Verbal Advantage: 10 Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary

776 Pages·2012·2.47 MB·English

by  Charles Harrington Elster

Table of Contents
Introduction
Pretest
Level 1
Review Test for Level 1
Level 2
Review Test for Level 2
Level 3
Review Test for Level 3
Level 4
Review Test for Level 4
Level 5
Review Test for Level 5
Level 6
Review Test for Level 6
Level 7
Review Test for Level 7
Level 8
Review Test for Level 8
Level 9
Review Test for Level 9
Level 10
Review Test for Level 10
Posttest
Key to Pronunciation
Vowel Sounds
A, a—flat, back, pass, exact
AH, ah—spa, father, hot, mop
AHR, ahr—car, jar, farm, alarm
AIR, air—hair, stare, bear, where
AY, ay—hay, wait, came, state
AW, aw—raw, all, walk, thought
E, e—yes, let, step, echo
EE, ee—see, beat, key, she
EER, eer—fear, pier, beer, mere
I, i—in, hit, sip, mix, pick
Y, y and EYE, eye—by, nice, pie, right, aisle
Note: Y is used in combination with other letters to form a syllable: SLYT-lee (slightly). EYE is used when this sound by itself forms a syllable: EYE-land (island).
OH, oh—go, sew, coat, approach
OO, oo—do, ooze, rule, true
OR, or—for, door, born, war
OOR, oor—poor, tour, allure, obscure
OW, ow—cow, out, tower, doubt
OY, oy—oil, loin, boy, annoy
UH, uh—up, dull, some, color; also ago, allow, about
UR, ur—turn, stir, were, learn
UU, uu—pull, full, good, took, would
Obscure or Unstressed Vowel Sounds
a—final, woman, elephant, balsam, librarian
e—item, taken, moment, novel, difference
i—edible, policy, charity, nation, imminent
o—connect, polite, gallop, carrot, summon
u—focus, lettuce, singular, column, raucous
Consonant Sounds
B, b—boy, cab, bubble
CH, ch—chip, catcher, peach
D, d—dog, add, sudden
F, f—fat, effort, staff
G, g—get, bigger, bogus, tag
H, h—hit, hope, behind
HW, hw—wheat, whither, whet
J, j—jug, juice, tragic, age
K, k—king, cup, take, actor, pack
L, l—leg, also, bell
’l—temple, ladle, cattle, turtle, apple, pedal
M, m—my, humble, gem
’m—spasm, bosom, album, schism
N, n—no, knee, end, winner
’n—hidden, cotton, open, satin, reason
NG, ng—sing, anger, tank
P, p—pen, pepper, pop
R, r—red, arrive, car
S, s—sit, ask, pass
SH, sh—she, rush, nation, conscious
T, t—top, sit, bitter, party
TH, th—thin, thirst, nothing, bath
TH, th—there, this, brother, bathe
V, v—very, even, live
W, w—will, wait, power
Y, y—yes, you, layer
(Y), (y)—indicates that some speakers employ the Y sound of you and others do not: N(Y)OO (new); D(Y)OO-tee (duty); uh-ST(Y)OOT (astute).
Z, z—zoo, daze, please
ZH, zh—vision, measure, azure, or French je
Foreign Sounds
KH, kh—as in German ach, Scottish loch, Hebrew l’chaim.
A guttural sound like that of clearing the throat.
(N), (n)—as in French vin, blanc, bon, garon.
A nasalized sound. The N is stopped in the nose.
Stress/Accent

Syllables are separated by a hyphen [-].
Syllables printed in CAPITAL letters are stressed.
Syllables printed in lowercase (small) letters are not stressed.
Words of one syllable are printed in CAPITALS.
Words of two syllables in which each syllable receives roughly equal stress are also printed in CAPITALS: AY-MEN (amen), SHORT-LYVD (short-lived).
Words of more than two syllables that have primary and secondary stress are transcribed in the following manner: The syllable with secondary stress is printed in CAPITALS,
and the syllable with primary stress is printed in BOLD CAPITALS: pruh-NUHN-see-AY-shin (pronunciation).
List of Keywords
in Verbal Advantage
Level 1

1.
PARAPHRASE
2.
OSTENSIBLE
3.
DIGRESS
4.
UNCANNY
5.
CANDOR
6.
MOROSE
7.
ADEPT
8.
SATURATED
9.
PRAGMATIC
10.
CONGENIAL
11.
CAPRICIOUS
12.
BLATANT
13.
OBLIGATORY
14.
NEGLIGIBLE
15.
ADAMANT
16.
SPORADIC
17.
VANGUARD
18.
CONCUR
19.
PRECOCIOUSNESS
20.
ALOOF
21.
CREED
22.
TAWDRY
23.
PEEVISH
24.
ARDUOUS
25.
PERSONABLE
26.
RESOLUTE
27.
SUPPOSITION
28.
ARBITRARY
29.
MONOTONOUS
30.
LEGACY
31.
MANIFOLD
32.
PLIANT
33.
RETORT
34.
OBSTINATE
35.
LACERATE
36.
OMNIPOTENT
37.
UNSCRUPULOUS
38.
RENAISSANCE
39.
GENESIS
40.
WARRANT
41.
CANTANKEROUS
42.
FLIPPANT
43.
SUBJUGATE
44.
WRY
45.
URBANE
46.
JARGON
47.
PRUDENT
48.
INVIOLABLE
49.
COMMODIOUS
50.
PROXIMITY
Level 2
1.
ADVOCATE
2.
DELEGATE
3.
UNPRECEDENTED
4.
POIGNANT
5.
NEBULOUS
6.
CLANDESTINE
7.
TIRADE
8.
RECUR
9.
TACIT
10.
ALLEGATION
11.
GULLIBLE
12.
BENIGN
13.
PERIPHERAL
14.
REBUFF
15.
ANIMOSITY
16.
TENUOUS
17.
COMPLACENT
18.
ACME
19.
DEFUNCT
20.
ABET
21.
HAGGARD
22.
WAIVE
23.
CARNAL
24.
SANCTION
25.
AMBIGUOUS
26.
SPENDTHRIFT
27.
MOLLIFY
28.
UNEQUIVOCAL
29.
MALLEABLE
30.
VERBOSE
31.
TRANSIENT
32.
NETTLE
33.
REPUDIATE
34.
IMPETUOUS
35.
FRUGAL
36.
INCONGRUOUS
37.
ASSUAGE
38.
CORROBORATE
39.
EMBELLISH
40.
AVARICIOUS
41.
CURSORY
42.
VACILLATE
43.
CLEMENT
44.
LUCRATIVE
45.
ALLOCATE
46.
RECONCILE
47.
PARAGON
48.
ANALOGOUS
49.
DIURNAL
50.
PRETEXT
Level 3

1.
DEFRAY
2.
TACITURN
3.
TERSE
4.
BOON
5.
PROLETARIAT
6.
HETEROGENEOUS
7.
PITTANCE
8.
GLIB
9.
PENCHANT
10.
SOLICITOUS