Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET)

General Education:
VOCABULARY and
READING
 COMPETENCIES

VOCABULARY: Using context clues, structural analysis,

and other word formation techniques

READING:
* Noting details to discover the central theme of a passage
* Pointing
out the organizational structure of a passage and
determining how the parts are related to the whole
* Drawing inferences and implications on reading texts
1. What is meant by GINGERLY in this
paragraph: She was deep in the road
before she became conscious of her
shoes. In horror, she saw that they were
coated with thick, black clay. Gingerly
she pulled off one shoe after the other
with the hand still clutching the letter?
A. disgusted C. hurried
B. careful D. determined
Smoking has been proven dangerous to people’s
health, yet many continue to smoke for various
reasons. For young people, smoking often
represents maturity and individuality. Many smoke
as a way to reduce tension. In addition, the regular
smoker becomes addicted psychologically and
physically to the nicotine in cigarettes.
2. What is the author implying in the paragraph?
A. Smoking is dangerous.
B. Smoking is a way of life for many people.
C. Young people smoke to look mature.
D. People smoke even if they know
it can kill them.
3. My favorite sport is basketball which I
play and also watch on TV. I also like
softball better than volleyball, but I prefer
tennis as a summer sport over softball
and volleyball.
Which is correct about the paragraph?
A. I like softball least.
B. Tennis is my second favorite sport.

C. I like volleyball better than tennis.

D. I like tennis as much as I like
4. What character trait is revealed in this
statement: “During the five years that
I’ve taught I’ve done my best to live to
my ideals. Yet I please nobody. It’s
the same old narrow conformism and
favor-currying?
A. militant C. idealistic
B. stubborn D. pessimistic
 THREE TYPES OF VOCABULARY

GENERAL: everyday words with widely

acknowledged meanings in common usage

SPECIAL: words from everyday vocabulary

that take on specialized meanings

TECHNICAL: words that are used only in a

particular subject matter
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS: the study
of word parts to get the meaning of words.
ROOT WORDS
PREFIXES
SUFFIXES
 ROOT WORDS
Meaning Example
act do, move ACTive
bio life BIOgraphy
dict to speak DICTate
grad to step GRADuation
logy study of bioLOGY
man hand MANual
port carry PORTage
temp mix, time TEMPorary
 PREFIXES
Meaning Example
a- not Amoral
anti- against ANTIbody
dis- reverse action DISconnect
in-, il-, INsensitive, Illegal,
im-, ir- not IMmoral, IRregular
mal- bad MALformed
mis- wrong MISprint
non- without NONstop

re- again REminiscence

un- not UNcover
 SUFFIXES
Meaning Example
-able capable of being availABLE
showing national ChinESE,
-ese origin LebanESE
-ful full of meaningFUL
-hood state or condition stateHOOD
-ive having the quality of explosIVE, massIVE
-like having the quality of childLIKE
-ly having the quality of motherLY
-ous, -eous, virtuOUS,
-ious having the quality of courtEOUS
-y full of hairY
 Give the meaning of the following words
by analyzing the word parts:
Prefix Root Suffix
• CONFIGURATION con- figure -ation

• CONTRADICTION contra- dict -ion

• ILLITERACY il- literate -acy

• MISCALCULATION mis- calculate -ation

• UNDENIABLE un- deny -able

WORD FORMATION: processes in
forming new words.
CLIPPING
BLENDING
COMPOUNDING
ACRONYMY
 Identify the word formation process
used in the following words:

1. postgraduate - compound
2. motel - blend
3. scuba - acronym
4. fax - clip
5. newscast - blend
6. steam engine - compound
7. bachelorette - folk etymology
8. nuke - clip
9. radar - acronym
10. bananaque - folk etymology
COLLOCATION
the combination of words
brings about different shades of
meaning

