Gruber's Word Master for Standardized Tests: The Most Effective Way to Learn the Most Important Vocabulary Words for the SAT, ACT, GRE, and More!

VOCABULARY BUILDING THAT IS GUARANTEED TO RAISE YOUR STANDARDIZED TEST SCORE

Knowing Word Meanings Is Essential for a Higher Standardized Test Score

Improving your vocabulary is essential if you want to get a high score on standardized tests. We shall explain why this is so.

Almost all standardized test takers come across many tough words, whose meanings they do not know. These students lose many points because if they do not know the meanings of the words in the questions, they aren’t able to answer the questions confidently—and they are likely to answer incorrectly.

We must also bring to your attention the fact that several tough words show up in the Reading Comprehension passages of every standardized test. Knowing the meanings of these difficult words will, of course, help you to understand the passages better. It follows that knowing what the passages are about will help you get many more correct answers for the Reading Comprehension questions that appear in standardized tests.

Ten Steps to Word Power

1. Study vocabulary lists. This book has just the list you need for standardized test preparation. The 2300 Vocabulary Word Review List begins on page 93 .

2. Take vocabulary tests. Fifty Vocabulary Practice Tests begin on page 149 .

3. Learn those Latin and Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes that make up many English words. It has been estimated that more than half of all English words come from Latin and Greek. Developing Your Vocabulary Through Prefixes, Roots, and Suffixes That Can Give You the Meaning of over 200,000 Words begins on page 11 . Also learn the Hot Prefixes and Roots, page 33 .

4. Have a college-level dictionary at home. Carry a pocket dictionary with you. Refer to a dictionary whenever you are not sure of the meaning of a word.

5. Read—read—read. By reading a great deal, you will encounter new and valuable words. You will learn the meanings of many of these words by context—that is, you will perceive a clear connection between a new word and the words that surround that word. In this way, you will learn the meaning of that new word.

6. Listen to what is worthwhile listening to. Listen to good radio and TV programs. Listen to people who speak well. Go to selected movies and plays. Just as you will increase your vocabulary by reading widely, you will increase your vocabulary by listening to English that is spoken well.

7. Play word games like crossword puzzles, anagrams, and Scrabble.

8. Make sure you learn the Vocabulary Strategies beginning on page 47 .

9. Study the Most Frequent Positive-Negative Standardized Test Words on page 79 .

10. Look at the List of Words Appearing More Than Once on Standardized Tests on page 265 .

No One Can Dispute This Fact!

You will pile up standardized test points by taking advantage of the valuable Vocabulary Building study and practice materials that are offered to you in the following pages of this chapter.

DIAGNOSTIC VOCABULARY TEST WITH ANSWERS

Take this test to find out what strategies you need to increase your vocabulary.

If you get any of these questions wrong, or don’t know the answer, look at the explanation and refer to the strategy or page referenced in the answer. You will see other questions related to that strategy or reference.

1. What is the opposite of PRECURSORY?

A. flamboyant

B. succeeding

C. cautious

D. simple

E. not planned

2. Which two words do not belong with the others?

A. fallible

B. congruous

C. flammable

D. famous

E. exact

3. What is the opposite of EBULLIENT?

A. aggressive

B. tranquil

C. compliant

4. Name words that mean the same as to calm or make better.

5. What is the meaning of ENCROACH?

6. What is the meaning of ELONGATE?

7. Using root meanings, the definition of MANUMIT is:

A. to manufacture

B. to be masculine

C. to set free

Diagnostic Vocabulary Test Answers

1. B—The Gruber list of prefixes, roots, and suffixes can give you the meaning of over 200,000 words. PRE means before; CURS means to run. So PRECURSORY means to run (or go) before. The opposite is running or going after, or succeeding. Vocabulary Strategy 1 (page 49, Example 9).

2. C and D—If we put the prefix in in front of each word, the new word means the opposite of the original word, except for flammable (inflammable has the same meaning as flammable) and famous (infamous has the same meaning as famous, although infamous is famous in a bad way). Latin Prefixes (page 22).

3. B—Think of ebullient as a big-sounding word. The opposite would be tranquil. Vocabulary Strategy 2 (page 54).

4. Abate, accede, accommodate, allay, appease, assuage, comply, concede, conciliate, gratify, mitigate, mollify, pacify, placate, propitiate, quell, satiate—Words That Have the Same Meaning (page 79).

5. To trespass—The 2300 Vocabulary Word Review List (page 93).

6. To make longer or lengthen—Think of the long in elongate. Vocabulary Strategy 3 (page 59, Example 5).

7. C—MAN means hand; MIT means send. So MANUMIT means to send by hand or to set free. Latin and Greek Roots (page 13).

DEVELOPING YOUR VOCABULARY THROUGH PREFIXES, ROOTS, AND SUFFIXES THAT CAN GIVE YOU THE MEANING OF OVER 200,000 WORDS

A Gruber Prefix-Root-Suffix List that Gives You the Meaning of Over 200,000 Words

According to some linguistic studies made, approximately 60 percent of our English words are derived from Latin and Greek. The following Latin and Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes frequently show up in some of the words that appear in Reading Skills passages. Learn these Latin and Greek word parts to increase your reading vocabulary immensely ­and thus score well in your Reading Skills test. These prefixes, roots, and suffixes can give you the meaning of over 200,000 words!

Latin and Greek Roots

The shortest and best way of learning a lan­guage is to know the roots of it; that is, those original primitive words of which other words are formed.

—Lord Chesterfield

Roots are parts of words that come from other languages—chiefly Latin and Greek. These roots are used as important building blocks of many of our English words. As you study the following list of Latin and Greek roots, have a dictionary by your side. Look up the meanings of the word examples that are given with the roots, if you do not know what the word examples mean.