MCAS Language

Vocabulary

Words comprise the basic building block of English, and vocabulary is another way to describe how many words you know.  You already know thousands of words, but the MCAS will test you on some new ones.  Fortunately, even if you have never seen a word before, you can still get the answer right.  This section focuses on simple things you can do to figure out good answers to questions on vocabulary.  To emerge victorious from the vocabulary section of the test, you need three skills:  figuring words in context, using their parts, and understanding derivations.

Context

The words on your ELA Grade 10 exam will always appear in a context.  In other words, you will never be asked to define a word that hasn't been used in a sentence, surrounded by information.  These texts contain valuable clues. 

Here is an illustration of context.

Geckos, lizards found in the tropics, have a half-million microscopic hairs on each foot, called setae.

1. Geckos are
   1. lizards.
   2. tropics.
   3. feet.
   4. hairs.
2. Setae are
   1. numbers.
   2. microscopes.
   3. feet.
   4. hairs.

Tip:  Commas that set off a phrase around an unfamiliar word often point to a definition clue.

Look at the sentence and try to figure out a trail from the mystery words (geckos, setae) in the passage to the definitions nearby.  In this case, the definitions are easy to find because they are set off by commas: "lizards found in the tropics," and "hairs on each foot."  Geckos are lizards and setae are hairs.

Sometimes the clues aren't as obvious.  For instance, you might find words near a mystery word that tell what it does not mean.  Try this sentence:

The quarterback was nervous whenever he had to do any public speaking, but he was intrepid on the football field.

The word but is a tipoff that what comes next contrasts with what came before.  Therefore you can reason that to be intrepid means the opposite of nervous.  The word but is a good clue that the quarterback is not jittery on the field.  He is confident and bold.  Intrepid means bold.

Word Parts

Once you recognize basic word parts, you can use them again and again to unlock the meanings of alien words.

The second important tool for getting unfamiliar words to give up their meanings is word parts.  Word parts are the pieces that make up polysyllabic words.  For instance, in examining the word polysyllabic, if we know that poly means many, you can figure out that polysyllabic words have many syllables.

Breaking tough words into little pieces can make them surprisingly easy to define.  Ever heard of nasology?  In the word nasology, there are two parts.  The the nas first part; there's the ology second part.  The word nasology may remind you of biology or geology.  That's because ology means the study of.  The ology is a suffix, and it is something that you can attach to the end of a word.  The first part, nas, as you might imagine, means nose.

Sometimes the suffix ology hooks up with different roots, to form new words like biology, geology, and nasology.  Other times the root attaches itself to different suffixes, so instead of nasology, you might see words like nasal and nasogastric.

Prefixes

In addition to roots and suffixes, you can attach prefixes to the beginning of words.  Ever watch the pregame show, the show that comes before the game?  Pre is a prefix that means before.

Prefixes that indicate direction

Prefixes that indicate amount or degree

Prefixes that indicate time

Prefixes that indicate badness or goodness

If you can create an association between a word and its prefix, you will possess the key to mastering this material.  Try this:  Anytime you see a word with syn, think of 'N Sync, a band that sings together.  Now what if you get the words syncopate, or synchronize on your MCAS exam?  Remember the band that sings "Bye, bye, bye" together.  Syncopate and synchronize relate to things that happen together.  Even if you don't know exactly what these words mean, that may be all the information you need to get the right answer!  To create your own associations, circle the example word that seems most obvious to you.  Write in your own word(s), like 'N Sync. 

Roots

Did you notice that some of the example words sound redundant, such as invert and extrvert?  These words share a root -- vert, which means to turn.  Something inverted is turned inward.  Someone who is extraverted is turned outward.  Just as knowing a few prefixes will give you a leg up on the MCAS exam, knowing root words will also give you a big advantage.

The ELA Grade 10 exam will have a lot of unfamiliar words in both reading passages and in questions that specifically ask for definitions.  Since we don't know what the specific words will be on your test, knowing prefixes, roots and suffixes will help you figure out meanings of words that are unfamiliar to you.  It helps to make an association between each root and one of the (or your own) samples (like "N Sync). 

Here's a second example of association.  Picture a pendulum hanging from a clock.  Any time you see pend such as pending, suspension, and pendency, visualize your clock.  These words relate to pend, meaning to hang; pending and pendency describe things hanging over you that still need to be done, and suspension means dangling, like a suspension bridge.

Suffix

There's is one more list to go.  In addition to mix and matching prefixes and roots, you can tack on suffixes to the ending of words.  If you decide to go to college, you will discover a lot more words that end with ology -- such as entymology, cytology, and psychology -- that represent areas college students can study.  Here are some more suffixes:

A word's suffix often indicates its part of speech -- such as whether it is an adjective or a verb.

These lists were created to help you spot similarities in vocabulary.  Some words will remind you of others, even if we didn't define its word parts here.  When you see an unfamiliar word, ask yourself if it reminds you of any others.  These relationships will help you define words you have never seen before.

Click here for Word Parts Drill

Click here for Vocabulary Drill

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