Niigata Public High School Entrance Examination - English flashcards

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

Correction markers in listening

Words such as actually, no wait, on second thought and but signal that an earlier number, time or plan is cancelled; the value spoken after the marker answers the question.

Clock time conversions

Convert half past seven to 7:30, a quarter to nine to 8:45 and ten to eight to 7:50 before doing any arithmetic with durations heard in the recording.

Negative question replies

For 'Don't you like natto?' answer about the fact: 'Yes, I do' means you like it and 'No, I don't' means you do not; the negative verb does not flip the answer.

Distractor options in listening

A choice that repeats a word from the recording but does not match the question word is a distractor; decide what the question asks before comparing the options.

Calendar and frequency expressions

'The day after tomorrow' means two days later, 'every other day' means alternate days, and 'twice a week' means two times each week.

Would you mind requests

'Would you mind opening the window?' is a request. Answer 'Not at all' or 'Of course not' to accept it; a plain 'Yes' refuses it.

Replying to thanks

'Thank you' takes 'You're welcome', 'My pleasure' or 'Not at all'. 'Nice to meet you' answers an introduction, and 'Never mind' answers an apology instead.

Replying to an apology

'I'm sorry I'm late' takes 'That's all right', 'Never mind' or 'No problem'. 'You're welcome' is used only for thanks, not for an apology.

Declining an invitation

Polite pattern: 'I'd love to, but I have to ~.' Accept with 'That sounds great' or 'I'd be glad to'; a bare 'No' is too abrupt for the test.

So and neither agreement

'So + auxiliary + subject' follows a positive statement ('So do I'); 'neither + auxiliary + subject' follows a negative ('Neither can I'). The auxiliary must match the first speaker's.

How about you replies

The question 'How about you?' or 'What about you?' sends the same question back, so answer with your own information instead of yes or no.

Present perfect with since, for

Use have/has + past participle with 'since' plus a starting point (since 2020) or 'for' plus a length of time (for five years). Past tense goes with yesterday and ago.

One of the, the number of

'One of the students is' takes a singular verb because the subject is one. 'The number of ~ is' is singular; 'a number of ~ are' is plural.

Uncountable nouns in exams

Information, advice, news, furniture, homework and money take singular verbs and no plural -s; say 'a piece of information' and 'a lot of homework'.

because versus because of

'Because' is followed by a subject and verb ('because it rained'); 'because of' is followed by a noun or gerund ('because of the rain'). Although and in spite of follow the same split.

Verbs followed by -ing

Enjoy, finish, stop, mind, practice and look forward to take the -ing form: 'I enjoy reading', 'I'm looking forward to seeing you.' 'Stop -ing' means quit.

Relative pronoun that or which

Use who for people, which for things, and that in defining clauses, especially after superlatives and all or only. Whose shows possession, and an object pronoun may be omitted.

Question word order

In direct questions the auxiliary precedes the subject: 'Where did you buy it?' Embedded questions keep statement order: 'Do you know where he bought it?'

too adjective to verb

'Too + adjective + to + verb' already has a negative meaning: 'This box is too heavy to carry' means you cannot carry it, so no 'not' is added.

Adjective order before nouns

Arrange adjectives as opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, then noun: 'a nice big old brown wooden desk.' Entrance items usually test opinion and size first.

Preposition at relative clause end

A preposition needed by the verb is left at the end: 'the pen which I write with' or 'the person I talked to'. Do not repeat the noun after which.

it takes time to do

'How long does it take to get there?' puts take before the time and to + verb after it; the subject is it, not you.

Reference of it and this

A pronoun or 'this' points to the nearest earlier noun phrase matching in number and meaning; if none fits, it stands for the idea of the previous sentence.

Contrast markers carry the claim

But, however, although, instead and on the other hand mark the writer's point; the sentence following them answers main-idea questions better than the sentence before.

Eliminating absolute options

Choices containing always, never, only, all or must are usually wrong unless the passage states them; cautious choices with may, some or often are safer.

Paraphrase matching for details

The passage rarely repeats an option's exact words. Locate the sentence with the same meaning in different words, then check its number, person and time.

Timeline for narrative passages

List events in order and mark before, after, while, as soon as and then. Ordering and detail questions are answered from this list rather than from memory.

Word count middle target

If the condition says 25–35 words, plan about 30. Contractions count as one word, so re-count after adding or deleting a because-clause.

Condition checklist for writing

Underline each required content point, such as two reasons, one example or your own experience, and tick each one in the draft; a missing point costs more than a small grammar slip.

Opinion-reason-example frame

Sentence 1 states the opinion, sentence 2 gives 'because ~', sentence 3 adds 'For example, ~'; three sentences fill a 25–35 word limit without padding.

Japanese-English error traps

Avoid 'I like play tennis' (use 'I like playing tennis'), 'I am agree' (use 'I agree') and 'many book' (use 'many books'); check articles a, an and the last.

I think that frame

'I think that + subject + verb' introduces an opinion, and 'Also,' or 'So,' links the next sentence. Do not write 'I think to ~' or 'I think play'.