Vocabulary
What the vocabulary items test
These are almost always context questions: a word appears in a sentence or short paragraph and you pick the closest meaning, or you pick the word that best completes a sentence. The sentence, not your memory of the word, decides the answer.
Context clue types to name as you read: definition or restatement (often set off by commas or dashes), contrast (but, unlike, whereas, despite), cause and effect (because, therefore, so that), examples (such as, including), and tone (surrounding words show whether the target is positive, negative, or neutral).
Connotation and register. Words share denotations but differ in attitude and formality: frugal vs. stingy, assertive vs. aggressive, childish vs. childlike. Police reports favor neutral, precise verbs-stated, observed, approached, advised-over dramatic or vague ones.
Commonly confused pairs. infer/imply, comprise/compose, fewer/less, ensure/insure/assure, continual/continuous, principal/principle, affect/effect, cite/site/sight.
Traps. Choices that are real words but carry the wrong connotation or formality; choices that repeat a word from the sentence to sound right; ignoring a negative cue such as not or rarely, which reverses the meaning; and picking a familiar word that fits loosely when a precise one fits exactly.
Worked example. "The supervisor's remarks were cursory, offering no real analysis of the incident." The clue is "no real analysis," so cursory means hasty and superficial-not curious, and not courteous, both of which are bait built from similar spelling or sound.
Rule of thumb. Cover the answer choices, predict your own word from the sentence, then choose the closest match and eliminate anything that flips the sentence's direction.