Galore Park Parent Catalogue 2018

11+ REVISION & PRACTICE

Verbal Reasoning

tricky skill

Verbal Reasoning

Children can read about the skills and follow an example either individually or with a teacher

Contents and progress record Use this page to plot your revision. Colour in the boxes when you feel confident with the skill and note your score and time for each test in the boxes.

The support of 11+ tutors, independent school teachers, test writers and specialist authors has ensured that all books in this essential new range are accessible, engaging and provide exceptional preparation.

l How to use this book

5

Synonyms and antonyms

Somequestions ask you tofind antonyms rather than synonyms. In thesequestions you are looking forwords that are the mostopposite inmeaning.The answer to thesequestionswill also come from the sameword class. For example:

Synonyms and antonyms

1 Contructing words

■ Handy contents pages double as progress records to easily track progression throughout the course

Skilldefinition: tofind twowords closest inmeaning (synonyms),ormostopposite in meaning (antonyms)

(dreaming,

ride,

asleep )

(drive,

bed,

waking )

verb

verb

adverb/adjective

verb/noun

noun

adjective

l Find the hidden word .................................. 12 l Move a single letter ..................................... 14 l Find a common letter ................................. 16 l Join the words .............................................. 18 l Find the missing letters ............................. 20 l Test 1 ............................................................... 22 l Synonyms and antonyms ......................... 26 l Spot the difference .................................... 28 l Word analogies ............................................ 30 l Match the meaning ................................... 32 l Choose a word to fit a space ................... 34 l Complete the sentence ............................ 36 l Definitions in context ............................... 38 l Order the sentence .................................... 40 l Anagrams and word meaning ................. 42 l Test 2 .............................................................. 44 2 Understanding word meaning Logic VERBALREASONING LEARNING LADDER Applyingalgebra skills

Find twowords,one from each set, that aremost similar inmeaning. (slip, jump, lead) (skip, slide, step) slip

l ‘asleep’and ‘waking’areopposite inmeaningandarebothadjectives, so this is thecorrectanswer.

slide

■ No prior knowledge of verbal reasoning required, chapter introductions link the skills with work already covered in English and maths lessons

Sometimesmore than twowordsmay seemquite similar, forexample: mend,repair, improve. Youwillneed to think carefullyabout thesewords.Although theyareallverbs,and theyall meanmaking somethingbetter,only ‘mend’and ‘repair’ involve something that isdamaged. Tricky skill

Synonymandantonymquestionsaskyou tofindwordswith similar or opposite meaning.These questions comeupvery frequently inverbal reasoning testsandareasked in lotsofdifferentways. The example above showsoneof themost common typesofquestion and the ‘Try’questions opposite show another type.Youmight alsobe asked tofindmissing letters in a cluewordor even to choosewords from a grid.Butdon’tbeputoffby theway thequestions are asked– the problems are still the same! Mostquestions should containwords that you are likely to know as you arebeing testedon your skills in comparingwords ,more thanwhatdifficultwordsmean. The skill in answering thesequestions is to really concentrateon the kindofwords you are looking atbefore you start. Is theword anoun, verb, adjective, adverbor someother classof word?Youwillfind that thewords you are looking forwill alwayscome from thesamewordclass. But think carefullybefore you chooseyour answer– sometimeswordshavemore thanone meaning! For example: ‘fly’, ‘shed’ and ‘flap’ arebothnouns and verbs and sowillhave two differentmeanings (thesewords are called homonyms ), e.g. as a verb, ‘fly’meanshow abird travels through the air;fly–noun is a typeof insect.Thesewordswithdoublemeanings are often clues to the answer. Method l Consider the kindofwords that appear in the followingquestion. Finding twowords from the sameword class should reveal the answer.

■ Clear chapter headings divide revision into manageable chunks

Train

:

/ 20

1 Can you thinkof two antonyms and two synonyms for the followingword?

antonyms:

difficult

synonyms:

1 Constructing words Introduction

Try

11+ Verbal Reasoning STUDY AND REVISION GUIDE

Find theword thatmeans theopposite,ornearly theopposite,of theboldword.Circle the letterbeneath the correct answer.

