What does ascent mean?
Word: Ascent
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Ascent means a climb or movement upwards, or a path or slope that goes up.
Synonyms: climb, rise
Antonyms: drop, fall
Sounds like: assent (agreement or approval)
How do you spell ascent?
Syllables: as - cent
Tricky part: The 's' sound is written sc, not s or ss. Do not mix it up with assent, which has a double s and means agreement.
Watch out for: asent, acsent, acent
Memory tip: Picture a climber with an S on his rope and a C on his helmet: on every ascent, the s and the c climb together.
Ascent in a sentence
Example 1: The ascent to the hilltop fort took us almost three hours.
Example 2: We watched the hot-air balloon make a slow ascent into the morning sky.
Example 3: The last part of the ascent was so steep that we had to hold on to ropes.
Fun Fact
Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest on 29 May 1953.
Practise the CREST Way
Sound Check
Which word does not rhyme with 'ascent'?
a) decent
b) lament
c) consent
d) cement
Show answer
a) decent. Decent is said DEE-sunt, with the stress on its first part; consent, cement and lament all end in a stressed 'ent', just like ascent.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with the correct options:
1. ascent 2. summit 3. valley a. low land between hills b. the highest point of a mountain c. a climb or path upwards
a) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
b) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
c) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
d) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
Show answer
a) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a. An ascent goes up, the summit is the top, and a valley lies low between hills.
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) ascant
b) crescent
c) pleasant
d) absent
Show answer
a) ascant. The climb ends in -ent, like absent and crescent; pleasant really does end in -ant.
Word Tally
You get 2 marks for each correctly spelt word in the list. How many marks will you get?
ascent, glacier, plateau, pebbel, boulder
a) 4
b) 8
c) 6
d) 10
Show answer
b) 8. Pebble ends in -ble with a double b, so four words score two marks each.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. You are making an ascent when you are ___.
a) sliding down a playground slide
b) taking the lift up to the tenth floor
c) walking along a flat beach
d) diving into a swimming pool
Show answer
b) taking the lift up to the tenth floor
2. The rocket's ascent was smooth. This tells us the rocket ___.
a) was rolled back to its hangar
b) stayed still on the launch pad
c) rose into the sky without trouble
d) landed gently on the sea
Show answer
c) rose into the sky without trouble
