11+ Comprehension: Make sure you know what these words mean!
A broad and mature vocabulary is crucial to ensure success at the 11+ comprehension. However just a couple of misunderstood words in the text can lead to an unfortunate loss of marks, or worse still, a misunderstanding of the entire passage. So, aside from good quality reading on a consistent basis to help build up vocabulary, we decided to analyse all 11+ papers in the last 5 years to see which “difficult” words kept reappearing year after year. This exercise took a healthy dose of patience and stamina but below is the fruits of our labour!
These 20 words should be learnt as it seems 11+ examiners are very keen to use them.
- revulsion
- precedent
- prompt
- immense
- timid
- byre
- scurrying / to scurry
- inevitable
- (on the) verge
- dubious / dubiously
- to dab
- to glance
- seldom
- to retaliate
- indefinable
- uneasiness
- oppressed
- to perceive
- resolutely
- superciliously
Even if you know the meanings, practice using them in their right context by incorporating them into a full sentence. We are more than happy to check and mark your sentences a gratis if you send them into us. We will send them back to you with comments and/or corrections.
And remember, this exercise is great not just for comprehension, but also for creative writing and verbal reasoning.