I also got a 1600 in SAT Math and Reading. I took a few practice tests, but other than that I didn't specifically prepare for it. I did read books a lot in childhood, but I switched to spending most of my free time on the computer by late middle school and high school. I guess I still did a ton of reading on the computer, though, especially Wikipedia - Wikipedia was just taking off when I was in high school - I think most of my most knowledgeable friends also got their knowledge mostly from Wikipedia.
Part of my score did feel like I got lucky - I usually hit upon one or two words I didn't know in practice tests, but I knew all the words in the one I took officially.
As for your specific examples: "extol the virtues of" is an idiom that comes up a lot on the internet; "capricious" is less common, but I still remember reading it quite a few times.
Part of my score did feel like I got lucky - I usually hit upon one or two words I didn't know in practice tests, but I knew all the words in the one I took officially.
As for your specific examples: "extol the virtues of" is an idiom that comes up a lot on the internet; "capricious" is less common, but I still remember reading it quite a few times.