Reading: vocabulary in context and reference questions
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| context/ˈkɒntekst/ | context |
| pronoun/ˈprəʊnaʊn/ | pronoun |
"The word … is closest in meaning to"
- Every Reading set has questions like The word "scarce" in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to… and The word "they" in line 6 refers to…
- You do not need to know the word already. The sentences around it 上下文 tell you what it means.
Read the sentence, not the word
- Go back to the paragraph. Read the sentence with the word and the sentence before and after it.
- Then cover the word and ask: what word would I put here? Find the option closest to your word.
- In the dry season, water becomes scarce, so elephants walk many kilometres to find it.
- Water is hard to find → scarce ≈ rare / hard to find.
"In the dry season, water becomes scarce, so elephants walk many kilometres to find it." Scarce is closest in meaning to
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They walk far to find it, so it is hard to find.
Put the steps for a vocabulary question in order.
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Your own guess first stops you choosing a familiar-looking trap.
Four kinds of context clue
- Definition: A nocturnal animal, one that is active at night… · Example: …predators such as lions and eagles.
- Contrast: Tom was timid, but his sister was brave. · Cause and effect: The path was slippery, so many people fell.
Which kind of clue is this?
Work out the meaning of a word from definition, example, contrast and cause clues
Match each sentence to its clue type.
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Each clue type gives the meaning in a different way.
"Tom was timid, but his sister was brave." Timid means
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"But" shows a contrast with brave.
"The path was slippery after the rain, so many people fell." Slippery means
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People fell because of it, after rain: cause and effect.
Test your choice in the sentence
- Put each option into the sentence. The right one keeps the same meaning and still makes sense.
- A word can have several meanings. The bank of the river is not a place for money. Choose the meaning that fits this sentence.
- The trap option is often the most common meaning of the word, not the meaning in the passage.
"We sat on the bank of the river and watched the boats." Bank means
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The most common meaning (money) does not fit this sentence.
The most common meaning of a word is always the right answer in a vocabulary question.
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The trap option is often the common meaning; choose the meaning in this sentence.
Reference questions: it, they, this
- They, it, this, these, which point back to something earlier. Look before the word, usually in the same or the previous sentence.
- Check by replacing: put the noun in place of the pronoun 代词. If the sentence still makes sense, you found it.
- Bees visit thousands of flowers a day. They carry pollen from one to the next.
- They = bees (not flowers: flowers do not carry pollen).
"Bees visit thousands of flowers a day. They carry pollen from one to the next." They refers to
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Bees carry pollen; flowers do not.
To check a reference answer, put the noun in place of the pronoun and see if the sentence still makes sense.
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Replacing is the fastest check.
Practice passage
The Ship of the Desert's Cousin
Llamas live high in the Andes mountains of South America, where the air is thin and the nights are bitterly cold. For thousands of years, people there have relied on llamas to carry goods along narrow mountain paths. A llama can carry about a quarter of its body weight. If the load is too heavy, it simply lies down and refuses to move until someone removes part of it. This stubborn habit may seem rude, but it protects the animal from injury.
Llamas are also valued for their wool, which is soft and warm. Farmers cut it once a year. Unlike sheep, llamas have little oil in their wool, so it does not need much washing before it is spun into thread.
The word "relied on" in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
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People have used llamas to carry goods for thousands of years; they depended on them.
In "it simply lies down and refuses to move", it refers to
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Only the llama can lie down and refuse to move.
The word "stubborn" in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
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The llama refuses to move until the load is lighter.
"The nights are bitterly cold." Bitterly is closest in meaning to
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High mountains with thin air; bitterly makes "cold" stronger.
In "their wool, which is soft and warm", which refers to
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The wool is soft and warm.
According to the passage, why does llama wool need little washing?
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"Llamas have little oil in their wool, so it does not need much washing."
A llama weighs 120 kg. About how many kilograms can it carry, according to the passage?
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A quarter of 120 kg is 30 kg.
Common mistakes
- Choosing a word that looks or sounds like the original (relied → replied).
- Choosing the nearest noun for it or they without checking the meaning.
Which option is the look-alike trap for "relied"?
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"Replied" looks and sounds similar but means something else.
Fast questions, so be quick
- Vocabulary and reference questions take less time than main-idea questions. Aim for about 40 seconds each.
- Save the time for inference and main-idea questions, which need the whole passage.
About how long should a vocabulary or reference question take?
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These are fast questions; save time for inference and main idea.
"The library was so tranquil that you could hear a pencil drop." Tranquil means ___ (one word: q…).
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You could hear a pencil drop, so it was quiet.
Recap
- Read the sentence before and after; cover the word; guess; match.
- Clues: definition, example, contrast, cause and effect.
- For it / they / this, look back and test by replacing.
Find three new words in an English text you are reading. For each, write the clue type and your guess, then check a dictionary.
Guessing from context first is the skill the test measures.
Official sources
- Reading question types checked on 15 November 2026 in the TOEFL Junior Test Taker Handbook (ETS, PDF).
- Reading Comprehension sample questions (ETS). The passage here is original.