In Conclusion ...

There is probably no surer or sounder way to improve your reading permanently than by building a strong, precise vocabulary, and the only way to build your vocabulary is by reading a lot.  In a precise vocabulary, every word is learned as a concept. You know its ancestry, its principal definition as well as several secondary definitions, its synonyms and the subtle differences among them, and its antonyms.  Then, when you encounter it in your reading, this vast store of knowledge flashes before you, illuminating the sentence, the paragraph, and the idea the author is trying to convey  (Pauk, p. 346).

References:
Pauk, Walter. How to Study in College. Fourth Edition. 1989.
Mohr, C., & Nist, S. Improving Vocabulary Skills. 1997.
Hennings, Dorothy. Vocabulary Growth. Strategies for College Word Study. 2001.