UPMSP Intermediate English cheat sheet

Skim the passage first for the main idea, then read the questions; answers to 'the central idea' questions come from the opening and closing sentences of paragraphs.

Factual questions are answered in passage order: locate the keyword from the question, then read the sentence before and after it.

Inference questions use words like 'suggests', 'implies', 'probably'; the answer must be supported by the text, never by outside knowledge.

Vocabulary-in-context questions: substitute each option into the sentence and keep the one that preserves the passage's meaning, not the word's most common dictionary sense.

Tone and attitude questions are decided by adjectives and adverbs; a passage that presents both sides with neutral wording is 'objective' or 'balanced'.

For 'choose the best title', the title must cover the whole passage; reject options that fit only one paragraph.

Antonym and synonym items in the passage are usually answered by the surrounding contrast words: 'but', 'however', 'unlike', 'whereas'.

If two options look correct, the safer choice is the one stated directly in the text rather than the one requiring extra assumptions.

Essay structure: introduction stating the thesis, two or three body paragraphs each with one controlling idea plus support, and a conclusion that restates without new points.

Formal letter layout order: sender's address, date, receiver's designation and address, subject line, salutation, body, complimentary close, signature.

Formal letters end with 'Yours faithfully' when the salutation is 'Dear Sir/Madam' and 'Yours sincerely' when the name is known; informal letters use 'Yours lovingly' or 'Yours affectionately'.

Notice format: name of institution at the top, the word NOTICE, date, heading, body of 50-60 words, and the writer's name and designation at the bottom; no salutation and no address.

Report writing uses past tense and third person, with a headline, a byline, and the place-and-date lead; reported speech replaces first-person pronouns.

Advertisement copy uses imperative and elliptical sentences ('Buy now', 'Offer ends today') and must state product, feature, benefit, and contact or price.

Word limits are part of the marking: exceeding the prescribed limit in a notice or report typically costs marks even if the content is correct.

Cohesion devices to use deliberately: 'moreover', 'in contrast', 'as a result', 'for instance'; avoid starting consecutive sentences with the same word.

Subject-verb agreement: 'one of the + plural noun' takes a singular verb; 'each', 'every', 'either', 'neither' as subject take a singular verb.

Articles: 'a' before consonant sounds, 'an' before vowel sounds, judged by sound not spelling ('an hour', 'a university').

Tense sequencing: after 'since' or 'for' with present perfect, use present perfect continuous for the ongoing action; in reported speech, present becomes past.

Passive voice transformation keeps the tense of the original: 'They built the bridge' becomes 'The bridge was built'.

Conditionals: first conditional uses present simple plus 'will'; second uses past simple plus 'would'; third uses past perfect plus 'would have'.

Prepositions after fixed verbs: 'comprise' takes no 'of'; 'consist of', 'depend on', 'insist on', 'comply with', 'differ from'.

Modals: 'must' expresses obligation, 'should' advice, 'can' ability, 'may' permission or possibility; 'need not' means absence of obligation, not prohibition.

Idioms and one-word substitution: 'a person who speaks many languages' is a polyglot; 'one who cannot read or write' is illiterate; 'government by the people' is democracy.

Identify each lesson's theme in one sentence before revising details; questions on 'the message' are answered from the theme, not from plot events.

Character questions require a trait plus textual evidence: state the quality, then cite the incident that shows it.

Note the narrative point of view of each lesson; first-person narration limits the reader to the narrator's knowledge and perception.

For 'why did the author write this' questions, distinguish between informing, persuading, and reflecting; the tone of the final paragraph usually signals the intent.

Track recurring symbols and objects in a lesson; a repeated object usually carries the central idea rather than decorative detail.

Quotation questions are answered by naming the speaker, the listener, and the situation, then explaining the significance in one line.

Comparison questions between two lessons are answered in paired points, one similarity and one difference, each tied to a specific incident.

Distinguish author, narrator, and protagonist; in autobiographical pieces the three may coincide, and the exam often tests this distinction.

Poetic devices to name precisely: simile ('like' or 'as'), metaphor (direct identification), personification (human quality to non-human), alliteration (initial consonant repetition), onomatopoeia (sound-imitating word).

Rhyme scheme is labelled with letters per line: a couplet is aa, alternate rhyme is abab, and the final stanza's pattern must be checked separately.

Stanza forms: couplet two lines, tercet three, quatrain four, sestet six, octave eight; a fourteen-line poem is a sonnet.

Metre basics: iamb is unstressed-stressed; pentameter means five feet per line, so iambic pentameter has ten syllables per line.

Theme questions are answered from the poem's central concern, not its setting; a poem about a journey may be about mortality rather than travel.

Tone is identified by diction and punctuation: exclamation marks and imperatives signal urgency, questions signal doubt or reflection.

Symbol questions: explain what the object represents and support it with one image from the text.

For 'why does the poet repeat this line', the answer is emphasis, refrain structure, or a shift in meaning between repetitions.

Short-story analysis rests on five elements: plot, character, setting, conflict, and theme; identify each before answering.

Conflict type matters: person versus person, person versus society, person versus nature, person versus self; the resolution reveals the theme.

The climax is the point of highest tension where the conflict is decided; events after it are falling action and resolution.

Irony questions: verbal irony says the opposite of the meaning, situational irony reverses expectation, dramatic irony gives the reader knowledge a character lacks.

For 'what is the twist', state the expectation created earlier and the actual outcome, then the gap between them.

Character motivation is inferred from dialogue and action, not from the narrator's summary statements alone.

Setting often functions symbolically; a closed room, a storm, or a season can mirror a character's inner state.

Theme statements should be a full sentence about human experience ('greed isolates'), not a single word ('greed').