NAPLAN Reading flashcards
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32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Topic sentence
- The sentence that states the controlling idea of a paragraph, usually placed first so the reader knows what the rest of the paragraph will explain or prove.
- Narrative complication
- The problem or conflict that disrupts the opening situation and drives the plot forward; without one, a story has no tension to resolve.
- Cohesive connectives
- Words such as however, therefore, and as a result that signal how one sentence or paragraph relates logically to the one before it.
- Show, don't tell
- A technique that replaces a stated emotion with observable detail, so instead of writing nervous the writer describes shaking hands and a dry mouth.
- Register
- The level of formality a text uses, chosen to suit audience and purpose; formal letters avoid contractions while personal writing may use them freely.
- Persuasive conclusion
- The final paragraph of an argument that restates the position in fresh wording and summarises the main reasons without introducing new evidence.
- Literal question
- A comprehension question whose answer appears directly in the words of the text, requiring location rather than inference.
- Inferential question
- A question answered by combining details from the text with background knowledge, because the answer is implied rather than stated outright.
- Main idea
- The central point covering the whole text, distinct from a supporting detail that occupies only one sentence or one paragraph.
- Author's purpose
- The reason a text was written, commonly to persuade, inform, entertain, or instruct; the question verb usually names which one is being tested.
- Fact versus opinion
- A fact can be verified with evidence, while an opinion expresses a judgement and often contains markers such as should, best, or believe.
- Context clue
- Surrounding words that reveal the meaning of an unfamiliar word; testing each option by substitution shows which one preserves the sentence's meaning.
- Text type cues
- Features that identify a text's form: imperative numbered steps signal a procedure, while characters and conflict signal a narrative.
- Sequence markers
- Words such as first, after, meanwhile, and finally that show the order of events, which may differ from the order they are described in.
- Comma splice
- An error in which two independent clauses are joined by only a comma; it is repaired with a full stop, semicolon, or coordinating conjunction.
- Its versus it's
- Its shows possession, as in the dog wagged its tail; it's is a contraction of it is or it has and never marks possession.
- Subject-verb agreement
- The verb matches the head noun of the subject in number, ignoring interrupting phrases, so the box of letters was found uses a singular verb.
- Apostrophe for possession
- A singular owner takes apostrophe plus s, while a plural owner ending in s takes the apostrophe after the s, as in the dogs' bowls.
- Non-essential clause commas
- Commas enclose information that could be removed without changing the sentence's core meaning, as in my brother, who lives interstate, is visiting.
- Direct speech punctuation
- Quotation marks enclose the exact spoken words, and a comma or question mark belonging to the speech sits inside the closing quotation mark.
- Adjective versus adverb
- An adjective describes a noun, as in a quick run; an adverb describes a verb or adjective, as in she ran quickly.
- Homophone check
- Choosing between sound-alike words by meaning and grammar, for example practice as a noun and practise as a verb in British spelling.
- Place value
- The value of a digit depends on its position, and each position to the left is ten times the value of the position to its right.
- Percentage of a quantity
- Found by converting the percentage to a decimal and multiplying, so 15% of 80 is 0.15 multiplied by 80, which equals 12.
- Fraction-decimal equivalence
- Common pairs worth memorising: one half is 0.5, one quarter is 0.25, one fifth is 0.2, and one eighth is 0.125.
- Rectangle area and perimeter
- Area equals length multiplied by width; perimeter equals twice the sum of length and width, because perimeter measures the boundary.
- Mean versus median
- The mean is the sum of values divided by how many there are; the median is the middle value once the data is ordered.
- Order of operations
- Evaluate brackets first, then indices, then multiplication and division from left to right, then addition and subtraction from left to right.
- Distance, speed, time
- Distance equals speed multiplied by time; rearranged, time equals distance divided by speed and speed equals distance divided by time.
- Metric unit conversions
- One kilometre is 1000 metres, one metre is 100 centimetres, one kilogram is 1000 grams, and one litre is 1000 millilitres.
- Elapsed time
- The gap between a start and end time, found by counting forward in convenient jumps, such as from 7:40 pm to 9:10 pm being 90 minutes.
- Triangle area
- The area of a triangle equals one half multiplied by the base multiplied by the perpendicular height, not the slanted side length.