The Words of October

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>I thought it would be interesting to compare the Level 3 vocabulary words from the October SAT, the Wednesday PSAT, and the Saturday PSAT. Here they are:</p>

<p>October 09 SAT:
Redundancy, Crystallize, Polymath, Lexicon, Hobble, Plasticity, Admonition, Captious, Edifying, Elude, Slapstick, Recrimination, Eclectic, Wry, Mock, and Rustic</p>

<p>Wednesday 09 PSAT:
Histrionic, Emote, Halcyon, Onerous, Munificent, Perfunctory, Avert, Somber, Wry, Subtle, Acute, Incredulous, Articulate</p>

<p>Saturday 09 PSAT:
Antithesis, Disparage, Dirge, Elan, Maverick, Oracular, Proponent, Prattle, Satirical, Surly, Synthetic, Squander</p>

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<p>So is knowing these words important? No, if your goal is a score of 600 or below. Yes, if you goal is a score above a 600. The difficult words are typically found in Level 4 and 5 questions. You can score a 600 with a average vocabulary. However, if your goal is a 600 and especially a 650 or above then you must have a great vocabulary that includes these very difficult words.</p>

3

<p>There are a number of vocabulary lists and books all claiming to be based on actual tests and all claiming that they will help you “ace” the vocabulary questions. So how did they perform on these three tests? </p>

<p>Here are results for 5 leading lists. (Note there are a total of 40 different words. Wry was on both the October SAT and the Wednesday PSAT)</p>

<ol>
<li>Barrons Mini-Dictionary (24th edition): 30 hits out of 40 words = 75 percent</li>
<li>Direct Hits (2010 edition): 29 hits out of 40 words = 72 percent</li>
<li>Barron’s Hot Words (3rd edition): 8 hits out of 40 words = 20 percent</li>
<li>Rocket Review: 8 hits out of 40 words - 20 percent</li>
<li>Princeton Review’s Hit Parade: 7 hits out of 40 words = 17 percent</li>
<li>Sparknotes 250: 2 hits out of 40 words = 5 percent</li>
</ol>

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<p>So does the list you study make a difference? Time is scarce and it is important to use it efficiently. I saw a post on the October SAT thread in which a CC said that he/she studied 400 words and didn’t get any hits. This can happen. The Sparknotes list produced no hits on both the October SAT and the Saturday PSAT. Clearly Barron’s Mini-Dictionary and Direct Hits produced the most vocabulary hits. The problem with Barron’s is that it contains 3,500 words. Only the most dedicated students will learn all 3,500 words. I believe that DH is the most focused, efficient and interesting vocabulary book. The data from October clearly show that the vocabulary list you use really does make a difference.</p>

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<p>The CB/ETS are really using difficult words. Even Barron’s list of 3,500 words did not have all of the words. For example, polymath and hobble were not on any list. Which test do you think had the hardest words?</p>

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<p>^ Definitely the October SAT. Direct Hits didn’t do as well as I expected.</p>

<p>But it was rocking on the Saturday PSAT :)</p>

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<p>I thought October 2009 SAT actually had the easiest words of the three.</p>

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<p>with the exception of hobble, captious, and lexicon (i thought it could ONLY mean dictionary), october SAT was pretty easy. idk about the psat’s though.</p>

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<p>“hobble” is a tough word?</p>

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<p>i’ve never heard it in my entire life… it has no root or prefix and it was just really out there… where did you hear it???</p>

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<p>I’ve probably heard it over one hundred times. “The man is just hobbling along.”</p>

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<p>i checked on “hobble” and it’s used more with its 3rd meaning which means “to thwart”.</p>

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<p>^ Never heard that meaning. :)</p>

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<p>I thot Wed and Sat PSAT vocab were a joke. The OCT SAT seems pretty tough–i never heard of slapstick and Crystallize. Although i’ve heard of Recrimination and captious, i woulda never remembered their definitions on the actual test because it’s always those two words that i have trouble with (as coincidental as that sounds).</p>

<p>Just for the heck of it, can some1 tell those meanings?</p>

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<p>Finally took at look at Word-Nerd.com…out of the list above, they have everything except rustic, slapstick, antithesis, oracular, satirical and synthetic. That’s a pretty good performance! But it’s random, so the next test they may not do as well. This is a really great thread, though. Gives me lots of ideas for my students. </p>

<p>I just looked up oracular…NEVER seen that one before! Hobble is actually a great word. Seems like I remember that one from books I read as a kid. It’s literally a device to keep horses from walking - pretty cruel, huh? </p>

<p>@fresh: Slapstick refers to comedy and humor (I think of it as kind of silly, lots of pratfalls, not particularly sophisticated). Crystallize is to give form to. A recrimination is like getting back at someone that’s attacked you. Captious refers to someone that’s really quick to find fault. I’m doing these off the top of my head, so you might want to double check me!</p>

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<p>^34 out of 40 is a good performance. I just looked at word-nerd.com. It costs $69.00 to register and they have 1500 words. That is a bit too expensive for me. Surprised more CCers haven’t heard of hobble. How about injuries hobbled the athelete’s performance.</p>

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<p>I think everyone knows hobble now :slight_smile: Word-Nerd does have a $25 subscription plan for a month, so it doesn’t have to be as expensive. I think I forget about being cost-conscious. The parents of my students can afford a private tutor, so they can afford $69! It is a good product, and seems to do the trick with my kids that just can’t focus on a book or flashcards, and I can easily track their progress on the site. Now if only I could get them to focus a bit more in tutoring sessions, too! Wish I could get some of the CC dedication to rub off on them a bit…</p>

<p>So dark knight, how did you become the resident vocab guru? You are one dedicated dude… It sounds like you’ve got a death grip on the English language!</p>