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Course: Praxis Core Reading > Unit 1

Lesson 2: Quick guides
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Praxis Core Reading
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Meanings of words | Quick guide

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What does it mean?

Meanings of Words questions test your ability to identify appropriate meanings of words and phrases as they appear in a reading selection.
In other words, you’ll need to be able to interpret words and phrases not just as a dictionary would define them, but as the author is specifically using them in context.

Examples

Most Meanings of Words questions go something like this:
  • "As used in line 5, __ most nearly means"
  • "The author most likely uses the word/phrase __ to mean"
  • "Which of the following could be substituted for ___ in line 12 without substantially changing the meaning of the sentence?"

Strategies

  • Cover and predict! Some students find it helpful to place a finger over the word or phrase and come up with their own synonym before even looking at the choices. Once you’re sure you understand the general meaning, then head to the choices and find the one that matches what you came up with.
  • Plug in the choices. Another option is to reread the sentence with each choice in place of the word or phrase, to see if it fits. This can also be a good way to double-check the choice you picked or to narrow down options.

Common wrong choice types

  • “Obvious” meanings These questions often ask about a word that is being used in an uncommon way—a word that, in context, is actually being used for its second or third definition, not its most common meaning.
Remember: just because a choice offers a definition that works in general doesn’t mean it’s the definition that works within the context of the passage.

Try it yourself!

Practice these strategies with the example below.
Example
In Understanding Media, Marshal McLuhan sheds a brilliant light, punctuated by occasional shadows of obscurity, on the essential nature of electronic media; the chapter on radio looks harder at that medium than anything since Arnheim's Radio.
The phrase "shadows of obscurity" most probably refers to McLuhan's
Choose 1 answer:

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