As itsname suggests, this chapter is all about wordbuilding .Youwill learn to findhiddenwords in sentences andbe shownhow to find common letters that complete twounfinishedwords. Otherquestionswill test your knowledgeofhowwords are constructed as you join two short words together to build longerwords .

praise reward preach raise criticise practise a b c d e

11+ Verbal Reasoning Study and Revision Guide – Contents and progress record

smooth fall

twist

sun

rose

2 rise

(big,

glide,

cart)

(rabbit,

large,

take)

a

b

c

d

e

adjective verb

noun

noun

adjective

verb

■ Covers all skills and question types that could be encountered in pre-tests and 11+ independent school exams ■ Includes helpful insight into the exams, with practical tips and advice ■ Includes topics such as constructing words, understanding word meaning, working with numbers and algebra, and developing logic skills

3 slight small

weight large

trivial

tumble

ENGLISH LEARNING LADDER

a

b

c

d

e

l The verbs ‘glide’ and ‘take’donotmean the same,nordo thenouns ‘cart’ and ‘rabbit’, so the answer is straightforward: ‘big’ and ‘large’ areboth adjectiveswith similarmeanings. l Now look at the example at the topof thepage. Somewords couldbeused either asnouns or verbs: for example:

4 hinder trouble forest

interfere criticise assist

a

b

c

d

e

Somesynonymsorantonyms mayappearwithinthesame brackets–thesecannotbe selected.Alwayschooseoneword fromeachbracket.

Editingandevaluating own compositions

Literaryanalysisand appraisalofwriters’work

Test

Test time: 02:30

slip– to slip (verb)

a slipofpaper (noun)

Find twowords,one from each set, that aremost similar inmeaning.Circle thewords.

Using inferenceand deduction

Writing formeaning andeffect

slide– to slide (verb)

playon a slide (noun)

5 (push, go, send) 6 (break, reveal, miss) 7 (fearful, doubtful, calm)

(hold, pull, shove) (hide, snap, free)

:

l But ifyou take ‘slip’ as a verb, it is similar inmeaning to ‘slide’ as a verb. So this is the correct answer.

/ 40

Planninganddrafting text

Summarisingand retrieving information

(scream, anxious, dangerous)

£12.99 9781471849244

Workingwithnumbersandalgebra

26 2 Understandingwordmeaning

27

Understanding the structureandpurpose of texts

Featuresofdifferent genres

Understandingwordmeaning 2 incontext

11+ Verbal Reasoning Study and Revision Guide – Chapter 2: Understanding word meaning

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11+ Verbal Reasoning Study and Revision

Guide – Learning Ladder for Chapter 1

Grammarand punctuation

Understandingword meaning in context

Understandingwordmeaning 1 word level

As you work through this book you will see these ladders appear. In this chapter you are working through the skills at the bottom of the ladder, and by the end of the book you will have reached the top! The Learning ladders arehere to show youhow theseunfamiliarquestions are actually testing skills you alreadyhave, just in a slightlydifferentway.The verbal reasoningquestions in this chapter are trying tofindout if youunderstand howwordsareput together by looking at your basic skills in word reading , spelling and vocabulary (shown at thebottomof the ladders). Readingwillalwaysbe themosteffectivewayofbroadeningyourchild’svocabularyand improving their spelling.Themore they read,themorewords theyencounterand theeasier they willfindquestionsof thiskind,which requireanability to recognisea realwordwhen they seeone. Advice for parents Learning ladders show how skills in verbal reasoning link to familiar areas of English and maths children have l arne in sc ool Test yourself Constructingwords Comprehensionskills Writing skills Word reading and spelling Transcription andvocabulary

Verbal Reasoning workbooks

■ Practise extensively with over 300 questions in each book ■ Develop problem-solving skills and techniques ■ Improve speed in answering questions

2 Understanding word meaning Synonyms and antonyms 1 Insert letters in the gap to complete thewordon the right so it is an antonymornearly an antonymof thewordon the left. available t a n k e

Howdid you geton?Could youmatchup all thepairsof antonyms?