* sugar is sweet * sweet potato

* sweet face * sweet talk
CLINE
related words are placed within a
slope to show degrees

boiling
hot
lukewarm
warm

cold
freezing
TEMPERATURE
CLUSTER
group of similar or related
words
massive

tremendous gigantic

huge LARGE gross

in SIZE

collosal
great

big
CHAIN
synonymous words are arranged
to show gradation of difficulty

hunt
seek
look for

trace
pursue

track
inquire
search
Match the underlined idioms with their meanings
A) more than one can afford
B) a sunny day
C) suddenly
D) very happy
E) very ambitious

On Monday, out of the clear blue sky, the

local travel agent called up Elsa to tell her that
she had won two tickets to the International
Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico. She had always
wanted to go with her husband Randy but they
thought that such a trip was beyond their reach.
She was walking in air when she told Randy the
good news.
 E) talking nonsense I) rapidly
F) temperamental J) daydream
G) disappear without K) unaware
leaving a trace
L) slowly
H) very happy
M) aspire for something
•
At first, Randy thought that Elsa was
joking and full of hot air. But when he realized
that she was not building castles in the air, his
annoyance vanished into thin air. As soon as
Randy came home from work, the couple talked
eagerly about the trip. Soon their plans grew by
leaps and bounds . Elsa’s head was in the clouds
all the time because she was looking forward to
her first balloon ride. She was in cloud nine
thinking how good it is to reach for the sky.
FIGURES OF SPEECH
Simile - comparison of two unlike ideas
or objects, using the
word like or as
 Lips like rosebuds and kisses like wine

Metaphor - a comparison of two

dissimilar things
 She is an angel in disguise.
Personification - the representation of
an object or idea as
human
 The jovial moon smiling benignly
down at us

Apostrophe - an old-fashioned direct

address to an absent or dead person
or thing
 Oh freedom! Hear our cry!
Hyperbole - exaggeration or
overstatement for emphasis
 I could eat a horse.
Oxymoron- a phrase linking
incongruous or contradictory terms
 A wise fool
Paradox - an apparently absurd or self-
contradictory statement that may
nevertheless be true or wise
 Her gentleness was too hurtful to bear.
Metonymy - use of concrete term to refer
to some wider idea that it characterizes

 The crown for monarchy

Synecdoche - use of the name of a part

to refer to the whole, or vice versa,
such as

forty sail to refer to forty ships

Irony - use of word/s to convey
something markedly different from the
literal meaning; a common component
of sarcasm, though not necessarily so
cutting
 It’s a secret so only half of London
knows about it.
Allusion - refers to a literary, biblical,
historical, mythological, scientific event,
character, or place
 Beware of the kiss of Judas! ;
Beware of Greeks, bearing gifts
RHETORICAL DEVICES

Onomatopoeia- use of words whose

sound suggests their meaning
 Sizzle, splash, crack, buzz, zap

Alliteration - use of words with same

initial consonant sound
 The furrow followed free
Assonance – uses repetition of vowels
without repetition of consonants, also
called a vowel rhyme
 alone, alone, all, all, alone

Consonance – repeats the final

consonant sounds, also called a slant
rhyme
 dreary and weary odds and
ends
Rhyme – employs identical sounds from
the vowel of the accented syllables to
the end
 hold, told, mold, gold; die, sky, my, fly,
pie

Anaphora – repeats a word or words at

the beginning of two or more
successive clauses or verses
 Cannons to the right of them/Cannons
to the left of them!
 Let’s try these:

1. The president took the floor for his

acceptance speech. metonymy
2. Your smile is as sweet as honey. simile
3. The sanitary officer collects our trash
every Friday. euphemism
4. Blue, blue, my world is blue alliteration
Identify the figure of speech used in the following:

1. The train click-clucked, and click-

clucked, click-clucked monotonously
over the rail joints. Onomatopoeia

2. I have been to all places looking for

you. Hyperbole

3. Your senseless chats are tinkling

cymbals to my ears. Metonymy
4. The wind whispered its secret to the
bamboos. Personification
5. Congratulations! You lost the ball
game again. Irony
6. I hate love for all the pains it cause
me. Oxymoron

7. We live in one roof. Synecdoche

8. Beware of Judas in your group.

Allusion
9. O sweet woods, the delight of
solitariness! Apostrophe

[Link] is foul and foul is fair.

