Unit 1
Vocabulary Knowledge for Effective Reading
Guessing Unknown Vocabulary
What do you usually do when you come to a word you do not know in your
reading? Do you:
a. look it up in the dictionary?
b. ask your teacher?
c. ask another student or friends?
d. try to guess what it means?
If your answer a, b, or c, then you are not reading as effectively and efficiently as
you could be. In fact, the best strategy for dealing with an unknown word is to try to
guess what it means. This strategy:
• is fast because you don't interrupt your reading
• helps your comprehension because you stay focused on the general sense of what
you are reading
• helps build vocabulary because you are more likely to remember the words
• allows you to enjoy your reading more because you don't have to stop often
Guessing Meaning from Context in Sentences
When you try to guess the meaning of an unknown word, you use the text
surrounding the word - the context. One sentence may be enough to give you the meaning, or you may
need to use a longer passage.
Example: Do you know what 'misogynist' means? If not, try to make a guess:
A misogynist is_______________________________________________________________
Now read these sentences. Try again to guess what misogynist means:
(a) She realized that her boss was a misogynist soon after she started working for him.
(b) It is difficult for a woman to work for a misogynist. She is never sure of the reasons for
his criticism.
(c) She knew that no woman would ever get a top-level job in a company owned by a
misogynist.
We know from sentence (a) that a misogynist is a man.
From sentence (b) we learn that a misogynist criticizes woman's work.
Then from sentence (c) we understand that a misogynist has negative feelings
about women.
These exercises will help you develop the skill of guessing vocabulary in context,
follow these steps:
• Try to guess the meaning of a new word from context!
• If you can guess the meaning, don't use a dictionary.
• If you can't guess the meaning and the word is essential, you'll need to use a
monolingual (English-English) dictionary!
Exercise 1
Directions: Read the sentences and define each word in bold type based on the context
clue.
1. When it was discovered that the officer had accepted bribes from clients, he resigned
his position and looked for another job.
What does 'resigned' mean?
2. The house we plan to buy is situated in an area of town which is sordid and
overcrowded. The streets are dirty and the buildings look neglected and in need of
painting.
What does 'sordid' mean?
3. In order that certain exotic plants survive in a cold climate they are kept in glass
houses where the heat is greater than normal and water is sprayed over them to
maintain a high humidity.
What does 'humidity' mean?
______________________________________________________________________________
___
4. That's not true! You're a liar. You didn't see a fish in the swimming pool. It's not
possible! There aren't any fish in the swimming pool!
What is a 'liar'?
______________________________________________________________________________
___
5. After listening to a lecture about the creation of the universe, the student became
skeptical of the ideas and theories expressed. He looked for alternative explanations.
What does 'skeptical' mean?
6. When the war started, many people left Rwanda. They lived in big refugee camps in
Zaire and Burundi. Life was hard for the refugees in these camps.
What is a 'refugee'?
What a ‘refugee’ ?
7. Mr. Hudson's secretary was very thorough person. He always did his work carefully,
and he never forgot anything.
What is 'thorough' person?
8. Mrs. Sweeny was ready to retire from her job. She was 65 years old, she was tired of
working and she wanted to have more time at home.
What does 'retire' mean?
9. The witness in court gave an explanationwas so nebulous that no one could
deduce the facts of the case.
What is an 'nebulous'?
10. One stormy night a fishing boat crashed into some rocks. All the people on the boat
perished. No one ever found their bodies.
What does 'perish' mean?
11. The class of children interrupted the lesson by talking and calling out comments to
the teacher until finally he could not accept their obstreperous behavior.
What does 'obstreperous' mean?
12. My mother was an absentminded person. She was always thinking about something
else, so she often forgot things. One day, she went to work with her slippers on!
What is an 'absentminded' person?
Exercise 2
Directions: Read the following paragraph and find the best meaning of each bolded word.
A. George is too fastidious. He's always complaining about something that is not quite the
way he wants it to be. For example, his food must be cooked well but not overdone. He
won't eat any vegetable except corn or any meat except beef. And it is impossible to
buy him any kind of gift - either he already has one or he doesn't want it.
1.
a. easy to please
C. hard to please
b. concerned about health
d. aware of himself
B. After entering the old mine', we hunted for a few specks of gold. After an hour we
were all still empty-handed and so we decided to leave the dark hole in the mountain.
2.
a. a passage dug underground beneath an enemy position
b. a deep hole under the ground where minerals are dug
C. a person from whom one can obtain a great deal of knowledge
d. a metal case containing explosives and is exploded when passing over it
C. You have considered all the facts and are now ready to continue. Many will try to
sway you and you should eschew all other suggestions. Stick to your original plan.
