Context Cluesunit4

Unit 4: Context Clues

What is a context? A context is the words that come just before

and after a word, phrase or statement and helps you to understand its meaning.

Context can be a sentence or paragraph or passage.

It helps you make a general prediction about the meaning.

What is context clue?A context clue is a fact or an idea that suggests

the meaning of an unknown word.

Guessing Word meaning in ContextSometimes you can guess the meaning of aword from the other words in the sentence.

Example a:

Some of the trees in Redwood National ParkAre truly gargantuan, and in fact they are thetallest trees in the world.

Gargantuan means “very large”.

Guessing Word meaning in ContextSometimes you need to read several sentences in order to guess the meaning of an unknown word.

Example b:a. Mary realized that Mr. Ashman was a misogynist soon after she

started working as his assistant.b. It is difficult for a woman to work for misogynist. She is never sure if

his criticism is based on her work or on the fact that she is a woman.c. Marry knew that no woman ever get a top-level job in a company

run by a misogynist.

Misogynist means a person who doesn’t like womanใ

Exercise 1

1. On nice days, old Mrs. Willows always sat out on her front porch and watched the people pass by.

After lunch in summer, we always move out to the porch, since there was usually some wind there, but we were protected from the sun.

Porch means a covered entrance or room attached tothe outside of a house.

2. The window had been left open during the storm, and the papers on my desk were a soggy mess. We gathered up the soggy towels and bathing suit and hung them all in the sun to dry.

Soggy means very wet.

Exercise 1

3. Many artists make a pencil sketch of their subject before they start to it.

Mr. Johnson showed me a rough sketch of the house he is planning to build.

Sketch means a rough drawing done quickly.

4. I washed the T-shirt in cold water so it wouldn’t shrink. If you want to have enough spinach for dinner, you need

to buy a lot. It shrinks to almost nothing when you cook it.

Shrink means become smaller.

Exercise 1

5. When he won the race at the Olympics, he was at the peak of his career.

It took us all day to climb to the peak of Mount Mansfield.

Peak means the highest point.

6. Jill’s skating accident made her foot swell up until she could no longer wear her shoe.

Poor Simon! After he had his tooth pulled out, the whole side of his face swelled up.

Swell up means become bigger because of injury or infection.

Exercise 2

1. Don’t worry about the book that you lost. I’m sure it will turn up.

Do you remember the umbrella I couldn’t find last week? It turned up in the back of the car.

Turn up means to appear or be found by accident.

2. William took the lid off the pot to see what his mother was cooking for supper.

Sometimes the lid to the honey jar gets stuck, and it’s hard to get it off.

Lid means the cover to some kind of container.

Exercise 2

3. I always glance at the headlines in the morning, but I rarely have time to read the whole newspaper.

As he ran up the stairs of the school. William glanced at his watch—late again!

Glance means look at sth. quickly.

4. Gerald always came home promptly on Tuesdays so that he could watch his favorite TV show.

The firefighters arrived promptly and were able to stop the fire from spreading to other houses.

Promptly means without delay; on time.

Exercise 2

5. We were all shocked by the foul language the little boy was using.

With the windows closed for so long, there was a foul smell in the room.

Foul means very bad, disgusting, terrible.

6. In the early morning, you could see the dew on every leaf and every branch.

When we got up the tent was wet with dew outside, but we were warm and dry inside.

Dew means little drops of water that form at night when the air cools.

Exercise 3

1. Those women work very hard and deserves to be paid more.

Since Peter won the spelling contest, he deserves as a special reward.

Deserved means earn or be worthy of either a reward or a punishment.

Exercise 3

2. Poly was very angry when she saw the ugly stain on her new rug.

When you spill fruit juice on a tablecloth, it can make a stain that does not wash away.

Stain means a spot of colour or dirt made by mistake.

Exercise 3

3. Ellen’s parents were very strict with her and did not allow her to go out in the evening.

Mrs. Tilley was not popular with the children in her class. She was very strict and she punished anyone she thought had broken a rule.

