Read the passage and answer: The manager's NOVEL approach to scheduling surprised everyone, since no one had tried anything like it before. As used in the passage, NOVEL most nearly means:

In vocabulary-in-context questions, choose the meaning that fits how the word is used in the passage. The clue 'no one had tried anything like it before' tells you NOVEL here means new and original, not the unrelated meaning 'a book/long story.' Many words have multiple meanings, and the ASVAB tests whether you can use context to select the right one. The phrase about it being unprecedented confirms the 'new/original' sense. Always reread the sentence with each candidate meaning and pick the one the context supports.