NSW OC Test flashcards

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

Main idea

The central point a whole passage is built to support. It must cover the entire text, unlike a detail that appears only once.

Inference

A conclusion forced by evidence in the text plus ordinary logic. If an answer needs outside knowledge or a guess, it is not a valid inference.

Context vocabulary

The meaning of a word as fixed by surrounding sentences. Test each option by substituting it back and checking whether the sentence's logic survives.

Author's purpose

The reason a text was written, commonly to persuade, inform, entertain, or explain. The dominant verb must match the text's main function.

Tone

The writer's attitude toward the subject, such as nostalgic, cautious, or indignant. Every tone label must be backed by a specific phrase in the passage.

Simile and metaphor

A simile compares using like or as; a metaphor states one thing is another. Both create meaning by transferring qualities between unlike things.

Personification

A figure of speech giving human qualities or actions to non-human things, as in a wind that whispers or a road that climbs.

Evidence pairing

In two-part questions, the chosen quotation must directly prove the chosen answer. A true quotation supporting a different claim is incorrect.

Rectangle area and perimeter

For length l and width w, area equals l times w, and perimeter equals two times the sum of l and w.

Triangle area

Area of a triangle equals half the base multiplied by the perpendicular height, so a triangle is half its enclosing rectangle.

Speed formula

Distance equals speed multiplied by time, so time equals distance divided by speed. Convert units to match before calculating.

Percentage change

Change divided by the original value, times one hundred. A 20 percent rise then a 20 percent fall leaves 96 percent of the start.

Fraction of a quantity

To find a over b of N, divide N by b then multiply by a. Comparing fractions is easiest with a common denominator.

Mean and median

The mean is the total divided by the count, so total equals mean times count. The median is the middle value after ordering.

Angle sums

Angles on a straight line total 180 degrees, angles at a point total 360 degrees, and a triangle's interior angles total 180 degrees.

Ratio sharing

Add the ratio numbers to get total parts, divide the amount by total parts, then multiply by each ratio number.

Working backwards

Reverse a sequence of operations by undoing the last step first, inverting each one: addition undoes subtraction, multiplication undoes division.

Number pattern rules

Check constant differences first, then constant ratios. Alternating patterns often split into separate odd-position and even-position sequences.

Deductive chaining

If A implies B and B implies C, then A implies C. The reverse direction, from C back to A, is not logically valid.

Contrapositive

If P then Q is logically equivalent to if not Q then not P. The form if not P then not Q is not equivalent.

Syllogism with all

All X are Y plus all Y are Z yields all X are Z. Statements using some do not chain in the same reliable way.

Correlation versus causation

Two variables changing together shows only a link. It never proves that one variable causes the other to change.

Necessary condition

A condition that must hold for an outcome to occur, though it may not be enough on its own to guarantee that outcome.

Sufficient condition

A condition whose presence guarantees the outcome. It may not be the only route, since other conditions could also produce it.

Analogy relationship

The precise link between a pair, such as part to whole, cause to effect, or worker to tool. The answer must match that same link.

Odd one out method

Test candidates against one rule at a time, such as category, function, or letter position, and keep the rule excluding exactly one item.

Ordering puzzle method

Draw a line or grid, place the most constrained item first, then apply each clue once, updating the diagram after every step.

Persuasive essay structure

State the position in the opening, develop three reasons with evidence, answer a counter-argument, then close by restating the position.

Paragraph unity

Each paragraph carries one controlling idea. Any sentence that does not support that idea should be cut or moved elsewhere.

Comma splice

Two complete sentences joined only by a comma. Repair it with a full stop, a semicolon, or a coordinating conjunction.

Show, don't tell

Replace an abstract label with concrete action or sensory detail, such as hands shaking instead of nervous, so readers infer the feeling.