AP SSC Special English (Second Language) cheat sheet

Skim the passage first for global meaning: title, first and last sentences of each paragraph, and any bold or italicised words, before reading questions.

Question stems often follow passage order; locate the keyword from the stem and read the sentence before and after it to confirm context.

Distinguish stated vs implied: an answer must be supported by the text; if it relies on outside knowledge, it is usually wrong unless the stem says 'infer'.

For 'not mentioned' or 'except' items, verify each option against a specific line; eliminate options that are directly supported by the passage.

Vocabulary-in-context items: substitute each option into the original sentence and check whether the sentence still makes logical and grammatical sense.

Reference words (it, they, this, these) point to the nearest preceding noun phrase that agrees in number and makes sense; test by replacement.

Tone and purpose questions: identify the writer's attitude from evaluative adjectives, adverbs, and modal verbs (e.g., 'must', 'should', 'unfortunately').

Seen-passage questions may test line references, character motives, and sequence; re-read the exact quoted lines rather than relying on memory.

Subject-verb agreement: ignore prepositional phrases between subject and verb; indefinite pronouns (everyone, each, neither) take singular verbs.

Articles: 'a/an' before singular countable nouns in generic or first-mention use; 'the' for unique or previously mentioned referents; zero article for uncountable generalisations.

Tenses: present perfect (has/have + past participle) for past actions with present relevance; simple past for finished past time with a specific time marker.

Reported speech: shift tense one step back (present → past, past → past perfect); change pronouns and time/place words (now → then, here → there).

Conditionals: first (if + present, will), second (if + past, would + base), third (if + past perfect, would have + past participle).

Active to passive: object becomes subject; verb becomes be + past participle; keep tense and add 'by' only when the agent is important.

Prepositions: fixed collocations must be memorised (depend on, interested in, good at, afraid of, married to, arrive at/in).

Punctuation: comma before coordinating conjunction joining independent clauses; semicolon between closely related independent clauses; apostrophe for possession and contractions.

Degrees of comparison: use 'than' with comparatives; 'the' with superlatives; avoid double comparatives ('more better') and double negatives.

Synonym questions: choose the option closest in meaning in the given sentence, not the most common dictionary sense; test by substitution.

Antonym questions: identify the word's part of speech and core sense first; opposites must match that sense (e.g., 'light' vs 'heavy' for weight, not 'dark').

Prefixes change meaning: un-/in-/im-/il-/ir- (not), re- (again), pre- (before), post- (after), mis- (wrongly), over- (too much), under- (too little).

Suffixes change word class: -tion/-ment/-ness (noun), -ful/-less/-able/-ive (adjective), -ly (adverb), -ise/-ize/-en (verb).

Homophones (their/there/they're, its/it's, affect/effect, principal/principle) are tested by grammatical role in the sentence.

One-word substitution: know high-frequency items such as 'omnipotent' (all-powerful), 'inaudible' (cannot be heard), 'philanthropist' (lover of mankind), 'monogamy' (one spouse).

Idioms and phrasal verbs: meaning is not compositional; learn the whole unit (e.g., 'give up' = stop, 'put off' = postpone, 'look after' = care for).

Collocation: certain words co-occur (make a decision, do homework, take a photograph, heavy rain, strong wind); wrong collocation is a common distractor.

Formal letter structure: sender's address, date, receiver's designation and address, salutation (Dear Sir/Madam), subject line, body in 3 paragraphs, closing (Yours faithfully/sincerely), signature.

Informal letter structure: sender's address, date, salutation (Dear [Name]), informal opening, body paragraphs, closing (Yours lovingly/affectionately), first name only.

Notice format: name of institution at top, the word NOTICE, date, heading in capitals, body answering what/when/where/who/why, name and designation of issuer at bottom.

Description writing: organise spatially (top to bottom, left to right) or by sense (sight, sound, smell); use precise adjectives and present tense for general descriptions.

Guided composition supplies cues (verbal or visual); every cue must be used, and the tense and person must stay consistent throughout.

Letter register: formal letters avoid contractions, slang, and exclamation marks; informal letters may use contractions and personal anecdotes.

Word limits are part of the mark: a 120–150 word letter must stay within range; being far under loses content marks and far over loses conciseness marks.

Cohesion: use linkers appropriate to purpose (however, therefore, moreover, in addition, on the other hand) and avoid starting every sentence with 'And' or 'So'.

A composition has three parts: introduction (hook and thesis), body (2–4 paragraphs, one idea each), conclusion (restate and comment); each paragraph needs a topic sentence.

Narrative structure: orientation (who/where/when), complication (conflict), climax, resolution; use past tenses and dialogue to advance action.

Descriptive composition: appeal to five senses; use simile, metaphor, and personification sparingly but deliberately; avoid clichés such as 'as white as snow'.

Argumentative composition: state position in the introduction, give two or three reasons with evidence, acknowledge and refute one counter-argument, conclude with a call to action.

Show, don't tell: replace 'he was angry' with behaviour and dialogue ('He slammed the file on the table and said nothing').

Sentence variety: mix simple, compound, and complex sentences; vary sentence openings to avoid monotonous subject-first patterns.

Coherence devices: pronoun reference, repetition of key terms, synonyms, and transitional adverbs; every paragraph must link to the thesis.

Editing checklist: check tense consistency, subject-verb agreement, articles, spelling of homophones, and punctuation before finalising.

Dictionary entries give: headword, pronunciation (IPA), part of speech, numbered senses, example phrases, and derivatives; the sense that fits the context is the correct one.

Alphabetical order: arrange by first letter, then second, and so on; ignore spaces and hyphens when ordering multi-word entries.

Guide words at the top of a dictionary page show the first and last entries on that page; a word is on the page if it falls alphabetically between them.

Thesaurus use: synonyms are not always interchangeable; check the part of speech and example sentence before substituting.

Note-making: use headings, sub-headings, bullet points, abbreviations, and symbols; notes must be in your own words and omit examples and repetition.

Summarising: identify the main idea of each paragraph, delete examples and details, combine sentences, and keep the original proportion of ideas; do not add opinion.

A summary must be shorter than the original and in continuous prose (unless a note format is requested); the word limit is a hard constraint.

Skimming gives the gist (read topic sentences); scanning locates specific information (names, dates, figures) without reading every word.

Reference sources: atlas (maps), almanac (facts and dates), encyclopaedia (overview), index (page locations), bibliography (sources consulted).