ISEE Middle Level Reading : Determining Context-Dependent Word Meanings in History Passages

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ISEE Middle Level Reading

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Example Questions

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Example Question #1 :Purpose And Effect Of Word Choice In Social Science / History Passages

Adapted from “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Lucretia Mott; and others (1848)

我们认为这些真理是不言而喻的:所有men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled.

The word “duty” is a reference to the need for__________

Possible Answers:

honor

patience

inaction

forcefulness

responsibility

Correct answer:

responsibility

Explanation:

The word “duty” is used almost as incitement to action. By saying that “it is their [women’s] duty to throw off such government” she is declaring that women must be responsible for their own advancement.

Example Question #22 :Social Science / History Passages

Adapted fromThe Man with the Muck-Rakeby Theodore Roosevelt (1906)

There are in the body politic, economic and social, many and grave evils, and there is urgent necessity for the sternest war upon them. There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil man, whether politician or business man, every evil practice, whether in politics, business, or social life. I hail as a benefactor every writer or speaker, every man who, on the platform or in a book, magazine, or newspaper, with merciless severity makes such attack, provided always that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is absolutely truthful.

The liar is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves. It puts a premium upon knavery untruthfully to attack an honest man, or even with hysterical exaggeration to assail a bad man with untruth. An epidemic of indiscriminate assault upon character does no good, but very great harm. The soul of every scoundrel is gladdened whenever an honest man is assailed, or even when a scoundrel is untruthfully assailed.

The word “mendacity” most nearly means__________

Possible Answers:

vilification

dishonesty

truthfulness

encouragement

consternation

Correct answer:

dishonesty

Explanation:

The word “mendacity” refers totelling lies or deliberate untruthfulness。因此正确的答案是“不诚实”。如果you were unsure of the definition of “mendacity” it would become necessary to read-in-context to determine the meaning of the word. The author states that “The liar is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves.” You can therefore observe that “his mendacity” belongs to “the liar.” This means that mendacity must refer to a characteristic of a liar, such as dishonesty. Vilification refers toharsh criticism; consternation meansdismay

Example Question #1 :Context Dependent Meanings Of Words And Phrases In Narrative Social Science Passages

Adapted from "Crossing the Rubicon" inHistory of Julius Caesarby Jacob Abbott (1902)

There was a little stream in ancient times, in the north of Italy, which flowed eastward into the Adriatic Sea, called the Rubicon. This stream has beenimmortalizedby the transactions which we are now about to describe.

The Rubicon was a very important boundary, and yet it was in itself so small and insignificant that it is now impossible to determine which of two or three little brooks here running into the sea is entitled to its name and renown. In history the Rubicon is a grand, permanent, and conspicuous stream, gazed upon with continued interest by all mankind for nearly twenty centuries; in nature it is an uncertain rivulet, for a long time doubtful and undetermined, and finally lost.

从最初的卢比孔河派生它的重要性the fact that it was the boundary between all that part of the north of Italy which is formed by the valley of the Po, one of the richest and most magnificent countries of the world, and the more southern Roman territories. This country of the Po constituted what was in those days called the hither Gaul, and was a Roman province. It belonged now to Cæsar'sjurisdiction, as the commander in Gaul. All south of the Rubicon was territory reserved for the immediate jurisdiction of the city. The Romans, in order to protect themselves from any danger which might threaten their own liberties from the immense armies which they raised for the conquest of foreign nations, had imposed on every side very strict limitations and restrictions in respect to the approach of these armies to the capital. The Rubicon was the limit on this northern side. Generals commanding in Gaul were never to pass it. To cross the Rubicon with an army on the way to Rome was rebellion and treason. Hence the Rubicon became, as it were, the visible sign and symbol of civil restriction to military power.

The underlined word “jurisdiction” most nearly means__________

Possible Answers:

brevity

veracity

subordination

authority

mendacity

Correct answer:

authority

Explanation:

In context, the author says, “It belonged now to Cæsar's jurisdiction, as the commander in Gaul.” Here it is clear that “jurisdiction” relates tobeing a commanderor beingin command, therefore the correct answer is “authority.” To provide further help, “mendacity” isdeceit; “veracity” ishonesty; “brevity” isbriefness; and “subordination” meansbeing made to seem of lesser importance

Example Question #10 :Evaluative Understanding In Nonfiction Passages

Adapted fromEarly European History(1917) by Hutton Webster

A medieval village usually contained several classes of laborers. There might be a number of freemen, who paid a fixed rent, either in money or produce, for the use of their land. Then there might also be a few slaves in the lord's household or at work on his domain. By this time, however, slavery had about died out in Western Europe. Most of the peasants were serfs.

