← ISEE® Lower Level

Verbal Reasoning (Section 1)

34 questions in 20 minutes: 17 synonyms, 11 one-word blanks and 6 phrase blanks, drawn as meanings that overlap and arrows that flip.

19 topics · 70 questions

Each topic is a path, not a menu: work down it in order and every question builds on the one above. Click any of them to watch the answer draw itself.

How a Synonym Question Works

  1. How it worksHow do you draw a word's meaning as a patch of space so the closest word is the one sitting on top of it?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through picking the closest meaning for TASK out of chore, debt, dream and fight.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't the first choice that reminds you of the word usually the right one?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens when two of the four choices land on almost the same patch of meaning?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Before practice the coach gave each player a list of 5 jobs: fill the water bottles, set out the cones, and lock the gate. Each job on that list is a TASK. TASK most nearly means

Guessing Your Own Word First

  1. How it worksHow does covering the four choices stop them from bending what you think a word means?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through guessing your own word for HARDSHIP, then matching it to anger, difficulty, disrespect or selfishness.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't your own guess have to be one of the four choices for this trick to work?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Cover the choices and guess your own word first. The family walked 17 miles to the next town carrying everything they owned, and slept outside for 4 nights on the way. The book calls the journey a HARDSHIP. HARDSHIP most nearly means

Splitting Two Choices That Both Fit

  1. How it worksHow do you draw two close meanings as overlapping circles and find the strip only one of them covers?
  2. Worked exampleShow me how to choose between puzzled and alarmed for PERPLEXED when both sound like a bad feeling.
  3. Going furtherWhat changes when one choice is a much stronger version of the word, like furious for ANNOYED?
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't the fancier looking word the safer pick when you are stuck between two?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
On question 11 a student has crossed out two choices for PERPLEXED and is left with puzzled and alarmed. Both sound like an uncomfortable feeling. Which is closer, and why?

Prefixes: The Piece Stuck On The Front

  1. How it worksHow does a prefix like un-, re- or pre- change a meaning when it snaps onto the front?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through building the meaning of misjudge out of mis- plus judge.
  3. Going furtherWhat happens to a meaning when you swap the prefix and turn preview into review?
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't every word starting with the letters i and n a word that means not?
  5. Ties togetherHow do the prefixes you use on synonyms also help you fill a blank in a sentence?
Your turneasy1 of 3
At the fair a judge guesses the weight of 7 pumpkins. She says one weighs 17 pounds, but it weighs far more than that, so she MISJUDGED it. MISJUDGE most nearly means

Roots: The Piece In The Middle

  1. How it worksHow does one root like port, meaning carry, show up inside transport, portable and import?
  2. Worked exampleShow me how the root aqua unlocks aquarium, aqueduct and aquatic all at once.
  3. Going furtherWhat happens when you meet a brand new word built on a root you already know?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A shipping company moves 75 crates a day. The words painted on its trucks are transport, portable and import. What does the root port, shared by all three, mean?

Suffixes: The Piece On The End

  1. How it worksHow does an ending tell you whether a word names a thing, an action or a description?
  2. Common mistakeWhy doesn't an ending ever change what the root underneath is really about?
  3. Worked exampleWalk me through how ful, less and able turn care into three different words.
  4. Going furtherWhat happens when a choice has the right root but the wrong ending stuck on it?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A poster in the hallway lists 10 classroom rules, and one of them uses the word CARELESS. What has the ending less done to the word care?

Words With More Than One Meaning

  1. How it worksHow do you pick which meaning of draw a question wants when no sentence is there to help?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't the meaning you use every day always the one being asked about?
  3. Worked exampleShow me how to answer a synonym question for FAIR when it can mean just, pale or a carnival.
  4. Going furtherWhat happens when two choices each match a different meaning of the same capital letter word?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A story says a boy put 46 dollars in the bank on Monday, then sat on the bank of the river on Tuesday with 5 friends. What do the two uses of BANK show?

The Lookalike Word Trap

  1. How it worksHow do you slow down and check a choice letter by letter before you trust it?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't affect a safe answer for a question about EFFECT just because they nearly match?
  3. Going furtherWhat happens when a choice shares a root with the word but drags the meaning somewhere else?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A café menu lists 6 desserts. On question 10 the capital word is DESSERT, and one of the choices reads dry sandy land. Why is that choice there?

The Opposite Trap

  1. How it worksHow does putting a word on a line with a plus end and a minus end throw out the opposite fast?
  2. Going furtherWhat happens when you can only tell that a word feels good or bad and nothing more?
  3. Worked exampleWalk me through why generous is the trap and not the answer when the word is STINGY.
Your turneasy1 of 3
On question 11 the capital word is STINGY, and one of the choices is generous. In the story a boy keeps all 10 of his cookies for himself. Why is generous printed there?