Synonymsandantonyms1

Complete exam-style questions Test yourself

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Insert letters in the gaps to complete thewordon the right so it is an antonymornearly an antonymof thewordon the left.Write themissing letterson the linesprovided.

£8.99 9781471849329

£8.99 9781471849312

i

(1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)

1 hollow 2 beginner 3 lethargic

s

10

p e r

Have a go

a

t i

Paper 3 Threeof thewords in the list are related to eachother in someway.Find theword that is not linked to theothers.Follow the example to answer thequestions, thenwrite the wordon the lineprovided. shred grate grill mince grill Test time:27minutes

The age overlap covered by the workbooks means the ‘leap’ in difficulty is less noticeable, and therefore more easily managed. [The range] also helps boost confidence (which plays no small part in success in these exams). - Galore Park Customer

4 lonely

ro up

ed

9781471849244_FM-ch04.indd 10 Having a good vocabulary is really important.Thisquestion type tests your knowledgeof antonyms and synonyms.Draw linesbetween thewordson the left and thewordson the right tomatch thewords that areoppositeor closest inmeaning.Here are some fairly simple ones to get you started.

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5 rigid

e

6 probable

i k

l y

7 urge

d

t

8 impartial

i

s

d

1 eager

incomplete

9 solid

r

y

2 unworthy

small

1 gloomy

bleak fence

grim

grace

10 obvious

h id

n

2 field

pasture

meadow

3 sharp

sensible

3 nearby 4 peace 5 catch 6 pitch

adjacent distant segment section

close piece drop tone

Score

4 whole

unenthusiastic

/10

grasp sound cricket

seize

5 talkative

tone

Try it out

key

6 foolish

deserving

7 volleyball

badminton hockey

7 miniature

rounded

8 march 9 diary

plod

travel article

stomp journey

It isuseful to know synonyms too,and sometimes knowingmore thanone synonym for a word canhelp you to answer verbal reasoningquestions.Try to thinkof three synonyms for eachof thesewords:

journal

8 shade

reserved

10 sluggish

swift

fast

rapid

£8.99 9781471849336

Now try these.There aremorewords tomatch and themeanings are trickier so take your time and think carefully!

1 immense

Insert letters in the gaps to complete thewordon the right so that it is an antonymor nearly an antonymof thewordon the left.Follow the example to answer thequestions, thenwrite themissing letterson the linesprovided. available t a n k e

2 minute

9 purity

sparing

10 outstanding

caring

3 commence

11 slovenly

unkind

11 easy 12 relax

dif

ult

4 harmless

ti

en

11+ Verbal Reasoning practice papers

12 callous

optimistic

13 smooth r

gh

5 prance

13 assemble

careful

14 bent

st

ght

15 uncouth c

v li

e

14 malevolent

contamination

15 cynical

disperse

Read the sentence and answer thequestion.Follow the example, thenwriteyour answeron the lineprovided.

16 economical

mediocre

■ Perfect exam technique with a variety of exam-paper styles under timed conditions ■ Identify weaker areas and improve results with detailed model answers and commentary ■ Help children to improve their response rates with timed papers

The icy surfacewashazardous. Whatdoes ‘hazardous’mean?

Hazardous means dangerous.

13

12

16 Parrots can imitatehumanswhen they talk. Whatdoes ‘imitate’mean?

9781471849329.indb 12 Verbal Reasoning Workbook Age 9–11 – Chapter 2: Understanding word meaning

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17 Thepoliceofficer apprehended the felon. Whatdoes ‘apprehended’mean?

Children can try these activities to build their skills Have a go

Children can try using their new skills try it out

18 Theboywas vindictive anddetermined to settle the grudge. Whatdoes ‘vindictive’mean?

£9.99 9781471869068

£9.99 9781471849299

16

11+ Verbal Reasoning Practice Papers 1 – Paper 3

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1 2

1 3

Te l : 0 2 0 3 1 2 2 6 4 0 5 I V i s i t : g a l o r e p a r k . c o . u k

Te l : 0 2 0 3 1 2 2 6 4 0 5 I V i s i t : g a l o r e p a r k . c o . u k