ISEE Upper Level Verbal : Identifying Synonyms When Words Have Multiple Meanings
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Example Question #41 : Identifying Synonyms When Words Have Multiple Meanings
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
DELEGATE
Vote
Election
Assign
Represent
Relegate
Assign
The word "delegate" actually can be a noun or a verb. Here, it is being used as a verb, but you can only tell this by looking at your options. When we "delegate" a task, we turn it over to someone else. (Hence, the word "assign" is the best option.) The person to whom certain tasks are delegated is himself or herself called a "delegate." This is why a delegate to a convention is called a "delegate." We give that person the authority to stand in our place at the convention, but the act of delegating is not the act of representing. The act of delegating is the actual giving over of the task. Delegation makes someone to become a representative. The difference is important! Likewise, delegates may vote or be involved in elections; however neither of these are synonymous meanings for the term.
Example Question #42 : Identifying Synonyms When Words Have Multiple Meanings
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
PRUNE
Eat
Grow
Follow
Enjoy
Cut
Cut
"Prune" as a verb means to cut back a part of a plant so the plant will grow healthily. It is a close synonym with the less specific word, "cut." The incorrect answer choices "grow," "follow," "enjoy," and "eat" have little or nothing to do with the act of trimming foliage.
Example Question #43 : Identifying Synonyms When Words Have Multiple Meanings
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
MERIT
badge
patch
emblem
deserve
symbol
deserve
The word “merit” is often used as a verb, and it is in this sense that it is implied here. All of the wrong options are tempting because one might think of receiving a “merit badge” or at least a “merit symbol.” These are all unacceptable, because even if the word can be thus applied as an adjective to the given noun, it does not mean the same thing as the noun does. The word “merit,” when used as a verb, means to deserve praise. For instance, it can be used in a sentence like, “After John saved the girl from the freezing water, nobody doubted that he merited the praise of the whole community for his act of bravery.” Given this usage of “merit,” the best option is “deserve.”
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