Kochi Entrance English cheat sheet

Main idea = the claim the whole passage supports; a detail question's answer is true but not the whole passage's point.

Question stems with 'infer' or 'suggest' require an answer implied by the text but not stated word-for-word; reject answers that need outside knowledge.

Tone words (critical, nostalgic, detached, ironic) must be justified by diction and punctuation, not by the topic alone.

Pronoun and reference questions: trace the antecedent to the nearest preceding noun phrase that agrees in number and makes logical sense.

Scan for contrast markers (however, yet, although, nevertheless) because they usually introduce the author's actual position.

Vocabulary-in-context items: substitute each option into the sentence and keep only the one matching the passage's register and logic.

For 'EXCEPT' or 'NOT' questions, verify each option against a specific line; the correct answer is the one with no textual support.

Order-of-events and paragraph-function questions depend on transition words: first, then, later, finally, for example, in contrast.

Collocation pairs are fixed by usage, not logic: 'make a decision', 'take responsibility', 'do research', 'pay attention'.

Distinguish confusable pairs: affect (verb) / effect (noun); principal (main or school head) / principle (rule); lie (recline) / lay (place something).

Phrasal verbs change meaning with the particle: give up (quit), give in (surrender), give out (distribute or fail), give away (donate or reveal).

Preposition after adjective or verb is memorized as a unit: depend on, consist of, capable of, interested in, similar to, responsible for.

Word-formation: -tion/-ment/-ance make nouns, -ive/-ous/-able make adjectives, -ly usually makes adverbs but not for friendly, lovely, likely.

Countable vs uncountable governs quantifiers: many/few with count nouns, much/little with uncount nouns, a number of vs an amount of.

Formal register prefers single Latinate verbs (commence, obtain, require) over phrasal verbs (start, get, need).

Idioms must be recognized as whole units; 'a piece of cake' means easy, and its meaning cannot be derived from the component words.

Subject-verb agreement: the verb agrees with the head noun, not the nearest noun; 'The list of items is long' takes a singular verb.

Neither...nor and either...or take a verb agreeing with the nearer subject: 'Neither the students nor the teacher was present.'

Present perfect (have/has + past participle) links past action to present relevance; simple past marks a finished time ('yesterday', 'in 2019').

Conditional types: zero (if + present, present), first (if + present, will), second (if + past, would), third (if + had + participle, would have + participle).

Relative clauses: use 'who' for people, 'which' for things, 'whose' for possession; non-defining clauses take commas and never 'that'.

Passive form is be + past participle, and the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive.

Reported speech shifts tense back one step and adjusts time and place words: now becomes then, today becomes that day, here becomes there.

Dangling modifiers: the introductory participle must describe the subject of the main clause, so 'Walking home, I saw...' is correct and 'Walking home, the rain...' is not.

A paragraph has one controlling idea; every supporting sentence must relate to it, and the topic sentence usually comes first.

Essay structure: introduction with thesis, body paragraphs each with a claim plus evidence, conclusion that restates the thesis without new arguments.

Cohesion devices: use pronouns, synonyms, and transitions (furthermore, consequently, in contrast) instead of repeating the same noun.

Sentence variety rule: mix simple, compound, and complex sentences; a string of short simple sentences reads choppy, and all-long sentences obscure the point.

Comma splice is an error: two independent clauses need a period, semicolon, or coordinating conjunction, not a bare comma.

Formal writing avoids contractions, slang, second-person 'you', and vague quantifiers such as 'a lot of' or 'things'.

Argument quality is judged on a clear position, relevant reasons, acknowledgment of a counterargument, and a rebuttal.

Editing checklist order: content and organization first, then sentence clarity, then grammar, then spelling and punctuation.

Signal words announce structure: 'first', 'another reason', 'on the other hand', 'to sum up' mark the speaker's outline.

Numbers, dates, and names are usually stated once; note them immediately rather than waiting for the question.

Distinguish the speaker's opinion from reported views: 'Some people say... but I think...' means the opinion follows the contrast marker.

