Looking to improve your ACT score fast? One VERY efficient way to do so would be to focus some of your remaining study time on what’s known as “Vocab In Context” (or “VIC”) questions. These Qs typically appear in every ACT Reading Section. And there’s only ONE hack you really need to master in order to slay them.
Being able to recognize and correctly answer this type of question will win you precious points every time (which is why I always make sure my one-on-one tutoring clients have them down pat).
BTW, the Digital SAT tests you on Vocab in Context questions, too—but they look slightly different on that exam. I’ll be dedicating a whole video and post to the SAT version of these Qs soon!
Now let’s get down to it: time to teach you the best way to approach VIC questions.
ARTICLE CONTENTS
1. Watch this article as a video
2. Recognizing Vocab in Context questions on the ACT
3. How to answer VIC questions
4. Worked example of this vocab strategy
5. What’s different about this VIC method
6. Conclusion
Watch this article as a video:
Recognizing “Vocab in Context” Questions on the ACT
Generally speaking, VIC questions tend to have the below structure. (This sample problem is taken from the most recent ACT diagnostic test.) There will be a passage, then a question like this:
18) As it is used in line 80, the word abandon most nearly means:
F. uninhibitedness.
G. relinquishment.
H. retreat.
J. denial.
This question’s instructions may seem straightforward enough, at first glance: simply pick the answer choice that means the same as the word in the question. However, many test-takers (especially those who haven’t worked with me in a one-on-one setting to study for the ACT) STILL pick the wrong answer.
Why is that, pray tell?
Well, most students assume they should approach these types of questions as simple vocabulary quizzes, like flashcards with only one answer. But they’re really quite different from that. Because the ACT will try to bamboozle you by providing several answer choices that technically do fit some definition of the word in question…just not the definition that’s relevant for this particular sentence.
That’s why I call these “Vocab in Context” Questions, not just “Vocab Questions.” But fear not: if you follow my strategy of focusing on the “in Context” part of the equation, your path to the correct answer will be straightforward from this point forward. And of course, I’m going to teach you exactly how to do that right now.
How to answer Vocabulary In Context ACT questions
Here’s the basic outline of the strategy. I’ll explain each step in detail, using an example, in the next section of this post.
Step #1: Return to the excerpt and locate the vocab word in the line cited, underlining or circling the word.
Step #2: Read the whole sentence that contains the word, but instead of reading the vocab word, swap in the word “blank.”
Step #3: Now reread the part of the sentence containing the vocab word four times in a row, each time swapping out the vocab word for each of the four answer choices.
Step #4: Eliminate any obviously wrong choices and select the answer, which—thanks to this strategy—will now be far easier to determine!
ACT vocab question: worked example
Let’s see how this strategy actually plays out in the example I gave above.
Step #1: Go back to passage and identify the specific line mentioned in the question (line 80, in this case; lines 79-81 contain the whole sentence). Highlight, underline, or circle the vocab word being tested (“abandon”). Whether you’re taking the test on a computer or on paper, you need to make that word stand out. Here’s what the full sentence would look like now:
“I can’t help thinking that the virus was supplying something the tulip needed, just the touch of abandon the flower’s chilly formality called for.”
Step #2: Read the entire sentence to yourself, replacing the vocab word with the word “blank.” This is what you’d read in your head:
“I can’t help thinking that the virus was supplying something the tulip needed, just the touch of blank the flower’s chilly formality called for.”
Step #3: Reread the part of the sentence with the vocab word four times in a row, each time replacing it with an answer choice. Here’s what you’d read to yourself in this scenario:
“…just the touch of uninhibitedness the flower’s chilly formality called for…” (Answer choice F)
“…just the touch of relinquishment the flower’s chilly formality called for…” (Answer choice G)
“…just the touch of retreat the flower’s chilly formality called for…” (Answer choice H)
“…just the touch of denial the flower’s chilly formality called for…” (Answer choice J)
Step #4: As you go, cross out any answer choices that just don’t make sense. From there, you should be able to select the correct answer by the process of elimination. In this case, a touch of “uninhibitedness” is the only choice that makes sense with the content of the sentence, so you’ll go with answer choice F.
Now you can give yourself a high five for selecting the correct answer very quickly—the Ivy Lounge Test Prep® way!
Why does this VIC method work?
There are a few counterintuitive parts of this strategy that might seem counterintuitive at first. Let me explain why they’re part of a superior approach.
1) NEVER IN THIS PROCESS DID I ASK MYSELF WHAT THE WORD “ABANDON” MEANS.
Because, honestly, what “abandon” means is not of interest to us, here—we only care what “abandon” means in that particular sentence! Vocab in context, right?
2) IN STEP #2, I ACTUALLY REREAD THE ENTIRE SENTENCE BUT USED A PLACEHOLDER INSTEAD OF THE VOCAB WORD.
I did this so I could silence any preconceived definitions I might have in my head for a given word, and remain neutral when I try out the options in the next step. AND…
3) IN STEP #3, I REREAD THE WHOLE SEGMENT ALL FOUR TIMES, EACH TIME WITH A DIFFERENT WORD.
I did NOT read the snippet only once, plugging in all four answers in a row: “…just the touch of uninhibitedness…relinquishment…retreat…denial the flower’s chilly formality called for.”
That’s confusing. Your inner ear needs to “hear” all four options in the full context of the sentence. If you instead read the sentence with four answer choices in a row, your brain is only really going to process what the first answer choice (“uninhibitedness”) sounds like in context. You’ll be relying on your memory to make a judgment call about the other three words…which means you’ll end up overthinking and asking yourself time-consuming questions that lead to the wrong answer, like “well, couldn’t ‘retreat’ mean something like ‘abandon’ in certain cases?” and so on.
Conclusion
I’d recommend practicing this strategy a few times (without skipping around or cutting corners!). After that, this approach will feel second nature—and you, too, can snag the (good number of) points that VIC questions offer! You might even want to share this post with a friend who’s also prepping for the ACT.
And if this post leaves you hungry for more of my ACT Reading tricks, check out the self-study course linked here! Learn everything you need to absolutely smash this test…at your own pace, and from the comfort of your own home/laptop.
