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Lesson 4 Using Reading Skills
Learning from Context: Definitions
When you encounter a new word in your reading, you can often use the context, or the surrounding words, to help
you guess the word's meaning. Notice that the sentence you just read gives a definition of context. In this case, the
word or is a clue that a definition or clarification follows. Some other words that signal a definition are in other words,
that is, and which is. However, a definition may be given in the context without the use of such due words.
EXERCISE A
Context Clues
In each sentence, underline the part of the sentence that gives a definition of the boldfaced word.
1. The first stop on the city tour is the arboretum, a place where many different trees, shrubs, and other
plants are grown for scientific and educational purposes.
2. The shop specializes in nautical supplies; in other words, it stocks everything relating to ships, sailors, or
navigation on water.
3. The band ended its concert with a medley, or series, of jazz tunes from the 1930s.
4. The speaker in this poem uses conversational diction; in fact, the choice and use of words is much like that
of the poet Robert Frost.
5. The expression on her face was inscrutable; that is, we found it difficult to interpret.
6. The photograph of the valley was panoramic, providing an unbroken view of the entire area.
7. The waters of two rivers converge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the Allegheny and the Monongahela
Rivers come together to form the Ohio River.
8. This springlike weather in early February is delectable; I can't remember when the weather was so delightful.
9. To assume a superior manner or to lower oneself to a level considered beneath one's dignity is to
condescend.
10 The funeral began with the reading of an elegy, which is a poem or song expressing sorrow for the dead.