{"id":5141,"date":"2016-02-02t12:00:32","date_gmt":"2016-02-02t20:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/?p=5141"},"modified":"2021-01-06t15:51:54","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06t23:51:54","slug":"boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"boost your vocabulary, boost your act score: part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

**for part 1 of this post, click here<\/a>**. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

you\u2019re already on your way to a building a prolific word stock, but before test day, make sure to add these habits to your repertoire (quick- what does that mean?) for your optimal act composite score (because remember: even though the act- unlike the sat- doesn\u2019t directly test vocabulary, recognizing and being able to correctly employ a wide range of words will help you in all<\/em> departments of the test.)<\/p>\n

5. know your roots<\/strong>. english can be a very confusing language, but believe it or not, there are a lot of patterns- and the more you know, the easier word identification becomes. you surely know a lot about prefixes, for example: \u201cde-\u2019\u2019, and \u201cun-\u2019\u2019 have the power to give the attached word the exact opposite meaning (destress, unavailable, etc) and \u201cre-\u2019\u2019 immediately indicates that the following verb is being done again (rewind, reassess.) did you know, though, that there are many many<\/em> embedded roots across the english lexicon that automatically tell you what the seemingly foreign word means? \u201crupt\u201d, for example, means \u201cto break\u201d: corrupt= crooked, immoral; erupt= to boost forth; interrupt= causing a break in the flow. there are many of these, and they are your key to comprehension- especially since the act\u2019s multiple-choice format often only requires you to pick the closest answer. (stay tuned for a separate post entirely on word roots!)<\/p>\n

