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Comprehension
Lesson 4		 Interpreting Vocabulary
  Objectives/Vocab/Tips > Examples 1 | 2 | 3 > Practice: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 > Self Check

Practice 1:

Now it's your turn to put all the tips and tools together and practice using context clues to interpret meanings of new words, phrases or expressions in reading!

Instruction:

In this practice, you'll be working on sentences from a story Three Skeleton Key, by George G. Toudouze.

Three Skeleton Key, an island off the coast of French Guiana in South America, was named for three escaped convicts who landed on the island and later became three "heaps of bones, picked clean by the birds." The narrator provides this information as background for his own story of near death. While manning the island's lighthouse with two other sailors, they are attacked by ravenous sea rats from a ship wrecked on their shores. In the darkest hour, when they are locked at the top of the lighthouse, with the rats gnawing at the door, without food or much hope of rescue, the three mariners begin to think the island will soon be called Six Skeleton Key.

If you like suspense and a little bit of a scare, this is a story you can't put down. You'll have to read it when you have a bit of time!

For now though, you have enough background on the story to figure out meanings of words from the context of sentences. So, without reading the whole story, (Yes, you read that right - without reading the whole story), let's practice interpreting meaning of vocabulary words from the context. As you work through these sentences, go back to the Tips and Tools section of this lesson. It will help you look for clues in the sentences.

Read each sentence carefully. There is one word in red italics. Look for other words or phrases in the same sentence that are clues to what the red italic word means. Type the clue word or phrase in the box below the sentence. Then check your answer.

  1. "The air was foul; even the heavy smell of oil within our stronghold could not dominate the fetid odor of the beasts massed around us."
  2. "She was back at noon, accompanied by the supply ship, two small coast guard boats, and the fireboat--a small squadron."
  3. "One of the patrol boats stayed by the island; the rest of the flotilla departed for the coast."
  4. "To the last rat, our besiegers deserted the rock, swam out, and boarded the barge reeking with the scent of freshly cut meat."
  5. "A well-placed incendiary shell from the patrol boat set her on fire."

How did you do? Did you get a reasonably close idea of the meaning of these words from the context of the sentence? Were you able to identify clue words in the sentence that helped you figure out the meanings? It is also a good idea to read with a dictionary around. Webster Online or Dictionary.com are internet dictionaries you can use to verify meanings of words you are not familiar with. It will make you feel pretty good to figure out a meaning and then find you were right when you check the dictionary!

Just for fun, use your reading skills to predict what happened to the three men emprisoned in the lighthouse by hungry rats. Use the sentences you just read as clues.

Vocabulary

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