Word Smart: Building an Educated Vocabulary (Paperback)

~ Adam Robinson (Author), Princeton Review (Author)
Key Phrases: educated vocabulary, ans wers, check your answers, Final Exam Drill, Quick Quiz, Hit Parade (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The words people use say a lot about them. Some words say that they are smart, persuasive, and informed. Others say that they don't know what they're talking about. Knowing which words to use and how to use them are keys to getting the most from one's mind and to communicating effectively.

To find out which words readers absolutely need to know, The Princeton Review researched the vocabularies of educated adults. The Princeton Review analyzed newspapers from The New York Times to The Wall Street Journal, magazines from Time to Scientific American, and books from current bestsellers to classics. Editors threw out words that most people know and focused on the words that people misunderstand or misuse.

TPR also combed through the SAT and other standardized tests to determine which words are tested most frequently. In this updated third edition, editors give readers the most important words they need to know to score higher.

Includes special lists covering:

• Common usage errors
• Most frequently tested words on standardized tests
• Foreign phrases, abbreviations, and terms readers need to know to understand finance, science, computers, and the arts

From the Inside Flap

The words people use say a lot about them. Some words say that they are smart, persuasive, and informed. Others say that they don't know what they're talking about. Knowing which words to use and how to use them are keys to getting the most from one's mind and to communicating effectively.

To find out which words readers absolutely need to know, The Princeton Review researched the vocabularies of educated adults. The Princeton Review analyzed newspapers from The New York Times to The Wall Street Journal, magazines from Time to Scientific American, and books from current bestsellers to classics. Editors threw out words that most people know and focused on the words that people misunderstand or misuse.

TPR also combed through the SAT and other standardized tests to determine which words are tested most frequently. In this updated third edition, editors give readers the most important words they need to know to score higher.

Includes special lists covering:

? Common usage errors
? Most frequently tested words on standardized tests
? Foreign phrases, abbreviations, and terms readers need to know to understand finance, science, computers, and the arts

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Review; 3rd edition (August 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375762183
• ISBN-13: 978-0375762185
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #193,428 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Text, May 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Word Smart: Building An Educated Vocabulary (Princeton Review) (Paperback)

I have read many books throughout my life, but this by far has been the greatest and most helpful book I have EVER read. Mere words in this review can not begin to explain how immensely this book has affected my academic career. In high school, when I took the pre-SAT for the first time, I got a 340 on the verbal. YES, that's right! a 340! Since English is not my first language, my vocabulary was EXTREMELY limited. My goal was improvement, but knowing that I had read very little English when I was young, I had to figure out a QUICK way to raise my score. That's when I discovered Word Smart. After memorizing the definition of the words in this book, and many others, my score shot up to 710 on the verbal! Keep in mind I learned English in the third grade, but I still managed to score very high. Words in this book WILL appear on EVERY SAT and GRE, not to mention all major newspapers and books of ALL kind. You can count on that. After learning the words in this book, in a very twisted way I have yet to completely understand, my writing ability also dramatically improved. In conclusion, you are a COMPLETE FOOL if you take the SAT or the GRE without first extensively studying this book. Your future is very important, don't risk it.

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading, January 11, 2003

By	Walter Reade (Appleton, WI United States) - See all my reviews

Word Smart gives one of the best selections of need-to-know words I have ever seen. It lists over 800 every-day-useful words, while avoiding the temptation of adding some long, snooty-sounding words for the sake of intellectual arrogance. These are words that most college students should know. If you can master these in high school, you will be on the way to a rock solid vocabulary.

The format of the book is straight forward. After a very helpful chapter on tips for learning new vocabulary, the set of words is introduced in alphabetical order. Every ten words or so ends in a quick quiz. This allows you to test what you have learned; you can also start with the quiz to see what words you can skip over. The concluding chapters contain a lengthy final exam, the SAT and GRE hit parade (words you should have mastered well before taking these standardized tests), word roots, common usage errors, abbreviations, and some lists for the arts, science, finance, and foreign words.

This is a great book for anyone who would like to beef up on their vocabulary, or for those who would just like a good review to make sure they are not using some words wrongly.

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful Complement., December 23, 2000

By	Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Word Smart: Building An Educated Vocabulary (Princeton Review) (Paperback)

This is a book for the highly-motivated student who wants to know the most frequent words on the SAT and GRE exams and is willing to work his or her tail off to learn them. It has several other things going for it: the authors recognize the inseparability of language from thought; they caution against mistaking a large or esoteric vocabulary for knowledge; they provide some tips about etymology and the uses of Latin and Greek roots and affixes but they do not overrate this occasionally helpful tool (word meanings are dynamic and frequently arbitary, having little to do with the original word form).

The downside of the volume is that it doesn't provide a "programmed" approach capable of engaging the less-motivated reader in a progressive series of fun yet educational exercises. For this purpose, the Norman Lewis books are a better bet, even though the latter author tends to overemphasize esoteric words and overrate the importance of etymology.