Alliteration
 VOCABULARY
PRACTICE
Choose the closest meaning of the
underlined word/s or phrases.
1. Jojo has always been a very
responsible man. He helped the family keep
its head above water by doing odd jobs.

[Link]
a. avoidmany
manydifficulties
difficulties
b. learn swimming
c. plan how to save water
d. being proud
 2. We could only applaud her for
proving equal to the occasion.

a. being able to cope with the situation

b. being prepared for the occasion
c. being on equal terms with others
d. being as good as others
Reading Models
Bottom-up Model
• Text-based; reading
instruction emphasizes
letters, letter-sound
relationships and words.
• Reading is essentially
mechanical decoding of
speech written down
(Silberstein, 1987)
Top-down Model
(Goodman, 1967)
• Knowledge-based and
conceptually-driven
• Comprehending the
selection is possible even
if each word in the
selection is not
recognized.
• Reading instruction
emphasizes prior
knowledge.
Interactive Model
(Rummelhart, 1977)

• Pictures reading as
making sense of print
through the interaction
between TEXT and
READER.
• Believes that meaning
is not residing in the
text alone waiting to be
decoded
READING
involves the transaction between the mind
of the reader and the language of the text.

top - down

bottom - up
SCHEMATA
• Influence reading comprehension
and learning
• Provide a framework that allows
readers to select information
relevant to their purposes
• Help readers organize text
information by enabling them to
relate the new to the old which
eventually facilitates retention and
retrieval
Cognitive processes which act as tools for
understanding the text

Predicting
Hypothesizing
Deducing
Inferring
Drawing implications
UNDERSTANDING THREE LEVELS OF IDEAS

MAIN POINT

Major Detail Major Detail Major Detail

minor detail minor detail minor detail

minor detail minor detail minor detail

The main focus of reading is getting the main point –

the core, the message, the thesis, the main idea, the
central focus, the controlling idea, and the central
The TOPIC is the general subject of the
material. It answers questions like,
Who or what is discussed in the text?
or Who or what is the content of the
material?
Cost-cutting measures have to be practiced if a
company or even the country as a whole has to
survive. Cost-cutting takes different forms. A
plain housewife can best cost-cut on expenses
by recycling leftover food, turning off electricity
and water faucets when not in use. Going to
supermarket only once instead of water trips.
These practices also help prevent panic buying
which results in shortage of food supplies.
Indeed the hardship that is felt nowadays can be
reduced by observing some cost-cutting
measures.
The MAIN IDEA is the chief point an
author is making about the topic. It
sums up the author’s primary message.
It is also called the central idea or
thesis. It is usually found in the
beginning of the paragraph.
Cost-cutting measures have to be practiced if a
company or even the country as a whole has to
survive. Cost-cutting takes different forms. A
plain housewife can best cost-cut on expenses by
recycling leftover food, turning off electricity and
water faucets when not in use. Going to
supermarket only once instead of water trips.
These practices also help prevent panic buying
which results in shortage of food supplies. Indeed
the hardship that is felt nowadays can be reduced
by observing some cost-cutting measures.
DETAILS develop, explain, and prove the
main point or main idea. These are facts,
descriptions, examples, and reasons that
convince the reader and make the
material interesting.
Cost-cutting measures have to be practiced if a
company or even the country as a whole has to
survive. Cost-cutting takes different forms. A
plain housewife can best cost-cut on expenses by
recycling leftover food, turning off electricity and
water faucets when not in use. Going to
supermarket only once instead of water trips.
These practices also help prevent panic buying
which results in shortage of food supplies. Indeed
the hardship that is felt nowadays can be reduced
by observing some cost-cutting measures.
INFERENCING is to interpret unstated
meaning; the author provides clues so
that the reader can put together facts
and details in a logical order and draws
conclusions.
Cost-cutting measures have to be practiced if a
company or even the country as a whole has to
survive. Cost-cutting takes different forms. A
plain housewife can best cost-cut on expenses by
recycling leftover food, turning off electricity and
water faucets when not in use. Going to
supermarket only once instead of water trips.
These practices also help prevent panic buying
which results in shortage of food supplies. Indeed
the hardship that is felt nowadays can be reduced
by observing some cost-cutting measures.

