Word Knowledge test
20 questions at test level, the last 5 from earlier parts so you do not forget them. One at a time: pick an answer and read why. At the end you see your score and the lesson to review for every miss.
Stark most nearly means:
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A. Say your own word first: a stark room has white walls, a bed and nothing else, so your word is “plain.” Richly decorated is the opposite. Very old comes from where you often meet the word, in pictures of empty old ruins, but a brand-new room can be stark too. Badly built is about quality: a stark room can have solid walls, it just has nothing extra. Stark most nearly means bare and simple.
Disparage most nearly means:
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C. Think of where you hear it: “Do not disparage your teammates’ work.” To disparage is to talk about something as if it were worth little, so your word is “put down.” Praise is the opposite. Compare shares the part par (equal), but comparing only puts two things side by side without calling one worse. Separate comes from reading dis- as “apart,” and nothing is set apart here. Disparage most nearly means belittle.
Lesson: Word parts
Our attempt to push the truck out of the deep mud was abortive: after an hour of trying, the wheels had not moved at all. Abortive most nearly means:
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D. Cover the word and read: an hour of pushing and the wheels did not move, so the attempt got nothing done. Your word: “failed.” Tiring is true of the pushing, but it misses the point of the sentence, which is that it did not work: you can do something tiring that succeeds. Risky has no support: nothing in the sentence is dangerous. Abroad only looks like abortive: both start with ab-. Replace and read: “Our attempt was unsuccessful” keeps the meaning. Abortive most nearly means unsuccessful.
Lesson: The precise meaning
Remunerative most nearly means:
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B. Your own word: a remunerative job pays well, and a remunerative side business brings in real money, so “money-making.” Repeated comes from reading re- as “again,” but nothing happens twice here. Numerous comes from the numer inside it, as in number, but this word comes from a different root, about a gift or a payment. Costly is the wrong direction: costly means it takes money, remunerative means it brings money in. Remunerative most nearly means profitable.
After many parents complained, the school board voted to rescind the new rule about phones in class. Rescind most nearly means:
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A. Cover the word: parents complained about a rule, so the board voted to get rid of it. Your word: “take back.” Approve is the opposite: the board would not approve a rule because people complained about it. Delay is related but weaker: a delayed rule still comes later, a rescinded rule is gone. Repeat comes from reading re- as “again.” Replace and read: “voted to cancel the rule” keeps the meaning. Rescind most nearly means cancel.
Lesson: The precise meaning
Grounded for the weekend, Marcus sat through dinner in sullen silence, staring at his plate and refusing to answer anyone. Sullen most nearly means:
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B. Cover the word: Marcus has just been punished, and he stares at his plate and will not answer. He is unhappy and in a bad mood, so the word is negative: “sulky.” Sleepy could explain the staring, but not the refusing to answer, and being grounded explains the mood, not tiredness. Polite is the opposite: refusing to answer anyone is not polite. Sudden only looks like sullen: same first two letters. Replace and read: “sat in gloomy silence” keeps the meaning. Sullen most nearly means gloomy.
Lesson: Connotation
Emulate most nearly means:
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D. Your own word: young players emulate their favorite athlete; they copy how that athlete plays, hoping to be as good. So “copy.” Admire is close but not the same: admiring is a feeling, emulating is doing what that person does. Mock also copies someone, but to make fun of them: the connotation is negative, and emulate is positive. Embarrass only shares the first letters, em-. Emulate most nearly means imitate.
Lesson: Connotation
After the bakery appeared on the morning news, it was inundated with orders and had to hire three more workers. Inundated most nearly means:
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A. Cover the word: so many orders came in that the bakery needed more workers. Your word: “swamped.” Ignored is the opposite: nobody hires workers because no orders come. Pleased and surprised are how the owners may have felt, but the word tells you how many orders arrived, not how anyone felt about them. Replace and read: “it was flooded with orders” keeps the meaning. Inundated most nearly means flooded.
Lesson: The precise meaning
Circumvent most nearly means:
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B. Use the parts: circum- means around and vent means come, as in convention. To come around something: you circumvent a rule or a traffic jam by finding a way around it. Turn back comes from reading circum- as “turn around”: circumventing gets you past the obstacle, turning back gives up on it. Invent only shares the part -vent. Obey is the opposite of circumventing a rule. Circumvent most nearly means go around.
Lesson: Word parts
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to irascible?
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D. First find what irascible means: an irascible sergeant snaps at people over the smallest things, so “quick to get angry.” Now the question asks for the opposite, so irritable is the trap: it is the synonym, and it is there for anyone who forgot to read the question. Sad is a different feeling, not the opposite: an irascible person is angry, and a calm person can be sad. Irresponsible only looks like irascible: they start with the same letters, ir-. The opposite of irascible is even-tempered.
Lesson: A vocabulary plan
The pugnacious hockey player yelled at the referee, shoved two opponents after the whistle and dared his own coach to bench him. Pugnacious most nearly means:
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A. Cover the word: he yells, shoves players after the whistle and dares the coach to bench him. He wants a fight, so your word is “ready to fight.” Loud fits the yelling, but shoving and daring are about picking a fight, and a person can be loud and happy. Impatient points the right way but is much too mild: an impatient player sighs, he does not shove anyone. Puzzled only looks like pugnacious: both start with pu-. Replace and read: “the aggressive hockey player” keeps the meaning. Pugnacious most nearly means aggressive.
