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Compare and contrast: Picking up on signals
ОглавлениеMany sentence-based Word Knowledge questions have context clues that can help you decipher the underlined word’s meaning. If you can pick up on the signal words that tell you about contrast and similarity, you’ll be able to boost your score and your vocabulary.
Signal words can be especially helpful in helping you predict a word’s meaning. Table 4-5 lists some common signal words and whether they indicate similarity or contrast.
TABLE 4-5 Signal Words
Signal Word | Indicates | Example |
---|---|---|
indeed | Similarity | “The children were happy; indeed, they couldn’t control their excitement.” |
like | Similarity | “When I shook the soda bottle, it erupted like a volcano.” |
too | Similarity | “The seniors were upset, and they were angry, too.” |
although | Contrast | “Although she was hesitant, Cheryl voted to reopen the school.” |
but | Contrast | “The class is difficult but fun.” |
despite | Contrast | “The dog ate the ice cream despite having eaten 10 minutes before.” |
however | Contrast | “Sadie applied at several colleges. However, only one accepted her.” |
rather than | Contrast | “The movie is boring rather than enjoyable.” |
while | Contrast | “Many troops are resourceful, while others are unimaginative.” |
He recoiled as if he had just seen a ghost.
(A) cringed
(B) laughed
(C) shouted
(D) endured
The signal phrase in the question is “as if,” which is very similar to “like.” Knowing that, what’s the most likely answer? If you saw a ghost, you probably wouldn’t laugh, shout, or endure. (I’d run.) The most correct answer is Choice (A), cringed, because that’s far more likely to be your response than any of the other choices are.