TIMES ARE HARD SO IT IS IMPORTANT

FOR PEOPLE TO SAVE.
PREDICTION is made on the basis of
prior knowledge. It answers questions
such as: What do you think will happen?
and Why do you think so?
Cost-cutting measures have to be practiced if a
company or even the country as a whole has to
survive. Cost-cutting takes different forms. A
plain housewife can best cost-cut on expenses by
recycling leftover food, turning off electricity and
water faucets when not in use. Going to
supermarket only once instead of water trips.
These practices also help prevent panic buying
which results in shortage of food supplies. Indeed
the hardship that is felt nowadays can be reduced
by observing some cost-cutting measures.
IF WE DON’T OBSERVE COST-CUTTING
MEASURES, WE MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY
LIVING UP WITH THE TIMES.
There are some potential advantages in being closer to the
sun. Given enough fertilizers and water, year-round
sunshine can create an extraordinary agricultural potential
allowing as much as three crops a year. But water shortage
restricts the areas where this is possible. As the oil runs out
and solar power becomes more economical, the Third World
will have greater possibilities of endlessly renewable energy
than the developed Temperate Zone countries.
What is the main idea of the paragraph?
A. Fertilizer and irrigation can increase the productivity of
the developing world.
B. Two potential advantages of ample sunshine are
increased agricultural output and solar energy.
C. The developed world has less solar energy potential than
the developing world.
D. Oil runs out and solar power becomes more economical.
 Following the structure of an EXPOSITORY
text, arrange the following sentences in order.

___ A. In a democracy the individual is given

importance so he possesses rights in
accordance with the laws of the land.
___ B. These opposing forces keep the balance of
power and the world at its feet. Each force wants to
protect its ideology and principles..
___ C. Basically, democracy and communism are two
opposing forces which make the world drama
exciting.
___ D. On the other hand, individuality is lost in a
communist society because the state controls
everything
___ A. To them brutal killings, palakasan, bribery
and shady business deals, fraudulent and vote-
buying during elections were the way of life.
___ B. The traditional Filipino values which were
totally erased should be restored with emphasis on a
sense of responsibility and result-effort for genuine
dialogue for justice.
___ C. Rebuilding Philippine society is erasing the
wrong values from these young Filipinos.
___ D. Martial Law babies were exposed to wrong
sense of values.
___ E. Cronyism and nepotism dominated the
societal values they inherited from the past.
GIVING EVIDENCES
1. People have changed their ideas as to the age of
our planer. A few hundred years ago many educated
people believed the earth was about six thousand
years old. Less than one hundred years ago scientist
thought the earth was one hundred million years old.
Today scientists have evidence that strongly suggests
the earth is almost five billion years old! You can tell
that:
A. the earth seems to be older than people once thought
B. people now know exactly how old the earth is
C. the earth seems to be younger than people once thought
D. people will never have any idea of the earth’s age
2. There is a reason why birds fly in V formation. As
birds flap their wings, the air is disturbed. It’s like the
waves behind a boat, except that the birds cause
airwaves. When birds are in V formation, each bird
gets air support from the bird ahead. By flying in a V
formation every bird except the leader saves energy.
The V formation makes flying:

[Link] dangerous C. safer

[Link] D. boring
3. The chain of food leads back to plants. All food, if
you trace it back, comes from plants. Much of our
food comes from animals. But the hog that gives the
meat and the hen that lays the egg are eaters of
plant food. No matter what you eat, you must thank
the plants. You can tell that without any plants:

A. our animals would be thin

B. people would eat animals
C. there would be no life
D. life would be about the same
4. Put one ear against a long iron rail. Ask a friend to
stand a few hundred feet away and hit the iron rail
with a hammer or a metal pipe. You will hear the
noise in the iron rail before the sound reaches you
through the air. What does this experiment prove
about sound waves? You can tell that sound travels:

