SAT Reading Comprehension: Definition-in-Context Questions:

These are the questions that seem like vocabulary questions dropped into the middle of a SAT reading passage. But please remember that they are not. Let's take a word like "work out". When you hear it, you probably think immediately about some poor soul strapped to an exercise bike counting down the minutes until she can stop pedaling. To exercise.

But "work out" also means to calculate. (He worked out the answer to the math problem.)

It also means to solve. (She worked out the problems with her best friend, Fluffy.)

It also means to give more detail. (He worked out his plan to create fish with three eyes.)

So when you see defininition-in-context questions, it's important to remember that you're not eliminating answer choices because the definitions are wrong. Instead, remember that the tested words are chosen precisely because they have multiple definitions.

WHAT DO DEFINITION-IN-CONTEXT QUESTIONS LOOK LIKE?:

In line __, "work out" most nearly means
In context, "work out" (line __) most nearly means
As used in line __, "work out" most nearly means
In line __, "work out" is best understood to mean
In line __, "work out" is closest in meaning to

TIPS FOR DEFINITION-IN-CONTEXT QUESTIONS: SAT, PSAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, TOEFL

Tip 1
Never select an answer choice because you know it's a definition for the tested word.

Tip 2
Don't just find the word in the passage and read the sentence that it appears in. A lot of times, you'll find that this is not helpful. Instead, read the sentence before, the sentence that it's in, and the sentence after. These three sentences give you the full context in defintion-in-context questions.

Tip 3
Don't force an answer. One of the most common mistakes that students make is feeling like they have to choose an answer. Even if they don't know the meanings of two or three of the answer choices, they feel the "SAT push". In other words, they feel like they have to answer the question. Remember that you shouldn't answer the question if you're really not sure because the SAT does not take points off if you simply skip a question.

SAT Reading: Definition-in-Context

Lesson Includes:

—Overview of Definition-in-Contexts

— What do Definition-in-Contexts Questions look like?

—Tips for Definition-in-Contexts Questions

SAT Math

SAT Writing

SAT Reading

SAT Vocabulary