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3 real vocabulary questions, Test 1’s academic passages
Every Vocabulary-in-context question asks the same thing: what does this word mean, right here, in this sentence — not in a dictionary generally. 3 real examples, each solved from the sentence around the word.
Q39 — a verb, defined by what happens right after it
Q39: The word “shattered” in the passage is closest in meaning to…
The passage: “its seeds shattered and scattered naturally once ripe.” Shattered sits right next to “scattered” — the two words are doing the same kind of work in the sentence, which points straight to the answer.
Answer: broke apart (not ripened, increased in size, or changed color — all plausible-sounding but never supported by the sentence).
Q44 — an adverb, defined by the pattern it describes
Q44: The word “systematically” in the passage is closest in meaning to…
The passage: analysis of only visible survivors “produces systematically misleading conclusions about an entire population.” This is describing a consistent, built-in kind of error — not a one-off mistake, which is what rules out “occasionally” and “accidentally.”
Answer: consistently, following a predictable pattern
Q50 — an adjective, defined by the comparison around it
Q50: The word “disproportionate” in the passage is closest in meaning to…
The passage: raising body temperature “consumes a disproportionate share of the animal’s limited energy reserves.” The word is describing a share that’s out of balance with what’s available — too large relative to the limited total, not a small, fixed, or equal share.
Answer: an unusually large or excessive amount
DEB
3 real vocabulary-in-context questions