Angola 12th Grade English National Exam flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Main idea

The central claim or point that the whole passage supports, stated or implied. Distinguished from a detail, which supports only one part of the text.

Skimming

Reading quickly for gist by focusing on titles, first and last sentences of paragraphs, and repeated key terms, in order to answer questions about the overall topic.

Scanning

Moving the eyes rapidly through a text looking only for specific information such as a name, date, number, or key word, ignoring everything else.

Inference

A conclusion drawn from stated evidence in the text. A valid inference follows necessarily from what is written and needs no outside knowledge.

Not Given

An answer option used when the passage neither confirms nor contradicts a statement. It differs from False, where the text contradicts the statement.

Reference word

A pronoun or determiner such as it, they, this, or such that points back to a preceding noun phrase agreeing in number and making sense in context.

Present perfect

Tense formed with have/has plus past participle. It links a past action to the present and is not used with finished time markers like yesterday or last year.

Third conditional

Structure if plus past perfect, then would have plus past participle. It describes unreal or imagined situations in the past and their imagined results.

Reported speech backshift

When reporting speech, the tense usually moves one step back, and time and place words change: now becomes then, today becomes that day, here becomes there.

Passive voice

Formed with the verb be plus past participle. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject, and the original subject may be omitted.

Relative pronouns

Words introducing relative clauses: who for people, which for things, whose for possession, where for places, when for times.

Subject-verb agreement

The rule that a verb matches its subject in number. Each, every, either, neither, and nobody take a singular verb even when followed by plurals.

Gerund after prepositions

The -ing form of a verb used after a preposition or after verbs such as enjoy, avoid, suggest, and mind, functioning as a noun.

Modals of deduction

Must shows certainty, may, might, and could show possibility, and cannot shows impossibility. Must not never expresses logical impossibility.

Noun suffix -tion

A suffix turning verbs into nouns, as in educate to education and inform to information. Related forms include -sion, -ment, -ness, and -ity.

Prefix im-

A negative prefix used before words beginning with m, p, or b, as in impossible, immoral, and imbalance. Other forms are in-, il-, and ir-.

Adjective suffix -less

A suffix meaning without, as in hopeless and careless. It contrasts with -ful, which means full of, as in hopeful and careful.

Verb prefix re-

A prefix meaning again or back, as in rewrite, return, and rebuild. It changes the meaning of the verb without changing its word class.

Consonant doubling rule

A final consonant doubles before -ing or -ed when a one-syllable word ends consonant-vowel-consonant and stress falls on that syllable, as in stop to stopped.

Collocation

The conventional pairing of words in a language, such as make a decision, do homework, take part in, and pay attention to.

Countable and uncountable

Countable nouns take many, few, and fewer; uncountable nouns take much, little, and less. Uncountables have no plural form.

Topic sentence

The sentence stating the main idea of a paragraph. All supporting sentences in that paragraph must relate to it.

Yours faithfully

The closing used in a formal letter or email when the recipient is unnamed, as in Dear Sir or Madam. A named recipient takes Yours sincerely.

Cohesive devices

Linking words showing relationships between ideas: moreover for addition, however for contrast, therefore for result, for instance for example.

Comma splice

An error in which a comma joins two independent clauses. Correct options are a full stop, a semicolon, or a coordinating conjunction.

Essay introduction

The opening paragraph of an essay. It presents the topic and states the thesis, the central claim developed in the body paragraphs.

Narrative time markers

Words such as first, then, afterwards, and finally that sequence events in a story, which is normally written in past tenses.

Self-correction in listening

A speaker revising information mid-sentence, as in nine thirty, sorry, ten fifteen. The final version is the correct answer to record.

Listening distractors

Words or phrases heard in the audio that answer a different question. Correct answers match the question asked, not mere familiarity of wording.

Signposting phrases

Expressions such as firstly, another thing, however, and on the other hand that announce a new point or a change of direction in speech.

Letter-by-letter spelling

A listening task convention in which proper names are spelled aloud one letter at a time. The answer must be written as spelled, not as it sounds.

Order of answers

In most listening exams the information for questions appears in the same order as the questions, so a missed item should be abandoned and the next question followed.