Nagano Entrance English flashcards

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

Contrastive stress

Emphasis placed on a word to signal a difference, as in THIRteen versus THIRty; in listening items, the stressed number or name is usually the intended answer.

Negation traps

Words such as hardly, rarely, not until, and no longer reverse the expected meaning in listening questions; mark them on the script before choosing an option.

Location prepositions

Across from, opposite, next to, between, and on the corner of describe positions; in map-style listening items they identify the correct destination.

Correction cue

A phrase such as Actually, make it ... or Sorry, I meant ... cancels earlier information; the final stated value is the answer in listening items.

Main-idea answer

The option that restates the whole short passage; it is broader than any single detail and does not introduce information absent from the text.

Vocabulary in context

Meaning determined by substituting each option into the original sentence; the correct choice keeps the sentence's logic and tone intact.

NOT/EXCEPT items

Questions asking which option is not stated; three choices appear in the passage and the fourth is absent or contradicted, so it is the answer.

Pronoun reference

It, they, this, and such refer to the nearest preceding noun phrase that agrees in number; identifying the referent resolves many short-passage detail items.

Paragraph function

The role a paragraph plays in a long passage: introducing, supporting with evidence, contrasting, or concluding; structure questions depend on this analysis.

Contrast markers

However, although, on the other hand, and yet signal a shift; the author's main claim often follows these markers in long passages.

Cause-effect markers

Thus, consequently, as a result, and lead to connect evidence to conclusion; they help answer why-questions in long expository passages.

Insertion item

A sentence-order question testing where a new sentence fits; check that its pronouns and connectors match the surrounding text before choosing a position.

Collocation

A fixed word partnership such as make a decision, take part in, or pay attention to; the verb cannot be replaced by a synonym without changing acceptability.

Phrasal verb meaning

The particle changes the verb's sense: look after means care for, look into means investigate, and look up to means respect.

Fixed idioms

Expressions with unchanging form, such as a piece of cake (easy), under the weather (ill), and break the ice (start a conversation).

Uncountable nouns

Information, advice, furniture, and luggage take no plural -s and no a/an; use a piece of or an item of instead.

Subject-verb agreement

Each, every, either, neither, and everyone take singular verbs; the number of takes singular, while a number of takes plural.

Future time clauses

After when, before, after, until, and as soon as, use the present tense for future meaning, as in I'll call you when I arrive.

Third conditional

If + had + past participle, would have + past participle; it describes an unreal past situation and its imagined result.

Negative inversion

After never, not only, hardly, or no sooner at the start of a sentence, the auxiliary precedes the subject, as in Never have I seen.

Adjacency pairs

Paired utterances such as offer-accept, apology-acceptance, and request-grant; the second move must match the first in dialogue-completion items.

Would you mind reply

The polite answer to Would you mind ...? is Not at all or Of course not; Yes would mean the speaker does mind.

Telephone formulas

May I speak to ...?, Speaking, Hold on please, and Can I take a message? form the standard script for phone dialogues.

Softened refusal

I'd love to, but ... or I'm afraid I can't ... declines an invitation politely; a bare No is pragmatically inappropriate in situational items.

Article ordering clue

A/an marks first mention and the marks a noun already introduced; this distinction helps order sentences in reordering tasks.

Connector placement

However, therefore, in addition, and for example signal a relation to the preceding sentence; their position reveals the correct sentence order.

General-to-specific order

The common paragraph pattern: topic sentence, explanation, example, conclusion; reordered sentences usually follow this progression.

Lexical chain

Repeated or synonymous words such as climate, weather, and temperature link adjacent sentences and reveal their correct sequence in reordering items.

Subject insertion

Japanese often omits the subject, but English requires one; supply I, you, or they from context during translation.

ている translation

The Japanese form -te iru becomes be + -ing for an ongoing action or have + past participle for a resulting state, depending on context.

Causative translation

The Japanese -seru/-saseru form becomes make, let, or have someone do something; choose by whether force or permission is meant.

Topic sentence

The first sentence of a composition paragraph; it states the paragraph's single idea and is supported by two or three following sentences.