{"id":2607,"date":"2016-11-14T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T11:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grockit.com\/blog\/collegeprep\/?p=2607"},"modified":"2020-09-11T20:42:33","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T20:42:33","slug":"act-meaning-in-context","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/act\/act-meaning-in-context\/","title":{"rendered":"ACT Reading: Meaning-in-Context"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Meaning-in-context questions are one of the most common question types in the Reading section of the ACT. These questions ask you to decipher the definition of a word or the meaning of a phrase or sentence used in a passage. Practice is important for mastering these questions, which can use words with multiple meanings. The following strategies should help you master any meaning-in-context question:<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<div  class='avia-icon-list-container   avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_heading  avia-builder-el-first '><ul class='avia-icon-list avia-icon-list-left av-iconlist-big avia_animate_when_almost_visible avia-iconlist-animate'>\n<li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue816' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Read the passage first<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>You\u2019ll be asked several questions about each reading passage. For many meaning-in-context questions, you\u2019ll need to know the entire passage\u2019s purpose. Make sure you read the passage before looking at questions to prevent the questions from misleading you while you read.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li>\n<li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue816' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Takes notes<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>Taking notes is an important step to scoring well on reading comprehension questions. It\u2019ll help you figure out the passage\u2019s purpose or any shifts in the argument. These will be helpful when trying to find the context of a word, phrase, or sentence.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li>\n<li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue816' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Finding the context<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>Meaning-in-context questions will give you the specific line number where you can find the word, phrase, or sentence you need to define. More often than not you\u2019ll need to read (at least) a sentence or two before and after that part of the passage.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div><br \/>\n<div  style='padding-bottom:10px; ' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h3    avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_iconlist  el_before_av_heading  '><h3 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Meaning-In-Context Practice Question<\/h3><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\nThese three strategies should be enough to help you score well on meaning-in-context questions. Now, let\u2019s try a sample question:<br \/>\nI\u2019ve often had to endure the surprise that city folk feel when they first see my paintings. Many of them haven\u2019t imagined that my people could take such joy in a simple meal, sitting in a low-lit room and eating potatoes and soup and bread. At first, I thought that they pitied the people I painted, but when I talked to them, they would tell me how much they wanted to sit with their families and know what it was like to be united by a common goal. I painted scenes of fathers and mothers digging together, babies slung on backs and children trailing behind. It was my job to show the city folk that this was another way to live.<br \/>\nMy subject matter as much as my artistic ability conveyed the message of my work. Without a proper representation of my subject matter, the city folk would not have seen its beauty. But without my subject matter to begin with, any of my attempts to represent something beautiful would have been short-lived.<br \/>\n<em>When the author says, &#8220;My subject matter as much as my artistic ability conveyed the message of my work&#8221; (at the beginning of the second paragraph) he means that:<\/em><br \/>\n<em>A. his paintings of rural life and his artistic talent enable others to understand his work&#8217;s message.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>B. his new life in the city and his elite circle of friends will influence others through his work.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>C. his talent as an artist was what made him more famous than the subjects he chose to paint.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>D. he hid messages in the canvas of his country life paintings.<\/em><br \/>\n<div  style='padding-bottom:10px; ' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h3    avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_heading  avia-builder-el-last  '><h3 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Explanation<\/h3><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\nWe need to figure out what the author means by \u201csubject matter\u201d and \u201cartistic ability\u201d in this sentence. The subject matter is in paragraph one: hints about city folk needing to understand another way of life, a simpler one with people just eating \u201cpotatoes, soup and bread\u201d around a table. His artistic ability implies that he\u2019s good at what he does. But, it\u2019s also important to notice that his subject matter and artistic ability are equally important (\u201cas much as\u201d) for the message of his work. Is there an answer choice that relays this? <em>A<\/em> conveys this message perfectly, as it mentions rural life, which is opposite from the urban life of the city folk, and the artist\u2019s talent, another way of putting artistic ability. The other answer choices are meant to confuse you, with <em>C<\/em> testing if you read the question and passage closely. Don\u2019t fall into these traps!<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meaning-in-context questions are one of the most common question types in the Reading section of the ACT. These questions ask you to decipher the definition of a word or the meaning of a phrase or sentence used in a passage. Practice is important for mastering these questions, which can use words with multiple meanings. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58],"tags":[62],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2607"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36160,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607\/revisions\/36160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}