The World of Words: Vocabulary for College Success ... - eLibrary

40 Chapter 2 Words in the NewsAt other times, sports writers use rhyme.Bears sack the Pack.Hoosiers fake, shake, break Illini.A headline can tell much about a game. What happened below?1. Bruins’ rally on ice from 2 down stuns Rangers 4–3.2. Penn surprises Ohio in overtime.3. Bulls butcher Bucks, end road slump.Answers are on page 399.Learning StrategyContext Clues of SubstitutionUsing context clues is a powerful strategy that can help you figure out themeanings of unknown words. Context refers to the words, sentences, oreven paragraphs that surround a word. When you use context clues, youuse the words that you know in a selection to make an intelligent guessabout the meaning of an unknown word.Perhaps the thought of guessing seems strange to you. After all, it isbetter to know the answer on a test than just to guess. However, intelligentguessing is very important in reading. English has so many wordsthat no one can know them all. Good readers often use context clues whenthey meet unfamiliar vocabulary.Context clues have two important advantages:1. You do not have to interrupt your reading to go to the dictionary.2. You can rely on your own common sense. Common sense is a veryeffective learning tool.In fact, you probably use context clues already, although you maynot realize it. For example, context clues are the only way to choose thecorrect meaning for words that have more than one meaning, such as hot.You must use context clues to figure out what the word hot means in thefollowing sentences.a. The fire is hot.b. Yolanda has a hot temper.c. This chili pepper is really hot.Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.