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his melancholy mood,” which means melancholy can’t be a very good feeling. It must have a negative connotation (that cold-prickly feeling). You can rule out Choices (A) and (D), then, and think about what’s the opposite of fun — and that’s most likely Choice (B), because sorrowful means “down in the dumps.”

      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.”

       He recoiled as if he had just seen a ghost.

      (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.

       Inhabit most nearly means

      (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.

       Deform most nearly means

      (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.

       The CDC hasn’t been able to identify the pathogen that these people ingested before turning into zombies.

      (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:

       Maria was worried that the cockroaches in the apartment would have a deleterious effect on her daughter’s health.

      (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

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