In long reading passages, you will inevitably encounter unfamiliar words. Whether you can guess their meanings without a dictionary affects your score.
Basic Rules
① Definition patterns:
- be verbs / mean / refer to “A is/means/refers to B”
- Comma + supplementary explanation “a cardiologist, a doctor who specializes in heart problems”
- Explanation with a dash（—）“Echolocation—the ability to navigate by sound—is used by bats.”
② Example patterns:
- for example / for instance / such as / including
“Citrus fruits, such as oranges and lemons, are high in vitamin C.”（citrus fruits = fruits such as oranges and lemons）
③ Antonym relationships（contrast）:
- but / however / on the other hand / while / unlike
“Frugal people save money, while extravagant people spend it.”（frugal and extravagant have opposite meanings）
④ Cause-and-effect relationships:
- because / since / therefore / so / as a result
“Because he is myopic, he wears glasses.”（myopic can be inferred from the fact that he wears glasses）
⑤ Juxtaposed synonyms:
- or / that is
“The patient was lethargic, or sluggish.”（lethargic = sluggish）
A pediatrician is a doctor who treats children.← definition pattern
Many people are nocturnal, that is, active at night.（nocturnal = active at night）
Unlike timid animals, lions are bold predators.← the antonym relationship between timid and bold
She was so terrified that she couldn't move.← terrified can be inferred from the result
Points to Note
① Pay attention to conjunctions and linking words: When but or however appears, the relationship between the preceding and following parts is reversed, so infer an opposite meaning.
② Identify the part of speech first: Use the words before and after an unfamiliar word to decide whether it is a noun, verb, or adjective. “a XXX person” indicates an adjective, while “to XXX something” indicates a verb.
③ Be aware of the topic: In scientific writing, a word tends to have an academic meaning; in stories, it tends to have an emotional meaning.
④ Prefixes and suffixes can also help: un-/in-/dis- indicate negation, -ful means “full of,” -less means “without,” and -able/-ible means “capable of.” “inseparable = in（negation）+ separable（capable of being separated）= unable to be separated.”
⑤ Roots from Latin and Greek: bio-（life）/ geo-（earth）/ chrono-（time）/ phono-（sound）/ photo-（light）/ -logy（the study of）.
- Definition patterns: is/means/refers to/comma + explanation/dash
- Example patterns: such as / for example / including
- Antonym relationships: but / however / unlike / while
- Cause-and-effect relationships: because / so / as a result
- Guess from prefixes, suffixes, and roots as well
Practice
- Guess the meaning of the underlined word from context: A philanthropist, a person who donates money to charity, gave one million dollars to the school.
- Guess the meaning of the underlined word: Although he is taciturn at home, he becomes very talkative at parties.（What does taciturn mean?）
- Guess the meaning of the underlined word: The road was treacherous because of the heavy snow, so we had to drive slowly.（What does treacherous mean?）