Intonation carries meaning: rising tone signals a question or uncertainty, falling tone signals completion or certainty.

Inference items ask what the speaker implies; the answer follows from tone and word choice, not from a literal transcript line.

Listen for corrections and hedges ('actually', 'I mean', 'not exactly') because the final version overrides the first statement.

Predict content from the question stems before audio starts, so attention is directed to the relevant section.

In dialogue tasks, track who says what; speaker A's problem and speaker B's advice are frequently tested separately.

Translate meaning, not word order: restructure the sentence to fit the target language's natural syntax.

Idioms and proverbs require equivalent expressions, not literal renderings; literal translation of figurative language produces nonsense.

Paraphrase changes vocabulary and grammar while preserving propositional meaning; adding or removing information is not paraphrase.

Passive-to-active and active-to-passive shifts are standard paraphrase moves when the original agent is unclear or unimportant.

Technical terms and proper nouns stay in English or keep their established form; do not invent translations for them.

Japanese-to-English direction: Japanese omits subjects freely, so supply the correct English pronoun from context, and convert verb-final order to subject-verb-object.

Nominalization is a common paraphrase tool: 'He decided quickly' becomes 'His decision was quick', changing the grammatical class but not the sense.

Check back-translation: if translating the output back yields the original meaning, the rendering is faithful.

Integrated tasks combine reading and listening; the response must synthesize both sources and attribute ideas correctly.

When sources conflict, report both positions and state which evidence is stronger rather than silently choosing one.

Summary writing: keep main claims, drop examples and repetition, and never insert personal opinion unless the prompt asks for it.

Note-taking during listening should use abbreviations and symbols, capturing claims and reasons rather than full sentences.

Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing differ in closeness to the source; only direct quotation keeps the original wording and needs quotation marks.

Task response is scored on content accuracy, organization, and language control; missing a source's key point costs more than a minor grammar slip.

Timed integrated tasks: allocate roughly a quarter of the time to planning and outlining before writing.

Cross-check the prompt's word limit and required format; exceeding the limit or omitting the required structure loses marks independent of language quality.

Main idea = the claim the whole passage supports; a detail question's answer is true but not the whole passage's point.

Question stems with 'infer' or 'suggest' require an answer implied by the text but not stated word-for-word; reject answers that need outside knowledge.

Tone words (critical, nostalgic, detached, ironic) must be justified by diction and punctuation, not by the topic alone.

Pronoun and reference questions: trace the antecedent to the nearest preceding noun phrase that agrees in number and makes logical sense.

Scan for contrast markers (however, yet, although, nevertheless) because they usually introduce the author's actual position.

Vocabulary-in-context items: substitute each option into the sentence and keep only the one matching the passage's register and logic.

For 'EXCEPT' or 'NOT' questions, verify each option against a specific line; the correct answer is the one with no textual support.

Order-of-events and paragraph-function questions depend on transition words: first, then, later, finally, for example, in contrast.

Collocation pairs are fixed by usage, not logic: 'make a decision', 'take responsibility', 'do research', 'pay attention'.

Distinguish confusable pairs: affect (verb) / effect (noun); principal (main or school head) / principle (rule); lie (recline) / lay (place something).

Phrasal verbs change meaning with the particle: give up (quit), give in (surrender), give out (distribute or fail), give away (donate or reveal).

Preposition after adjective or verb is memorized as a unit: depend on, consist of, capable of, interested in, similar to, responsible for.

Word-formation: -tion/-ment/-ance make nouns, -ive/-ous/-able make adjectives, -ly usually makes adverbs but not for friendly, lovely, likely.

Countable vs uncountable governs quantifiers: many/few with count nouns, much/little with uncount nouns, a number of vs an amount of.

Formal register prefers single Latinate verbs (commence, obtain, require) over phrasal verbs (start, get, need).

Idioms must be recognized as whole units; 'a piece of cake' means easy, and its meaning cannot be derived from the component words.

Subject-verb agreement: the verb agrees with the head noun, not the nearest noun; 'The list of items is long' takes a singular verb.

