Power Synonyms - Book Two by Bruce Stirling

Power Synonyms – Book Two – for TOEFL, IELTS, SAT, ACT, GRE by Bruce Stirling

Bruce Stirling – author of one of the bestselling TOEFl book Speaking and Writing Strategies for TOEFL iBT

Power Synonyms is based on Bruce Stirling‘s innovative vocabulary strategy he call synonym substitution. This is how it works. First, Bruce Stirling look at your active English vocabulary. Your active English vocabulary contains English words you know. Because you know them, you use them correctly, for example, a word like MANY.

Power Synonyms - Book Two - for TOEFL, IELTS, SAT, ACT, GRE — Power Synonyms – Book Two – for TOEFL, IELTS, SAT, ACT, GRE

Now here is the problem: On test day, if you use MANY when speaking or writing, will it increase your score? No. Why not? Because MANY does not demonstrate academic language use, the very thing the raters are looking for. But wait. What if you substitute MANY with the power synonym MYRIAD?

Compare the two sentences below. Which demonstrates academic word choice when writing and/or speaking? Which will score higher on test day?

1. The world has many problems,

2. The world has myriad problems.

That’s right. Sentence two—and all you did was change MANY to the power synonym MYRIAD! Easy, right? That is how synonym substitution works. I target a word in your active English vocabulary (AEV) and substitute it with a power synonym (PS). On test day, you might see myriad in a reading passage or hear it in a lecture. If you do, you will know that it means many. This will help you understand readings and lectures, and help you answer questions more quickly and easily for maximum scoring! That is synonym substitution. That is Power Synonyms’.