The Princeton Review: Word Smart--Building an Educated Vocabulary. Revised Edition

Cat got your tongue? A good vocabulary will get you far in life.__Word Smart__narrows down the important words you need to know, using pertinent definitions, guidance on avoiding common usage mistakes, and follow-up quizzes to help you build a stronger vocabulary. The Princeton Review is the fastest-growing test-preparation company in the country, helping over a million students each year prepare for college, grad school, and professional licensing exams. Princeton Review classes are held in more than 500 locations in the US and abroad. Backing their courses, books and software is over two million dollars a year in training and research. No student is better prepared than a Princeton Review student. The words people use say a lot about them. Some words say that they are smart, persuasive, and informed. Others say that they don't know what they're talking about. Knowing which words to use and how to use them are keys to getting the most from one's mind and to communicating effectively.
To find out which words readers absolutely need to know, The Princeton Review researched the vocabularies of educated adults. The Princeton Review analyzed newspapers from The New York Times to The Wall Street Journal, magazines from Time to Scientific American, and books from current bestsellers to classics. Editors threw out words that most people know and focused on the words that people misunderstand or misuse.
TPR also combed through the SAT and other standardized tests to determine which words are tested most frequently. In this updated third edition, editors give readers the most important words they need to know to score higher.
Includes special lists covering:
• Common usage errors
• Most frequently tested words on standardized tests
• Foreign phrases, abbreviations, and terms readers need to know to understand finance, science, computers, and the arts

Author Biography: Adam Robinson graduated from Wharton before earning a law degree at Oxford University in England. Robinson, a rated chess master, devised and perfected the Joe Bloggs approach to beating standardized tests in 1980, as well as numerous other core Princeton Review techniques. A freelance author of many books, Robinson has collaborated with the Princeton Review to develop a number if its courses.

Knowing which words to use and how to use them are keys to getting the most from one's mind and to communicating effectively.

Based on the idea that knowing which words to use and how to use them are keys to an individual's getting the most from his or her mind, this book aims to improve people's vocabularies. To find out which words should be known, research into the vocabularies of educated adults was conducted by "The Princeton Review." Newspapers from "The New York Times" to "The Wall Street Journal," magazines from "Time" to "Scientific American," and books from bestsellers to classics were analyzed. The book incorporated research on necessary words for those students taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and the Graduate Record Exams (GRE) also. It focused on the words that people misunderstand or misuse, and from these, selected the 823 words that appeared most frequently. The book contains many word drills and special lists of common usage errors, most frequently tested words on standardized tests, and foreign phrases, abbreviations, and terms that a person needs to know to understand finance, science, computers, and the arts. According to the book, knowledge of the 823 words discussed will help a person to communicate effectively, be more persuasive, get more from his/her reading, and score higher on standardized tests. (NKA) 1) Do you know that to peruse a book is not to skim it? 2) Do you know the difference between enormous and enormity? 3) Do you know the adjective form of admonish, or the noun form of dubious? If you answered no to any of these questions, you need Word Smart. Improving your vocabulary is important, but where do you start? The English language has hundreds of thousands of words. To find out which words you absolutely need to know, The Princeton Review researched the vocabularies of educated adults. It analyzed newspapers from The New York Times to The Wall Street Journal, magazines from Time to Scientific American and books from current bestsellers to classics. It threw out the words that most people know and focused on the words that people misunderstand or misuse. From these, it selected 823 words that appeared most frequently. And for students, The Princeton Review did the same thing. It analyzed the PSAT, the SAT, and GRE to determine which words are tested more frequently. Word Smart is the only vocabulary book you'll ever need. (Answers: 1) Despite what most people think, peruse means to read carefully. 2) Enormity can refer to the state of being large, but it also means a wicked or depraved act. 3) Admonitory, dubiety.) Cat got your tongue? A good vocabulary will get you far in life. Word Smart narrows down the important words you need to know, using pertinent definitions, guidance on avoiding common usage mistakes, and follow-up quizzes to help you build a stronger vocabulary. The Princeton Review is the fastest-growing test-preparation company in the country, helping over a million students each year prepare for college, grad school, and professional licensing exams. Princeton Review classes are held in more than 500 locations in the US and abroad. Backing their courses, books and software is over two million dollars a year in training and research. No student is better prepared than a Princeton Review student.