Language Knowledge (Vocabulary/Grammar) and Reading - N1
What this section actually asks
N1 splits into four vocabulary task types (kanji reading, context fill-in, paraphrase, correct usage), three grammar task types (pattern choice, sentence assembly, grammar inside a short passage), and reading that ranges from short opinion paragraphs to long abstract essays plus information retrieval. The test rewards precision of nuance, not word count.
Concepts to own
Vocabulary: compound verbs (見据える, 踏まえる, 見極める), adverb collocations (あえて, 一概に, もっぱら, ひいては), katakana loanwords whose meaning has drifted from the English source, and idiomatic fixed phrases (油を売る, 折り紙つき). Grammar: the "as soon as" family (～が早いか, ～やいなや, ～なり, ～そばから, ～次第), emphatic and bound forms (～ずにはおかない, ～んばかり, ～たりとも, ～に至るまで), and formal connectors that signal the author's stance.
Traps
Patterns that translate identically but differ in subject, volition, or repetition. Distractors that reuse kanji from the prompt with a different reading. Reading options that are factually true but are not the main claim, or that harden the author's hedge (「～かもしれない」 becoming 「必ず」). Also watch scope: an answer may be right about one paragraph and wrong about the passage.
Worked example
「新しい単語を覚えた＿＿＿、もう忘れてしまう。」 Choices: そばから / が早いか / なり / 次第. Answer: そばから - the only one that marks repeated recurrence with the speaker's exasperation. が早いか and なり describe a single surprising sequence; 次第 requires a volitional action by the same speaker. Rule of thumb: for every "as soon as" pattern, ask three questions: does it repeat? same subject? volitional or not?