Which strategy improves understanding of academic language in a text?

• A. Use context clues, morphology, and word parts to infer meaning
• B. Skip difficult terms
• C. Memorize definitions in isolation
• D. Ignore unfamiliar terms

Answer: (A)

Understanding academic language comes from combining clues in the text with knowledge of how words are built. When you use context clues, you look at the surrounding sentences or examples to guess what a difficult term means within that specific passage. At the same time, looking at word parts—prefixes, roots, and suffixes—lets you break the word into pieces that carry meaning. For example, recognizing a root related to mind or thinking, or a common suffix that turns a word into a noun or an adjective, helps you see what the term is about even if you haven’t seen it before. Putting these ideas together lets you figure out unfamiliar terms as you read, which keeps you understanding the whole text rather than getting stuck on one word.

Skipping difficult terms stops you from grasping the ideas being conveyed, and memorizing definitions in isolation doesn’t show how the word functions in the sentence or how it relates to other ideas. Ignoring unfamiliar terms also leaves gaps in understanding, making it harder to follow the author’s argument or explanations.