Having spent thousands of hours preparing students for standardized tests, one demand is ritualistic: study vocabulary. Too often, students and parents write off SAT vocabulary as a place enjoyed by "literary snobs" or "walking dictionaries". While words such as "obsequious" and "sycophant" do show up on the SAT, such high level words are rare--and minimally impact a student's score. However, a typical SAT test is flooded with "somewhat" common words that most high school student can't define. Here are my top FIVE.
Ambivalent
Students commonly confuse this word with indifferent ("to not care"). Ambivalent often shows up when test writers ask for an author's point of view on a topic. It means undecided.
Revere (reverence, irreverent)
This is another word that often shows up in answer choices when test writers ask how an author feels about someone or something. It means to admire. Irreverent, in contrast, means to despise.
Undermine
"Which of the following statements undermines the author's argument" is an SAT classic. Unfortunately, many students cannot define undermine. It means weaken.
Ambiguous
Again, when test writers ask about an author's position, ambiguous is often an answer choice. It means unclear. How does equivocal differ from ambivalent?
Nostalgic
Expect this word to show up in a tone question. It means longing for how it used to be.
Hi,
ReplyDelete"Ambi" means "both" as in "pianists are ambidextrous".
"Ambivalent" means having two contradictory opinions about something at the same time.
She is ambivalent about moving to Paris. One the one hand she wants to go to the city of light, but on the other hand she is trying to forget someone there.