UPMSP High School English flashcards

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

Main idea question

A comprehension item asking what the passage as a whole is about. The correct option covers every paragraph, while wrong options describe only one detail or go beyond the passage.

Inference question

An item using words like implies, suggests or probably. The answer is not stated directly but must be logically supported by evidence in the passage, not by outside knowledge.

Vocabulary in context

A question asking the meaning of a word as used in the passage. Test each option by substituting it into the sentence and checking that the surrounding sentences still make sense.

Reference question

An item asking what a pronoun such as it or they refers to. Answer by naming the exact noun phrase from the preceding sentence, not by paraphrasing the whole idea.

Formal letter subscription

A formal letter ends with Yours faithfully when the salutation is Dear Sir or Madam, and Yours sincerely when the receiver is named. The writer's full name follows.

Notice format

The word NOTICE at the top, issuing institution's name, date, a heading in capitals, a body under fifty words, and the writer's name with designation at the end.

Report byline

A report opens with a heading and a byline giving the writer's name, followed by place and date. The body reports facts in the past tense without personal opinion.

Paragraph unity

Every sentence in a paragraph supports one controlling idea stated in the topic sentence. A sentence that introduces a new idea belongs in a separate paragraph.

Reported speech tense shift

When the reporting verb is past, present tenses shift to past, will to would, can to could and may to might. Universal truths keep the present tense.

Third conditional

A structure for unreal past situations: if plus past perfect in the condition, and would have plus past participle in the result, as in if I had studied, I would have passed.

Subject-verb agreement traps

Expressions like one of the boys, each, every, either and neither take a singular verb. Nouns such as news, mathematics and physics are also treated as singular.

One-word substitution

Replacing a phrase with a single word, for example a person who loves mankind becomes philanthropist, and one who looks at the bright side becomes optimist.

Preposition collocations

Fixed verb-preposition pairs tested in fill-in items: depend on, insist on, consist of, married to, afraid of, good at, listen to and prefer to.

Character sketch answer

A prose answer giving a defining trait, one incident from the text as evidence, and the effect of that trait on other characters in the chapter.

Author versus narrator

In autobiographical prose the writer and the narrator are the same person. In fictional stories the narrator is a created voice and may not share the author's views.

Theme answer structure

State the central idea in one sentence, then support it with two sentences referring to specific events or lines from the prescribed chapter.

Value-based prose question

An item asking what lesson the reader draws. The answer must connect the lesson to a specific moment in the chapter rather than to general morality.

Simile and metaphor

A simile compares using like or as, as in brave as a lion. A metaphor states the comparison directly, as in the classroom was a zoo.

Personification

A figure of speech giving human qualities to non-human things, such as the wind whispered through the trees or the moon smiled down.

Alliteration

The repetition of the same initial consonant sound in nearby words, as in sweet silent stream. It creates rhythm and links the words musically.

Rhyme scheme notation

Letters label line endings: abab marks alternating rhyme, aabb marks couplets, and abcb marks the ballad stanza where only lines two and four rhyme.

Poet versus speaker

The speaker is the voice in the poem and may be a created persona. Do not assume the poet's own biography or opinions are being expressed.

Central idea of a poem

The message the poem conveys, stated by moving from the literal scene described to the poet's reflection or comment on life.

Supplementary reader plot answer

Retell the story in chronological order, naming the beginning situation, the conflict, the turning point and the resolution, with characters spelled as in the book.

Moral of a fable

The lesson stated at the end of a fable or parable, often the direct answer to a supplementary reader question about the story's message.

Character change question

An item asking how a character develops. Answer with the trait before the turning point, the incident causing change, and the trait afterwards.

Hindi-to-English translation principle

Translate meaning rather than word order. Restructure into English subject-verb-object order and keep the tense consistent with the original passage.

Idiom translation

Idioms are rendered by their equivalent idiom in the target language, not literally. A literal rendering usually produces meaningless or comic English.

Proper nouns in translation

Names of people, places, institutions and numbers are transliterated or kept unchanged. Only common nouns and descriptive words are translated.

Composition structure

An introduction stating the topic, two or three body paragraphs each developing one point with linkers, and a conclusion that rounds off the argument.

Composition word limit

Examinations penalise compositions far above or below the prescribed length. Plan the number of sentences before writing to stay within the range.