English Language: Grammar, Vocabulary and Comprehension Under Time Pressure
What is tested
Error spotting, fill in the blanks (prepositions, articles, tense), synonyms and antonyms, one-word substitution, idioms, sentence rearrangement, cloze passages and a short comprehension passage. The grammar is standard competitive-exam English, so the same dozen rules repeat.
Rules that carry most marks
- Subject–verb agreement: 'One of + plural noun' takes a singular verb; each, every, everyone, anybody are singular; with neither…nor the verb agrees with the nearer subject.
- Tense: since and for with perfect tenses; had for the earlier of two past actions.
- Articles: a/an by sound, not spelling - an hour, a university; the for unique things and superlatives.
- Prepositions: between for two, among for more than two; discuss and resemble take no preposition.
- Uncountables: information, furniture, luggage, advice take singular verbs and no plural -s.
- Comprehension: read the questions first, then locate the exact line; the answer must come from the passage, not general knowledge.
Worked example
One of the clerks ______ (have/has) submitted the report. The subject is One, not clerks; 'of the clerks' is only a prepositional phrase. Singular subject, so the verb is has: 'One of the clerks has submitted the report.'
Traps
- Double comparatives such as 'more better' or 'most fastest'.
- Since used for a duration instead of for, and vice versa.
- Guessing an idiom literally - 'to bite the bullet' means to endure something painful.
- In rearrangement items, ignoring pronoun and connector links that fix the order before you read for meaning.