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

42 Chapter 2 Words in the NewsSubstitution in context is perhaps the most useful way to determinea word’s meaning. To use this strategy, simply substitute a word orphrase that makes sense in place of an unknown word. The word yousubstitute will usually be an approximate definition for the unknownword. Here are some examples.The pusillanimous bully ran away when his victim fought back.(Since people who lack courage run away, pusillanimousmeans cowardly.)Smoking has deleterious effects on health. (We know thatsmoking is harmful to health, so the word harmful maysubstitute for deleterious.)Of course, context clues of substitution are not always effective. Somesentences simply do not provide enough clues. For example, in the sentence“Jane saw the conger,” there are a great number of substitutions for conger.(A conger is a type of eel.) However, since many sentences do provide goodcontext clues, substitution in context will help you much of the time.In the next two examples, try using context clues of substitution tomake intelligent guesses about the meanings of the italicized words. Todo this, take out the unknown word and substitute a word or phrase thatmakes sense in the sentence.1. Your smiling countenance suggests that you are happy.2. The polyglot spoke Polish, Russian, German, Japanese, and English.Answers are on page 399.Each of the following sentences contains a word that is presented inthe Words to Learn section. Use a context clue of substitution to make anintelligent guess about its meaning.Words to LearnPart 11. The two countries reached an accord that enabled them to stop fighting.Accord means __________________________________________________.2. Should a teacher intervene when children fight on the playground?Intervene means ________________________________________________.Answers are on page 399.1. accord (noun, verb) ß-kôrdCopyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.a. agreement; harmony (noun)