Do you know what a salpiglossis is? Have you ever eaten a cioppino?

Have you ever been extrenominaling?

Or have you ever read words that you had no clue what they meant? That is the case for many students.

With a growing emphasis on ACT scores, knowing the 25-cent words can be very important.

For the record, a salpiglossis is a Chilean herb. Cioppino is a type of seafood dish, and extrenominaling is just a made-up word.

So now you are asking yourself, “Golly, how can I learn all these tough words and succeed in life?” Good question. Luckily, I have devised a clever strategy which can come in handy when trying to learn the tough words.

But first, why would you want to learn new words? Well, any upperclassman can tell you that a few extra points on the ACT is a big deal.

Knowing the difference between a zygote and a xylophone can mean big bucks for college.

Also, if you want to look smart and end up on “Jeopardy,” it wouldn’t hurt to know a few new words.

The road to victory is easy when you follow this simple plan. First, go find a dictionary. They are easy to find; in fact, you probably already own one.

Now, here is the hard part, open it up. Then read. Set a simple goal of 10 new words each day (not words like cat and dog--unless of course you don’t know those).

A few words each night before bed or in the morning before school can really make a difference.

Do the math. Ten words each day, 365 days each year; that comes to a grand total of 3,650 new words a year.

Wow! If that doesn’t help you ace the English section, I don’t know what will.

The key to success is in your hand. So all you freshmen and sophomores out there, start now. You can truly make a difference in your score and get more money to go to a better school.

Ten words a day is worth a couple grand for college, or getting into Georgetown University rather than Georgetown College.

Make Webster proud, and go learn some new words.