Hokkaido Entrance English flashcards

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

Topic sentence

A sentence that states the main idea of a paragraph, usually placed first or last. Other sentences support or illustrate it, and questions often target it.

Counterargument and rebuttal

A counterargument presents an opposing view; a rebuttal answers it. In argumentative passages the author's final position usually follows the rebuttal, not the concession.

Inference beyond text

A choice that requires information not stated or logically implied in the passage. On 'most appropriate' questions such choices are distractors, not answers.

Referent resolution

Replacing pronouns such as this, these, or such with the noun phrase they point to, usually in the preceding one or two sentences, to check answer choices.

Concession marker

Words like although, while, despite, and admittedly that introduce a point the author grants before stating a stronger main claim later in the passage.

Non-restrictive relative clause

A clause beginning with a comma plus which or who that adds extra information rather than identifying the noun. In Japanese it is often split into a separate sentence.

Inanimate subject construction

A sentence whose subject is a thing, as in 'This enables us to do X.' Japanese translation converts it into a cause or means phrase: 'このおかげで私たちはXできる.'

Participial construction meaning

A participle clause can mean while, when, because, or although. The correct reading is decided by the logical relation between the clause and the main clause.

Omitted comparison element

In comparatives the element after than is often left out. Japanese translation must restore it to fix the exact meaning of 'more than' or 'less than'.

Pronoun omission in Japanese

Japanese often drops subjects and objects that English requires. Translating every it and they as それ and 彼ら produces unnatural, unclear Japanese.

Connector preservation

Paragraph translation must keep the logical links marked by however, therefore, and for example, even though Japanese word order differs from English.

Summary compression rule

A summary keeps one main claim and about two supporting reasons, omitting examples, names, and numbers unless the word limit allows them.

Paraphrase by part of speech

Rewording by changing word class, such as turning a verb into a noun, or switching between active and passive, so the summary does not copy the original wording.

Opinion essay structure

Claim, reason with example, second reason with example, then conclusion. The conclusion restates the claim and adds no new information.

Reporting verb for summaries

Verbs like argues, explains, and claims signal whether the original is argumentative or expository. They open a summary and frame its stance.

General-person you avoidance

In academic essays, generic you is replaced by we or people. Using you for an unspecified person reads as informal and is penalized in writing tasks.

Agreement and tense check

Before submitting a composition, verify subject-verb agreement, consistent tense, articles with countable nouns, and verb-preposition collocations.

Subjunctive past form

If plus past tense in the condition, would or could plus base verb in the result. It expresses a present unreal condition, not a past event.

Subjunctive past perfect

If plus had plus past participle, would have plus past participle. It expresses an unreal condition about the past and its imagined result.

Restrictive versus non-restrictive that

That introduces only restrictive clauses and never follows a comma. After a comma, use which for things and who for people.

Negated participle clause

Not or never is placed directly before the participle, as in 'Not knowing what to say, she stayed silent.' The negation applies to the whole clause.

Result in versus result from

Result in introduces the effect; result from introduces the cause. Confusing them reverses the causal direction of the sentence.

Causative verb patterns

Make, let, and have take an object plus base verb. Get takes an object plus past participle or to-infinitive, as in 'get it fixed.'

Multiplicative comparison

Twice as ... as and three times as ... as keep the adjective in its base form between as. Do not use the comparative form there.

Since with perfect tense

With present perfect, since means 'from that time until now.' The clause after since uses past tense, as in 'since she left.'

Context vocabulary strategy

First use part of speech and collocation around the blank to narrow candidates, then check which remaining word fits the sentence meaning.

Definite article as ordering clue

A sentence with the plus noun usually refers to something already mentioned, so it cannot come before the sentence that first introduces that noun.

Five connector functions

Connectors fall into addition, contrast, cause-effect, exemplification, and concession. Matching the function to the relation between adjacent sentences fixes paragraph order.

General to specific order

Expository paragraphs often move from a general topic sentence to examples marked by for example, then to a closing summary sentence.

Paired contrast markers

On the one hand and on the other hand form a pair. A sentence containing only one of them signals that its partner must appear nearby in the ordered paragraph.

Question-answer paragraph opening

A paragraph may open with a question that frames the issue, with the answer and supporting evidence following in later sentences.

Chronological ordering signal

Words like first, next, finally, and explicit years are decisive ordering clues. Check whether the sequence runs forward or backward in time.