Download TOEFL II READING COMPREHENSION SYNONYM This unit

TOEFL II
READING COMPREHENSION
SYNONYM
This unit highlights how to guess word meaning by knowing the meaning of word parts,
roots or stems (the base form of words), prefixes added to the beginning of words, and
suffixes added to the end of words. The following chart shows you the meaning of such word
parts and how they are used in words.
Roots
Meaning
Examples
chron
time
chronology, chronic
cred
believe
credible, accredited
dic
say, speak
dictate, diction
port
carry
porter, transport
spec
look
spectator, spectacular
terr
earth
territory, terrestrial
viv
life
survive, alive
vis/vid
see
vision, visual
Prefixes
Meaning
Examples
cede/ceed
go, yield
proceed, precede
contra
againts
contradict, contraception
counter
opposite
counterbalance, counteract
con/syn
together with
conspire, synchronize
bene
good
benefit, beneficiary
dis
not
disagree, distrust
il
not
illegal, illogical
in/im/un
not
inactive, impolite, unhappy
intra
within
intravenous, intranet
mal
bad
malpractice, malfunction
mis
error
mistake, miscalculate
multi
many
multiple, multifunction
Suffixes
Meaning
Examples
less
without
lifeless, endless
able/ible
worthy of
lovable, mangeable
en
made to be
tighten, frighten
EXAMPLE
Direction: Read the passage and answer the questions.
In the 1960’s geologists began to uncover proof that the continents not only float – that is,
move vertically within the crust – but that they also travel, or drift, laterally. The earth’s crust
and upper mantle are divided into a number of semirigid plates, each of which has
recognizable boundaries and moves as a unit. This is the reason why the study of the history
and origins of continental drift is called plate tectonics.
There are several tectonic plates on Earth. The Pacific plate, for example, consists almost
entirely of oceanic crust. Others, such as the North American and Eurasian plates, are made
up of mostly continental crust. Plate boundaries are generally located in mid ocean or close
offshore, but in a few places rise from the sea bottom and extend across dry land. One such
place is Western California, where the earthquake – prone San Andreas fault marks the
boundary between the Pacific and North American plates.
The present land-sea patterns have evolved over the course of hundreds of millions of years,
during which time continental landmasses drifted, were united by collisions, torn apart, and
recombined. These movements show no sign of declining or stopping, so the distribution of
sea and dry land will continue to change for as long as the planet contains the heat energy
required to drive the movement of its crustal plates.
Sample questions
1. The word “uncover” in line 1 is closest in meaning to........
(a) Reveal
(b) Employ
(c) Reverse
(d) turn
2. The word “recognizable” in line 4 can best be replaced by......
(a) Studied
(b) Famous
(c) Indentified
(d) noted
3. The word “recombined” in line 16 is closest in meaning to......
(a) Forced again
(b) Destroyed again
(c) Removed again
(d) Joined again
Explanation
1. The prefix un, which means not, is the clue to guessing the meaning of the word
uncover. Reveal has a similar meaning to not cover, so the answer is (a)
2. The word recognizable means “can be recognized” or “identified”. From the
context, the most logical answer is (c)
3. The word recombined means “combined again” and the nearby phrase torn apart,
meaning “separated”, helps understand the word recombined. After being separated,
the continental landmasses were combined again. So, the correct answer is (d)
STRATEGIES
1. None of the above
(a) Read the nearby words or phrases in the preceding or subsequent sentences that
explain the word, or read the whole context that implicity gives the meaning
(b) Choose the best option based on the explicit or implicit explanation
2. A meaningful part – root, prefix, or suffix – of the word
(a) Check the meaning of the word part and other context clues.
(b) Choose the option that represents the meaning of the word part
EXERCISE 1
Directions: Read the passage and answer the questions
During the year 1941, some notable progress was made in the development of better methods
of apprehension and prosecution of crime and in the treatment of convicted offenders. In the
State of Louisiana, a committee worked actively to formulate a criminal code based on a
careful examination of existing statues and legal materials as well as a thoroughgoing
revision and revaluation of existing penal concepts
One noteworthy outcome of the committee’s work is a model act concerning the arrest of
offenders, which also provides a practical standard for police conduct without unduly
sacrificing the offenders’ personal liberty. The act offers the police a weapon that they have
long needed, namely, a legal right to detain suspects for questioning without going through
the formalities of arrest. It also gives the police officer a reasonable right to question and
confine witnesses of crimes and automobile accidents. The model act would also modify the
existing law and make on arrest legal if a lawful cause for arrest existed at the time it was
made even though the officer charged the suspect with the wrong offense or gave a reason
that did not justify the arrest.
1. The word “notable” in line 1 can best be replaced by.......
(a) Progressive
(b) Hasty
(c) Legal
(d) important
2. The word “revaluation” in line 5 is closest in meaning to.......
(a) Refusal
(b) Standardization
(c) Analysis
(d) collection
3. The word “unduly” in line 7 is closest in meaning to.......
(a) Slowly
(b) Intentionally
(c) Carefully
(d) improperly
4. The word “detain” in line 9 can best be replaced by.......
(a) Take
(b) Protect
(c) Arrest
(d) restrain
5. The word “reasonable” in line 10 is colsest in meaning to......
(a) Sensible
(b) Relevant
(c) Probable
(d) legal