AJA Officer Academies Entrance Examination flashcards

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

Prefix mal-

A Latin prefix meaning bad or ill, as in malfunction, malice and malnutrition; its opposite is bene-, meaning good, as in benefit and benevolent.

Analogy: part to whole

A word relationship in which one item is a component of the other, such as wheel to car or chapter to book; state the link as a sentence before choosing.

Negating prefixes

Un-, in-, im-, il-, ir-, dis-, non- and a- reverse a word's meaning; im- precedes p, b and m (impossible), il- precedes l (illegal), ir- precedes r (irregular).

Odd one out strategy

Identify the property shared by most options, such as word class, topic or root, then select the option that lacks that property rather than one that merely looks unusual.

Sentence completion contrast clues

Words such as although, however, despite and but show that the missing word opposes another idea in the sentence, so predict the needed polarity before reading options.

Average speed

Total distance divided by total time for the whole journey; it is not the mean of the separate speeds unless equal times were spent at each speed.

Simple interest formula

Interest I = P × R × T ÷ 100, where P is principal, R the annual percentage rate and T the time in years; the principal does not grow during the term.

Combined work rate

If one worker finishes a job in a hours and another in b hours, together they finish it in ab ÷ (a + b) hours, because the rates 1/a and 1/b add.

Divisibility test for 3

A whole number is divisible by 3 exactly when the sum of its digits is divisible by 3; for example 4,821 gives 4+8+2+1 = 15, which is divisible by 3.

Percentage change

Subtract the original value from the new value, divide the result by the original value, then multiply by 100; a decrease produces a negative result.

UN Security Council veto

The five permanent members China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States can block any substantive resolution; the Council has fifteen members in total.

African Union

A continental organisation of African states founded in 2002 to replace the Organisation of African Unity, with headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

ECOWAS

The Economic Community of West African States, created in 1975 by the Treaty of Lagos to promote regional integration, is headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria.

Geneva Conventions

Four 1949 treaties, extended by 1977 protocols, protecting the wounded, shipwrecked, prisoners of war and civilians in armed conflict; grave breaches are war crimes.

Sustainable Development Goals

Seventeen UN goals adopted in 2015 with a 2030 target date, covering poverty, health, education, equality, climate and peace; they succeeded the Millennium Development Goals.

Contrapositive

For any statement 'if A then B', the contrapositive 'if not B then not A' is logically equivalent, whereas the converse 'if B then A' is not equivalent.

Syllogism negative premises

Two negative premises cannot yield a valid conclusion, and two particular premises beginning with 'some' cannot together yield a universal conclusion.

Only if

The statement 'A only if B' means A implies B, making B a necessary condition; it does not mean B implies A, so it is not 'if and only if'.

Unless

'A unless B' means that if not B then A, equivalently that not A implies B; the unless clause states the condition that prevents A.

Cube net opposite faces

On a cube net, faces separated by exactly one other face in a straight line lie opposite each other and therefore never share an edge or a corner once folded.

Escalation trigger

Refer a decision upward when it involves risk of injury, illegality, a policy breach, or matters beyond your authority or available resources.

Unlawful order

An order requiring a crime or breach of law must be refused and reported through the chain of command; superior rank does not make such an order lawful.

SBI feedback model

Describe the situation, the specific behaviour observed and its impact, then agree the expected standard; avoid judging personality or imputed intent.

Situational leadership

Match style to readiness: directing for low competence, coaching for developing skill, supporting for capable but hesitant members, delegating for confident experts.

Autocratic leadership use

A directive style suited to urgent, safety-critical tasks or inexperienced teams, since it is fast and unambiguous but risks low morale if used routinely.

Order of operational priorities

In emergency judgement: preservation of life first, then legality and ethics, then mission completion, then team welfare and efficiency, then personal convenience.

Ohm's law

The current through a conductor is proportional to the voltage across it at constant temperature, giving V = IR where R is resistance in ohms.

Newton's second law

The resultant force on an object equals its mass multiplied by its acceleration, F = ma, with force in newtons and acceleration in metres per second squared.

Radioactive half-life

The time for half the nuclei in a sample to decay; after n half-lives the fraction remaining is (1/2)^n and activity falls by the same proportion.

Electrical power

Power dissipated in a component is P = VI, which for a fixed resistance becomes P = I²R; power is measured in watts.

pH scale

A logarithmic scale from 0 to 14 measuring hydrogen ion concentration; one unit means a tenfold change, and 7 is neutral at 25 °C.

Density

Mass per unit volume, calculated as mass divided by volume; pure water has a density of about 1,000 kg per cubic metre.