Strict means not allowing freedom to do what you want.

Exercise 3

4. A witness saw a young man grab Mrs. Knox’s purse and run away with it.

As we were crossing the street, I heard a car coming, so I grabbed Selena’s hand and pull her back just in time.

Grab means take something in a hurry and without warning.

Exercise 3

5. There was only one place in the classroom to plug in the television monitor, and Thai was on the back wall of the room.

No wonder the printer isn’t working! It’s not plugged in.

Plug means connect an electrical appliance to the electrical outlet.

Exercise 3

6. Although he was only forty years old, Dr. Jerash was already almost entirely bald.

Some bald men will try almost anything to make their hair grow back.

Bald means with little or no hair.

Exercise 4

1. The picture has been framed with special glass. It won’t shatter if you drop it.

The bomb shattered the windows of all the buildings nearby.

shatter means break into many small pieces.

Exercise 4

2. Many of the vegetables you buy in the winter are grown in greenhouses.

During the storm, a tree fell on the greenhouse and broke the glass on one side.

Greenhouse means a glass or clear plastic structure that is used to protect plants from the cold.

Exercise 4

3. Rosa was able to patch the hole on Bruno’s jacket so well that his mother never noticed.

No one was around to help me fix the flat tire on my bicycle, so I had to patch it myself.

patch means cover a hide in cloth or other material.

Exercise 4

4. The water in the river was too shallow for swimming, but we got wet and cool anyway.

Jane told the children to stay in the shallow part of the swimming pool.

shallow means not deep.

Exercise 4

5. After hearing the war reports, Stefan walked gloomily home through the dark city.

After the soccer team lost the game, the girls talked gloomily about their bad luck.

gloomily means sadly, with no hope.

Exercise 4

6. The earthquake caused many old buildings to collapse.

Just as Don started eating his meal, the chair collapsed under his weight and he fell to the floor.

collapse means fall down suddenly.

Exercise 5: Guessing meaning of nonsense word

What is a “zip”?1. Every one who visits Russia should first get a zip. If

you come by train, you must already have a zip. You will not be allowed to enter at all without one.Travelers without zips will be sent back where they came from. Zips are given on the spot if you arrive by plane or by car. However, you may have to wait a long time for one. This can be avoided by getting a zip before you leave home.

Zip is a visa.

Exercise 5: Guessing meaning of nonsense word

What is a “zap”?2. Various kinds of zaps are available in Oslo. Some are

for only an hour, some for a day, some for three days. The three-day zap is useful for the tourist who wants to visit different part of the city. It allows you unlimited travel for three days on the local trains and buses. Zaps-and information about the buses and trains-are available at all tourist offices.

Zap is a a city transportation ticket, or pass.

Exercise 5: Guessing meaning of nonsense word

What is a “zep”?3. In Paris it is wise to get yourself a zep as soon as

possible. It is very easy to get lost if you leave the main streets. You can buy zeps in the train station, but they are not complete. Better zeps can be found in the bookstores. These have more details, and they show all the named streets.

Zep is a map.

Exercise 5: Guessing meaning of nonsense word

What is a “zop”?4. Trains connect the larger cities in Tunisia, but there

arenot many smaller train lines. To travel between the smaller cities and towns, most people take buses or zops. These zops are often cheaper than the buses or trains. They leave as soon as they have five people who want to go to the same place. That might be a distant city or a town nearby. The destination of the zop is written on a sign on the roof of the vehicle.

Zop is a minibus that takes people to several different places.

Exercise 5: Guessing meaning of nonsense word

What is a “zup”?5. The zups always run along the same routes in Istanbul.

They usually stop only at the main bus stops. But if you ask the driver, you can get off anywhere. These zups are cheaper than normal taxis. The cost of a trip is divided among the passengers, usually four or five people. For these reasons, zups are a very popular way of getting around the city.

