Vocabulary (Synonyms, Antonyms, Word Formation, Idioms, Phrasal Verbs)
Vocabulary items are short and unforgiving: a synonym that is correct in the dictionary but wrong in the sentence earns nothing. The examiner wants the word that fits the slot, spelled correctly, in the right part of speech.
The four question types
- Synonym/Antonym: replace the target word inside its own sentence and test whether the meaning survives. "Bright" is a synonym of "clever" only in the right context.
- Word formation: a root is given in brackets and you supply the correct form. Decide the part of speech from the slot first.
- Idioms: fixed expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the words.
- Phrasal verbs: verb + particle with a set meaning; the particle changes everything (put off = postpone, put up with = tolerate).
Worked example
The teacher praised him for his ______ (obey). Reasoning: "his" is a possessive determiner, so the slot needs a noun, not the adjective "obedient" or the verb "obey". The noun is "obedience". Answer: obedience.
High-value items to know cold
- Idioms: let the cat out of the bag (reveal a secret), a bolt from the blue (a complete surprise), at the eleventh hour (at the last moment), to burn the midnight oil (study late).
- Phrasal verbs: call off (cancel), break down (stop working), look after (take care of), give in (surrender).
- Spelling shifts in word formation: happy becomes happiness, begin becomes beginning, sincere becomes sincerity.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing a synonym without testing it in context.
- Giving "childlike" when the sentence needs "childish" (both exist; the meanings differ sharply).
- Explaining an idiom literally instead of giving its meaning.
- Writing the correct word in the wrong form, e.g. "obedient" for a noun slot.
- Misspelling the derived word and losing an easy mark.