Passing the Police Officer Exam: Definition questions

These questions will ask you to define a term that appears in the passage and each of these terms will usually be a word that seems unusual or unfamiliar.  These questions may appear difficult if you assume you need to know the meaning of every word.  However, these questions do not actually require you to know the meaning of each word, but instead require you to find the meaning of each word based on the context in which the word is used.  Use the information that is available to find the meaning of each word.  There are several different techniques that you can use.
 
Locate the term
Locate the term in the passage and read the sentence in which the term appears.  While this may seem obvious, it is an important piece of advice to keep in mind because you may be able to find the answer to some of the definition questions clearly stated in the passage.  In fact, the definition may be stated almost word-for-word in the passage, and reading the sentence that uses the term will also allow you to double-check an option that you believe is correct.  This technique can make it much easier for you to find the answer, and will save you a lot of time.
 
Main idea of the sentence
Look at the sentence that the term appears in and try to get an idea of what the sentence means.  Ask yourself, 'What is this sentence actually talking about?'  
 
Example
A passage states:'The fact that the suspect was at the office on the day of the attack is completely circumstantial, but the fact that he was carrying a weapon should help our case.'
 
A question states: According to the context of the passage, the word circumstantial means: (A) insignificant(B) important(C) useful(D) essential
 
The sentence is discussing evidence that should be or will not be useful for proving a particular case.  Once you have identified the overall meaning of the sentence, you can look at how the term fits into the sentence to determine its meaning.  In this particular case, the phrase 'is circumstantial' comes right before the phrase 'but the fact that he was carrying a weapon should help our case.' There the word 'circumstantial' must refer to something that is not helpful: the word 'but' makes it clear that the first phrase is referring to something that is different from the second phrase.  It is safe to assume that the word circumstantial probably refers to something that is 'insignificant' as far as the case is concerned.
 
Fill in the blank
If you are having difficulty figuring out what the word means, try reading the sentence that the term appears in as if the sentence contained a blank instead of the term.  
 
Example
The sentence used in the example above states:'The fact that the suspect was at the office on the day of the attack is completely circumstantial, but the fact that he was carrying a weapon should help our case.'  
 
If you were having difficulty figuring out what the word 'circumstantial' means in this particular sentence, read the sentence as if it was written: 'The fact that the suspect was at the office on the day of the attack is completely ________________, but the fact that he was carrying a weapon should help our case.'  
 
You might place a word such as 'insignificant,' 'useless,' or 'coincidental' in place of the word 'circumstantial.' Then read the sentence in determine that each of these words can be used to define the word 'circumstantial' - each of these words fits into the context of the sentence.  If you, on the other hand, try to place a word such as 'important,' 'useful,' or 'essential' into the sentence, it is obvious that these words don't fit - the sentence won't make sense when you read it with these words.  
This technique allows you fill in the blank with a word or phrase that seems to make sense in the sentence.  A word or phrase that can take the place of the term will usually act as a suitable definition for the term as long as the sentence still makes sense.  
 
Read the context
Read the sentences that appear immediately before and after the sentence that includes the term.  This will allow you to see how the sentence fits into rest of the passage, and will help give you an idea of the sort of meaning that the sentence must have in order for the passage to convey the idea that it is attempting to convey.  
 
Example
Sentence in the example above states:'The fact that the suspect was at the office on the day of the attack is completely useless, but the fact that he was carrying a weapon should help our case.'
 
This is followed by a sentence that states:'In fact, a jury is going to find that it's not really surprising that an accountant would be in an accounting office, but an accountant walking into an accounting office with a gun is much more incriminating.'  

By looking at both sentences, you can tell that the word 'circumstantial' probably has something to do with the information being coincidental or not being useful.  The second sentence makes it clear that it's 'really not surprising' for the suspect to be in an accountant's office, which means that the first sentence is probably discussing the fact that any information related to the suspect walking into an office that he may work at is probably not very useful for proving a court case.
 
Review the term
If you encounter a question that asks you to define a term and you have seen the term before, look at the sentence that the term appears in before you choose an answer, even if you are familiar with the meaning of the word since each word may have more than one meaning.  In fact, some of the questions on the exam may try to trick you by offering you options that don't define the word as it is used in the passage.  For example, the word 'circumstantial' is typically used to mean coincidental or insignificant, but it can be used to mean 'detailed.'  
 
Example:
Passage states:'The fact that the suspect was at the office on the day of the attack is completely circumstantial, but the fact that he was carrying a weapon should help our case.'  
 
Question associated with this passage states:
According to the context of the passage, the word circumstantial most likely means: (A) Coincidental(B) Detailed(C) Important(D) Useful
 
Since you already know that the word circumstantial can be used to mean coincidental or it can be used to mean detailed, it may appear as if options A and B are both correct.  However, the correct answer in this particular case is option A as the word 'circumstantial' is being used to refer to something that is coincidental instead of something that is detailed in this particular passage.