Zup is a special kind of city taxi that people share.

Exercise 6: Guessing meaning of nonsense word

What is a “zip”?1. Nobody wants a zip near his or her home. First of all,

they usually do not smell very pleasant. If the wind is from their direction, you may get that smell at home. And zips often attract lots of insects, such as flies and mosquitoes, as well as animals such rats and mice. A nearby zip may also mean you will have noisy trucks on your street all day. Finally, the most serious problem with zips is that they may pollute the dangerous chemicals in it. Then when it rains, the chemicals enter the water underground and make it unsafe to drink.

Zip is a garbage dump.

Exercise 6: Guessing meaning of nonsense word

What is a “zap”?2. When people think about sources of water pollution,

they do not usually think of zaps. However, as the demand grows for fish to eat, the number of zaps is increasing. In some areas, they are beginning to create environmental problems. In fact, when fish are in their natural environment, they do not pollute, but in zaps, the situation is not natural. There are usually lots of fish in very little water, which means that the water must be changed very often. Each time it is changed, the dirty water must be thrown away. It is usually poured directly from the zaps into a river or ocean. The chemical balance of the river or coastline is changed by this dirty water, and the plants and animals living there may suffer.

Zap is a fish farm.

Exercise 6: Guessing meaning of nonsense word

What does “zep” mean?3. In the United States and in many European countries,

there is a serious problem. What should be done with the garbage? There is no more room for garbage dumps. It is not possible to burn garbage, because that pollutes the air, so the governments are looking to ways to reduce the amount of garbage that is produced. One way to do this is to zep as much as possible. Not all kinds of garbage can be zepped, of course. The easiest things to zep are probably glass and paper. However, one can also zep many kinds of metal and plastic. Many cities now require people to zep these materials. The people must separate them from the regular garbage. Then special trucks take them away and bring them to private companies that will buy them and use them again.

Zep means recycle.

Exercise 7: Guessing meaning of nonsense word

What is a “zip”?1. Experiments have shown that some animals have anextraordinary sense of direction. The zip is a good example of this. In 1957, some scientists took eighteen zips from their home on the island of Midway in the Pacific Ocean. These zips were sent by airplane to some distant places,such as Japan, the Philippines, and the Hawaiian Islands. Then they were set free. Scientists already knew that zipscould fly for great distances because of their huge wings. But no one thought that the zips would be able to find their way home. After all, Midway is just a very little island in the middle of a very large ocean. However, fourteen of the zips did get to Midway. They got there very quickly, too. One flew from the Phillipines– 2,560 miles, or 4,120 km—inonly 32 days.Zip is a large ocean bird. (albatross)

Exercise 7: Guessing meaning of nonsense word

What does “zap” mean?2. Another animal with a very good sense of direction is the Monarch butterfly. The Monarch is a beautiful orange-colored butterfly. It is one of the larger kinds of butterflies, but is still only an insect. All Monarchsspend the winter in a certain area of central Mexico. In the early spring, they begin to zap north. The butterfliesthat leave Mexico will die on the way. However, their children will zap all the way to the northern United States or Canada. Then, in the fall, these new butterflies start zapping south. They have never been to Mexico, but they manage to find the place their parents left. They will even go to live in same trees. Scientists believe that genetic programming makes this possible, but they do not know how.

Zap means fly.

Exercise 7: Guessing meaning of nonsense word

What is a “zep”?3. Genetic programming is also probably the answer to the mystery of the salmon. These fish are born in zeps far from the ocean. When they are big enough, they travel all the way down

the zep. Then they swim out into the deep ocean water, sometimes forthousands of miles. One salmon from Washington State in the United States was caught halfway to Japan. But no matter how far away they are, the fish start home in the spring. Somehow they know where home is. Along all the many miles of coast, each salmon finds the mouth of its own zep. Then it swims all the way up to the very same spot where it was born.

Zep is a river.