The Right Subject, Wrong Word Trap

  1. How it worksHow does a test writer build three wrong choices out of the same subject as the answer?
  2. Worked exampleShow me how to choose between trip, ocean, sailor and harbor for the word VOYAGE.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't a word that goes with the question word the same as a word that means it?
  4. Going furtherWhat changes when the four choices come from four different subjects instead of one?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The story describes a VOYAGE of 31 days. On question 10 the capital word is VOYAGE and the four choices are trip, ocean, sailor and harbor. VOYAGE most nearly means

When You Have Never Seen The Word

  1. How it worksHow do you squeeze a clue out of a strange word using its pieces and the way it sounds?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through guessing at BENEVOLENT when the only piece you recognize is bene.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't leaving a hard one blank protect your score on a test that never subtracts?
  4. Ties togetherHow do word pieces, word feel and crossing out choices team up on a word you truly do not know?
Your turneasy1 of 3
With 4 minutes left, a student still has 6 synonym questions whose capital words she cannot read at all. Nothing is subtracted for a wrong answer on this test. What should she do?

How a Sentence Completion Works

  1. How it worksHow does the rest of a sentence act like a hole whose shape only one answer fits?
  2. Going furtherWhat changes when the missing piece is a whole phrase at the end instead of one word?
  3. Worked exampleWalk me through filling the blank in: hikers avoid scorpions and other blank creatures.
Your turneasy1 of 3
Fill the blank. On the desert hike the guide warned the group about scorpions, about 4 kinds of biting ant, and about other ______ creatures. Which word belongs in the blank?

Reading the Whole Sentence First

  1. How it worksHow does the part sitting after a blank change which word is allowed to go in it?
  2. Worked exampleShow me how the ending because the sky had turned black decides the blank in front of it.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't the first word that sounds smooth in a blank automatically the right one?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens when you plug your answer back in and reread the whole thing from the start?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Read to the end before you choose. We packed up the picnic and walked the 7 blocks home ______, because the sky had turned black. Which word belongs in the blank?

Signal Words That Keep The Direction

  1. How it worksHow does an arrow pointing the same way show what and, so, since and therefore all do?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through how so forces the blank in: the path was icy, so we walked blank.
  3. Going furtherWhat happens when a sentence has two signal words pulling on the same blank at once?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Read the whole sentence, then pick the word that belongs in the blank. The storm dropped rain for 7 hours without a break, so by morning the soccer field was ______.

Signal Words That Flip The Direction

  1. How it worksHow do although, however, unlike and even though all flip the same arrow the same way?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't a flipping word telling you the blank has to be a sad or negative word?
  3. Worked exampleShow me how although the movie was long, it never felt blank, settles what goes in the gap.
  4. Going furtherWhat happens to a blank when and is swapped for but in the very same sentence?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Pick the word that belongs in the blank. Although the trail climbed 7 miles uphill in the heat, the whole group still looked ______ at the top.

The Sentence Defines Its Own Missing Word

  1. How it worksHow do you spot a little definition hiding after a comma or a dash inside a sentence?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through the clue in: the dog was blank, gentle and calm around every stranger.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't a long sentence mean the clue must be far away from the gap?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Pick the word that belongs in the blank. The museum guide was ______, patient and clear with all 16 of the questions the fourth grade asked her.

Phrase Answers: Finishing the Thought

  1. How it worksHow do four candidate endings slide into a gap so you can watch which one truly fits?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through: unlike Maria, who was always early to class, Kristen blank, and its four endings.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't an ending that is true about school the right ending for that sentence?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens when three endings are all sensible but only one follows from the beginning?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Choose the ending that finishes the sentence. Unlike Marcus, who forgot his homework 6 times last month, Dana ______.

Phrase Answers: The Grammar Has To Fit Too

  1. How it worksHow does the shape of an unfinished sentence decide what kind of phrase can close it?
  2. Going furtherWhat changes when you read the beginning and your chosen ending out loud as one sentence?
  3. Worked exampleShow me which ending fits: the kitten was so tiny that it blank, and which ones break it.
Your turneasy1 of 3
Choose the ending that fits the meaning and the grammar. The kitten weighed 10 ounces and was so tiny that it ______.

Twenty Minutes For Thirty-Four Questions

  1. How it worksHow does a time bar drain across 17 synonyms, then 11 word blanks, then 6 phrase blanks?
  2. Worked exampleFind how many seconds each question gets when 34 of them have to share 20 minutes.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't spending two whole minutes on one stubborn synonym ever pay off?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens to your score when you mark a hard one, move on, and come back at the end?
  5. Ties togetherHow do guessing from word pieces and the no-penalty rule work together in the last minute?
Your turneasy1 of 3
With 3 minutes left in Verbal Reasoning a student still has 9 questions with nothing marked beside them. What should she do first?

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