6. flash your knowledge<\/strong>. flash cards might not be especially innovative, but they work. here\u2019s how to do it the right way:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. collect and organize<\/em>. gather together all the words you\u2019ve amassed via your \u201cword of the day\u201ds, daily reading and word learning apps. put each on a flash card, with the definition, part of speech and sample sentence on the back.<\/li>\n
  2. go through your words<\/em>. words you get right away can go in a \u201cknow\u201d pile (but don\u2019t cast those aside just yet.) the rest go in the \u201cdon\u2019t know\u201d pile, and be harsh with yourself: these should include words you kind of get, but couldn\u2019t define completely. go through these several more times, starting with your trickiest words. in a full study session, go through all of them; if pressed for time, flip through the un- or little-knowns.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    bonus: apply the sketch tactic! in the last post, i mentioned images as a way to jog your memory toward remembering new words. for the ones you\u2019re stuck on, put the pictures right on the flashcards. for now, this isn\u2019t cheating; it should help. but to ascertain that you\u2019re covered, eventually make sure you can define all the words without the pictures right in front of you (you should have mental images by now.)<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. go the magoosh way<\/em>. remember that magoosh has its very own set of sat vocab cards that you can download free on your phone. these are sure to help in whatever vocab-learning endeavor you may be undertaking. and remember, no excuses: this is the perfect idle time-filler for even the busiest of magooshers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      there you have it: a range of vocabulary building tips for all levels of act-takers. to reinterpret the \u201can apple a day keeps the doctor away\u201d adage: \u201can act vocab practice session a day keeps the low test scores at bay.\u201d five minutes daily could be all it takes. see you on the other side of that shining score!<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      you\u2019re already on your way to a building a prolific word stock, but before test day, make sure to add these habits to your repertoire (quick- what does that mean?) for your optimal act composite score (because remember: even though the act- unlike the sat- doesn\u2019t directly test vocabulary, recognizing and being able to correctly employ a wide range of words will help you in all departments of the test.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[24907],"class_list":["post-5141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nboost your vocabulary, boost your act score: part 2 - magoosh blog | act<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"boost your vocabulary, boost your act score: part 2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"you\u2019re already on your way to a building a prolific word stock, but before test day, make sure to add these habits to your repertoire (quick- what does that mean?) for your optimal act composite score (because remember: even though the act- unlike the sat- doesn\u2019t directly test vocabulary, recognizing and being able to correctly employ a wide range of words will help you in all departments of the test.)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"magoosh blog | act\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-02t20:00:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-06t23:51:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"susanna langholm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"susanna langholm\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"article\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/#article\",\"ispartof\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"susanna langholm\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#\/schema\/person\/578200edf41067c2e2ea8ee6bdbd5fed\"},\"headline\":\"boost your vocabulary, boost your act score: part 2\",\"datepublished\":\"2016-02-02t20:00:32+00:00\",\"datemodified\":\"2021-01-06t23:51:54+00:00\",\"mainentityofpage\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/\"},\"wordcount\":577,\"commentcount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#organization\"},\"articlesection\":[\"act\"],\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"commentaction\",\"name\":\"comment\",\"target\":[\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"webpage\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/\",\"name\":\"boost your vocabulary, boost your act score: part 2 - magoosh blog | act\",\"ispartof\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#website\"},\"datepublished\":\"2016-02-02t20:00:32+00:00\",\"datemodified\":\"2021-01-06t23:51:54+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"readaction\",\"target\":[\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"breadcrumblist\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemlistelement\":[{\"@type\":\"listitem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"home\",\"item\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/\"},{\"@type\":\"listitem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"boost your vocabulary, boost your act score: part 2\"}]},{\"@type\":\"website\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#website\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/\",\"name\":\"magoosh blog | act\",\"description\":\"act information and practice\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#organization\"},\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"searchaction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"entrypoint\",\"urltemplate\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\"},{\"@type\":\"organization\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#organization\",\"name\":\"magoosh\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"imageobject\",\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/files\/2019\/02\/magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png\",\"contenturl\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/files\/2019\/02\/magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png\",\"width\":265,\"height\":60,\"caption\":\"magoosh\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameas\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/magooshsat_act\"]},{\"@type\":\"person\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#\/schema\/person\/578200edf41067c2e2ea8ee6bdbd5fed\",\"name\":\"susanna langholm\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"imageobject\",\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/0e0c45d78ff4c05d7de53d6911a790b1\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/907319b3a1fc58f24e12c15680b7e22e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contenturl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/907319b3a1fc58f24e12c15680b7e22e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"susanna langholm\"},\"description\":\"susanna holds a ba in education & liberal studies from smith college and has spent the better part of her college and post-graduate years helping students achieve success both in and outside of the classroom. most recently, susanna served as the assistant director for a tutoring franchise catering to college-bound exam prep students, learning a thing or two about the act in the process. when she\u2019s not navigating the test-taking waters for the sake of her students, susanna can be found reading, writing on her education blog, skiing, or planning a future filled with international travel - her favorite (but most expensive) hobby.\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/author\/susannalangholm\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ yoast seo premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"boost your vocabulary, boost your act score: part 2 - magoosh blog | act","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/","og_locale":"en_us","og_type":"article","og_title":"boost your vocabulary, boost your act score: part 2","og_description":"you\u2019re already on your way to a building a prolific word stock, but before test day, make sure to add these habits to your repertoire (quick- what does that mean?) for your optimal act composite score (because remember: even though the act- unlike the sat- doesn\u2019t directly test vocabulary, recognizing and being able to correctly employ a wide range of words will help you in all departments of the test.)","og_url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/","og_site_name":"magoosh blog | act","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/","article_published_time":"2016-02-02t20:00:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-01-06t23:51:54+00:00","author":"susanna langholm","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@magooshsat_act","twitter_site":"@magooshsat_act","twitter_misc":{"written by":"susanna langholm","est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"article","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/#article","ispartof":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/"},"author":{"name":"susanna langholm","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#\/schema\/person\/578200edf41067c2e2ea8ee6bdbd5fed"},"headline":"boost your vocabulary, boost your act score: part 2","datepublished":"2016-02-02t20:00:32+00:00","datemodified":"2021-01-06t23:51:54+00:00","mainentityofpage":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/"},"wordcount":577,"commentcount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#organization"},"articlesection":["act"],"inlanguage":"en-us","potentialaction":[{"@type":"commentaction","name":"comment","target":["\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"webpage","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/","url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/","name":"boost your vocabulary, boost your act score: part 2 - magoosh blog | act","ispartof":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#website"},"datepublished":"2016-02-02t20:00:32+00:00","datemodified":"2021-01-06t23:51:54+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inlanguage":"en-us","potentialaction":[{"@type":"readaction","target":["\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"breadcrumblist","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/boost-your-vocabulary-boost-your-act-score-part-2\/#breadcrumb","itemlistelement":[{"@type":"listitem","position":1,"name":"home","item":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/"},{"@type":"listitem","position":2,"name":"boost your vocabulary, boost your act score: part 2"}]},{"@type":"website","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#website","url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/","name":"magoosh blog | act","description":"act information and practice","publisher":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#organization"},"potentialaction":[{"@type":"searchaction","target":{"@type":"entrypoint","urltemplate":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inlanguage":"en-us"},{"@type":"organization","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#organization","name":"magoosh","url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/","logo":{"@type":"imageobject","inlanguage":"en-us","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/files\/2019\/02\/magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png","contenturl":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/files\/2019\/02\/magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png","width":265,"height":60,"caption":"magoosh"},"image":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameas":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/magooshsat_act"]},{"@type":"person","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#\/schema\/person\/578200edf41067c2e2ea8ee6bdbd5fed","name":"susanna langholm","image":{"@type":"imageobject","inlanguage":"en-us","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/0e0c45d78ff4c05d7de53d6911a790b1","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/907319b3a1fc58f24e12c15680b7e22e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contenturl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/907319b3a1fc58f24e12c15680b7e22e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"susanna langholm"},"description":"susanna holds a ba in education & liberal studies from smith college and has spent the better part of her college and post-graduate years helping students achieve success both in and outside of the classroom. most recently, susanna served as the assistant director for a tutoring franchise catering to college-bound exam prep students, learning a thing or two about the act in the process. when she\u2019s not navigating the test-taking waters for the sake of her students, susanna can be found reading, writing on her education blog, skiing, or planning a future filled with international travel - her favorite (but most expensive) hobby.","url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/author\/susannalangholm\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":24907,"user_id":94,"is_guest":0,"slug":"susannalangholm","display_name":"susanna langholm","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/907319b3a1fc58f24e12c15680b7e22e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"langholm","first_name":"susanna","description":"susanna holds a ba in education & liberal studies from smith college and has spent the better part of her college and post-graduate years helping students achieve success both in and outside of the classroom. most recently, susanna served as the assistant director for a tutoring franchise catering to college-bound exam prep students, learning a thing or two about the act in the process. when she\u2019s not navigating the test-taking waters for the sake of her students, susanna can be found reading, writing on her education blog, skiing, or planning a future filled with international travel - her favorite (but most expensive) hobby."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5141"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5141"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/act\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}