Overview: Sentence Context Adds Power
Skilled readers use the powerful tool of sentence context to approximate the meaning of unfamiliar words, when the meaning is not apparent from prefixes, roots, and suffixes. It is a largely unconscious process, and can help students taking the SAT, ACT, or other tests choose the correct answer from alternatives. By using the context of words around it, students can identify the part of speech, verb tense, number, and choose synonyms.
How Do We Recognize the Part of Speech?
Usually, readers can identify the part of speech that the word should be, even if the word itself is not recognizable, or if the space is left blank. When readers are reading at their highest skill level, they can substitute words with high accuracy, even when every fifth word is left blank and the blanks occupy many different parts of speech. Students taking the test can often eliminate alternatives because they would not fit.
Clues to Tense
Often, test developers leave clues to when action takes place. If the question asks students to choose the correct verb form from a variety of alternatives (some of them do), look within the passage to help determine the correct form. Pay attention to the context, even if some of the words are unfamiliar. For example, in a test passage about how the coloratura soprano Joan Sutherland developed her vocal techniques, the writer might use a sentence like, ” The late Joan Sutherland possessed a high degree of stamina and was able to sing long phrases at full voice while she moved around the stage. Director Franco Zeffirelli ( ) that in the opera Lucia di Lammermoor.” Suppose the word exploited were unfamiliar. Readers would be able to use the past tense of the word possessed, as well as the clue to the past in referring to her as “the late”.
Clues to Number and Quantity
Another way students can use context clues is when the missing word refers to number, quantity, or another form of specific adverb or adjective. For example, “One of the most famous pieces of music in the opera Lucia di Lammermoor is the (). In the passage, six characters sing interweaving points of view.” If the word “Sextet” were unfamiliar,the reader could use the clue of “six characters.”
Choosing Synonyms
By using clues within the reading passage, students can choose synonyms from the alternatives presented. For example, “Although Joan Sutherland’s earliest voice training featured standard roles for a Wagnerian soprano, her later () included many unusual bel canto roles. Many of those works had not been performed since the Golden Age of Opera in the late 1800s. The correct alternative, “repertoire”, could be chosen from clues about the different types of roles that she performed.
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