SAT Vocabulary Building by Dr. Steve Baba
You do not need to learn every word in the dictionary to improve your SAT
score. Every bone in your body has a name, but the names of your bones will not be on the
SAT for two reasons. It would give an unfair advantage to students interested in human
anatomy, and the question would be too difficult. Just as easy questions that everyone can
answer will not be on the test, questions that no one can answer will also not be on the
test for the same reason; they do not measure anything since everyone would get the same
score.
There are about 10,000 words that are likely to show up on the SAT - other words are too
hard or too easy. While 10,000 words is a lot, you probably know half of the words
already. Also, many of the words are related to each other through common roots such as
subsonic and supersonic. If you know what supersonic means, you should be able to figure
out what subsonic means and vice versa.
Five or ten hours of vocabulary work cannot compare to a lifetime of studious vocabulary
building, but all is not lost. You can review, remember and clarify words you once knew
and learn a few new words. Unless you have a photographic memory, you will not be able to
memorize 1000 new words from a list in a few hours. What you can do is review words that
you barely remember, and a few of the new words may stick.
If you are tempted to skip vocabulary building because there are too many words, just
remember that you don’t need to know all the words to answer vocabulary questions
correctly. Consider the following sentence completion question.
Because of his _____ and effort, John Doe was a success.
a. laziness
b. nationality
c. xyyxxyx (a word you don’t understand)
d. sleeping
e. beauty
Even without understanding xyyxxyx, you can rule out all of the other answers - as long as
you know 4 of the 5 words - and answer the question correctly.
Vocabulary words are on the SAT, GRE and other standardized tests for a reason - people
with better vocabularies perform better in college and later in life. If your vocabulary
is weak, you will understand less. Your ability to express yourself is limited by your
vocabulary - if your vocabulary is weak, you will be understood less. If you
overuse simplistic words, such as "cool" or "great," people will be
unimpressed. Even if you are a computer science genius, other computer science geniuses
with better verbal skills will be hired and promoted ahead of you.
If you improve your vocabulary, you will (1) improve your SAT score, (2) enter a better
college, (3) earn better grades and learn more in college and (4) perform better in your
career. If you need to invest more time building your vocabulary, read the following
vocabulary-building books, which have examples of words used in
context and illuminating explanations:
Merriam-Webster’s
Vocabulary Builder, 558 pages, $5.99 (publisher’s list price).
1000 Most
Important Words by Norman Schur, 245 pages, $5.99.
Click on the above titles to view Amazon.com’s description. Amazon.com pays me
a pittance, as an Amazon associate.
In addition to answering more vocabulary questions
correctly, answering quickly leaves more time for reading comprehension
questions, which have vocabulary embedded in the passages.
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EFFECTIVE THAN READING ALONE
