English: Reading Comprehension and Controlled Writing
English in the Chiba Entrance Science exam tests reading comprehension, vocabulary in context, grammar and sentence control, and short constructed writing. Passages may describe experiments or scientific arguments, so track the claim, evidence, and the writer's attitude rather than memorizing isolated words.
Core rules
- Main-idea questions require the whole passage's point, not the first sentence alone.
- Inference must follow from stated evidence; do not add outside facts.
- In vocabulary-in-context items, replace the target word with each option and test the surrounding sentence.
- For grammar, identify the subject before checking verb agreement, and check whether pronouns have one clear antecedent.
- In writing, state a focused claim, support it with a concrete detail, and use cohesive devices such as however, therefore, and for example accurately.
Worked example
Correct this sentence: The results of the trial, which lasted six weeks, was inconclusive. The grammatical subject is results, not trial, because the phrase of the trial is a prepositional modifier. Results is plural, so the verb must be were: The results of the trial, which lasted six weeks, were inconclusive. The relative clause which lasted six weeks modifies trial and does not change the main subject.
For a reading item, if a passage says, Although the experiment failed, the team recorded every anomaly, the contrast signals that the team was systematic and persistent. Choosing failed as the main attitude ignores the concessive structure.
Traps that cost marks
- Selecting a true statement that does not answer the question.
- Over-inferring beyond the passage's evidence.
- Missing subject-verb agreement when a prepositional phrase sits between subject and verb.
- Writing a sentence fragment or comma splice in the constructed response.
- Copying the prompt instead of developing a specific claim with support.