TACHS Reading : Vocabulary
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for TACHS Reading
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Adjectives And Adverbs
The cottage was small, but well-decorated and located in a charming and quaint village.
Query
Negligent
Putrid
Quaint
Quaint
"Quaint" means old-fashioned and charming. "Putrid" means decayed or rotten. "Negligent" means not cautious or careless. "Query" refers to a question or the act of asking a question.
Example Question #1 : Adverbs
Andrew gingerly dismounted the fence, he really didn't want to hurt himself.
Hastily
Reddening
Cautiously
Gingery
Cautiously
If you do something “gingerly,” you do it cautiously or carefully. This makes sense in this context, and Andrew is trying not to hurt himself, and adjusting the manner in which he dismounts the fence accordingly. Do not confuse it with, "gingery," which means related to the spice ginger. To clarify the other terms, “reddening” means turning red, such as when blushing; a “fastening” is something you use to affix things together; “hastily” means hurriedly or quickly.
Example Question #1 : Abstract Nouns
A sharp and well-schooled attorney, Roger Howarsmith was always praised for his acumen in the field of tax law.
Anoint
Coalesce
Imply
Insight
Insight
“Acumen” is a noun that refers to the sharpness of mind and describes someone who can make quick and insightful decisions; therefore the best available synonym is “insight” which means perceptiveness. For clarification, "imply" means to suggest without directly expressing; "coalesce" means to merge or bring things together.
Example Question #1 : Nouns
After seeing how unstable the monorail Roy had built was, the townspeople had no doubt that they'd been fooled by a charlatan.
Fraud
Charleston
Schoolteacher
Haberdasher
Fraud
Well, let's start by eliminating the noun "Charleston," which sounds more like a dance or a place on a map than the right answer! "Fraud" is the closest in meaning to "charlatan," a person who pretends to be something he or she is not in order to trick people out of their money. The other answer choices have completely unrelated meanings.
Example Question #1 : Verbs
Kevin was more than willing to debate his sister's claim that he had destroyed her carpet.
Disgruntle
Rebate
Dispute
Antagonize
Dispute
This question was solvable by understanding the full context of the sentence, and the definition meaning required to make sense, in the context of the sentence only "dispute" discussed the particular act of arguing describing in the sentence. It was also solvable by knowing the definitions of all the other verbs provided, as only "dispute" had a definition that was close to "debate."
Example Question #1 : Words With Multiple Valid Definitions
Even though he was a great shooter, DeMarr totally choked in the finals, missing two key free throws.
Desolate
Bungled
Elevated
Gasped
Bungled
The primary meaning of “choke” is gag or strangle someone, but since none of the answer choices are close in meaning to this definition, you can assume you are searching for a secondary meaning of the word. If you “choke,” then you lose your composure and fail to perform effectively in a critical situation, like, for instance, taking key free throws in the finals, so you could say, "He had a chance to win the game but he choked." Thus, "choke" used in this way is most similar in meaning to "bungle,"which means mess something up. As for the other answer choices, "elevate" means rise up or place at a higher position; and "desolate" means empty, barren, or devoid of life.
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