Ibaraki Entrance English cheat sheet

-teen vs -ty: thirteen carries stress on the second syllable and a long /iː/, thirty has stress on the first syllable and a short vowel - stress alone decides 13 or 30 in prices, ages, and times.

Pre-scan the wh-word of each item (who, when, where, why, how much, how long) before the recording starts; it names the single detail you must capture.

Correction markers (Actually…, No, wait…, I mean…, but) cancel what a speaker said earlier; the corrected value that follows is the answer.

Numbers and units are read in English: 1,500 = one thousand five hundred, 3:30 = half past three, 1/2 = a half, 90 = ninety (not nine).

Three-option items usually mention all three options in the script; the correct one is confirmed by the second speaker or stated last.

Time arithmetic is required: two hours later, the day after tomorrow, next Sunday, and thirty minutes ago must be computed from the base time stated in the dialogue.

Direction pairs decide meaning: bring/take, come/go, borrow/lend are chosen by whether the action moves toward or away from the speaker.

Note-taking: write numerals, name initials, and arrows (→/←) rather than full words, so writing does not lag behind the audio.

Function–response pairing: an invitation takes an acceptance plus comment or a decline with apology + reason; an apology takes That's all right / Never mind; thanks takes You're welcome.

Politeness scale: Would/Could > Will/Can; Would you mind…? is agreed to with Not at all / Of course not, and refused with I'm sorry, but….

Shop and restaurant scripts: May I take your order?, I'll have the fish, For here or to go?, Can I help you?, I'll take it, Can I try it on?

Telephone formulas: This is Ken speaking (never I am Ken), May I speak to Yumi?, Hold on, please, and Can I take a message?

Directions: Go along/down this street, turn left at the second corner, It's on your right, It's next to/opposite the bank.

Ordering items: the reply must match the wh-word or auxiliary of the prompt - a When…? prompt cannot be answered by a place name, and a Do…? prompt takes Yes/No.

Idiom meaning items: That's the last thing I want = I don't want it; It's up to you = you decide; I'm afraid… = softener/apology, not fear.

Reference in short exchanges: it/that/one points to the last matching noun; So do I / Neither do I mirror the auxiliary of the previous statement.

Underlined-pronoun items (it, them, this): choose the nearest preceding noun that agrees in number, then substitute it back into the sentence to confirm it still reads correctly.

Connective map: but/however/although = contrast; so/therefore/as a result = consequence; for example = illustration; in other words/that is = restatement.

Main idea sits in the first sentence of a paragraph (topic sentence) and is restated in the final paragraph; correct main-idea options paraphrase those sentences instead of quoting them.

Content-match items: a false option typically copies exact words from the passage while swapping the subject, adding a negative, or changing a number or date.

Why-questions: the reason follows because/since, or follows That's why; quote that clause and check that its subject matches the question.

Chronology items: time markers (first, then, after that, finally, in 2011) build the timeline the ordering question follows.

Unknown vocabulary: use appositives, dashes, which means, that is, and word parts (un-, -less, -tion) before guessing from general meaning.

Scanning: locate digits and proper nouns first, then read only the two sentences around each hit rather than rereading the whole passage.

Subject–verb agreement: third-person singular present verbs take -s; the pattern one of the + plural noun takes a singular verb (One of my friends lives in Mito).

Future time clauses: when, if, before, after, as soon as take the present tense; the main clause carries will (I will call you when I arrive).

Verb-pattern split: enjoy/finish/stop/mind/practice + -ing; want/hope/decide/plan/need + to-infinitive; the first verb fixes the form.

Relative pronouns: who = person, which = thing, whose = possession, where = place, that = either in a defining clause.

Comparison formulas: as + adjective + as; -er/more + adjective + than; the -est/most + adjective + in/of.

Passive: be + past participle (+ by agent); with a modal it becomes modal + be + past participle (must be done).

Confusable pairs fixed by direction or object: borrow from vs lend to; say + words vs tell + person; few + countable vs little + uncountable; bring vs take.

Word-family conversion: decide→decision, happy→happiness, danger→dangerous; suffixes -tion, -ment, -ness, -ful, -less signal the part of speech the blank needs.

Preposition + gerund: after in, of, about, without, before, a verb takes -ing (good at swimming, instead of going).

Condition checklist before writing: word limit, required number of sentences, required content (opinion and/or reason and/or example), and any word supplied by the prompt.

Sentence frame: subject + verb (+ object/complement); an explicit subject is obligatory, so Because it is fun. is a fragment and must become I like it because it is fun.

Reason connectors: because, so, For example, Also - one idea per sentence, with the connector placed before the reason or example.

Word-count control: aim for the middle of the stated range (about 14–16 words for a 10–20 limit); contractions and hyphenated words each count as one word.

Tense mirror: a past-tense question takes a past-tense answer, a question about plans takes will/be going to, a general-opinion question takes the present.

Supplied-word rule: a word or phrase given in the prompt is reused unchanged (same tense, number, spelling), with the rest of the sentence built around it.

Mechanics: capital letter at the start, period/question mark at the end, comma after an introductory phrase, and romaji place names spelled as given (Mito, Kairakuen).

High-value vocabulary: opinion adjectives (interesting, useful, exciting, difficult), reason nouns (health, friendship, time), and frequency adverbs placed before the main verb.