Word Smart II, 2nd Edition (Smart Guides) [Paperback]

Adam Robinson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0375762191 | ISBN-13: 978-0375762192 | Publication Date: August 7, 2001 | Edition: 2nd

Some interesting word facts:

• The word "noisome" had nothing whatsoever to do with noise.
• "Ordinance" and "ordnance" have two distinct meanings.
• An "errant" fool is a fool who is lost, while and "arrant" fool is one whose foolishness is obvious.

Word Smart II exposes hundreds of examples like these, so readers will never be surprised by vocabulary again. More than 70,000 people have improved their vocabularies with the original Word Smart, but an educated and powerful vocabulary doesn't stop growing with one book. All of the 848 entries in Word Smart II belong in an impressive vocabulary. Learning and using these words effectively can help readers to get better grades, score higher on tests, and communicate more confidently at work.

Includes:

• A special emphasis on correct pronunciation
• New exercises to help readers learn and remember words
• Two extra chapters that focus on the words most frequently found on the SAT and other standardized tests.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Some interesting word facts:

? The word "noisome" had nothing whatsoever to do with noise.
? "Ordinance" and "ordnance" have two distinct meanings.
? An "errant" fool is a fool who is lost, while and "arrant" fool is one whose foolishness is obvious.

Word Smart II exposes hundreds of examples like these, so readers will never be surprised by vocabulary again. More than 70,000 people have improved their vocabularies with the original Word Smart, but an educated and powerful vocabulary doesn't stop growing with one book. All of the 848 entries in Word Smart II belong in an impressive vocabulary. Learning and using these words effectively can help readers to get better grades, score higher on tests, and communicate more confidently at work.

Includes:

? A special emphasis on correct pronunciation
? New exercises to help readers learn and remember words
? Two extra chapters that focus on the words most frequently found on the SAT and other standardized tests.

About the Author

Adam Robinson graduated from Wharton before earning a law degree at Oxford University in England. Robinson, a rated chess master, devised and perfected the Joe Bloggs approach to beating standardized tests in 1980, as well as numerous other core Princeton Review techniques. A freelance author of many books, Robinson has collaborated with the Princeton Review to develop a number if its courses.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Review; 2nd edition (August 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375762191
• ISBN-13: 978-0375762192
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,100,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for exchange students, November 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Word Smart II: 700 More Words to Help Build an Educated Vocabulary (Princeton Review Series) (Paperback)

I'm an exchange student here in the US. In addition to the English lessons I take,this book helps me very well to improve my vocabulary as well as it helps me to explain things better. The alphabetic order of the words in this book supports the fast finding. This book is a must for all students as well as for those who like to improve their English vocabulary to a more educated level.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very basic vocabulary, August 8, 2003

By 

Blake Mason "Doppler" (Livermore, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Word Smart II, 2nd Edition (Smart Guides) (Paperback)

I bought this book to study for the GRE based on good reviews listed here, but I have to say I'm very disappointed. Just from skimming through the text book I've found that I already know at least two thirds of the words listed. I'm amazed that they included such simple words like: mode, consolidate, ethics, and access. The words are not sorted by difficulty, but alphabetically so it's not very useful for me to study from. Maybe if your vocabulary isn't so great and you are taking the SAT this book might be useful for you.

I would recommend Kaplan's Word Power Third Edition instead and skip to the 2nd section. You'll learn much more from this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Selective Dictionary with Sentence Examples, March 15, 2006

By 

DellaCorte - See all my reviews

This review is from: Word Smart II, 2nd Edition (Smart Guides) (Paperback)

This book presents 823 alphabetically arranged words with short definitions and sentence examples. The definitions tend to be too short to convey the full meaning of the word. The sentence examples, however, effectively illustrate common usage. The reading level of the words is neither excessively high or low. For example the "q" words are "qualify, qualitative, querulous, and quixotic." The layout is somewhat distracting with bullets, quick quizzes, and "notes" that appear in seemingly haphazard fashion. It's suprising too that Princeton Review editors don't realize, or care, that uppercase letters are more difficult to read, as all the vocabulary words are in uppercase.

If you are studying for a test, another book, "1000 Most Important Words" by Norman Schur is a much better choice. The "1000 Most Important Words" has more words and better definitions. The sentence examples used in "1000 Words" define the word while simulaneously illustrating common usage. The visual layout is also easy and appealing with lowercase bolded vocabulary, paragraph definitions, and sentence illustrations. The types of words are similar to the Princeton Review. For example "querulous" and "quixotic" also appear in "1000 Words." The other "q" words are "quaff, quagmire,quail, qualm, quandry, quarry, quash, quaver, quay, quell, query, queue, quiescent, quintessence, and quizzical." If you want to learn words for long term retention rather than test performance, however, the best study approach is to learn words in semantic groups. For a superb vocabulary book that uses semantic groups, see "Word Power Made Easy" by Norman Lewis.