MEETING 2

Topics discussed :

1. Determine meanings from word parts

2. Determine meanings of difficult words

3. Determine meanings of simple words

4. Taking Notes

When you are asked to determine the meaning of a long word

that you do not know in a passage, it is sometimes possible to

determine the meaning of the word by studying the word

parts.

PART MEANING EXAMPLE PART MEANING EXAMPLE

contra against contrast dic say dictate

mal bad malcontent domin master dominant

mis error mistake jud judge judgment

sub under subway mor death mortal

dec ten decade spec see spectator

multi many multiple terr earth territory

sol one solo ver turn divert

tri three triple viv live revive

A SHORT LIST OF WORD PARTS

spect : see, look

-You should respect your parents. [look up to]

-The police suspected he was guilty. [had a feeling]

-Many pioneers travelled west in America to prospect for gold. [search]

vert : turn

- I tried a word-processor, but I soon reverted to my old typewriter.[went back]

-Missionaries went to Africa to convert people to Christianity. [change]

-The royal scandal diverted attention from the political crisis. [take away]

port : carry, take

-How are you going to transport your things to the States? [send across]

-Britain imports cotton and exports wool. [buy in, sell out]

-The roof is supported by the old beams. [hold up]

duc, duct : lead

-She was educated abroad. [went to school]

-He conducted the orchestra with great vigour. [led]

-Japan produces a lot of electronic equipment. [makes]

press : press, push

-She was impressed by his presentation. [full of admiration and respect]

-This weather depresses me. [makes me feel miserable]

-She always expresses herself very articulately. [puts her thoughts into words]

pose, pone : place, put

- The meeting has been postponed until next week. [changed to a later date]

-The king was deposed by his own son. [put off the throne]

-I don’t want to impose my views on you. [force]

Passage 1

Ring Lardner was born into a wealthy, educated, and cultured family. For the bulk of his career, he worked as a reporter for newspapers in South Bend, Boston, St. Louis, and Chicago. However, it is for his short stories of lower middle-class Americans that Ring Lardner is perhaps best known. In these stories, Lardner vividly creates the language and the ambiance of this lower class, often using the misspelled words, grammatical errors, and incorrect diction that typified the language of the lower middle class.

You are asked to determine the meaning of a

difficult word in a reading passage, a word that

you are not expected to know. Use context to

guess the meaning of difficult words.

Passage 2

In a government election, the incumbent generally has strong advantage over a newcomer. A person who is already in office and thus has a certain degree of prominence has a better chance of being elected than does someone who is unknown to the electorate. History has shown a strong proclivity in elections at all levels of government to return the incumbent to office.

Simple words mean that you see often in

everyday English. You should not give the

normal, everyday meaning of the word;

instead a secondary meaning of the word

is being used, so you must determine the

meaning of the word in this situation.

Passage 3

Faced with serious threats to its future, the company

is taking steps to improve its outlook. The company

has brought in a new crop of trainees to staff some of

its empty positions. In addition, the company has

created a new committee to research various

proposals and has appointed a key member of its

management team to chair the commitee.

Use abbreviations and symbols

The abbreviation can be anything that will remind you of the word or phrase when you are reading your notes.

Draw relationship

Definition can use =

Classification can use

w with

w/o without

ex example

@ at

X times

< less, smaller

> more, larger

results in, causes, produces, therefore

comes from, derives from

Take note the following sentences using abbreviations or diagrams

1. The blue whale is the largest known animal, reaching a length of more than one hundred feet, which is five times its size at birth.

2. Nuclear particles called hadrons, which include the proton and neutron, are made from quarks – very odd particles that have a slight electrical charge but that cannot exist alone in nature.

3. Famous for innovations in punctuation, typography, and language, Edward Estlin Cummings, known to us as e.e. Cummings, published his collected poems in 1954.

4. There are three factors that determine whether a credit applicant is a good risk –character, capacity, and capital.

5. It was in the Cenozoic Era that Homo sapiens first appeared, which was only about 1.8 millions years ago, long after the Mesozoic Era, perhaps 200 million years ago, when the dinosaurs were roaming the Earth, and even earlier, approximately 540 million years ago, that was the Paleozoic Era when there was an explosion evolution of marine life.