ASSEB HSLC English (Second Language) flashcards

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

Skimming versus scanning

Skimming is fast reading for general meaning, while scanning is searching a text for one specific item such as a date, name, or number.

Inference question

A question answered by what the passage implies rather than states outright. The correct option must follow necessarily from the text, not from general knowledge.

Topic sentence

The sentence stating a paragraph's controlling idea, usually placed first. It answers main-idea questions and limits what supporting sentences may claim.

Vocabulary in context

A test item asking the meaning of a word as used in the passage. Substitute each option into the sentence and keep the one preserving sense and tone.

Formal letter subscription

The closing formula of a formal letter. 'Yours faithfully' follows 'Dear Sir/Madam'; 'Yours sincerely' follows a named recipient such as 'Dear Mr Das'.

Notice format

A boxed announcement headed NOTICE with the issuing body's name, a date, a short heading, and about fifty words in third person, with no salutation or subscription.

Report writing conventions

A report carries a title, the reporter's name and designation, a place-and-date line, and a body in past tense and third person, reporting events the writer witnessed.

Paragraph structure

A paragraph opens with a topic sentence, develops it through three to five supporting sentences with reasons or examples, and closes by restating the point without new claims.

Present perfect with since and for

Use have or has plus past participle for actions continuing to the present. 'Since' takes a starting point, 'for' takes a duration, as in 'for three years'.

Passive of an imperative

An imperative such as 'Open the door' becomes 'Let the door be opened'. The passive of a negative imperative is 'Let the door not be opened'.

Backshift in reported speech

When the reporting verb is past, shift tenses back one step: present to past, past to past perfect, will to would, can to could, may to might.

Reported question word order

Reported questions use statement order with no question mark and no auxiliary inversion: 'He asked me where I lived', not 'where did I live'.

Article rules

Use 'a' or 'an' for one unspecified countable singular, 'the' for something already specified or unique, and no article for generic plurals and uncountables.

Prepositions of time

Use 'in' for months, years and long periods, 'on' for days and dates, and 'at' for clock times and night, as in 'at 5 p.m.' and 'at night'.

Too-to transformation

'Too ... to' rewrites as 'so ... that ... not'. 'He is too weak to walk' becomes 'He is so weak that he cannot walk'.

Noun-forming suffixes

Suffixes that turn other words into nouns include -ness, -ity, -ment, -tion, -ance and -hood, as in kindness, purity, movement, creation, importance and childhood.

Negating prefixes

Prefixes un-, in-, im-, dis-, non- and mis- reverse or negate meaning, as in unfair, invisible, impossible, disagree, non-violent and misunderstand.

Idiom: bolt from the blue

A completely unexpected and usually shocking event, like lightning from a clear sky. Example: the resignation came as a bolt from the blue.

Phrasal verb: give up

To surrender, quit, or abandon something. It is separable, so a pronoun object goes between verb and particle: 'give it up', never 'give up it'.

Collocation

The habitual pairing of words in a language. English says 'make a decision', 'do homework', 'heavy rain' and 'strong tea', not the reverse combinations.

Character trait with evidence

A prose answer pattern: name the trait, cite the incident that shows it, then quote or paraphrase the supporting line. Unsupported labels earn little credit.

Justifying a title

Link each key word of the title to a specific character, event, or symbol in the text, showing that the title names the work's central concern.

First-person narrator

A narrator speaking as 'I' who knows only what the character experiences. Such narrators are limited and may be unreliable or biased.

Theme development

State the theme in one sentence, then trace it from the opening situation through the climax to the resolution, citing one textual moment at each stage.

Sonnet structure

A fourteen-line poem, usually in iambic pentameter. The Shakespearean form rhymes abab cdcd efef gg; the Petrarchan divides into octave and sestet.

Volta

The turn or shift in thought in a sonnet, often between lines eight and nine or at the final couplet, marking a move from problem to resolution.

Oxymoron versus paradox

An oxymoron joins two contradictory words, as in 'bitter sweet'. A paradox is a self-contradictory statement that on inspection reveals a truth.

Personification

A figure of speech giving human qualities to non-human things, as when a poem says the wind whispered or the moon watched.

Onomatopoeia

A word imitating the sound it names, such as buzz, hiss, crash or murmur. Poets use it to create auditory immediacy and reinforce mood.

Rapid Reader focus

Supplementary-reader questions are usually factual: identify the protagonist, central conflict, turning point and outcome of each prescribed story precisely.

Twist ending

A closing revelation reversing the reader's expectation. Explain it by contrasting what the character expected with what actually happened.

Functional dialogue response

In dialogue completion, match the reply to the function of the preceding line, whether greeting, request, apology, invitation or complaint, and keep the register consistent.