Context clues are a valuable aide in helping you understand difficult phrases or words in the passage. A number of questions will ask you about the meaning of words as they are used in a given passage.
If you already know the definition of the word, or have some familiarity with it, a common mistake is to go with your first impulse and choose the answer that you immediately recognize. However, the reason the test writers may have chosen that particular vocabulary word is because it is used in an unusual context. Therefore, return to the passage and find where the word is used and make sure that you understand how it is being used in the passage.
Once you’ve made your choice of a good definition go back again to the passage and reread that particular section, but mentally replace the answer choice you’ve chosen for the word being asked about.
Example:
A passage states: “He was notorious for making decisions on the spur of the moment…”
Question: Which of the following words, if substituted for the word “notorious” would introduce the LEAST change in the meaning of the sentence?
A. evil
B. disturbed
C. famous
D. despised
E. powerful
If you knew that the most common definition for “notorious” meant being known in an unfavorable sense, then you might be tempted to choose choice A, “evil.”
But once you review back over the passage, choice C, “famous” fits in better into the context of the sentence of passage. Read the sentence again and substitute your chosen answer choice for the word it replaces. This gives you:
““He was famous for making decisions on the spur of the moment…,” which makes sense and is correct.
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