General English: Grammar Control and Passage Discipline
General English tests control of grammar plus the ability to answer from the passage rather than from outside knowledge. Questions are usually straightforward once the underlying rule is named, so revise rules with one example each instead of reading long explanations.
Question types
The section typically draws on reading comprehension (including vocabulary and inference items), cloze test, error spotting, sentence improvement, para jumbles, single and double fillers, synonyms and antonyms, idioms and phrases, and spelling.
Rules worth memorising
- Subject–verb agreement: "One of the + plural noun" takes a singular verb; "The number of … is" but "A number of … are".
- Fixed pairs: no sooner … than; hardly/scarcely … when; not only … but also (with parallel forms on both sides).
- "Comprise" takes no "of"; "discuss" takes no "about"; "composed of", "married to".
- In a relative clause, the verb agrees with the noun the relative pronoun stands for.
Worked example
"One of the officers who (was/were) present at the meeting (has/have) submitted the report." "Who" refers to "officers", which is plural, so the verb is "were". The main subject is "One", which is singular, so the verb is "has". Correct sentence: "One of the officers who were present at the meeting has submitted the report."
Traps that cost marks
Picking an option that is grammatically correct but does not carry the passage's meaning; in para jumbles, ignoring pronoun and article clues that identify the opening sentence; assuming an idiom means what its individual words suggest; in cloze tests, choosing by sound rather than by collocation; in comprehension, choosing an answer that is true in the world but not stated in the passage.