CHP Officer flashcards

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

Main Idea

The main idea is the central point a passage makes about its topic. Supporting details explain, illustrate, or prove it, and it is often stated in the first or last sentence.

Inference

An inference is a conclusion drawn from stated details plus logical reasoning. It is not directly stated, but it must be supported by evidence in the passage.

Tone

Tone is the author's attitude toward the subject or audience, revealed through word choice and details. Mood, by contrast, is the feeling the writing creates in the reader.

Fact versus Opinion

A fact is a statement that can be verified with evidence. An opinion is a judgment, belief, or feeling, often signaled by words such as should, best, or beautiful.

Context Clue

A context clue is information in the surrounding sentence or paragraph that helps a reader infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word, such as a definition, example, contrast, or cause-effect relationship.

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect describes why something happened and what resulted. Signal words such as because, therefore, as a result, and due to often connect the cause to its effect.

Supporting Detail

A supporting detail is a fact, example, reason, or statistic that explains or proves the main idea. Details answer who, what, when, where, why, or how.

Synonym

A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word, such as big and large, and it can often replace the original word without changing the sentence's meaning.

Antonym

An antonym is a word with the opposite meaning of another word, such as hot and cold. Antonyms are often used in contrast clues to signal meaning.

Connotation

Connotation is the emotional or cultural association a word carries beyond its dictionary meaning. For example, cheap and inexpensive share a meaning, but cheap suggests lower quality.

Prefix

A prefix is a meaningful word part attached to the beginning of a root word that changes its meaning, such as re- meaning again in rewrite or un- meaning not in unfair.

Suffix

A suffix is a meaningful word part added to the end of a root word that can change its meaning or part of speech, such as -less meaning without or -able meaning capable of.

Homophone

A homophone is one of two or more words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings, such as their, there, and they're, or to, too, and two.

I Before E Rule

The general spelling rule is i before e except after c when the sound is long e, as in believe and receive. Exceptions include either, weird, seize, and leisure.

Doubling Final Consonant

Double the final consonant before a suffix when a one-syllable word ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern, as in run to running or big to bigger.

Dropping Silent E

Drop a silent final e before a suffix that begins with a vowel, as in make to making. Keep the e before a suffix that begins with a consonant, as in hope to hopeful.

Changing Y to I

Change a final y to i before adding a suffix when the y follows a consonant, as in carry to carried or happy to happiness. Keep the y before -ing, as in carrying.

Affect versus Effect

Affect is usually a verb meaning to influence, while effect is usually a noun meaning a result. Example: The rain affected the game, but the effect was minor.

Plural of Consonant Plus Y

When a noun ends in a consonant followed by y, change the y to i and add -es to form the plural, as in city to cities and baby to babies.

Subject-Verb Agreement

A singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb. Prepositional phrases between the subject and verb do not change the verb's number.

Who versus Whom

Use who for the subject of a clause and whom for an object. A quick test is to substitute he for who and him for whom.

Its versus It's

Its is the possessive form meaning belonging to it, while it's is a contraction meaning it is or it has. The apostrophe signals missing letters, not possession.

Semicolon

A semicolon joins two independent clauses that are closely related and not joined by a coordinating conjunction. It can also separate items in a complex list.

Dangling Modifier

A dangling modifier is a descriptive phrase that does not clearly connect to the word it is meant to describe, often because the intended subject is missing from the sentence.

Parallel Structure

Parallel structure means using the same grammatical form for items in a list, pair, or comparison, such as hiking, swimming, and biking rather than hiking, swimming, and to bike.

Active Voice

In active voice, the subject performs the action, as in The officer wrote the report. In passive voice, the subject receives the action, as in The report was written by the officer.

Order of Operations

Order of operations is the sequence for evaluating expressions: parentheses first, then exponents, then multiplication and division from left to right, and finally addition and subtraction from left to right.

Percent Formula

The percent formula states that part equals percent times whole, written part = (percent ÷ 100) × whole. Rearranging it solves for the whole or the percent.

Average

The average, or mean, is found by adding all values and dividing the sum by the number of values. For example, the average of 4, 6, and 8 is 18 ÷ 3 = 6.

Distance Formula

Distance equals rate multiplied by time, written d = rt. Rearranged, rate equals distance divided by time, and time equals distance divided by rate.

Cross Multiplication

Cross multiplication solves proportions: if a/b = c/d, then ad = bc. Multiply the numerator of one ratio by the denominator of the other.

Area of a Triangle

The area of a triangle equals one-half times its base times its height, written A = ½bh. The height is perpendicular to the base.