CHP Officer cheat sheet

Main idea: the central point the passage makes about its topic; supporting details explain, illustrate, or prove it.

Inference: a conclusion that follows logically from stated details but is not directly stated; every inference must be supported by text.

Tone is the author's attitude toward the subject, revealed by word choice; mood is the feeling created in the reader.

Fact: a statement that can be verified; opinion: a judgment or belief, often signaled by words such as should, best, beautiful, or seems.

Chronological order signal words include first, next, then, finally, before, and after.

Cause-and-effect signal words include because, therefore, as a result, due to, and consequently.

For vocabulary-in-context questions, substitute each option into the sentence and check both meaning and connotation.

Common organization patterns are compare/contrast, problem/solution, cause/effect, chronological order, and description.

EXCEPT questions: three choices are supported by the passage; the correct answer is the one not supported.

Context clue types include definition/restatement, example, contrast (but, unlike), and cause-effect.

Common prefixes: un-, in-, im-, dis- = not; re- = again; pre- = before; post- = after; anti- = against.

Common suffixes: -able/-ible = capable of; -less = without; -ous = full of; -tion/-ment = state or act; -ify = make.

A synonym has the same or nearly the same meaning; an antonym has the opposite meaning.

Denotation is the dictionary meaning; connotation is the positive, negative, or neutral association a word carries.

Homophones sound alike but differ in spelling and meaning, such as their/there/they're and to/too/two.

Check the part of speech an option requires; a noun cannot replace a verb in the sentence.

An idiom's meaning is figurative, not literal, such as under the weather meaning ill.

Replace the target word with each option and confirm the sentence keeps its original meaning and tone.

i before e except after c when the sound is long e: believe, receive; exceptions include either, weird, seize, and leisure.

Double the final consonant before a suffix when a one-syllable word ends consonant-vowel-consonant: run to running.

For multi-syllable words, double the final consonant only when the last syllable is stressed: occur to occurred, but visit to visited.

Drop a silent final e before a vowel suffix (make to making); keep it before a consonant suffix (hope to hopeful).

Change y to i after a consonant before a suffix (carry to carried), but keep y before -ing (carrying).

Add -es to nouns ending in s, x, z, ch, or sh; change consonant plus y to -ies.

-able is common when the base is a complete word (readable); -ible appears in words such as visible and possible.

Affect is usually a verb meaning to influence; effect is usually a noun meaning a result.

Confusing pairs include advice/advise, lose/loose, principal/principle, and stationary/stationery.

Subject-verb agreement: a singular subject takes a singular verb; ignore prepositional phrases between subject and verb.

Subject pronouns are I, he, she, they, and who; object pronouns are me, him, her, them, and whom.

Use who as a subject and whom as an object; test by substituting he or him.

Its is possessive; it's means it is or it has.

Use a comma after an introductory phrase, between items in a series, and before a coordinating conjunction joining two independent clauses.

A semicolon joins two independent clauses; a colon introduces a list or explanation.

A modifier must sit next to the word it describes; a dangling modifier lacks the subject it describes.

Parallel structure requires items in a list or comparison to use the same grammatical form.

Apostrophes show possession (singular 's, plural s') and contractions; they do not form ordinary plurals.

Order of operations: parentheses, exponents, multiplication and division left to right, then addition and subtraction left to right.

Percent: part = percent × whole; percent change = (new − old) ÷ old × 100.

Average (mean) = sum of values ÷ number of values.

Distance = rate × time; time = distance ÷ rate; rate = distance ÷ time.

Ratio/proportion: a/b = c/d cross-multiplies to ad = bc.

Area: rectangle = length × width; triangle = ½ × base × height; circle = πr².

Perimeter: add all side lengths; circumference of a circle = 2πr or πd.

Convert units by multiplying by a conversion factor written as a fraction equal to 1.

Probability = number of favorable outcomes ÷ total number of possible outcomes.