UOB English Placement cheat sheet

Predict answer type from the question stem before audio plays: number, time, name, place, or reason.

Distractor numbers are usually stated before the correct one; the final number heard often corrects an earlier figure.

Signpost words (however, actually, instead, but) typically introduce the corrected or final answer.

Negative or reversed phrasing ("not until", "rather than") inverts the literal meaning; note who is negated.

Inference items ask what is implied, not stated; correct answers restate the speaker's intent without new facts.

Speaker attitude is cued by stress and intonation, not by the literal words alone.

In map/direction items, sequence verbs (turn, pass, continue) define order; the last landmark precedes the destination.

If two options are both mentioned, one is usually rejected by a contrast marker; the accepted option follows it.

Main-idea answers cover the whole passage; an option true of only one paragraph is a detail, not the main idea.

Detail questions map to one sentence; locate the keyword, then read the sentence before and after it.

Vocabulary-in-context items require substituting each option into the original sentence and checking coherence.

Inference answers must be logically forced by the text; anything requiring outside knowledge is wrong.

EXCEPT and NOT questions: three options are supported, one is unsupported; find the outlier.

Author's purpose is signaled by verbs: to explain, to argue, to compare, to criticize, to describe.

Pronoun reference is resolved by matching number and gender to the nearest preceding logical noun.

Time management baseline: roughly one minute per question, leaving review time for flagged items.

Subject-verb agreement ignores prepositional phrases; the verb agrees with the head noun before the phrase.

Indefinite pronouns (everyone, each, nobody, either) take singular verbs; both, few, several take plural.

Collective nouns (team, committee) take singular verbs in American usage unless members act individually.

After prepositions and after 'despite/in spite of', use a gerund or noun, never a bare infinitive.

Conditional pattern: If + past simple, would + base verb (second); If + had + participle, would have + participle (third).

Reported speech shifts tense back one step and adjusts time/place words (now to then, here to there).

Comparatives: use 'than' after comparative adjectives and 'as ... as' for equality; never combine both.

Relative clauses: 'who' for people, 'which' for things, 'whose' for possession; omit the object pronoun only in defining clauses.

Collocation beats literal meaning: decisions are 'made', risks are 'taken', attention is 'paid'.

Choose by register: 'kids' is informal, 'children' neutral, 'offspring' technical or biological.

Distinguish near-synonyms by transitivity and object type (e.g., 'raise' takes an object; 'rise' does not).

Prefix meaning map: un-/in-/dis- negate, re- means again, pre- before, mis- wrongly, over- excessively.

Suffix part of speech: -tion/-ment/-ness noun, -ful/-ous/-ive adjective, -ize/-ify verb, -ly adverb.

False friends and confusables (affect/effect, principal/principle) are resolved by the required part of speech.

Phrasal verbs change meaning with the particle: 'give up' quit, 'give in' surrender, 'give out' distribute.

Context clue types: definition (is/means), contrast (but/unlike), example (such as), cause-effect (therefore).

Paragraph structure: topic sentence, two to four supporting sentences with evidence, then a concluding or linking sentence.

Cohesion uses reference (this, these), substitution (one, do so), and transitions matched to the logical relation.

Transition selection: addition (moreover), contrast (however), cause (therefore), example (for instance), sequence (subsequently).

Formal register avoids contractions, slang, and first-person filler; passive voice suits unknown or unimportant agents.

Sentence variety requires mixing simple, compound, and complex structures; avoid starting consecutive sentences the same way.

Punctuation rule: a comma splice joins two independent clauses; fix with a period, semicolon, or conjunction.

Essay task response needs a clear thesis in the introduction and one controlling idea per body paragraph.

Editing pass order: content and organization first, then sentence-level grammar, then mechanics and spelling.

Predict answer type from the question stem before audio plays: number, time, name, place, or reason.

Distractor numbers are usually stated before the correct one; the final number heard often corrects an earlier figure.

Signpost words (however, actually, instead, but) typically introduce the corrected or final answer.

Negative or reversed phrasing ("not until", "rather than") inverts the literal meaning; note who is negated.

Inference items ask what is implied, not stated; correct answers restate the speaker's intent without new facts.

Speaker attitude is cued by stress and intonation, not by the literal words alone.

In map/direction items, sequence verbs (turn, pass, continue) define order; the last landmark precedes the destination.

If two options are both mentioned, one is usually rejected by a contrast marker; the accepted option follows it.

Main-idea answers cover the whole passage; an option true of only one paragraph is a detail, not the main idea.

Detail questions map to one sentence; locate the keyword, then read the sentence before and after it.

Vocabulary-in-context items require substituting each option into the original sentence and checking coherence.

Inference answers must be logically forced by the text; anything requiring outside knowledge is wrong.

EXCEPT and NOT questions: three options are supported, one is unsupported; find the outlier.

Author's purpose is signaled by verbs: to explain, to argue, to compare, to criticize, to describe.

Pronoun reference is resolved by matching number and gender to the nearest preceding logical noun.

Time management baseline: roughly one minute per question, leaving review time for flagged items.

Subject-verb agreement ignores prepositional phrases; the verb agrees with the head noun before the phrase.

Indefinite pronouns (everyone, each, nobody, either) take singular verbs; both, few, several take plural.

Collective nouns (team, committee) take singular verbs in American usage unless members act individually.

After prepositions and after 'despite/in spite of', use a gerund or noun, never a bare infinitive.

Conditional pattern: If + past simple, would + base verb (second); If + had + participle, would have + participle (third).

Reported speech shifts tense back one step and adjusts time/place words (now to then, here to there).

Comparatives: use 'than' after comparative adjectives and 'as ... as' for equality; never combine both.

Relative clauses: 'who' for people, 'which' for things, 'whose' for possession; omit the object pronoun only in defining clauses.

Collocation beats literal meaning: decisions are 'made', risks are 'taken', attention is 'paid'.

Choose by register: 'kids' is informal, 'children' neutral, 'offspring' technical or biological.

Distinguish near-synonyms by transitivity and object type (e.g., 'raise' takes an object; 'rise' does not).

Prefix meaning map: un-/in-/dis- negate, re- means again, pre- before, mis- wrongly, over- excessively.

Suffix part of speech: -tion/-ment/-ness noun, -ful/-ous/-ive adjective, -ize/-ify verb, -ly adverb.

False friends and confusables (affect/effect, principal/principle) are resolved by the required part of speech.

Phrasal verbs change meaning with the particle: 'give up' quit, 'give in' surrender, 'give out' distribute.

Context clue types: definition (is/means), contrast (but/unlike), example (such as), cause-effect (therefore).

Paragraph structure: topic sentence, two to four supporting sentences with evidence, then a concluding or linking sentence.

Cohesion uses reference (this, these), substitution (one, do so), and transitions matched to the logical relation.

Transition selection: addition (moreover), contrast (however), cause (therefore), example (for instance), sequence (subsequently).

Formal register avoids contractions, slang, and first-person filler; passive voice suits unknown or unimportant agents.

Sentence variety requires mixing simple, compound, and complex structures; avoid starting consecutive sentences the same way.

Punctuation rule: a comma splice joins two independent clauses; fix with a period, semicolon, or conjunction.

Essay task response needs a clear thesis in the introduction and one controlling idea per body paragraph.

Editing pass order: content and organization first, then sentence-level grammar, then mechanics and spelling.