Key Features

An Intensive Words-in-Context Approach. Studies show that students learn words best by seeing them repeatedly in different contexts, not through rote memorization. The books present each word in at least six different contexts.  Every encounter increases the chance that a word will become part of a student's permanent word bank.

Abundant Practice. In addition to the extensive practice in each chapter, there are unit tests and a crossword puzzle review. Moreover, most chapters repeat words from earlier chapters, allowing for even more reinforcement. And there are added tests in the Test Bank and the Online Learning Center that come with each book. All this practice means that students learn in the best possible way: by working closely and repeatedly with each word.

Appealing Content. Dull practice materials work against learning. The lively content and clear and friendly style of the books make learning easier for students.

Emphasis on Key Words. In creating the Vocabulary Series, our editors combined teaching experience with a number of word frequency lists to determine the best words for each book. The result is a core of essential words, sequenced in order of difficulty, that are most helpful for students to know.

Affordability. Full version vocabulary books teach 300 key words/word parts and are priced at $12.90 each. Short Versions teach 200 words and cost $10.90 each. Bundles of long version books + Vocabulary Plus are value-priced at just $17.90; bundles of short version books + Vocabulary Plus are value-priced at just $15.90.

Outstanding Supplements. Supplements include a Vocabulary Placement Test, an Instructor's Edition, a combined Instructor's Manual and Test Bank, and online exercises that teach as well as test.

Digital Options. This textbook can be bundled with Vocabulary Plus, a powerful online vocabulary-building program that brings ALL the content of our famously clear, user friendly, Vocabulary Series directly to your tablet, smartphone, or computer. Download a complete brochure to learn more, or visit the Learning Center.

*Note: Students must have a paid subscription to access Vocabulary Plus materials. Click here to learn more about subscription options, including discounted digital/textbook bundles.

Word List

absolve
abstain
acclaim
adamant
adjacent
affiliate
agnostic
alleviate
allusion
aloof
altruistic
ambivalent
amiable
amoral
animosity
antagonist
appease
arbitrary
aspire
assail
attest
attribute
augment
averse
avid
banal
benefactor
benevolent
blatant
blight
calamity
charisma
commemorate
complacent
comprehensive
concurrent
condone
confiscate
congenial
consensus
constitute
constrict
contemplate
contemporary 
contend
contrive
conventional
conversely
covert
cryptic 
curtail
cynic 
decipher
default
deficient
deficit
degenerate
demise
depict
deplete
detract
detrimental
devastate
digress
diligent
discern
disdain
dispatch
dispel 
dissent
diversion
divulge
dwindle
eccentric
elation
elicit
empathy
encounter
endow
engross
enhance
enigma
epitome
escalate 
esteem
euphemism
evoke
exemplify
exhaustive
explicit 
exploit
expulsion
extrovert
fallible
feasible
feign
fiscal
flagrant
flippant
fluctuate
formulate
furtive
gape
garble
gaunt
genial
gloat
habitat
hypothetical
immaculate
impasse
implausible
implicit
incentive
incoherent
incorporate
indispensable
infamous
inhibition
intercede
intermittent
intricate
intrinsic
ironic
il-, im-
immaculate
impasse
implausible
implication
implicit
implore
improvise
incentive
inclination
incoherent
incorporate
indispensable
inequity
infamous
infirmity
infringe
infuriate
inhibition
innovation
intercede
interim
intermittent
intricate
intrinsic
ironic
legacy
longevity
lucrative
magnitude
malign
mandatory
mediate
menial
mercenary
methodical
mobile
mortify
mundane
muted
niche
nocturnal
nominal
nullify
nurture
obscure
obsolete
ominous
orient
pacify
pathetic
perception
persevere
plagiarism
poignant
ponder
pragmatic
precedent
predominant
prerequisite
pretentious
prevalent
prompt
prone
proponent
punitive
qualm
quest
rapport
rationale
recession
reconcile
rehabilitate
relentless
render
reprisal
retaliate
revulsion
rigor
rupture
sanctuary
saturate
scrutiny
sinister
speculate
squander
succumb
suffice
syndrome
taint
tangible
terminate
transcend
transient
traumatic
turmoil 
venture
vile
vindictive
virile
vulnerable
waive

This textbook comes bundled with a 10-month subscription to Vocabulary Plus, a powerful online vocabulary-building program that brings ALL the content of our famously clear, user-friendly Vocabulary Series directly to your tablet, smartphone, or computer.

