Words and phrases such as “dread,” “looking forward to,” and “shied away from” all give you hints about a sentence’s tone, which can help you pick the right answer when you’re unsure. Even ruling out one or two incorrect answers can make a big difference in your score.
Compare and contrast: Picking up on signals
Many sentence-based Word Knowledge questions have context clues that can help you decipher the underlined word’s meaning. If you can pick up on the signal words that tell you about contrast and similarity, you’ll be able to boost your score and your vocabulary.
Signal words can be especially helpful in helping you predict a word’s meaning. Table 4-5 lists some common signal words and whether they indicate similarity or contrast.
TABLE 4-5 Signal Words
| Signal Word | Indicates | Example |
|---|---|---|
| indeed | Similarity | “The children were happy; indeed, they couldn’t control their excitement.” |
| like | Similarity | “When I shook the soda bottle, it erupted like a volcano.” |
| too | Similarity | “The seniors were upset, and they were angry, too.” |
| although | Contrast | “Although she was hesitant, Cheryl voted to reopen the school.” |
| but | Contrast | “The class is difficult but fun.” |
| despite | Contrast | “The dog ate the ice cream despite having eaten 10 minutes before.” |
| however | Contrast | “Sadie applied at several colleges. However, only one accepted her.” |
| rather than | Contrast | “The movie is boring rather than enjoyable.” |
| while | Contrast | “Many troops are resourceful, while others are unimaginative.” |
(A) cringed
(B) laughed
(C) shouted
(D) endured
The signal phrase in the question is “as if,” which is very similar to “like.” Knowing that, what’s the most likely answer? If you saw a ghost, you probably wouldn’t laugh, shout, or endure. (I’d run.) The most correct answer is Choice (A), cringed, because that’s far more likely to be your response than any of the other choices are.
One of these things is not like the other: Ruling out wrong answers
One of the most successful ASVAB strategies involves ruling out answers that aren’t likely to be correct before settling on the one you think is right. When two answer choices mean almost the same thing, or when some choices don’t match the prefix, suffix, or root word, you can cross them off as possibilities.
(A) vacate.
(B) reside.
(C) depart.
(D) leave.
Choices (A), (C), and (D) are all very similar in meaning, leaving only Choice (B), reside, as the clear front-runner.
On the ASVAB, your choices aren’t likely to be this obvious, but you may be able to rule out two choices and give yourself a 50-50 chance of finding the correct answer.
(A) cure.
(B) heal.
(C) contort.
(D) tragedy.
Choices (A) and (B) are essentially the same, so you can eliminate those two. Now look at the prefix, de-, and compare it to what you find in Table 4-2 or other words that begin with the same prefix. De- means “away from.” In Table 4-4, you can see that the root word form means “shape.” That means Choice (C), contort, is the right answer for this question. (Combining ASVAB test-taking strategies gives you an extra edge!)
Mind filling in? Replacing the word with the answer choices
When you encounter a Word Knowledge question that asks you to define a word in a sentence, you may find that swapping out the underlined word with each of your choices leads you to the correct answer.
(A) person
(B) carrier
(C) event
(D) bacteria
Replace pathogen with person, carrier, event, and bacteria. (The word ingested is a big clue. The words person, carrier, and event just don’t make sense in the sentence.)
This strategy can work in conjunction with other strategies, too:
(A) helpful
(B) harmful
(C) erasing
(D) backward
Replace deleterious with each of the answer choices. Choice (B), harmful, is the only one that makes sense — especially because the sentence says, “Maria was worried,” which shows you that the correct answer won’t be something positive.
Say what? Parts of speech matter
When you see