Eleven Plus Vocabulary (Blog26/10)

One of the things that children have to think about as the eleven plus examinations grow closer is the need for a wide vocabulary while tackling eleven plus verbal reasoning papers.

“You really must read a wider range of books.”

“Aunt Mary’s daughter enjoyed this book. I am sure you will love it.”

Now any self respecting ten year old will naturally feel a real sense of resistance to weak points made like this. No, don’t be soft. Tell your ten year old to learn three new words every day. Today’s three words include:

Matriculate.

The `matricular’ is the list of people belonging to an order or society. So, rather loosely, if your child passes the Eleven Plus examination he or she will matriculate.

Adlibbing

Today we think of adlibbing as making jokes or employing quick fire repartee. So if your ten year old is inclined to cover up nerves by a sting of weak and spontaneous jokes you could think that you have an adlibbing genius on your hands.

Stentorian

The origin of this word goes back to a man called `Stentor’ who was a form of town crier or even a drill sergeant. (In other words a man with a loud voice.) This is the sort of voice that will echo in your thoughts as you drive away from leaving your poor eleven plus child to attempt the examination.

So now comes the Eleven Plus challenge to your child.

“Use all three words in a sentence.”

(Any advance on: “The adlibbing boy called out in a stentorian voice that he was about to matriculate with a full eleven plus pass”?)