EIKEN Grade 5 cheat sheet

Grade 5 reading passages are very short (roughly 2–4 sentences) and use only basic everyday vocabulary plus katakana loanwords; questions ask for one directly stated detail, not inference.

Question stems in the reading section are typically short wh-questions (Who / What / When / Where / How many) or true-false statements; the answer is always findable by matching words in the passage.

Numbers, days, times, and prices appear frequently; read them exactly as written (e.g., 7:30, Tuesday, 500 yen) because distractors swap one digit or one day.

Names and pronouns: a passage introduces a person once, then uses he/she; a question about 'Tom' may be answered by a sentence containing only 'he'.

Negatives (not, don't, isn't) reverse the meaning; a statement like 'Ken does not like coffee' is false if the passage says he drinks it every morning.

Common Grade 5 passage topics: family, school day, meals, weather, shopping, club activities, and weekend plans - vocabulary is concrete and present-tense or simple past.

Word-order (anagram) items require building a correct sentence from scrambled words; the verb position and the position of particles (to, in, at, with) decide the order.

For short dialogue-completion items, the reply must match the question type: 'How are you?' takes a state answer, 'Do you...?' takes Yes/No plus auxiliary, 'What...?' takes a thing.

Grade 5 listening has two parts: short dialogues/announcements followed by one question, and short monologues; each recording is played twice, so the first pass is for the gist and the second for the specific detail asked.

The question is read after the recording, not before; listen for who, what, when, where, and how much rather than trying to memorize every word.

Numbers, times, and prices are the most common tested detail; write them down during the first playing because the second playing may pass quickly.

Distractors are usually numbers or names that are mentioned and then corrected ('Actually, make it three o'clock'), so the corrected value is the answer.

Typical settings: store/shop, restaurant, school, station, home; typical speakers: a customer and a clerk, a teacher and a student, two friends.

Polite request patterns signal the answer type: 'Can I help you?' expects a request for an item; 'How much is it?' expects a price.

If a word is missed, keep listening - the answer is often repeated or restated in simpler words later in the same recording.