Preparatory Lessons for Paraphrasing

Guessing the Meanings of Words Guessing the meaning of words is the best strategy when you are reading. 1. It is fast since you do not have to interrupt your reading. 2. It helps your comprehension because you stay focused on the general sense of what you are reading. 3. It helps build vocabulary because you are more likely to remember the words. 4. It allows you to enjoy your reading more because you do not have to stop often.

1. Often you can find related ideas in the context, that is, the text or sentences that contain the word. 3. Some words are not important and you can understand main idea of a paragraph without them. 2. Sometimes you have to read several sentences to guess the meaning of a word. How to Guess the Meanings of Words

Try to guess the X’ed words in the following paragraph from Chapter 1, Reading 1 in College Reading 2. Du Yun XXXXX the large orange shopping cart into PriceSmart’s parking lot, where she popped open the trunk of her gray XXXXX Buick and began to fill it with plastic-bagged groceries. “I come here once a week, sometimes twice – it’s so XXXXX,” said Ms. Du, a working actress. “There was nothing like this in China in the past.”

Even though you do not know the X’ed words, what is the main idea of the paragraph? Du Yun XXXXX the large orange shopping cart into PriceSmart’s parking lot, where she popped open the trunk of her gray XXXXX Buick and began to fill it with plastic-bagged groceries. “I come here once a week, sometimes twice – it’s so XXXXX,” said Ms. Du, a working actress. “There was nothing like this in China in the past.” Ms. Du likes to shop at PriceSmart.

Here are some context clues that might be helpful for the first word. Du Yun XXXXX the large orange shopping cart into PriceSmart’s parking lot, where she popped open the trunk of her gray XXXXX Buick and began to fill it with plastic-bagged groceries. Here is a guess. Du Yun pushed the large orange shopping cart into PriceSmart’s parking lot, where she popped open the trunk of her gray XXXXX Buick and began to fill it with plastic-bagged groceries. Compare the guess and the original word. Du Yun maneuvered the large orange shopping cart into PriceSmart’s parking lot, where she popped open the trunk of her gray XXXXX Buick and began to fill it with plastic-bagged groceries.

Here is a context clue that might be helpful for the second word. popped open the trunk of her gray XXXXX Buick Here is a guess. popped open the trunk of her gray *luxury Buick Compare the guess and the original word. popped open the trunk of her gray *economy Buick *incorrect guess – check adjective order

There are different clues you might use for the third word. PriceSmart’s … “I come here once a week, sometimes twice – it’s so XXXXX,” said Ms. Du, … “There was nothing like this in China in the past.” Here are different guesses. PriceSmart’s … “I come here once a week, sometimes twice – it’s so cheap/ quick/ new,” said Ms. Du, … “There was nothing like this in China in the past.” Compare the guesses and the original word. PriceSmart’s … “I come here once a week, sometimes twice – it’s so convenient,” said Ms. Du, … “There was nothing like this in China in the past.”

Guessing Meaning with a Dictionary

Guessing Meanings to Find the Correct Definition How can you choose the correct definition for a word in a sentence when there are many definitions in the dictionary? If you guess the meaning of the word using clues in the sentence or paragraph, then you will probably be able to select the correct definition. Use other words in the following sentences to guess the meanings of the X’ed words. After you guess, choose the definition from the list. Definitions were taken from the Longman web dictionary at:

What is the XXXXX of the problem? 1. everything in the physical world that is not controlled by humans, such as wild plants and animals, earth and rocks, and the weather 2. someone's character 3. the qualities or features that something has What is the XXXXX of the problem? Click on each definition.

1. everything in the physical world that is not controlled by humans, such as wild plants and animals, earth and rocks, and the weather What is the XXXXX of the problem? This is the wrong answer, click here to go back. Picture taken from:

2. someone's character What is the XXXXX of the problem? This is the wrong answer, click here to go back. Picture taken from:

3. the qualities or features that something has What is the XXXXX of the problem? You are correct! The word is nature. Picture taken from: cuisine/drinks/wines.html

Guessing Meaning with a Dictionary Part 2

Follow up: Guess the meanings of the XXXXX words. Then match the sentences and the definitions. a. The officers are at the police shooting XXXXX. b. That salary for that job is in the XXXXX of $25,000 to $30,000 c. There are many cattle on the XXXXX. d. Denver is in a land of high mountain XXXXXs. e. The students are from a wide XXXXX of backgrounds. f. You can send a message from any place within XXXXX of your radio signal. g. Which do you use more, the XXXXX or the microwave? h. A company from Darlington has just launched its latest XXXXX of fashion jewelry i. He is an actor of extraordinary XXXXX and intensity. j. His vocal XXXXX is amazing. 1.a number of people or things that are all different, but are all of the same general type 2.the limits within which amounts, quantities, ages etc vary 3.a set of similar products made by a particular company 4.the distance within which something can be seen or heard 5.all the musical notes that a particular singer or musical instrument can make 6.a group of mountains or hills, usually in a line 7.an area of land where you can practice shooting or where weapons can be tested 8.the number of different things that someone does well 9.a large area of land covered with grass, on which cattle are kept 10. a large piece of kitchen equipment which you use to cook food The word is range.