All ISEE Upper Level Verbal Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #55 : Synonyms: Prefixes From Latin
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
PERMEATE
Complete
Remain
Perfuse
Persevere
Fulfill
Perfuse
The word “permeate” is a combination of the prefix “per-”, here used to mean “through,” and the Latin root for “to go or pass.” It means to “go through” in the sense of something that fills a space. For example, one might say, “The smell of the fresh apple pie permeated the room, filling it with the wonderful odors of the autumnal dessert.” The word “perfuse” means “to pour through” in a sense close to that of “permeate.” Its “-fuse” portion is related to the same form that is found in “infuse” and “diffuse.”
Example Question #56 : Synonyms: Prefixes From Latin
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
RESUSCITATE
Submerge
Conjure
Concoct
Recall
Revive
Revive
The word “resuscitate” is derived from Latin roots meaning “to raise up again.” It is from this that we get the general sense of “resuscitate” as meaning “to bring back to life from a near death situation.” The word “revive” best signifies this, as it means “to bring back to life.” The “-vive” in “revive” is related to other words for life such as “vivify” and “survive.”
Example Question #57 : Synonyms: Prefixes From Latin
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
SUBMERGE
Combine
Drown
Sail
Navigate
Plunge
Plunge
The “-merge” portion of this word is related to similar forms found in English words like “emerge” and “immersion.” It is derived from the Latin for “to dip.” The prefix “sub-” means “beneath” or “under,” as is used in the word “submarine” (meaning “beneath water”). When someone “submerges” something else, he or she “dips it under water.” Plunge is the best option among those given.
Example Question #58 : Synonyms: Prefixes From Latin
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
EMERGE
Plunge
Drown
Crisis
Materialize
Coagulate
Materialize
The “-merge” portion of this word is related to similar forms found in English words like “submerge” and “immersion.” It is derived from the Latin for “to dip.” The prefix “e-” is a form of “ex-”, meaning “out of” as used in the word “exit”—“to go out of.” When someone or something “emerges” it “comes out of being dipped.” A better definition is “coming into view or becoming apparent.” When something “materializes,” it comes to exist actually. Often, this is used to describe something appearing as well.
Example Question #59 : Synonyms: Prefixes
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
PERSIST
Exasperate
Overcome
Fill
Persevere
Destroy
Persevere
The prefix “per-” often means “through,” but it likewise can function as an intensifier or as something implying completion. For example, the word “perfect” literally means “thoroughly or completely made.” The word “persist” is derived from this second usage of “per-” and a base derived from the Latin for “to stand.” The latter can be found in words like “resist,” “consist,” and “exist.” Someone who “persists,” stands firm through difficulties. Such a person could be said to persevere, which is nearly a perfect synonym.
Example Question #61 : Synonyms: Prefixes
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
PROCRASTINATE
Mindless
Pain
Ignore
Delay
Loaf
Delay
You likely know the word “procrastinate” as an insult or as a panicked word when you have put off your work and find a deadline quickly approaching. The word literally means “to put off until tomorrow.” The prefix “pro-” means “forward or toward,” and the “-cras-” portion of the word comes from the Latin for tomorrow. Note that this is not the same as the “crass” that means “unrefined or rude.” One can fairly say that “to procrastinate” is “to delay.”
Example Question #62 : Synonyms: Prefixes
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
ACQUIRE
Pilfer
Snatch
Fudge
Obtain
Steal
Obtain
The word “acquire” actually comes from the compounding of the prefix “ad-” and the a base related to “question” and “enquiry.” The prefix means “to or toward” and is found in many English words like “advance” and “adapt.” The general sense of the word is “to obtain or buy,” and this meaning is related to the combination of the words’ parts, which would mean, “to seek for something,” implying that one would seek rather strongly for that thing in order to “be at it,” that is, to have or own it.
Example Question #1811 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
IMPARTIAL
Superfluous
Discrete
Poignant
Equitable
Comprehensive
Equitable
Because "impartial" means treating all sides equally; fair and just, the best answer choice is "equitable," which means fair and impartial.
Example Question #1812 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
SUPERFICIAL
Overlook
Annoying
Surface
Witless
Vapid
Surface
While “superficial” often is used to describe someone who is “not deep” or perhaps “trivial” in his or her interests, the word literally means “being on the upper most face.” The word “surface” is actually closely related to the word. The prefix “super-” means “above,” and “-ficial” comes from relatives of “face or surface.” Therefore, someone who is “superficial” is “on the surface” (that is, not going any deeper than the uppermost layer). The word “superficial” can be used as an adjective that merely means “surface” or “surface-level” as in “superficial wounds,” which would mean “surface wounds” or “surface-level wounds.”
Example Question #1813 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
REDUNDANT
Illegible
Unneeded
Idiocy
Perplexing
Conflicting
Unneeded
The word “redundant” comes from the prefix “re-” meaning “again,” and (perhaps strangely at first sight) the word for “wave.” The “-und-” portion is the same as that found in “undulation,” which means “a wave motion.” Something that is “redundant” is something that is “surging up (like a wave) again.” A redundant expression uses multiple words where they are not needed since they both express the same thing. (It is like the same meaning “surges up” twice!) Think of the expression “usually customary.” Customs are actions that are regularly performed by a group, person, etc. There is no need to use the modifier “usually.”
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All ISEE Upper Level Verbal Resources
