(based on More Reading Power (2004) Longman pp.

54-57)

Guess the meaning of each word from the context of the sentences below it. While you are doing the
exercises: (1) Do not use a dictionary! (2) Do not talk about the vocabulary with other students until
you have tried to make a guess on your own and everyone else has finished. (3) Do not try to
translate the unknown words into your own language. Instead, you should try to describe them or
give words with similar meanings in English.

1. What does misogynist mean?

a. Mary realized that Mr. Ashman was a misogynist soon after she started working as his assistant.
b. It is difficult for a woman to work for a misogynist. She is never sure if his criticism is based on her
work or on the fact that she is a woman.
c. Mary knew that no woman would ever get a top-level job in a company run by a misogynist.

2. What does porch mean?

a. On nice days, old Mrs. Willows always sat out on her front porch and watched the people pass by.
b. After lunch in summer, we always moved out to the porch, since there was usually some wind there,
but we were protected from the sun.

3. What does soggy mean?

a. The window had been left open during the storm, and the papers on my desk were a soggy mess.
b. We gathered up the soggy towels and bathing suits and hung them all in the sun to dry.

4. What does shrink mean?

a. I washed the T-shirt in cold water so it wouldn’t shrink.
b. If you want to have enough spinach for dinner, you need to buy a lot. It shrinks to almost nothing when
you cook it.

5. What does swell up mean?

a. Jill’s skating accident made her foot swell up until she could no longer wear her shoe.
b. Poor Simon! After he had his tooth pulled out, the whole side of his face swelled up.

6. What does turn up mean?

a. Don’t worry about the book that you lost. I’m sure it will turn up.
b. Do you remember the umbrella I couldn’t find last week? It turned up in the back of the car.
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7. What does lid mean?
a. William took the lid off the pot to see what his mother was cooking for supper.
b. Sometimes the lid to the honey jar gets stuck, and it’s hard to get it off.

8. What does glance mean?

a. I always glance at the headlines in the morning, but I rarely have time to read the whole newspaper.
b. As he ran up the stairs of the school, William glanced at his watch—late again!

9. What does promptly mean?

a. Gerald always came home promptly on Tuesdays so that he could watch his favorite TV show.
b. The firefighters arrived promptly and were able to stop the fire from spreading to other houses.

10. What does foul mean?

a. We were all shocked by the foul language the little boy was using.
b. With the windows closed for so long, there was a foul smell in the room.

11. What does dew mean?

a. In the early morning, you could see the dew on every leaf and every branch.
b. When we got up, the tent was wet with dew outside, but we were warm and dry inside.

l2. What does deserve mean?

a. Those women work very hard and deserve to be paid more.
b. Since Peter won the spelling contest, he deserves a special reward.

13. What does stain mean?

a. Polly was very angry when she saw the ugly stain on her new rug.
b. When you spill fruit juice on a tablecloth, it can make a stain that does not wash away,

14. What does strict mean?

a. Ellen’s parents were very strict with her and did not allow her to go out in the evening.
b. Mrs. Tilley was not popular with the children in her class. She was very strict and she punished anyone
she thought had broken a rule.
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15. What does grab mean?
a. A witness saw a young man grab Mrs. Knox’s purse and run away with it.
b. As we were crossing the street, I heard a car coming, so I grabbed Selena’s hand and pulled her back
just in time.

16. What does plug in mean?

a. There was only one place in the classroom to plug in the television monitor, and that was on the back
wall of the room.
b. No wonder the printer isn’t working! It is not plugged in.

17. What does bald mean?

a. Although he was only forty years old, Dr. Jerash was already almost entirely bald.
b. Some bald men will try almost anything to make their hair grow back.

18. What does shatter mean?

a. The picture has been framed with special glass. It won’t shatter if you drop it.
b. The bomb shattered the windows of all the buildings nearby,

19. What does greenhouse mean?

a. Many of the vegetables you buy in the winter are grown in greenhouses.
b. During the storm, a tree fell on the greenhouse and broke the glass on one side.

20. What does patch mean?

a. Rosa was able to patch the hole on Bruno’s jacket so well that his mother never noticed.
b. No one was around to help me fix the flat tire on my bicycle, so I had to patch it myself.

21. What does shallow mean?

a. The water in the river was too shallow for swimming, but we got wet and cool anyway.
b. Jane told the children to stay in the shallow part of the swimming pool.

22. What does gloomily mean?

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a. After hearing the war reports, Stefan walked gloomily home through the dark city.
b. After the soccer team lost the game, the girls talked gloomily about their bad luck.

23. What does collapse mean?

a. The earthquake caused many old buildings to collapse.
b. Just as Don started eating his meal, the chair collapsed under his weight and he fell to the floor.