Academic Word List Practice 1 — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 9 vocabulary worksheet.
Year 9 · English · Vocabulary
Academic Word List Practice 1 — Answers
Part A — Meanings
Circle the best meaning for each bolded word.
- Adescribe it briefly
- Bbreak it into parts to understand how it works
- Cagree with it
- Dmemorise it
Answer: break it into parts to understand how it works
Analysis means examining the parts and how they relate; description just says what is there.
- Asmall and easily ignored
- Bimportant or meaningful
- Csurprising but irrelevant
- Ddifficult to read
Answer: important or meaningful
Significant means important enough to matter. In statistics it has a more precise meaning, but the everyday academic sense is 'notable'.
- Achange unpredictably
- Bfollow the same pattern each time
- Ccome from one source only
- Dare always correct
Answer: follow the same pattern each time
Consistent means steady and in agreement; results that keep agreeing with each other are consistent.
- Ahidden
- Bclear and easily seen or understood
- Cdoubtful
- Dcomplicated
Answer: clear and easily seen or understood
Evident comes from the same root as 'evidence': it is plain to see.
- Adraw it
- Bexplain what it means
- Ccopy it
- Dcolour it in
Answer: explain what it means
Interpretation is working out meaning from information; it is a step beyond reading off the numbers.
Part B — Words in context
Complete each sentence with the best word from the box: context, establish, factor, require, vary, indicate. Use each word once.
Answer: context
Context is the surrounding situation or text that shapes meaning.
Answer: establish
To establish is to set up or prove something firmly so that it can be relied on.
Answer: factor
A factor is one of several things that contribute to a result.
Answer: require
Require means to need as a condition. 'Requires' would also be accepted if the sentence is read as present tense.
Answer: vary
To vary is to differ or change. The noun is 'variation' and the adjective 'various' or 'variable'.
Answer: indicate
To indicate is to point to or show, often as a sign rather than proof.
Part C — Word families
Academic words usually come in families. Knowing the noun, verb and adjective forms lets you use the word in any sentence.
- analyse
- define
- assess
- vary
- respond
- derive
- assessment
- response
- variation
- analysis
- derivation
- definition
Answer: analyse → analysis; define → definition; assess → assessment; vary → variation; respond → response; derive → derivation
Answer: significant; consistent; evident; specific
Part D — Use the words
Answer: The scientist analysed the data and established that the results varied significantly.
Model answer: Research consistently indicates that adolescents need more sleep than adults, and a later start time is one factor that could help. Teachers would need to establish clear expectations so that lessons remained productive, and the school would have to assess the impact on buses and after-school sport. In the context of rising stress among students, it is evident that the potential benefits are significant. Any trial should run for a full term so that results can be interpreted fairly. On this basis, a later start is a specific, practical change worth testing.
Success criteria:
- At least five academic words from the worksheet used correctly and underlined
- Words used in the correct form (noun, verb or adjective) for the sentence
- Clear position with at least two supporting reasons
- Formal register throughout (no slang, no contractions)
- Five to six complete sentences
Marking tips
- Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
- For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
- Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.