NSW HSC Minimum Standard Writing Test flashcards
NSW HSC Minimum Standard Writing Test · Build recall with a focused review session.
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- Topic sentence
- The sentence, usually first in a paragraph, that states the paragraph's controlling idea and signals what the following sentences will explain or support.
- Comma splice
- An error in which two independent clauses are joined by only a comma. It is repaired with a full stop, a semicolon, or a coordinating conjunction.
- Sentence fragment
- A group of words punctuated as a sentence but missing a subject, a finite verb, or a complete thought, so it cannot stand alone.
- Cohesive devices
- Language links such as pronouns, repeated key words, and connectives like however and therefore that tie sentences and paragraphs together for the reader.
- Possessive apostrophe
- An apostrophe placed before s for a singular owner and after s for a plural owner, as in the dog's bowl and the dogs' bowls.
- Subject-verb agreement
- The rule that a verb matches its subject in number and person, ignoring intervening phrases, so the list of items is long, not are long.
- Persuasive writing
- Writing that states a position and supports it with reasons and evidence, often using rhetorical questions, emotive language, and a call to action.
- Paragraph unity
- The quality of a paragraph that develops one idea only, with every sentence either stating, explaining, illustrating, or concluding that single point.
- Tense consistency
- Keeping one dominant verb tense across a piece unless a deliberate time shift is signalled, which prevents confusing jumps between past and present.
- Direct speech punctuation
- Quotation marks enclose a speaker's exact words, punctuation sits inside the closing mark, and each new speaker begins a new paragraph.
- Main idea
- The central point that a whole text or passage is mostly about, often stated in a topic sentence and supported by the remaining details.
- Supporting detail
- A fact, example, statistic, or reason that explains, illustrates, or proves the main idea of a text or paragraph.
- Inference
- A conclusion a reader draws by combining information stated in the text with general knowledge, rather than reading it directly stated.
- Fact versus opinion
- A fact can be verified with evidence, while an opinion expresses a judgement, belief, or feeling and often uses evaluative or modal words.
- Author's purpose
- The reason a text was written, commonly to inform, persuade, entertain, or instruct, which shapes its structure, tone, and word choice.
- Skimming
- A fast reading strategy that samples headings, first sentences, and concluding sentences to gain the general gist of a text.
- Scanning
- A targeted reading strategy that moves quickly through a text to locate specific information such as a name, date, number, or key term.
- Tone
- The writer's attitude towards the subject, conveyed through word choice and connotation, such as humorous, critical, sympathetic, or neutral.
- Cause and effect
- A text relationship in which one event produces another, signalled by words such as because, therefore, as a result, and consequently.
- Compare and contrast
- A text structure that examines similarities and differences between subjects, marked by connectives such as similarly, whereas, and unlike.
- Summary
- A brief restatement of a text's central points in the reader's own words, omitting examples, repetition, and minor supporting detail.
- Connotation
- The emotional or evaluative association a word carries beyond its literal meaning, such as the negative shading of stubborn compared with determined.
- Place value
- The value of a digit determined by its position, where each position is ten times the value of the position to its right.
- Percentage of a quantity
- Found by dividing the percentage by one hundred and multiplying by the amount, so 15% of 60 equals 0.15 times 60, or 9.
- Order of operations
- The agreed sequence for evaluating expressions: brackets, indices, multiplication and division left to right, then addition and subtraction left to right.
- Rectangle area and perimeter
- Area equals length times width, giving square units; perimeter equals twice the sum of length and width, giving linear units.
- Triangle area
- Calculated as one half multiplied by the base multiplied by the perpendicular height, giving the result in square units.
- Average speed
- Total distance travelled divided by total time taken, expressed in units such as kilometres per hour; rearranged, distance equals speed times time.
- Metric conversions
- Standard links between units: one kilometre is one thousand metres, one kilogram is one thousand grams, and one litre is one thousand millilitres.
- Ratio sharing
- A method of dividing an amount by adding the ratio terms to find total parts, then multiplying each term by the value of one part.
- Simple probability
- The number of favourable outcomes divided by the number of equally likely outcomes, always a value from zero to one inclusive.
- Mean of a data set
- The sum of all values divided by the number of values, giving a single average that represents the centre of the data.
- Fraction to decimal
- Converted by dividing the numerator by the denominator, so three quarters becomes 0.75, which equals 75 percent.