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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1915)
1 I i-w;/: W'; THE CHEM AW A fi AM ERICAN 19 A VO CABULARY TEST T he only way to find out the exact num ber of w ords for which yon know the m eaning is to go th ro u g h the dictionary and co u n t them . But th a t is likely to take more tim e th an the know ledge is w orth, A college professor has devised a way to estim ate th e size of anyone s vocabulary. It has been used as a test for h u n d red s of schools, and has proved accu rate enough for all practical purposes. H ere is a list 100 words selected from a dictionary co n tain in g th e IS, 000 most frequently used w ords in th e E n g lish language. Read over th e list slowly and carefully. A fter every w ord, th e m eaning of w hich you know perfectly, place, th e sign x . A fter every w ord you are sure you do not know , place sign W hen you find a word you th in k you know , but of which you are not quite sure, w rite it on a sheet of paper, and after it w rite th e m eaning you th in k is the rig h t one. T h e w ords on th is sheet make up th e doubtful list. W hen you have gone th ro u g h th e 100 w ords in th is way, verify yo u r definititions of the doubtful w ords by the use of a dictionary. M ark each correctly w ritten definition w ith a plus sign, each incorrect one w ith a m inus sign. C ount th e total num ber of plus sign in the en tire list, and m ultiply th a t num ber by 180. T h e resu lt will be the num ber of w ords in your vocabulary. T o illustrate: If there are 60 plus signs in all, you know th e m ean ing of 60 x 180, or 10,800 words. If the num ber of plus signs is 45, you know about 45 x 180, or 8,100 w ords. O ne other point: It is not necessary in order to be correct th at your w ritten definitions should read exactly like those in the dictionary. M ark a definition x if it gives a good general idea of w hat th e word m eans. M oreover, it is not necessary to know all the m eanings of a word; one correct m eaning is eno u g h . But take care not to m ark the word x u n less you are sure you know at least one correct m eaning of it. W hen you try th is list on yourself, or test a child by it, you will find th at th e words in th e first p art are fairly easy, but th a t they get harder as you advance. T h is is the principle to rem em ber if you choose a list of your ow n. A rrange, bonfire, envelope, gow n, haste, afloat, eyelash, co p p er, g u ita r, curse, h ealth , mellow , ru le, straw , tap. scorch, puddle, pork, plum bing, im polite, roar, treasu ry , noticeable, outw ard, so u th ern , civil, easterly, lecture, quake, reception, ram ble, skill, stave, muzzle, m isuse, insure, brunet, reg ard , shrew d, cru n ch , ju g g ler, hysterics, repose, M ars, m ajesty, dilapidated, mosaic, nerve, forfeit, peculiarity, artless, avarice, bew aib ch arter, conscienti ms, depredation, fru strate, gelatinous, (m ilk sop, p h ila n th ro p e, priceless, prom ontory sw addle, tolerate, irony, lotus, coinage, drabble, em body, snip, flaunt, harp y , sportive, d isp ro p o rtio n ate, apish, achrom atic, am bergris, cameo, c a su istry , com plot, declivity, ex altatio n , fen, hookah, in cru statio n , infuse, laity, lim pet, ochre, pal- eology, p a rte ire , p erfunctory, piscatorial, precipitancy, retroactive, sap ient. selectm an, shagreen, sudorific, theosophy.
