Homophones: Words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings (e.g., flour, flower).

Context Clues: Using surrounding words/sentences to infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Types: definition, synonym, antonym, example, inference, explanation.

Word Formation:

Prefixes: Added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning (e.g., un-, pre-, re-, dis-).
Suffixes: Added to the end of a word to change its meaning or part of speech (e.g., -tion, -able, -ly, -ness).
Root Words: The basic part of a word that carries the main meaning (e.g., bio- (life), cred- (believe), ped- (foot)).

Denotation and Connotation:

Denotation: Literal dictionary definition.
Connotation: Associated feelings or ideas (positive, negative, neutral) evoked by a word.

Idioms: Expressions whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal definitions of its words (e.g., "kick the bucket," "break a leg").

Collocations: Words that often go together naturally (e.g., "heavy rain," "make a decision," "strong tea").

Analogy: Comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification. (e.g., "finger is to hand as toe is to foot").

C. Reading Comprehension

Main Idea: The central point or message of a passage. Often found in topic sentences, thesis statements, or implied.
Supporting Details: Facts, examples, reasons, statistics, anecdotes that elaborate on and prove the main idea.
Inference: Drawing conclusions based on evidence and reasoning, not explicitly stated. "Reading between the lines."
Author's Purpose: Why the author wrote the text (e.g., to inform, persuade, entertain, describe, explain, analyze, criticize).
Tone and Mood:
- Tone: Author's attitude towards the subject (e.g., formal, informal, serious, humorous, objective, subjective, sarcastic, nostalgic).
- Mood: The feeling evoked in the reader (e.g., joyful, suspenseful, melancholic, peaceful, anxious).
Text Structure/Organization: Chronological, cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, description, sequence, argumentation.
Figurative Language:
- Simile: Comparison using "like" or "as" (e.g., brave as a lion).
- Metaphor: Direct comparison (e.g., He is a lion in battle).
- Personification: Giving human qualities or characteristics to inanimate objects or abstract ideas (e.g., The wind whispered secrets).
- Hyperbole: Exaggeration for emphasis or effect (e.g., I'm so hungry I could eat a horse).
- Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate sounds (e.g., buzz, meow, bang, sizzle).
- Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds in closely connected words (e.g., slippery slope, Peter Piper picked).
- Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds within words (e.g., fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese).
- Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of words (e.g., pitter-patter, best test).
- Imagery: Use of descriptive language that appeals to the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch).
- Symbolism: Use of objects, people, or ideas to represent something else, often a larger concept or abstract idea.
- Allusion: An indirect reference