VOCABULARY (1) BUILDING SUPPORTING SKILLS CAMBRIDGE PREPARATION FOR THE TOEFL® IBT TEST

 

CAMBRIDGE PREPARATION FOR THE TOEFL® IBT TEST BUILDING SUPPORTING SKILLS VOCABULARY (1)

 

The more extensive your vocabulary is, the more successful you will be on all parts of all the TOEFL test. In TOEFL reading passages and lectures on the test you will encounter a wide variety of formal and academic words. Those found in conversations tend to be less academic. Also, an effective choice of words in the writing and speaking tasks will improve your score. The best way to expand your vocabulary are to spend as much time as you can reading and listening to English, and to make good use of reference books such as a dictionary and thesaurus. Some notes on using a dictionary and thesaurus are given here. Using a dictionary Invest a good English dictionary. A good dictionary will have more information than just meanings. Look for a dictionary that includes the following information. Learn common prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes and suffixes are additions placed at the beginning and end of a root word (the base element of a word) to modify its meaning. Knowledge of these additions will help you expand your vocabulary. Consider this chart for the root word pose, meaning to put or present. Using a thesaurus It is easier to remember a word if you know related words. A thesaurus is a good source for finding words that are related in meaning. It may also list expressions that the words are used in.