Unit 2　Environment

Section I　Focus on Building Word Power

Developing a strong vocabulary has many benefits. Increasing the vocabulary increases the ability to think critically about new information. A large vocabulary is more specifically predictive and reflective of high levels of reading achievement. Enlarge your vocabulary while sharpening your comprehension skills and you'll be amazed at your increased ability to understand and remember what you read.

What do you do when you come across an unfamiliar word? Do you just skip over it? Or do you pick up your dictionary and look for the definition? The first method is of course not recommended. Yet turning to the dictionary every time also has drawbacks. Looking up too many words can hurt your concentration. If you look up too many words, you can lose track of where you were on the page.

There are two important ways readers can try to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words without having to immediately consult a dictionary.

Pay Attention to Context Clues

Authors use context clues in the writing to help the readers define an unfamiliar word, that is, to search the context, or setting, of the word to see if it contains a clue or clues to word meaning. Frequently, the sentence or passage in which the word appears can help you determine an approximate definition that allows you to keep reading without interruption. There are different types of context clues as follows:

1) Example Clues

As you already know, the context of an unfamiliar word sometimes provides you with an example of the behavior or thinking associated with the word. Here's one sentence in which an example can lead you to the definition of the word "ambivalent":

His feelings for his cousin were ambivalent: Sometimes he delighted in her company; at other times, he couldn't stand the sight of her.

What's an example of ambivalent feelings? They are in conflict with one another. Because this is an example of what it feels like to be ambivalent, we can infer the following approximate definition: To be ambivalent is to experience conflicting emotions.

2) Contrast Clues

Context clues can also tell you what a word does not mean. Fortunately, knowing what a word doesn't mean can often lead you to a good approximate definition. Here's an example of a passage that provides a contrast clue:

As a child, she liked to be alone and was fearful of people; but as an adult, she was remarkably gregarious.

This sentence suggests that someone who is gregarious does not exactly flee the company of others. In fact, the sentence implies just the opposite: People who are gregarious like to be in the company of others. Thus, "liking the company of others" would be a good approximate definition.

In addition to knowing what a contrast clue is, you should also know that words such as but, yet, nevertheless, and however frequently introduce reversal or contrast clues. These words are all transitions—verbal bridges that help readers connect ideas. The transitions mentioned here tell readers to be on the lookout for a shift or change in thought.

3) Restatement Clues

To avoid tedious word repetition, authors often use a word and then follow it with a synonym, a word or phrase similar in meaning:

The journalist had the audacity to criticize the president to his face. Oddly enough, her boldness seemed to amuse rather than irritate him.

In this case, the author doesn't want to overuse the word "audacity", so she follows it with a synonym, "boldness" restating the word in language readers can understand and provides them with a definition.

4) General Know ledge Clues

Example, contrast, and restatement context clues are important. However, some context clues are not so obvious. Often your know ledge of the situation or events described will be your only real clue to word meaning. The following passage illustrates this point:

For months he had dreamed of being able to redeem his medals. He had been unable to think of anything else. Now, with the vision of the medals shimmering before him, he hurried to the pawnshop.

None of the context clues previously discussed appears in the passage. However, your general know ledge should tell you that the word "redeem", in this context at least, means "reclaim" or "recover". Most people go to a pawnshop to buy or to sell, and the man described as hurrying to the pawnshop probably wouldn't be in such a rush to sell something he had dreamed of for months. He is going to buy back what he has already sold.

Know and Understand Word Parts

Knowing word parts allows readers to make an educated guess regarding the meaning of the word. This strategy is known as the word-part analysis. There are three primary word parts: roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

Roots give words their fixed meaning. Prefixes and suffixes can then be attached to the roots to form new words. For example, the following words are all based on the root spec, which means "look" or "see": respect, inspection, spectacles, speculation.

Prefixes are word parts that appear at the beginning of words and modify the root meaning, as in "include" and "exclude" or "invoke" and "revoke".

Suffixes are word parts that appear at the end of many words. Although suffixes do occasionally affect word meaning, they are more likely to reveal what part of speech a word is, as in "quickness" and "quickly". Words ending in ness are usually nouns. Those ending in ly are usually adverbs.

Combine Forces: Use Context Clues and Word Parts

Although recognizing word parts and using context clues are, by themselves, effective methods of determining meaning, they are even more powerful when combined. Take for example, the following sentences: "I can't imagine a more credulous person. He actually believed I saw a flying saucer on the way home." To a degree, knowing that the root cred means "belief" and the suffix ous means "full of" are helpful clues to meaning. We can start off, then, by saying that to be credulous is to be "full of belief". Yet what exactly does that mean? You can imagine a bottle full of juice or wine, but how can a person be "full of belief"?

This is where the context comes in. Look at the example clue the author offers: "He actually believed I saw a flying saucer on the way home." Apparently, a credulous person is likely to believe a story that most people might laugh at or question. After a closer look at the context, we can come up with a more precise definition of "credulous": gullible or easily fooled.

A know ledge of word parts can also help you sharpen or improve an approximate definition derived from the context. Suppose you are not sure how to define the word "ambiguous" in a sentence like this one: "The finest poems are usually the most ambiguous, suggesting that life's big questions defy easy answers." Relying solely on the context, you might decide that "ambiguous" means puzzling or difficult. Those definitions are certainly acceptable. But once you know that the prefix ambi means both, you could make your definition more precise by defining "ambiguous" as open to more than one interpretation, which would, in fact, be a better definition.