FCICE flashcards
FCICE · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Shall vs. may
- In legal English, 'shall' creates an obligation, 'may' grants permission or discretion, and 'must' states a requirement; choosing the wrong modal changes legal effect.
- Dangling modifier
- A modifier whose implied subject is missing or differs from the subject of the main clause, as in 'Having filed the motion, the deadline passed.'
- Parallel structure
- Items in a list or comparison must share grammatical form; mixing infinitives, gerunds, and nouns creates an error tested in written English items.
- Complaint vs. answer
- In civil procedure, a complaint is the plaintiff's initial pleading stating claims, while an answer is the defendant's responsive pleading admitting or denying them.
- Reading comprehension rule
- For written comprehension items, the correct answer must be supported by the passage itself; outside knowledge, however accurate, is not a valid basis.
- Subject-verb agreement trap
- Invert the sentence or delete intervening phrases to locate the true subject; phrases between subject and verb do not change the verb's number.
- Legal register shift
- Formal legal English uses 'hereinafter,' 'pursuant to,' and 'whereas'; rendering these into colloquial language changes register and is penalized in proficiency items.
- Subjunctive trigger
- In Spanish, main-clause expressions of doubt, emotion, denial, or a hypothetical antecedent require the subjunctive in the dependent clause, as in 'No creo que venga.'
- Preterite vs. imperfect
- Preterite marks completed, bounded past actions; imperfect marks ongoing background, habitual actions, or descriptions without a defined endpoint.
- False cognate actual
- Spanish 'actual' means current or present, not 'actual'; 'actualmente' means currently. Translating it as 'actually' is a classic proficiency error.
- Spanish accent default
- Words ending in a vowel, n, or s are stressed on the penultimate syllable by default; words ending in other consonants are stressed on the final syllable.
- Demandante vs. demandado
- In Spanish legal usage, 'demandante' is the plaintiff or claimant and 'demandado' is the defendant; reversing them reverses party roles.
- Se impersonal
- The 'se' impersonal construction omits the agent, as in 'Se aprobó la ley'; English must preserve agentlessness with a passive or impersonal phrasing.
- Orthography in written Spanish
- Written Spanish items score accent marks, ñ, and punctuation; omitting a written accent can change meaning, as with 'el' versus 'él.'
- Sight translation
- Oral rendering of a written source text read for the first time, produced in the target language without notes under exam conditions.
- Read-ahead span
- The number of words the eye processes ahead of the voice; keeping 4-6 words ahead preserves syntax and prevents word-by-word output.
- Chunking at clauses
- Segment the source at clause and phrase boundaries so each target-language unit is grammatically complete before delivery.
- Numbers in sight translation
- Read digits and dates exactly, converting to the target-language format; a misread number is a substantive error and should be corrected immediately.
- Omission rule
- In sight translation, omitting content or adding explanation is an error; an unknown term is rendered by meaning from context, not skipped.
- Register preservation
- Formal legal source text must remain formal in the target; colloquializing, simplifying, or adding hedges changes register and is penalized.
- Ear-voice span
- The lag between hearing source speech and producing target speech; a 2-4 second décalage balances memory load against syntactic completeness.
- Anticipation rule
- Predicting an upcoming word is safe only when legal formula or strong collocation makes completion highly probable; otherwise wait for the source.
- Correction rule simultaneous
- Do not revisit completed utterances unless the error reverses meaning; corrections disrupt delivery and create new errors.
- Negation and modality
- Omission of a negation, modal verb, or number is a critical error in simultaneous interpretation, even when surrounding content is accurate.
- Speaker self-correction
- When a speaker corrects a figure or name, render the corrected version only; delivering both versions confuses the listener and doubles the error.
- Booth protocol
- Keep microphone live only while interpreting, monitor output volume, avoid paper noise, and coordinate with the booth partner on relay and breaks.
- Consecutive interpretation
- The speaker pauses every one to three minutes and the interpreter delivers the full segment afterward, typically using notes.
- Note-taking ratio
- Notes record ideas, links, and figures rather than verbatim words; roughly 70-80% of content is captured, with memory supplying the rest.
- Vertical note layout
- One idea per line, indented to show subordination, with arrows for links; this mirrors logical structure and speeds delivery.
- Numbers in notes
- Write numbers in full digits and names in full letters; abbreviating figures or proper names causes recall errors during delivery.
- Symbol consistency
- Each note symbol must map to one concept for the entire assignment; inconsistent symbols create ambiguity that surfaces during delivery.
- Accuracy priority
- In consecutive delivery, meaning ranks first, register second, and style third; elegance is never traded for fidelity to the source.