SKILL 8: FIND DEFINITIONS FROM STRUCTURAL CLUES

When you are asked to determine the meaning of a word in the reading section, it is possible:

- that the passage provides information about the meaning of the word, and

- that there are structural clues to tell you that the definition of a word is included in the passage.

The followings outlines the key information that you should remember about structural clues to help you to understand unknown vocabularies words:

How to identify the question.

What is the meaning of “X” in line Y?

The word “X” in line Y is closest in meaning to…

The word “X” in line Y could best to replace by…

Types of clues.

- Punctuation (comma, parentheses, dashes).

- Restatement (or, that, is, in, other words, i.e.).

- Examples (such as, for example, e.g.)

Where to find the answer.

Information to help you determine what something means will generally be found after the punctuation clue, the restatement clue, or the example clue.

How to answer the question.

     a.       Find the word in the passage.

     b.      Locate any structural clues.

    c.       Read the part of the passage after the structural clue carefully.

    d.      Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices.

    

     Example:

One of the leading schools of psychological thought in the twentieth century is behaviorism-the belief that the role of the psychologist is to study behavior, which is observable, rather than conscious or unconscious thought, which is not. Probably the best-known proponent of behaviorism is B.F. Skinner, who is famous for his research on how positive and negative reinforcement influence behavior. He came to believe that positive reinforcement such as praise, food, or money were more effective in promoting good behavior than negative reinforcement, or punishment.

    

   In “behaviorism” in line 2, a psychologist is concerned with

(A)   conscious thought patterns

(B)   unconscious thought patterns

(C)   observable actions

(D)   unobservable actions

In this section you should see that the behaviorist is interested  in behavior, which is observable, therefore the correct answer is letter C

For more information about this skill, watch this video: CLIC HERE FOR WATCHING