Academic Vocabulary · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Academic Vocabulary: Words That Do Real Work

English · Vocabulary · ages 11-14
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Which sentence uses academic vocabulary correctly?

    • The author looks at why the character is sad.
    • The author analyses why the character is sad.
    • The author gets into why the character is sad.

  2. Which word is the best academic replacement for 'show' in an essay?

    • convey
    • talk about
    • look at

  3. Using a subject word like photosynthesis in a science paragraph counts as academic vocabulary.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Which sentence best uses a domain-specific term to explain government?

    • The people who make laws work in a big building.
    • The legislature debates and passes new laws.
    • Some people decide on laws somewhere.

  5. Choose the best academic verb: 'The essay must ___ its argument with evidence.'

    • justify
    • chat about
    • kind of prove

  6. Mia read the word imply in a story. Later she wrote in her own essay: 'The ending implies that the hero survives.' What did Mia do?

    • She used a new word from reading in her own writing
    • She copied a sentence without understanding it
    • She avoided academic vocabulary

  7. Tomas read the word evaluate in his science textbook. Which use shows he has truly learned it, not just recognized it?

    • He can find evaluate when a teacher points to it.
    • He writes in his own history essay: I will evaluate the causes of the war.
    • He remembers what page evaluate was on.

  8. Which sentence uses an academic word incorrectly?

    • She justified her opinion with three reasons.
    • She implied her opinion with three reasons.
    • She evaluated her opinion using three reasons.
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Academic Vocabulary: Words That Do Real Work W1-mt_OLwNsTI6C7-s1

  1. The author analyses why the character is sad. · Analyses is a precise academic verb. Looks at and gets into are casual phrases.
  2. convey · Convey is a precise academic word for communicating an idea. Talk about and look at are casual phrases.
  3. True · Yes. Domain-specific terms from a subject you studied are part of academic vocabulary.
  4. The legislature debates and passes new laws. · Legislature is the precise term for the law-making body, which makes the sentence clearer than a vague description.
  5. justify · Justify means to give good reasons for something, the exact word for supporting an argument with evidence.
  6. She used a new word from reading in her own writing · Mia picked up imply from her reading and chose to use it in a sentence of her own.
  7. He writes in his own history essay: I will evaluate the causes of the war. · Truly learning a word means choosing to use it yourself in new writing, not just recognizing or locating it.
  8. She implied her opinion with three reasons. · Imply means to hint at something indirectly. You cannot imply an opinion with three reasons, since implying is indirect, not backed by reasons.
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