English Comprehension
What this domain tests
English Comprehension checks reading accuracy and control of standard written English: reading comprehension, sentence correction, fill in the blanks, cloze, synonyms and antonyms, idioms, spelling, and grammar. The exam rewards evidence from the sentence, not outside knowledge.
Core rules and concepts
- Subject-verb agreement: a singular subject takes a singular verb. “Neither of”, “either of”, “each of” and “one of” take a singular verb when they are the subject.
- Modifiers: a participial phrase must describe the noun next to it. “Walking down the road, I saw a tree” is correct; “Walking down the road, the tree was seen by me” is dangling.
- Parallelism: items in a list or comparison must share grammatical form: “to read, to write and to speak”.
- Tenses: use past perfect for the earlier of two past actions; use present perfect for past action with present relevance.
- Reading comprehension: locate the line that supports the answer; eliminate options that are too broad, too narrow or extreme.
- Vocabulary: use context before word association.
Worked example
Choose the correct verb: “Neither of the two boys ___ present.” Answer: “was”. Reason: the subject is “neither”, which is singular; “of the two boys” is a prepositional phrase and does not change the number of the subject. “Were” would agree with “boys”, but “boys” is not the subject.
Traps that cost marks
Do not let a phrase between subject and verb control agreement. Do not choose an idiom by literal meaning. In comprehension, an option can repeat a word from the passage yet be wrong. Watch misplaced “only”, double negatives, and comparisons that omit the second item. In cloze items, read the whole sentence for tense and connector logic before filling the blank.