Iwate Entrance English cheat sheet

Main-idea items: the correct answer restates the whole passage's point; a choice that is true but covers only one paragraph is a detail distractor.

Order of events: locate each option's keyword in the passage, then rank by line position; the passage order, not world knowledge, decides the sequence.

Pronoun reference (it, they, this, such): the referent must agree in number and fit grammatically in the same sentence; test by substituting each candidate.

True/False or choice items with 'not mentioned': eliminate options whose content appears in the text; the leftover is the answer.

Inference items use wording like 'most likely' or 'suggest'; the answer must be supported by stated evidence, not by real-world plausibility.

Signal words mark structure: however/but = contrast, therefore/thus = conclusion, for example = support for the preceding claim.

Numbers and dates in questions are usually paraphrased in the text (e.g., 'half of' for '50%'); match meaning, not surface form.

For English passages with a Japanese gloss or title, the title states the topic, not the author's conclusion; answer conclusion items from the final paragraph.

Tense agreement: a past-time adverb (yesterday, last week, in 2019) forces past tense; 'since/for + duration' forces present perfect (has lived, not lives).

Subject-verb agreement: ignore prepositional phrases between subject and verb - 'The number of students is', 'A number of students are'.

Countable vs uncountable: much/little/few-er with uncountables (much money, less time); many/fewer with countables (many books, fewer books).

Gerund vs infinitive: enjoy/finish/avoid/mind + -ing; want/hope/decide/plan + to-infinitive; stop -ing = cease, stop to do = pause in order to do.

Relative pronouns: who for people, which for things, whose for possession, where for places; omit the relative pronoun only when it is the object.

Comparatives: as ... as for equality, -er/more ... than for difference, the -est/the most for three or more; 'the more ..., the more ...' links two parallel clauses.

Preposition collocations to memorize as units: depend on, interested in, good at, afraid of, look forward to + -ing, arrive at/in (not arrive to).

Modal meaning: must = strong obligation or near-certainty, should = advice, may/might = possibility, cannot = impossibility; 'must have + past participle' = strong past inference.

Answer the prompt's exact question type: opinion, experience, or description; an off-topic essay scores zero on content regardless of grammar.

Structure: introduction stating the position, two body paragraphs each with one reason plus a concrete example, and a conclusion restating the position in new words.

Word-count items: count only content words you wrote; keep 10-15% above the stated minimum so deletions during editing do not drop you below it.

Paragraph rule: one idea per paragraph; a new paragraph starts when the topic changes, signaled by First/Second/Finally or In addition/However.

Cohesion devices to deploy deliberately: however, therefore, for example, in contrast, as a result - at most one per sentence boundary.

Accuracy over ambition: use structures you control; a correctly formed simple sentence earns more than a broken complex one.

Common Japanese-L1 errors to self-check: article omission (a/the), plural -s, subject omission ('Is difficult' → 'It is difficult'), and 'very like' → 'like ... very much'.

Editing pass checklist in order: verb tense consistency, subject-verb agreement, articles, spelling, then word count.

Japanese word order is SOV and English is SVO: identify the verb at the sentence end first, then assign subject and objects to it.

Japanese omits subjects freely; supply 'I', 'you', 'they', or 'it' from context, and keep the same referent consistent across the passage.

Particles map to English grammar: は = topic (often subject), が = new-information subject, を = direct object, に = target/time/place, で = means/place of action.

No article in Japanese does not mean no article in English: singular countable nouns need a/an or the unless plural or abstract.

Translate meaning, not words: 〜てしまう → 'end up .../unfortunately', 〜なければならない → 'must/have to', 〜かもしれない → 'may/might'.

Passive and causative (〜れる/〜させる) must be made explicit in English: 'was done by', 'made/let someone do'.

Avoid literal calques: 「〜が好きです」 → 'I like ...' (not 'I am fond of ... is'), 「人気がある」 → 'is popular', not 'has popularity'.

Proper nouns and school terms: keep names in romanized form, place the modifier before the noun (Iwate Prefectural High School), and check capitalization of titles.

Read the question and options during the pre-question pause; the option wording tells you which detail (number, place, reason) to listen for.

Numbers are the most-tested detail: listen for prices, times, and dates, and expect a correction such as 'Actually, make it 3:30' where the second value is correct.

Contrast markers signal the answer: but, however, actually, instead - the information after them usually overrides what came before.

Question-answer items: match the auxiliary and tense of the question (Did you ...? → Yes, I did), not just the topic word.

Distractors repeat words from the audio; the correct option usually paraphrases them (e.g., 'It's too expensive' for 'It costs too much').

For dialog items, track the speaker's purpose: invitation, request, apology, or suggestion each has a fixed response pattern.

Take shorthand notes only for proper nouns, numbers, and negation; writing full sentences causes you to miss the next line.

If a word is missed, keep listening - later context often resolves it, and a skipped item should be answered by best-fit elimination rather than left blank.

Start from the fixed anchor: the subject plus its verb is the skeleton; place remaining chunks as modifiers before or after it.

Japanese-to-English order items: the English verb comes early, so locate the chunk containing the main verb and build outward from it.

Adjective order: opinion–size–age–shape–color–origin–material–noun (a beautiful small old round brown Italian wooden table).

Adverb placement: frequency adverbs go before the main verb but after be (She often walks / She is often late); manner before place before time (walked slowly to school yesterday).

Question formation: auxiliary before subject (Where did he go?), and the main verb stays in base form after do/does/did.

Indirect questions use statement order: 'Do you know where he lives?' - never 'where does he live' inside the clause.

Phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs keep fixed order: look after the child, not look the child after; but pronoun objects go inside separable phrasal verbs (turn it off).

Connector position decides punctuation: however/therefore at sentence start take a comma; because/although introduce a subordinate clause that cannot stand alone.