3.
a. admit
b. avoid
c. consider
d. keep
D. England alone has half a dozen easily distinguishable dialect groups. Scotland has
several and the Welsh and Irish have their particular way of enunciating English to say
nothing of their own Celtic tongues. American English is mainly the product of Irish and
West English dialects.
4.
a. spelling
C. writing
b. reading
d. saying
E. Wages paid to employees may be based on the amount of output produced by the
worker piece wage, the amount of time spent on the job or some incentive added to a
time wage or piece wage to reward the employee with extra such as time off or bonus
for exceptional performance.
5.
a. wage
b. reward
C. time
d. money
Exercise 3
Directions: Use context clues to figure out the meaning of the word in bold type. Then
write a synonym or meaning for each in the blank.
RISKS ABOUND FOR SEX WORKERS
He Kou, China - From Lao Cai at the Vietnamese border' with China, all you need is only a
short walk across Kieu Bridge or about 10 minutes on a boat to get to another country. He Kou, a
town in Van Nam in China, is one crowded and busy market with all kinds of merchandise, mostly
cheap consumer goods such as clothes, shoes, blankets, candies, cookies and other necessities
The buyers of these items are Vietnamese merchants from the north - west provinces of
Vietnam such as Lao Cai, Yen Bai and Lai Chau, who will purchase these cheap products and sell
them for a profit back in Vietnam. He Kou is also a hub® through which agricultural products and other
items from Vietnam enter China, and are distributed further into the Chinese domestic® market.
Tourists from many countries, but mostly from Vietnam and China, also flock here, are
making He Kou a bustling town.
Excerpted from Crossing Borders: Reportage from Our Mekong, 2006
1.Border:_____________________________________________________________________________
____
2. Merchandise:
___________________________________________________________________________
3. Necessities:
____________________________________________________________________________
4. Merchants:
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Purchase:
______________________________________________________________________________
6. Hub:
__________________________________________________________________________________
7. Distributed:
____________________________________________________________________________
8. Domestic:
_____________________________________________________________________________
9. Flock:
________________________________________________________________________________
10. Bustling:
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Using Grammar to Guess Word Meaning
Another way context can help you guess meaning is by giving you information about the grammar. When
you find a word you do not know, look at the grammatical structure of the sentence. It will tell you about
the function of the word - as a noun,verb, pronoun, adjective or adverb, etc. Then you have a much
narrower range of choices for guessing the meaning. In each of the following sentences, there is one word
that you probably do not know. Look at the grammatical structure of the sentence and decide whether
the word is a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. Then guess the meaning. Compare your answers with
another student.
Example: The news that John was resigning from his job surprised us all. We simply
couldn't fathom why he wanted to leave now that the company was finally doing so
well.
What is the grammatical function of fathom in this sentence? If you wrote verb,
you were correct. Only a verb makes sense here after couldn't. Now can you guess what fathom means? If
you answered understand or something similar, you were correct.
Exercise 4
Directions: In each of the following sentences, there is one word you probably do not know. Look at the
grammatical structure of the sentence and decide what the grammatical function of the word is. Then try
to guess the meaning.
1. Tommy's medicine had a nasty taste. He took it the first time, but he didn't want to
take it again. His mother had to put some sugar in it.
Grammatical function of nasty:___________________________
Approximate meaning:_________________________________
2. Each society's values and goals determine its economic system. These values and
goals decide the type of economy for the country.
Grammatical function of determine: ___________________________
Approximate meaning: ___________________________
3. When the robber pulled out his gun, everyone in the bank ran helter skelter for cover.
Grammatical function of helter skelter: ___________________________
Approximate meaning: ___________________________
4. That country is rich in resources. It has oil, minerals and timber.
Grammatical function of resources: ___________________________
Approximate meaning: ___________________________
5. Business doesn't take place on Fridays in that company. For religious reasons, no
business can occur on a Friday.
Grammatical function of take place: ___________________________
Approximate meaning: ___________________________
6. Her father looked askance at the idea of a civil marriage in the city hall. He wanted his
daughter to be married in a religious ceremony.
Grammatical function of askance: ___________________________
Approximate meaning: ___________________________
7. Due to the unflagging efforts of the rescue team, the children were found after a few
hours.
Grammatical function of unflagging: ___________________________
Approximate meaning: ___________________________
8. The unhappy girl continued to carp at her mother, blaming her mother for all her
problems.
Grammatical function of carp: ___________________________
Approximate meaning: ___________________________
9. After the war, Gunther went back to his hometown to look at the pile of rubble where
his house had been.
