Vocabulary exercises

1. List 3
Analyze – verb; to examine carefully; study closely, evaluate, inspect, interpret
(a/na/lize)
A/na/lyst – noun (person)
A/na/ly/sis – noun
A/na/ly/ti/cal – adj
A/na/ly/tic/al/ly – adv
 As a teacher I analyzestudent test scores to see whatthey need help with.
 A doctor analyzes the symptoms of patients to see what medication to
prescribe.
 What steps do you take when you are analyzing what decision to make?
Antonym – ignore, forget, neglect
Attitude –noun; way of thinking, approach, tendency, character, mental outlook
(at/ti/tude)
 I have a great attitude when I start to teach a new class because I think it
will be so much fun.
 A person with a bad attitude can affect a person with a good attitude.
 What attitude do you have about coming to school?
Antonym – irreverence, neutrality
Category – noun; group, classification, list, level
(ca/te/go/ry)
Ca/te/go/rize – verb
Ca/te/go/ri/cal– adj
Ca/te/go/ric/al/ly – adv
 When I go to the library, I like to look for books in the fiction category.
 We have categories of students in this schoolsuch as ABE, ELL and GED.

2.  What kind of category of movies do you like?
Antonym – whole, entire
Contrast – noun; difference, comparison, distinction, variation
(con/trast)
Con/trast– verb
Con/tras/ting – adj
 I can see a contrastbetween my day students and my night students.
 When you decorate, it is good to use contrasting colors in a room to make
it more interesting.
 What contrasts do you see between your country and the U.S.?
Antonym – Similarity, harmony, likeness, sameness
Critical;adj; faultfinding, judgmental, demanding
(cri/ti/cal)
Cri/tic – noun
Cri/ti/cize – verb
Cri/ti/cal/ly – adv
 Itis hard to work for a boss who is too critical of all that you do.
 Teachers have to criticize students work to help them improve.
 What are you critical of? Has anyone ever been critical of you?
Antonym – accepting, praise, complimentary, uncritical
Definitions
1. _______________________ a point of view; a state of mind; way of
thinking or feeling
2. _______________________ a group of people or things that have
something in common; type

3. 3. _______________________ an obvious difference
4. _______________________ disapproving; tending to find fault
5. _______________________ to examine carefully; study closely
Fill inthe Blank
1. I was surprised by the ___________________ between kind, gentle Brian
and his impulsive, bad-tempered brother.
2. After losing every game last season, the soccer players began training this
year with a poor ___________________.
3. Which ____________________ of movie do you prefer: comedy or drama?
4. Many teenagers feel their parents are too __________________ of their
clothing, music and friends.
5. When Isabel__________________d her reasons for wanting to marry Joe,
she realized that they were not good ones.
Complete the Sentences
1. A piano teacher who is very critical of a child’s playing would…
a. not pay attention
b. praisethe child
c. point out every mistake
2. When the boss asked Juan to improvehis attitude, hemeant that Juan
should…
a. have a better outlook about work.
b. be neater
c. speed up his typing
3. There is a big contrast in the twins’ personalities. Their personalities…
a. are very much alike
b. are very different
c. are not very pleasant
4. The police crime lab has to analyze the evidence, so it will…
a. take the evidence to a lag.
b. talk to a criminal.
c. begin the courttrial.
5. The boy was placed into the beginner’s category of swimming lessons
because…

4. a. kids do well there.
b. he needed to be with others who couldn’t swim.
c. he was an excellent swimmer.
Synonyms
1. analyze 4. critical
a. remember a. absent
b. find fault with b. nervous
c. examine c. frightened
d. use d. fault finding
2. attitude 5. contrast
a. height a. difference
b. knowledge b. enjoyment
c. outlook c. environment
d. skill d. sameness
3. category
a. group
b. reaction
c. purpose
d. problem
What/when/why/or how
1. What kind of X-rays does a dentist analyze?
2. Why do you think a losing football coach would have a bad attitude?
3. In whatcategory is cheese placed in a grocery store?
4. What do bosses do when an employee makes mistakes?
5. How does a salesperson geta person to buy a new vacuumcleaner
(contrast)?