Name__________________________________________Date______________________
Reading Comprehension
Volume 4, Number 21, February 22, 1999
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Word Meanings From Context
You can often figure out what a word means by the way it’s used in the passage. Use the context to help you decide what each highlighted word means.
1. No one had believed Emily's claim of innocence during the trial. If it hadn’t been for the real thief coming forward to confess, she’d still be in jail. She felt a little strange knowing she’d been vindicated by a criminal.
To be vindicated is to be __________.
a. robbed
b. tricked in a cruel way
c. treated unfairly
d. proven to be without blame
2. I don’t like the way he orders
his wife around. Their relationship is analogous to
a master and his dog!
If two situations are analogous, they __________.
a. are similar in an important way
b. have something to do with animals
c. are not true
d. are made out of dirty socks
3. Some people believe that the president
is vindictive, and will try to destroy the
representatives who worked to remove him from office.
A vindictive person would like __________.
a. to win battles
b. to get revenge, or get even
c. to eat foods that are really too
fattening
d. to thank all the people who supported him
4. Sharon is so gullible!
I’ll bet that if you tell her you were born on Mars,
she’ll believe you.
A gullible man __________.
a. is easy to fool because he will
believe almost anything you tell him
b. will never get good grades in science
c. does not believe anything you tell him
unless you prove it
d. tends to have a really good sense of
humor
5. Some people laughed when Sam said he
would learn German in just a few weeks. I didn’t laugh. I
think he has the aptitude to do it.
An aptitude test tries to measure __________.
a. a person’s chances of
getting sick
b. a person’s natural ability to
do something
c. a person’s weight
d. the number of words in a language
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Copyright 1999 RHL