Grammatical function of rubble: ___________________________
Approximate meaning: ___________________________
10. "What a slipshod job this is!" Mr. Jenkins shouted. "Go back and do it again more carefully."
Grammatical function of slipshod: ___________________________
Approximate meaning: ___________________________
Exercise 5
Directions: In the paragraph below, one word has been replaced with a nonsense word.
Try to guess what that nonsense mean. Read the whole paragraph first.
1.What do you think "zip" means?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___
The zips always run along the same routes in Istanbul. They usually stop only at
the main bus stops. But if you ask the driver, you can get off anywhere. These zips are faster and more
comfortable than the buses. At the same time, they are also much cheaper than normal taxis. The cost of a
trip is divided among the passengers, usually four or five people. For these reasons, zips are a very
popular way of getting around the city.
2. What do you think "zap" means?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___
Everyone who visits Russia should first get a zap. If you come by train you must
already have a zap. You will not be allowed to enter at all without one. Travelers without zaps will be
sent back where they came from. Zaps are given on the spot if you arrive by plane or by car. However,
you may have to wait a long time for one. This can be avoided getting a zap before you leave.
3. What do you think "zep" means?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___
Various kinds of zeps are available in Oslo. Some are for only an hour, some for a
day, and some for three days. The three-day zep is useful for the tourist who wants to visit different parts
of the city. It allows you unlimited travel for three days on the local trains and buses. Zeps - and
information about the buses and trains - are available at all tourist offices.
4. What do you think "zop" means?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___
In Paris it is wise to get yourself a zop as soon as possible. It is very easy to get
lost if you leave the main streets. You can buy zops in the train station, but they are not complete. Better
zops can be found in the bookstores. These have more details and they show all the named streets.
5. What do you think "zup" means?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___
Trains connect the larger cities in Tunisia, but there are not many smaller train lines.
To travel between the smaller cities and towns, most people take buses or zups. These zups are often
cheaper than the buses or trains. They leave as soon as they have five people who want to go to the same
place. That might be a distant city, or a town nearby. The destination of the zup is written on a sign on the
roof of the vehicle.
Exercise 6
Directions: In the paragraph below, one word has been replaced with a nonsense word.
Try to guess the nonsense word. Read the whole paragraph first.
1.What do you think "zip" means?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___
Nobody wants a zip near their home. First of all, the usually do not smell very
pleasant. If the wind is from the right direction, you may get that smell at home. Zips
attract lots of insects, such as flies and mosquitoes. Animals such as rats and mice often
come to live in the neighborhood too. A nearby zip may also mean you will have noisy
trucks on your street all day. And finally, the most serious problem with zips is that they
may pollute the drinking water. This does not always happen. But sometimes, the
garbage has dangerous chemicals in it. Then when it rains, the chemicals enter the water
underground and make it unsafe to drink.
2. What do you think "zaps" means?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___
When people think about sources of water pollution, they do not usually think of
zaps. However, as the demand grows for fish to eat, the number of zaps is increasing. In
some areas, they are beginning to create environmental problems. In fact, when fish are
in their natural environment, they do not pollute. But in zaps, the situation is not
natural. There are usually lots of fish in very little water. This means that the water must
be changed very often. And each time it is changed, the dirty water must be thrown
away. It is usually poured directly from the zaps into a river or the ocean. The chemical
balance of the river or coastline is changed by this dirty water. And the plants and
animals living there may suffer.
3. What do you think "zep" means?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___
In the United States and in many European countries, there is a serious problem.
What should be done with the garbage? There is no more room for garbage dumps. It is
not possible to burn garbage, because that pollutes the air. So the governments are
looking for ways to reduce the amount of garbage that is produced. One way to do this is
to zep as much as possible. Not all kinds of garbage can be zepped, of course. The
easiest things to zep are probably glass and paper. However, one can also zep many
kinds of metal and plastic. Many cities now require people to zep these materials. The
people must put them separately from the regular garbage. Then special trucks take
them away and bring them to private companies. These companies will buy them and
use them again.
4. What do you think "zip" means?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___
Experiments have shown that some animals have an extraordinary sense of
direction. The zip is a good example of this. In 1957, some scientists took eighteen zips
from their home on the island of Midway in the Pacific Ocean. These zips were sent by
airplane to some distant places, such as Japan, the Philippines, and the Hawalian Islands.
Then they were set free. Scientists already knew that zips could fly for great distances
because of their huge wings. But no one thought that the zips would be able to find their
way home. After all, Midway is just a very little island in the middle of a very large ocean.