Lesson: Connotation
With only two votes left to count and no way to catch up, the candidate conceded and called her opponent to congratulate him. Conceded most nearly means:
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C. Cover the word: she cannot catch up and she congratulates the other side, so she accepted that she lost. Your word: “gave up.” Argued is what she would do if she did not accept the result. Celebrated is what the winner does, not the loser. Continued comes from the shared start, con-, and the sentence says she stopped. Replace and read: “the candidate admitted defeat” keeps the meaning. Conceded most nearly means admitted defeat.
After three nights without sleep caring for her newborn twins, Dana looked haggard: pale face, dark circles, red eyes. Haggard most nearly means:
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B. Cover the word: no sleep for three nights, a pale face and dark circles under the eyes. Your word: “worn out.” Angry comes from the red eyes, but here they come from no sleep, and nothing she does is angry. Joyful comes from the newborn twins, which are happy news, but the word describes how she looks, and the clues are all tiredness. Old comes from mixing the word up with hag; haggard is about looking worn out, at any age. Replace and read: “Dana looked exhausted” keeps the meaning. Haggard most nearly means exhausted.
Lesson: The precise meaning
Stymie most nearly means:
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D. Your own word: the snowstorm stymied the road crew, and a missing form stymied her transfer to a new base. In both, something got in the way and the plan could not go forward, so your word is “stop.” Help is the opposite. Attack is a different action: a missing form can stymie a plan without attacking anyone. Stain only looks like stymie: both start with st-. Stymie most nearly means block.
The volcano has been dormant for two hundred years, but scientists say it could wake up again. Dormant most nearly means:
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A. Cover the word: the volcano is quiet now, but it could wake up, so it is only sleeping. Your word: “resting.” Dead is too strong, and the sentence rules it out: a dead volcano can never wake up again. Dangerous is something you know about volcanoes, but the sentence says it is quiet right now. Frozen has no support: nothing in the sentence is about cold. Replace and read: “the volcano has been inactive” keeps the meaning. Dormant most nearly means inactive.
Lesson: The precise meaning
A camp cook uses 2/3 cup of oil for each batch of pancakes. How many batches can she make with 8 cups of oil?
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D. How many 2/3 cups fit in 8 cups is a division: 8 ÷ 2/3. Dividing by a fraction means multiplying by its flip, 3/2. So 8 × 3 = 24, and 24 ÷ 2 = 12. Check: 12 × 2/3 = 24/3, which is 8 cups. 5 1/3 multiplies 8 × 2/3 instead of dividing, 7 1/3 subtracts the fraction from 8, and 8 2/3 adds it. She can make 12.
A supply truck stops at the motor pool every 14 minutes, and a shuttle stops there every 21 minutes. Both stopped there together at 9:00 a.m. How many minutes later will they next stop there together?
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C. You need the smallest number that both 14 and 21 go into evenly: the least common multiple. List the multiples of the bigger one, 21, 42, 63, and stop at the first one that 14 divides: 42 ÷ 14 = 3. 35 adds the two times, 294 multiplies them (a common multiple, but not the first one), and 7 is the biggest number that divides both, the greatest common factor. They next stop together after 42 minutes.
Lesson: Primes, factors, GCF and LCM
A shoe store raises the price of a $60 pair of work boots by 30%. A month later, the new price goes on sale at 20% off. What is the sale price?
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B. Do one change at a time, each on the price in front of you. 10% of 60 is 6, so 30% is 18, and the new price is 60 + 18 = $78. Now take 20% off $78: 10% is 7.80, so 20% is 15.60, and 78 − 15.60 = $62.40. $66.00 treats the two changes as one 10% raise, but the 20% comes off a bigger price than the 30% went on. $78.00 stops after the raise, and $48.00 only applies the sale. The sale price is $62.40.
Lesson: Percent problems
Specialist Brooks averaged 82 on her first four practice tests. What score does she need on the fifth test to raise her average to 85?
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C. Averages are easier as totals. Four tests at an average of 82 make 4 × 82 = 328 points. Five tests at an average of 85 must make 5 × 85 = 425 points. The fifth test supplies the difference: 425 − 328 = 97. 88 makes up the 3-point gap only once, 100 makes it up for all five tests (5 × 3 = 15, then 85 + 15), though the fifth test only has to cover the first four, and 85 just repeats the goal. She needs 97.
Lesson: Averages, remainders and units
A rectangular garden is 3 feet more than twice as long as it is wide. Its perimeter is 54 feet. What is its area, in square feet?
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C. Call the width w, so the length is 2w + 3. The perimeter goes around twice, so length + width is half of 54, which is 27. Then w + 2w + 3 = 27, so 3w = 24 and w = 8. The length is 2 × 8 + 3 = 19, and the area is 8 × 19 = 152. 629 forgets to halve the perimeter (width 17, length 37), 140 reads the length as 2 × (w + 3) (width 7, length 20), and 19 stops at the length. The area is 152 square feet.
Lesson: Area and perimeter