Gunma Entrance English common mistakes
Gunma Entrance English · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
During the first playback, the candidate writes a complete answer as soon as they hear a number or word that matches an option, then stops actively listening - and so misses the later correction in the same dialogue ("Actually, the bus leaves at 8:40, not 8:15").
Fear of forgetting plus a word-spotting habit built on easier practice tests makes the first playback feel like the only chance; the second playback is treated as a repeat rather than as a chance to confirm.
What to do instead
On the first playback write nothing in the answer box - note only the situation (who, where, what is being decided). Commit to an answer only during the second playback. Drill 'but / actually / instead / after all / in the end' as signals that a number, time or plan is about to be revised.
Assigns an action to the last person named: hears "I'll ask Ken to bring the drinks" and answers that the speaker brings them, or marks 'the girl' when the boy says his sister will do it.
Japanese frequently omits the subject and marks the doer with a particle rather than by position, so learners track 'who was mentioned last' instead of 'who performs the verb'.
What to do instead
Use the pause to draw two columns with the speakers' names and put each verb under the person who actually performs it. Practise the patterns 'have/get someone do', 'ask someone to do', 'do something for someone', changing only the doer each time.
Finds the option containing a word copied directly from the passage and marks it, even when the passage says "Rina does not play tennis on weekdays" or "only students who bring a lunch box may join".
Keyword matching is fast and works on easier texts, so it survives into harder passages; the Gunma readings typically hide the answer behind a negation, a condition or a pronoun that changes who or what the sentence is about.
What to do instead
After locating the keyword, read one sentence before and one after it, and circle every not / never / only / if / unless / until. Test each option against the circled words rather than against the keyword.
Answers a 'what is the main idea' or 'why did Yuki write this' question with a true detail from the passage (for example 'she practises every morning') instead of the point the whole passage supports.
A detail is easy to verify and feels safe, while a generalizing option feels 'too big' to a student trained to copy sentences from the text.
What to do instead
Before reading the options, write a five-word summary of the whole passage in Japanese. Then reject any option that covers only one paragraph only, and choose the option that matches the summary.
In word-ordering items, builds the sentence chunk by chunk in Japanese order, producing "I very like tennis" or putting the question word after the verb ("You did buy what?").
The Japanese prompt invites direct transfer, and junior-high drilling rewards vocabulary recall rather than control of English constituent order.
What to do instead
Decide the sentence type first (question, statement, imperative) and place the auxiliary or verb accordingly; put adverbs like always, very, really before the main verb but after be; keep the question word first. Read the finished sentence aloud to test the rhythm.
In rewrite (書き換え) items, produces a grammatical sentence that changes the meaning - turning "This box is too heavy for me to carry" into "I cannot carry this box", or "He did not say anything" into "He did not say nothing".
Learners memorize only part of the pattern (the 'cannot' half but not the 'too' cause), and Japanese double-negative habits plus 'any' versus 'no' confusion carry over.
What to do instead
Keep a two-column list of fixed equivalent pairs (too … to / not … enough to; not … any / no; gave me / I was given) and, after each rewrite, translate both sentences back into Japanese to confirm the meanings match.
Replies to "Would you like some more cake?" with "Yes, I would like it very much", or to "Shall I open the window?" with "Yes, you shall", mirroring the grammar of the question.
Students copy the auxiliary they hear and treat politeness as a vocabulary problem to be solved word by word rather than as a fixed social formula.
What to do instead
Memorize responses by function as whole chunks: offer - "Yes, please / No, thank you"; invitation - "I'd love to / I'm sorry, I can't"; request - "Sure / I'm afraid I can't"; permission - "Yes, go ahead". Rehearse them aloud so they come out intact.
Reads an e-mail or poster task and answers only the first of two questions asked, or misreads the purpose - writing a thank-you note when the sender asked about next week's schedule.
E-mail texts open with greetings and small talk, so students read top to bottom and start writing the moment they hit the first question mark.
What to do instead
Underline every question mark and imperative in the message, number them, and tick each one before finishing. Check register too: "Dear Mr. …" plus a closing line, not "Hi" to a teacher.
In conditional composition, writes fewer sentences than required, ignores the imposed condition (use the word 'because', write about two things, keep to 20+ words), or answers a related but different question.
All attention goes to vocabulary and grammar while the conditions are read once and never revisited; under time pressure the student stops as soon as the Japanese message feels finished.
What to do instead
Spend thirty seconds writing the conditions as a numbered checklist before drafting, answer the exact question in the first sentence, and use the final two minutes to tick each condition and count sentences and words.
Writes otherwise correct ideas as "I want to be a teacher in the future very much" or "I like play soccer", with missing articles and plurals and inconsistent tense.
The composition is produced in a single pass from Japanese with no editing stage, and articles and countability are rarely marked in class, so they are invisible to the writer.
What to do instead
Use a three-step routine: write subject + verb for each sentence, add one detail, then proofread only for -s, a/an/the and past tense, making one pencil mark per line. Keep a personal list of five recurring errors and check only those.