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Vocabulary in Context
Vocabulary-in-context questions are some of the kindest marks on the 11+ paper — IF you have a method. The trick is not to know every word in the dictionary; it is to spot the clues the sentence has already given you. This clinic teaches five reliable clue types.
Lesson 1 — Use the words right next to it
Writers often define a difficult word in the very next phrase, almost as if they expected you not to know it. Look for a comma, a dash, a "that is", or a "which means" — these are signposts. The definition is usually within five or six words of the tricky term.
The library was filled with antiquarian books — old, leather-bound and impossibly fragile.
In this sentence, "antiquarian" most nearly means:
A. modern and brightly coloured
B. old, valuable and rare
C. about animals
D. mass-produced