Serfdom represented a stage between slavery and freedom. A slave belonged to his master; he was bought and sold like other belongings. A serf had a higher position, for he could not be sold apart from the land nor could his holding be taken from him. He wasfixedto the soil. On the other hand, a serf ranked lower than a freeman, because he could not change his house, nor marry outside the manor, nor hand down his goods, without the permission of his lord.

What does the underlined word “fixed” most nearly mean?

Possible Answers:

Broken

Repaired

Rectified

Stuck

Alleviate

Correct answer:

Stuck

Explanation:

Usually the word “fixed” meansrepaired something that was broken。To "fix" meansto mend or to repair; however, it can also meanrooted to or stuck in one place。The author says, “A serf had a higher position, for he could not be sold apart from the land nor could his holding be taken from him. He was fixed to the soil.” The author first tells you that a serf could not be taken from his land, then says that a serf was fixed to the soil. From this, you can infer that "fixed" meansstuck to。To further help you, "soil" is being used here to meanlandorground

Example Question #11 :How To Determine The Meaning Of A Word From Its Context In A Nonfiction Passage

Adapted fromEarly European History(1917) by Hutton Webster

A medieval village usually contained several classes of laborers. There might be a number of freemen, who paid a fixed rent, either in money or produce, for the use of their land. Then there might also be a few slaves in the lord's household or at work on his domain. By this time, however, slavery had about died out in Western Europe. Most of the peasants were serfs.

Serfdom represented a stage between slavery and freedom. A slave belonged to his master; he was bought and sold like otherbelongings。A serf had a higher position, for he could not be sold apart from the land nor could his holding be taken from him. He was fixed to the soil. On the other hand, a serf ranked lower than a freeman, because he could not change his house, nor marry outside the manor, nor hand down his goods, without the permission of his lord.

What does the underlined word “belongings” most nearly mean?

Possible Answers:

Food

Property

People

Services

Work

Correct answer:

Property

Explanation:

The sentence that contains the word “belongings” describes how a slave “belonged to" his master. We know that masters owned slaves, so "belonged to" meansowned by。"Belongings," therefore, meansproperty or things we own

Example Question #1 :Context Dependent Meanings Of Words And Phrases In Narrative Social Science Passages

Adapted fromThe Man who Spoiled Napoleon’s Destinyby Rev. W. H. Fitchett, LL.D. (1899)

From March 18 to May 20, 1799—for more than sixty days and nights, that is—a little, half-forgotten, and more than half-ruined Syrian town was the scene of one of the fiercest and most dramatic siegesrecordedin military history. And rarely has there been a struggle so apparently one-sided.

A handful of British sailors and Turkish irregulars were holding Acre, a town without regular defenses, against Napoleon, the most brilliant military genius of his generation, with an army of 10,000 war-hardened veterans, the "Army of Italy"—soldiers who had dared the snows of the Alps and conquered Italy, and to whom victory was a familiar experience. In their ranks military daring had reached, perhaps, its very highest point. And yet the sailors inside that ring of crumbling wall won! At Acre Napoleon experienced his first defeat; and, years after, at St. Helena, he said of Sir Sidney Smith, the gallant sailor who baffled him, "That man made me miss my destiny." It is a curious fact that one Englishman thwarted Napoleon's career in the East, and another ended his career in the West, and it may be doubted which of the two Napoleon hated most—Wellington, who finally overthrew him at Waterloo, or Sidney Smith, who, to use Napoleon's own words, made him "miss his destiny," and exchange the empire of the East for a lonely pinnacle of rock in the Atlantic.

What does the underlined word “recorded” most nearly mean?

