OSSLT cheat sheet

The OSSLT reading sections use informational, graphic, and literary texts; each text is followed by multiple-choice questions and, in some sections, a short written response.

For multiple-choice items, eliminate options that are true in general but not supported by the passage; the correct answer must be traceable to specific words in the text.

Main-idea questions are answered by the opening and closing sentences of paragraphs; supporting-detail questions point to a single sentence containing a number, name, or example.

Inference questions ask what is suggested but not stated; the correct choice follows logically from stated evidence, while distractors add information the passage never implies.

Graphic texts (schedules, flyers, labels, charts) require reading titles, headings, legends, and units before answering; the answer is usually a direct lookup or a simple comparison.

Vocabulary-in-context items are solved by substituting each option into the sentence and checking whether the surrounding sentences still make sense.

For short written answers, a complete response states a point and supports it with a direct quotation or specific detail from the text, usually in one to three sentences.

Sequence and cause-effect questions are answered by locating time words (first, then, after, because, as a result) that mark the order or relationship in the passage.

Multiple-choice writing items test grammar, punctuation, and sentence combining; the correct option must be grammatically complete and preserve the original meaning.

A complete sentence needs a subject and a predicate; a fragment or a run-on (two independent clauses joined only by a comma) is never the correct choice.

Commas set off introductory phrases, separate items in a list, and join an independent clause to a dependent clause; they do not join two independent clauses without a conjunction.

Apostrophes mark possession (the student's book) or contraction (it's = it is); plural nouns take no apostrophe, and its (possessive) differs from it's (contraction).

Subject-verb agreement: singular subjects take singular verbs, and intervening phrases do not change the subject; collective nouns and indefinite pronouns like everyone take singular verbs.

Sentence-combining items favour the shortest option that keeps all original ideas and uses a clear connector (because, although, which) to show the relationship.

The long writing task is scored on organization, development of ideas, and conventions; a clear opening, two or three developed paragraphs, and a brief conclusion satisfy the structure.

The short writing task (news report or series of paragraphs) is scored for a main idea supported by specific details, with correct spelling, punctuation, and paragraph breaks.