A. only through solids

B. faster through metal than through the air
C. faster through air than through metal
D. always at the same speed
5. Snakes are cold-blooded animals. They have no
way of keeping a steady body temperature. The heat
of their bodies depends on the temperature of their
surroundings. If it is a very hot day, their body
temperature rises greatly. If it gets hot enough, snakes
die. If it is very cold, they are likely to freeze to death.
You can tell that snakes:

A. are suited to extreme climates

B. are suited to very cold climates
C. are best suited to steady temperatures
D. are suited to very high climates
6. When we think of flowers, we think of those we
gather to make a bouquet. We think of roses, tulips,
and carnations. We rarely think of flowers as food.
Yet people eat flowers today, as they have for
thousands of years. Brussels sprouts, cauliflower,
and broccoli are really flowers. The blossoms of
plants are not merely decorations for our homes! The
story mentions:

[Link] one use of flowers

[Link] flowers
[Link] two flowers
[Link] uses of flowers
7. If you get the “lion’s share” of something, you have
more than half of it. The expression “lion’s share”
refers to the amount a grown-up lion will eat. The adult
lion eats his share, which is plenty. What the adult lion
can’t eat is left for the rest of the family. Sometimes
this isn’t very much! The “lion’s share” of a dollar would
be:

[Link] hundred cents

[Link] than fifty cents
[Link] more than forty cents
[Link] cents
8. Someone once said that for every minute we
spend in anger we lose sixty seconds of happiness.
Everyone knows how it feels when he is very angry.
It certainly isn’t any fun at all to have this feeling.
Those sixty seconds that could have been spent in
happiness are gone forever. You can tell that people:
A. can’t be angry
B. can’t be angry and happy at the same time

C. are angry only for six seconds

D. like to get angry
9. While pain is one of man’s oldest enemies, it is
also a great friend of man. Pain is the body’s way of
reporting disease or injury of body parts. If a person
could feel no pain, he would live a life of danger.
Such person might even die because of a disease he
did not find about in time. All people should realize
that:

A. pain is pleasure
B. knowing about pain is frightening
C. suffering pain can sometimes be helpful
D. pain has no meaning
10. Long ago, men began to invent ways to take salt
out of seawater. Early man discovered that if he
blocked off the sea water in a small pond, the sun
would dry up the water. There, on the bottom of the
pond, would be left a layer of the white crystals so
important to him. Early man knew that without salt
neither he nor his animals could live. This method of
getting salt:

A. wasn’t effective
B. took very little time
C. isn’t old
D. depended partly on nature
11. Someone once said, “Never follow a crowd if you
want the crowd to follow you”. What this really means
is that people who follow the crowd do so without
thinking for themselves. They see what others are
doing and then copy them. To be a leader, a person
has to think for himself and not to do something just
because other does it. You can tell that:

A. “copy cats” don’t make good leaders

B. All followers think for themselves
C. Good leaders follow the crowd
D. There are more leaders than followers.
12. Long ago, people who sent letter didn’t have to
pay postage. Postage had to be paid by the person
who received the letter. People didn’t like to pay for
the letters that they didn’t want. Sometimes they just
wouldn’t accept the letter. Thus it happened that the
sender had to pay the postage. Long ago, when the
receiver was asked to pay:

A. the post office made more money

B. he didn’t waste any time
C. the post office wasn’t always paid
D. everyone liked it better
13. Did you ever wonder how many bones there are
in your body? It is strange to think that an infant’s
body has more bones than an adult’s. a baby may
have 30 bones. As the child grows older, some of the
bones grow together. The growing together process,
however, is not the same for everyone. It is likely that
many adults have:

A. weak bones
B. very strong bones
C. a different number of bones
D. no bones
14. Sounds travel at different speeds, depending on
the temperature of the air. If it is cold, sound travel
about 1075 feet in one second. At high altitudes
where it is very cold, sound may travel about 950 feet
in a second. On a hot summer day it may travel
about 1160 feet a second. You can tell that sounds
travel more slowly:

A. during the spring

B. in warm air
C. during fall
D. in cold air