Download a complete brochure to learn more, or visit our Learning Center. 


Key Features of Vocabulary Plus
 

Independent Study (VPi):    A user-friendly, adaptive mode of Vocabulary Plus that individually assesses students and manages assignments. Suitable for classes and/or individual students, VPi dynamically adjusts difficulty to keep students challenged and motivated. And it rewards them too! Plus educators can view students' progress with a simple click. Learn more about VPihere. 

Integrated eBooks: A subscription to Vocabulary Plusincludes eBooks of all six texts in the TP Vocabulary Series. If you prefer the layout of a book and want to refer to content of a specific page, you can do so with a click. With Vocabulary Plus, the entire Vocabulary Series is at your fingertips!

Expanded Chapter Exercisesfor the six books in our Vocabulary Series. Depending on the titles, this includes anywhere from 6–8 interactive, instructive activities! Each includes item-specific feedback that helps students learn their new words.

Word Parts Chapters that teach prefixes, suffixes, and word roots. Students who learn these word parts will be better equipped to decipher the meanings of thousands of other words in which they appear.

Unit Reviews including crossword puzzles, analogies, and synonym and antonym activities adapted from the printed books.

Sentence Writing Activities, all new for Vocabulary Plus, allow students to compose sentences online to show their understanding of newly-learned words. Instructors can easily review and score these sentences online.

Online Tests: Two online tests, unique to the web and not found in our texts, are available for each chapter in Vocabulary Plus. With these tests, Vocabulary Plus actually offers more content than our books!

Enhanced Items: Items in Vocabulary Plus take advantage of new, upgraded technical capabilities. Sentence Check 2 and Final Check, for example, now offer more challenging answer choices. In addition, Vocabulary in Context items now provide students with two context sentences to help them infer each word’s meaning at the start of the chapter. 

Review Words: Words taught in earlier chapters are reinforced later as Vocabulary Review words. These words include definitions to refresh students’ memories and help them retain the words they learned in previous chapters. In addition, SAT and GRE high-frequency words are given extra attention—an added real-world connection!

Audio and Visual Support:Each vocabulary word in Vocabulary Plus includes a pronunciation guide AND an audio link of the word being spoken. Click a word, and Vocabulary Plus will pronounce it for you. In addition, pictures are used to introduce many words. This visual context helps students better understand and remember vocabulary words. See for yourself!

Intuitive Controls: People who use our Learning Center remark about how user-friendly it is.Vocabulary Plus is just as simple to use. Try it today!

Detailed Score Reports:Teachers using Vocabulary Pluswill be able to view precise details about student progress. Individual and group results are available and easily exported. In addition, you’ll be able to see the actual items students complete, the correct answers for each item (with explanations), and the answer choices students submitted. This useful data will allow you to focus class time on the specific skills that are challenging to your students.

Want to Know More?

Download a complete brochure or visit our Learning Center to explore Vocabulary Plus for your classes.

New Features include:

• Hundreds of new items
• Photos added to chapter readings
• Updated digital content
• Contemporary design
• Broader, universal appeal for a wide range of readers
• Resequenced chapter and test items

Supplementary Materials

Improving Vocabulary Skills, Short Version, 5/e includes the following supplements:

•  An Instructor’s Edition. This full-length text is identical to the student edition except that it contains answers to all the book's practice and test items. 

•  A combined Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank. This valuable supplement includes a model syllabus and suggestions for teaching with the text. It also contains: pretests and posttests for the entire book and each unit in the book, an extra mastery test for each chapter, and an extra unit test for each unit. Answers to all the book's activities and all the supplemental tests are included as well.

• The Learning Center. A powerful web-based resource, the Learning Center features exercises, tests, PowerPoint files, and an electronic (PDF) edition of the Instructor's Manual and Test Bank to accompany this book.  Along with these free materials, the Learning Center also hosts Vocabulary Plus, a comprehensive subscription-based word-building program that brings all the content of our vocabulary text to students' fingertips. Learn more here.

Print supplements can be obtained quickly by calling Townsend Press toll-free at (800) 772-6410, by sending a fax on school letterhead to 1-800-225-8894, or by e-mailing Customer Service at cs@townsendpress.com.