Possible Answers:

Listened to

Spoken to

That happened

That ended

Written down

Correct answer:

Written down

Explanation:

In context the word “recorded” is used to meanwritten down,documented,ormade notes about。Because the author talks about the siege as “recorded in military history,” the only other answer choice that could make sense is “that happened,” but this is not one of the various definitions of the word “recorded.” Recorded can meantaped and not performed liveorwritten down, and in this context it meanswritten down

Example Question #61 :Determining Context Dependent Meanings Of Words In Social Science Or History Passages

Adapted fromWomen’s Political Futureby Frances E. W. Harper (1893)

The world has need of all the spiritual aid that woman can give for the social advancement and moral development of the human race. The tendency of the present age, with its restlessness, religious upheavals, failures, blunders, and crimes, is toward broader freedom, an increase of knowledge, the emancipation of thought, and recognition of the brotherhood of man; in this movement woman, as the companion of man, must be an equal. So close is the bond between man and woman that you cannot raise one without lifting the other. The world cannot move without woman's sharing in the movement, and to help give a right impetus to that movement is woman's highest privilege.

如果the fifteenth century discovered America to the Old World, the nineteenth is discovering woman to herself. Not the opportunity of discovering new worlds, but that of filling this old world with fairer and higher aims than the greed of gold and the lust of power, is hers. Through weary, wasting years men have destroyed, dashed in pieces, and overthrown, but today we stand on the threshold of woman's era, and woman's work is grandly constructive. In her hand are possibilities whose use or abuse must tell upon the political life of the nation, and send their influence for good or evil across the track of unborn ages.

The word “emancipation” most nearly means __________.

Possible Answers:

timidity

regression

freedom

imprisonment

bravery

Correct answer:

freedom

Explanation:

The word emancipation generally refers to theact of freeing or being freedand so most nearly meansfreedom。Alternatively if you are not aware of this definition it becomes necessary to read-in-context to try to ascertain the most likely definition. The author surrounds the phrase “emancipation of thought” with references to the tendency towards “broader freedom” for women. As there are no modifying words like “however” or “although” you can infer that the correct answer must have a similar (or in this instance the exact same) meaning. Imprisonment has the opposite meaning. Timidity meansshyness, and bravery means loosely the opposite; neither fits cleanly in the sentence. Regression meansto take a step backwardsand is opposite to the meaning of the phrase.

Example Question #21 :Social Studies

Adapted fromEarly European HistoryHutton Webster (1917)

这是大流士的工作提供多明ions a stable government which should preserve what the sword had won. The problem was difficult. The empire was a collection of many people widely different in race, language, customs, and religion. Darius did not attempt to weld the conquered nations into unity. As long as the subjects of Persia paid tribute and furnished troops for the royal army, they were allowed to conduct their own affairs with little interference from the Great King.

The entire empire, excluding Persia proper, was divided into twenty satrapies, or provinces, each one with its civil governor, or satrap. The satraps carried out the laws and collected the heavy tribute annuallyleviedthroughout the empire. In most of the provinces there were also military governors who commanded the army and reported directly to the king. This device of entrusting the civil and military functions to separate officials lessened the danger of revolts against the Persian authority. As an additional precaution Darius provided special agents whose business it was to travel from province to province and investigate the conduct of his officials. It became a proverb that "the king has many eyes and many ears."

Darius also established a system of military roads throughout the Persian dominions. The roads were provided at frequent intervals with inns, where postmen stood always in readiness to take up a letter and carry it to the next station. The Royal Road from Susa, the Persian capital, to Sardis in Lydia was over fifteen hundred miles long; but government couriers, using relays of fresh horses, could cover the distance within a week. An old Greek writer declares with admiration that "there is nothing mortal more swift than these messengers."

The underlined word “levied” most nearly means__________

Possible Answers:

faded

imposed

dogged

introduced

cloistered

Correct answer:

imposed

Explanation:

The word is used in the following context: “The satraps carried out the laws and collected the heavy tribute annually levied throughout the empire.” We are told that a heavy tribute is annually “levied,” which suggests that it iscollected,raised,orimposed。“Imposed” meansforced upon, and since people wouldn't likely pay their takes unless someone made them do so, the takes have to be “levied,” or “imposed.” To provide further help, “dogged” meansdetermined; “faded” meansdullordiscolored; and “cloistered” meanssecluded

Example Question #31 :History Passages

Adapted fromEarly European HistoryHutton Webster (1917)

这是大流士的工作提供多明ions a stable government which should preserve what the sword had won. The problem was difficult. The empire was a collection of many people widely different in race, language, customs, and religion. Darius did not attempt to weld the conquered nations into unity. As long as the subjects of Persia paid tribute andfurnishedtroops for the royal army, they were allowed to conduct their own affairs with little interference from the Great King.