However, fourteen of the zips did get to Midway. They got there very quickly, too. One
flew from the Philippines -4, 120 krn. -in only 32 days!
5. What do you think "zap" means?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___
Another animal with a very good sense of direction is the Monarch butterfly. The
Monarch is a beautiful orange-colored butterfly. It is one of the larger kinds of butterflies,
but is still only an insect. All Monarchs spend the winter in a certain area of central
Mexico. In the early spring, they begin to zap north. The butterflies that leave Mexico will
die on their way. However, their children or grandchildren will zap all the way to
northern United States or Canada. Then, in the fall these new butterflies start zapping
south. They have never been to Mexico, but they manage to find the place their parents
left. They will even go to live in the same trees.
6. What do you think "zep" means?
Genetic programming is also probably the answers to the mystery of the salmon.
These fish are born in zeps far from the ocean. When they are big enough, they travel all
the way down the zep. Then they swim out into the deep ocean water, sometimes for
thousands of miles. One salmon from Washington State in the United States was caught
half-way to Japan. But no matter how far they are, the fish start home in the spring.
Somehow they know where home is. Along all the many miles of coast each salmon
finds the mouth of its own zep. Then it swims all the way up to the very same spot
where it was born.
3. Compound Word
Compound nouns are words for people, animals, places, things, or ideas, made up of
two or more words. Most compound nouns are made with nouns that have been
modified by adjectives or other nouns. In many compound nouns, the first word
describes or modifies the second word, giving us insight into what kind of thing an item is,
or providing us with clues about the item's purpose. The second word usually identifies
the item.
Study the compound noun in the box below:
1. Housebreaker = house + breaker
(= a person who breaks into someone's house.)
2. Fingerprint = finger + print
(= the mark of a finger.)
3. Bubble gum = bubble + gum
(= chewing gum that can be blown into large bubbles.)
4. Playing-field = playing + field
(= field for sports such as football etc. or for children's games)
5. Deadlock = dead + lock
(= a disagreement which cannot be settled.)
Compound noun functions as one unit of meaning. The meaning of some
compound nouns is based on the original words, such as housebreaker, fingerprint. But
some new words do not have the same meaning of the original words, for example, the
word 'deadlock' changes completely. Therefore, a dictionary is sometimes needed to
check the word meaning. A compound noun is written in one of three different ways.
1. Closed or solid compound nouns are formed when two unique words are joined
together. They don't have a space between them and they are the type that generally
comes to mind when we think of compound words. For example: baseball, fireworks,
grandmother, sunflower, crosswalk, moonlight, football, railroad, weatherman, skateboard, earthquake,
schoolhouse, fireflies, grasshopper, toothpaste, bookstore, bedroom, mantis etc.
I love the fireworks on the fourth of July.
Did you hear amount the terrible earthquake?
The fireflies buzzed in the night sky.
2. Hyphenated compound nouns are connected with a hyphen (-) such as dry-cleaning,
daughter-in-law, ten-year-old, mother-in-law, one-sided, thirty-two, one-third, Merry-go-
round, mass-produced etc.
My mother-in-law is coming for a visit.
The merry-go-round at the carnival thrilled Ella.
3. Open or spaced compound nouns are formed with two separate words such as full
moon, Christmas tree, swimming pool, distance learning, lawn tennis, department store
etc. They have a space between the words but when they are read together a new
meaning is formed.
There must be a full moon out tonight.
Ice cream is my favorite dessert.
Compound Noun Examples
The following sentences are just a few examples of compound nouns.
1. Compound nouns can be made with two nouns
Let's just wait at this bus stop.
I love watching fireflies on warm summer nights.
While you're at the store, please pick up some toothpaste and some egg rolls.
2.Compound nouns can be made with an adjective and a noun
Let's watch the full moon come up over the mountain.
Please erase the blackboard for me.
3. Compound nouns can be made with a verb and a noun
Be sure to add bleach to the washing machine.
Let's be sure to stay somewhere with a swimming pool.
4. Compound nouns can be made with a noun and a verb
He always gets up before sunrise.
I really could use an updated hairstyle.
Source: http://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-rules/nouns/compound-nouns/
Exercise 7
Directions: Match each word from Column A with its partner from Column B to make a
new word.
Column A Column B
1. shopping a. book
2. pencil b. case
3.exercise c. holidays
4.orange d. juice
5. birthday e. list
6. bedroom f. machine
7. football g. map
8. summer h. party
9. mind i. shoes
10. washing i window
1.________________________ 6.________________________
2.________________________ 7.________________________
3.________________________ 8.________________________
4.________________________ 9.________________________
5.________________________ 10.________________________
