. cause to react; cause to call out

3. marked by or given to forceful, persistent outcry; tending to call out forcefully

4. one that pleads the case of another; one that gives voice to someone else’s interests 5. hobby; unpaid “calling”

E x E r c I S E B

1. bene: good

benefactor: one who does good things for someone else

benign: not harmful

benediction: blessing; something that promotes goodness or well-being 2. mal: bad

malpractice: performing one’s job or practice badly

malefactor: one who does ill toward another;

a criminal

malignant: causing harm malnourished: poorly fed

Spell-Check Software and What It Fails to Do

Vocabulary Questions on Standardized Tests