Start here · the first lesson of Vocabulary in context
Vocabulary in context
Reading Comprehension · for IPMAT Indore, IPMAT Rohtak and JIPMAT
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The idea
These questions ask what a word, phrase or idiom means as used in the passage ("The phrase 'that kicks in' (para 3) means", "The synonym for 'stranglehold' is", "The antonym for 'unbounded' is"). IPMAT Indore PYQs use them in almost every set. The context nearly always gives the meaning away, and the traps are the dictionary meanings that don't fit.
Textbook vs exam method
Textbook method
Recall the dictionary meaning of the word and choose the option that matches it.
Exam method
- Find the word and read the full sentence. (and the next one, which often explains it: "a sliver of what is published... three in every hundred books").
- Blank it out. and predict a replacement from the context.
- Match. choose the option closest to your prediction, then put it back into the sentence to check it reads naturally.
- For antonym questions. fix the meaning in context, then choose its opposite.