The entire empire, excluding Persia proper, was divided into twenty satrapies, or provinces, each one with its civil governor, or satrap. The satraps carried out the laws and collected the heavy tribute annually levied throughout the empire. In most of the provinces there were also military governors who commanded the army and reported directly to the king. This device of entrusting the civil and military functions to separate officials lessened the danger of revolts against the Persian authority. As an additional precaution Darius provided special agents whose business it was to travel from province to province and investigate the conduct of his officials. It became a proverb that "the king has many eyes and many ears."

Darius also established a system of military roads throughout the Persian dominions. The roads were provided at frequent intervals with inns, where postmen stood always in readiness to take up a letter and carry it to the next station. The Royal Road from Susa, the Persian capital, to Sardis in Lydia was over fifteen hundred miles long; but government couriers, using relays of fresh horses, could cover the distance within a week. An old Greek writer declares with admiration that "there is nothing mortal more swift than these messengers."

The underlined word “furnished” most nearly means__________

Possible Answers:

ensconced

commanded

implied

meandered

supplied

Correct answer:

supplied

Explanation:

The word "furnished" is used in the following sentence: “As long as the subjects of Persia paid tribute and furnished troops for the royal army, they were allowed to conduct their own affairs with little interference from the Great King.” We are told that Persia’s subjects had to pay tribute and “furnish” troops to the royal army in order to live outside the king’s interference. As we are told that the army is “royal,” and that the subjects are trying to please the “king," so we can assume that “furnished” meansgave toorsupplied.To provide further help, “commanded” meansled; “ensconced” meanssettled in; “meandered” meanstraveled towards a destination indirectly, in a side-to-side fashion, like a river;and“implied”meanssuggested subtlywithout directly stating

Example Question #1 :Context Dependent Meanings Of Words And Phrases In Narrative Social Science Passages

Adapted from "Crossing the Rubicon" inHistory of Julius Caesarby Jacob Abbott (1902)

There was a little stream in ancient times, in the north of Italy, which flowed eastward into the Adriatic Sea, called the Rubicon. This stream has beenimmortalizedby the transactions which we are now about to describe.

The Rubicon was a very important boundary, and yet it was in itself so small and insignificant that it is now impossible to determine which of two or three little brooks here running into the sea is entitled to its name and renown. In history the Rubicon is a grand, permanent, and conspicuous stream, gazed upon with continued interest by all mankind for nearly twenty centuries; in nature it is an uncertain rivulet, for a long time doubtful and undetermined, and finally lost.

从最初的卢比孔河派生它的重要性the fact that it was the boundary between all that part of the north of Italy which is formed by the valley of the Po, one of the richest and most magnificent countries of the world, and the more southern Roman territories. This country of the Po constituted what was in those days called the hither Gaul, and was a Roman province. It belonged now to Cæsar's jurisdiction, as the commander in Gaul. All south of the Rubicon was territory reserved for the immediate jurisdiction of the city. The Romans, in order to protect themselves from any danger which might threaten their own liberties from the immense armies which they raised for the conquest of foreign nations, had imposed on every side very strict limitations and restrictions in respect to the approach of these armies to the capital. The Rubicon was the limit on this northern side. Generals commanding in Gaul were never to pass it. To cross the Rubicon with an army on the way to Rome was rebellion and treason. Hence the Rubicon became, as it were, the visible sign and symbol of civil restriction to military power.

The underlined word “immortalized” most nearly means__________

Possible Answers:

made eternal

made ceremonial

deified

made safe

sanctified

Correct answer:

made eternal

Explanation:

The word “mortal” meansable to dieornot a god, whereas “immortal” meanseternal, unable to die,orliving forever。So to be “immortalized” meansto be made eternal。In context, the author says, “This stream has been immortalized by the transactions which we are now about to describe.” As he is telling the story of an important geographical feature, it would make most sense that it had beenmade eternal, ormade worth remembering

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