Vocabulary in Context

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT
This is part of a series of TOEFL Reading Question Types. In today’s post, we will discuss a
"Vocabulary" question. As a way to test your knowledge of academic words and phrases,
the Vocabulary Question type on the test is fairly straightforward. In the passage, one or two
words will be underlined, and you will be asked to choose an option that is closest in meaning
to those underlined. The best way to succeed on this question type is to know as many
vocabulary words as possible, but if you really don't know the meaning of the word, we have
3 simple strategies that can help you conquer this type of question.
Vocabulary in Context
How to identify the question What is ….?
What is the meaning of ….?
What is true about…?

Types of clues Punctual : comma, parentheses, dashes
Restatement : or, that, in other words,
Example : such as, for example,
Where to find the answer Information to help you determine what

something means will generally be found
after the punctual clue, the restatement clue,
or the example clue.
How to answer the question 1. Find the word in the passage
2. Locate any structural clues
3. Read the part of the passage after the
structural clue carefully
4. Eliminate any definitely wrong
answer and choose the best answer
from the remaining choices.
Strategy 1: Connect the word to the one you already know
This strategy means you can always try to connect the unknown word with a word in the
same sentence that you do know. Let's look at an example:
The assessment of past rises and falls in sea level requires study of submerged land surfaces
off the coast and of elevated beaches on land. Raised beaches are remnants of former
coastlines at higher levels relative to the present shoreline and visible, for instance, along the
California coast north of San Francisco, the height of a raised beach above the present
shoreline, however, does not generally give a straightforward indication of the height of a
former sea level.
The word "remnants" in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. remains
B. regions
C. pints
D. origins
The answer is [A]. We know the meaning of the word “former”, so you can probably guess
the answer is related to the meaning of “former”.
Paragraph: The assessment of past rises and falls in sea level requires study of submerged
land surfaces off the coast and of elevated beaches on land. Raised beaches are remnants of
former coastlines at higher levels relative to the present shoreline and visible, for instance,
along the California coast north of San Francisco, the height of a raised beach above the
present shoreline, however, does not generally give a straightforward indication of the height
of a former sea level.
Strategy 2: Understand through context
Understanding the context of a passage is another helpful strategy for capturing the meaning
of the highlighted word in this type of question. Let's look at an example:
At night, the solar energy (stored as vast quantities of heat in city buildings and roads) is
slowly released into the city air. Additional city heat is given off at night (and during the day)
by vehicles and factories, as well as by industrial and domestic heating and cooling units. The
release of heat energy is retarded by the tall vertical city walls that do not allow infrared
radiation to escape as readily as does the relatively level surface of the surrounding
countryside. The slow release of heat tends to keep nighttime city temperatures higher than
those of the faster-cooling rural areas.
The word "retarded" in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. disguised
B. added to
C. made possible
D. slowed down
The answer is [D]. Let's first simplify the meaning of the sentence that contains the prompt
word.
The release of heat energy is retarded by the tall vertical city walls that do not allow infrared
radiation to escape as readily as does the relatively level surface of the surrounding
countryside.
The tall vertical city walls are doing something to the heat energy because they do not allow
infrared radiation to escape.
Now we can use context to answer. So what are they doing? It’s going to be something
similar to “not allowed”, so we can eliminate answer choices [B] and [C]. Can heat energy be
disguised? Maybe, but it doesn’t seem to match up quite right, making [D] our best choice
here. So the sentence is saying that the city walls slow down the heat energy, which fits with
the rest of the passage.
Strategy 3: Check if the word is an adjective, adverb, verb, or noun and

eliminate incorrect choices
The third strategy is Check if the word is an adjective, adverb, or noun and eliminate
incorrect choices. Keep in mind this strategy is only to help you eliminate incorrect choices.
You still need to rely on other techniques to solve this question. Let's look at an example:
Several dinosaur fossil localities preserve coprolites. Coprolites yield unequivocal evidence
about the dietary habits of dinosaurs. Many parts of plants and animals are extremely
resistant to the digestive systems of animals and pass completely through the body with little
or no alteration. Study of coprolites has indicated that the diets of some herbivorous
dinosaurs were relatively diverse, while other dinosaurs appear to have been specialists,
feeding on particular types of plants. The problem with inferring diets from coprolites is the
difficulty in accurately associating a particular coprolite with a specific dinosaur.
The word "unequivocal" in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. deniable
B. unambiguous
C. unclear
D. largely
(B) is the correct answer, meaning leaving no doubt. Using this strategy, we know that the
word “unequivocal” is an adjective, so we can eliminate choice (D) largely, which is an
adverb. Now, le's use context to answer. Both “deniable” and “unclear” carry a negative
meaning, but the rest of this passage clearly describes what evidence scientists found from
coprolites. Therefore, (A) and (C) can be eliminated.

Vocabulary in Context

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VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

What is the meaning of ….?

What is true about…?

Restatement : or, that, in other words,

Example : such as, for example,

Where to find the answer Information to help you determine what

The word "remnants" in the passage is closest in meaning to

Strategy 2: Understand through context

The word "retarded" in the passage is closest in meaning to

Strategy 3: Check if the word is an adjective, adverb, verb, or noun and

The word "unequivocal" in the passage is closest in meaning to

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