Neither...nor and either...or take a verb agreeing with the nearer subject: 'Neither the students nor the teacher was present.'

Present perfect (have/has + past participle) links past action to present relevance; simple past marks a finished time ('yesterday', 'in 2019').

Conditional types: zero (if + present, present), first (if + present, will), second (if + past, would), third (if + had + participle, would have + participle).

Relative clauses: use 'who' for people, 'which' for things, 'whose' for possession; non-defining clauses take commas and never 'that'.

Passive form is be + past participle, and the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive.

Reported speech shifts tense back one step and adjusts time and place words: now becomes then, today becomes that day, here becomes there.

Dangling modifiers: the introductory participle must describe the subject of the main clause, so 'Walking home, I saw...' is correct and 'Walking home, the rain...' is not.

A paragraph has one controlling idea; every supporting sentence must relate to it, and the topic sentence usually comes first.

Essay structure: introduction with thesis, body paragraphs each with a claim plus evidence, conclusion that restates the thesis without new arguments.

Cohesion devices: use pronouns, synonyms, and transitions (furthermore, consequently, in contrast) instead of repeating the same noun.

Sentence variety rule: mix simple, compound, and complex sentences; a string of short simple sentences reads choppy, and all-long sentences obscure the point.

Comma splice is an error: two independent clauses need a period, semicolon, or coordinating conjunction, not a bare comma.

Formal writing avoids contractions, slang, second-person 'you', and vague quantifiers such as 'a lot of' or 'things'.

Argument quality is judged on a clear position, relevant reasons, acknowledgment of a counterargument, and a rebuttal.

Editing checklist order: content and organization first, then sentence clarity, then grammar, then spelling and punctuation.

Signal words announce structure: 'first', 'another reason', 'on the other hand', 'to sum up' mark the speaker's outline.

Numbers, dates, and names are usually stated once; note them immediately rather than waiting for the question.

Distinguish the speaker's opinion from reported views: 'Some people say... but I think...' means the opinion follows the contrast marker.

Intonation carries meaning: rising tone signals a question or uncertainty, falling tone signals completion or certainty.

Inference items ask what the speaker implies; the answer follows from tone and word choice, not from a literal transcript line.

Listen for corrections and hedges ('actually', 'I mean', 'not exactly') because the final version overrides the first statement.

Predict content from the question stems before audio starts, so attention is directed to the relevant section.

In dialogue tasks, track who says what; speaker A's problem and speaker B's advice are frequently tested separately.

Translate meaning, not word order: restructure the sentence to fit the target language's natural syntax.

Idioms and proverbs require equivalent expressions, not literal renderings; literal translation of figurative language produces nonsense.

Paraphrase changes vocabulary and grammar while preserving propositional meaning; adding or removing information is not paraphrase.

Passive-to-active and active-to-passive shifts are standard paraphrase moves when the original agent is unclear or unimportant.

Technical terms and proper nouns stay in English or keep their established form; do not invent translations for them.

Japanese-to-English direction: Japanese omits subjects freely, so supply the correct English pronoun from context, and convert verb-final order to subject-verb-object.

Nominalization is a common paraphrase tool: 'He decided quickly' becomes 'His decision was quick', changing the grammatical class but not the sense.

Check back-translation: if translating the output back yields the original meaning, the rendering is faithful.

Integrated tasks combine reading and listening; the response must synthesize both sources and attribute ideas correctly.

When sources conflict, report both positions and state which evidence is stronger rather than silently choosing one.

Summary writing: keep main claims, drop examples and repetition, and never insert personal opinion unless the prompt asks for it.

Note-taking during listening should use abbreviations and symbols, capturing claims and reasons rather than full sentences.

Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing differ in closeness to the source; only direct quotation keeps the original wording and needs quotation marks.

Task response is scored on content accuracy, organization, and language control; missing a source's key point costs more than a minor grammar slip.

Timed integrated tasks: allocate roughly a quarter of the time to planning and outlining before writing.

Cross-check the prompt's word limit and required format; exceeding the limit or omitting the required structure loses marks independent of language quality.