The acquisition of vocabulary has been less intensively studied than t

Question

The acquisition of vocabulary has been less intensively studied than the internalization of operational grammar, but it is an equally complex task. To learn a new word, a child must associate sound and meaning; surprisingly, the concept may take less time to master than the mechanics of recognizing and producing the word. It is also harder to learn distinctions within semantic categories than between them: A child may know that fuchsia refers to a color and not a smell, but be unsure of what color it is.

Vocabulary study through word lists and dictionaries, as practiced in school, poses new problems, primarily because of the mechanics of dictionary study as opposed to interaction with responsive adults. The most common error is that of substitution: A child looking up an unfamiliar word such as meticulous, and finding a familiar phrase such as very careful as part of the definition, will treat the new word as interchangeable with the familiar phrase, producing sentences such as I was meticulous about falling off the cliff. Hence, though the normal child masters some 80,000 words in sixteen years—about fourteen per day—little of this learning takes place in school.    1 
 1. The author is primarily concerned with

A. encouraging more intensive study of vocabulary acquisition
B. describing some aspects and problems of the process of vocabulary acquisition
C. criticizing the teaching of vocabulary in schools
D. comparing the processes of learning vocabulary and grammar
E. resolving contradictions in the theoretical understanding of vocabulary development

2 
 2. The passage implies that learning vocabulary from dictionaries may be difficult because

A. the child cannot test the understanding of new words by interaction with another person
B. dictionary definitions do not reveal all the shades of meaning of a word
C. the child is required to learn too many words each day
D. teachers disagree over the proper way to study from a dictionary
E. dictionaries do not indicate the rules of grammar that the child must master

3 
 3. The author suggests that a child studying with a dictionary may use a new word incorrectly in a sentence because he or she

A. is not familiar with any of the words used in the definitions
B. is able to understand the word’s meaning but not to compose a sentence using the word
C. is unaware that the word may not have exactly the same meaning as a phrase used in defining it
D. does not know how to use the alphabetized entries in a dictionary
E. cannot understand the dictionary symbols used to indicate pronunciation

4 
 4. It can be inferred that a typical growing child learns most of his or her vocabulary

A. before acquiring a knowledge of grammar
B. from dictionaries and word lists
C. without being able to associate sound and meaning
D. through interaction with adults
E. by memorizing semantic categories

RC Butler 2023  -  Practice Two RC Passages Everyday.   
Passage # 228 Date: 10-Jul-2023
 This question is part of RC Butler 2023 .  Click here for Details

Kaplan GRE Verbal Workbook 2007

Runjhun26 · Answer

Hi  Sajjad1994 ,
Can you please share the explanation

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Please mention the question number you are looking for.

Runjhun26 · Answer

Question 1, Question 2 and Question 4

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. The author is primarily concerned with

Medium:   Medium

Explanation

This is a global question, and the answer should be summed up by the purpose and main idea of the passage.  Choice (B)  fits this nicely: The  “aspects”  (associating sound and meaning, learning distinctions between and within semantic categories) are the topic of  paragraph 1 , while the  “problems”  (the difficulty of learning through dictionary study) are the topic of  paragraph 2.

Choice (A)  is beyond the scope of the passage, since it is purely descriptive.

Choice (C)  focuses on a detail, the topic of paragraph 2, only.

Choice (D)  never happens; grammar is never mentioned after the first sentence.

Choice (E)  is also beyond the scope of the passage; no theoretical contradictions are mentioned or implied.

Answer: B

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

2. The passage implies that learning vocabulary from dictionaries may be difficult because

Medium:   Hard

Explanation

This is an inference question that refers to learning from a dictionary, so look at  paragraph 2.  The first sentence of  paragraph 2  says that dictionary learning  “poses new problems, primarily because of the mechanics of dictionary study as opposed to interaction with responsive adults.”  The paragraph then goes on to give an example of a misunderstanding. It is implied that feedback from a person is needed to clear up this type of error; this paraphrases  choice (A) .

Choice (B)  is wrong because it refers only to the example of a misunderstanding (the definition of meticulous) without answering the question.

Choice (C)  is probably referring to the information that the typical child successfully learns about fourteen words a day; there’s no indication that the child is required to learn this many in school, or that that’s why dictionary learning is unsuccessful.

Choice (D)  is out; since there’s no reference at all to any disagreements among teachers, it’s beyond the scope.

Choice (E)  is also incorrect; we’re talking about learning vocabulary, not grammar.

Answer: A

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

3. The author suggests that a child studying with a dictionary may use a new word incorrectly in a sentence because he or she

Medium:   Medium

Explanation

This is a detail question, covered by the example in the later part of  paragraph 2.  The example of the child trying to use meticulous in a sentence indicates that the child makes an error because he or she assumes that meticulous means exactly the same thing as very careful. That is, the childis unaware that the word may not have exactly the same meaning as a phrase used in defining it (choice (C)).

Eliminate  choices (A)  and  (B) ; the example shows that the child is familiar with some words in the definition and can compose a syntactically correct sentence.

Choice (D)  is out—the child must know how to use alphabetized entries, since he or she has looked up meticulous.

Choice (E)  is irrelevant in this context.

Answer: C

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

4. It can be inferred that a typical growing child learns most of his or her vocabulary

Medium:   Medium-Hard

Explanation

The  last sentence  of the passage tells us that a typical child learns 80,000 words over sixteen years, but that  “little of this learning takes place in school.”  In  paragraph 2  we learn that vocabulary study in school is relatively unsuccessful because of the lack of  “interaction with responsive adults.”  We can infer that such interaction is how most successful learning takes place, and  choice (D)  is our answer.

Choice (A)  picks up on the reference to grammar in the first sentence; from the passage, we don’t know whether vocabulary is learned before, after, or at the same time as grammar.

Choice (B)  is wrong because the author indicates that learning from dictionaries and word lists is not very successful.

Choice (C)  is out, since the second sentence in paragraph 1 makes it clear that successful learning does involve associating sound and meaning.

Choice (E)  distorts the last sentence of paragraph 1; the child does not necessarily memorize semantic categories, as opposed to learning to use them in practice, and must also learn much else besides.

Answer: D

The acquisition of vocabulary has been less intensively studied than t

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The acquisition of vocabulary has been less intensively studied than t

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

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From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards