Vocabulary for TOEFL iBT

48 VOCABULARY FOR TOEFL iBT

Now, try determining what the word recede means:

a. to go forward blindly

b. to stop or abandon before completion

c. to move or go back, retreat

d. to go together with others

Remember your prefixes from Chapter 3. Re- means back, again; ced means to go,

yield, stop. Recede means c , to move back, withdraw, retreat. Now add the noun suf-

fix -sion, meaning the act or state of, and you get:

➥ recession: the act of withdrawing or going back

With your knowledge of prefixes and suffixes, you can also answer the following

question.

➥ Incessant means

a. yielding readily under pressure.

b. not stopping, continuing without interruption.

c. to move or go below the surface, subliminal.

d. going between, through, or among; not direct.

The correct answer is b. The prefix in- means not; cess means to go, stop, or yield;

and the suffix -ant means being in a state or condition of; performing or causing an

action. Thus, incessant means continuing without interruption; ceaseless, continuous.

Here are several words formed from another Latin root, plac, meaning to please.

Again, notice the rich variety of meaning created by adding different prefixes and

suffixes to the root word.

plac ate: to appease, pacify; to allay the anger of, especially by making concessions

im plac able: incapable of being placated or appeased; inexorable

plac id: calm and peaceful; free from disturbance or tumult

com plac ent: contented to a fault; self-satisfied, unconcerned

plac ebo: an inactive, harmless substance of no medicinal value given to

patients to reassure them or to members of a control group in experiments

testing the efficacy of a drug