Saturday, May 26, 2012

The Core Vocabulary of the SAT

I won these two books from Goodreads' First Reads, I only entered to win "Core Vocabulary of the SAT" but the publisher included the second volume "Toughest Vocabulary of the SAT". Getting a second free book was great!

The books use examples from literature and popular culture to explain the meanings of words that appear frequently on the SATs. They focus on more difficult and obscure words. An entire section is dedicated to words that have multiple meanings, zeroing in on the less known meanings of these words.

The set is very well organized. The beginning of each book has the words grouped together with a theme such as "Mighty Prefix Words". These sections include the words' definitions and several detailed examples from popular books and movies. The next segment of the books is a section with quick definitions. This is followed by two more subdivisions: an area to test your knowledge and an answer guide that provides the reasoning behind the correct answers.

I would recommend these books to anyone studying for the SATs, people wanting to improve their English, or that just wants to expand their vocabulary. They are well organized and have a simple layout. They keep the popular culture examples up to date and relevant to the readers. Keep learning and keep reading!