Shimane Public High School Entrance Examination - English cheat sheet

Shimane listening sections are read twice in most years; the first pass is for the gist (who, where, what), the second pass confirms numbers, times, and prices.

Numbers are the most common trap: 13/thirteen vs 30/thirty, 15/fifteen vs 50/fifty, and 4:15 vs 4:50 are distinguished by syllable stress, not spelling.

Question words decide what to capture: when → time/date, how long → duration, how often → frequency, how much → price, which → choice among named options.

Discount and change problems: final price = original × (1 − discount rate); change = amount paid − final price. Write the arithmetic in the margin during the second reading.

Direction and location cues: go straight, turn left/right at the second corner, next to, across from, between A and B, on the corner of - sketch a quick map symbol.

Negation and correction cues flip the answer: "not ~ but …", "actually", "I'm afraid not", "instead" signal that an earlier stated plan or number is being replaced.

Inference items ask about the speaker's feeling or next action; choose the option supported by tone words (excited, worried, sorry) plus the final line of the dialogue.

Monologue tasks (announcements, weather, school events) usually answer a single detail question; note the day, place, and what listeners must bring or do.

Practical texts (posters, notices, menus, timetables, email) are answered by locating a keyword from the question in the text, then reading only the lines around it.

True/false and matching items: verify each option against a specific line; an option that is only partly true is false.

Time and date tables: count days inclusively when the text says "from Monday to Wednesday"; closed days and holidays override normal hours.

Dialogue reading: track speaker turns. Pronouns (he/she/it/they) refer to the nearest preceding matching noun - check number and gender.

Sequence questions use markers: first, then, after that, before, finally, by the time. Order events by these markers, not by sentence order in the paragraph.

Main-idea items: the answer covers the whole passage; a detail repeated from the text is usually a distractor, not the main idea.

"Why" items look for because / so / that's why / thanks to; the reason clause often follows the result clause in English.

Reference items (what does "this" mean) point to the immediately preceding sentence or clause, not to the whole paragraph.

Present perfect (have/has + past participle) pairs with since + starting point, for + length of time, and already/yet/just/ever/never.

Past tense vs present perfect: a finished past time word (yesterday, last week, in 2019, ago) forces simple past, never present perfect.

If-clauses use present tense for future meaning (If it rains tomorrow, we will …); will never appears inside the if-clause.

Comparatives: -er/more … than; superlative: the -est / the most. as … as shows equality; not as … as shows inferiority.

Infinitives after want/hope/decide/try/need; gerunds after enjoy/finish/stop/give up/look forward to (to is a preposition there).

Modal rules: must = obligation, have to = external obligation, should = advice, may/might = possibility, can't = strong impossibility.

Countable vs uncountable: many/few/a number of with countables; much/little/an amount of with uncountables; a lot of works with both.

Passive voice: be + past participle; the agent takes by. Tense is carried by be (is made, was made, has been made).

Basic English order is Subject → Verb → Object → place → time: She played tennis in the park yesterday.

Adverbs of frequency (always, usually, often, sometimes, never) sit before the main verb but after be: He is always late / He always walks.

Indirect questions keep statement order: Do you know where the station is? - never "where is the station" inside the question.

Relative clauses follow the noun immediately: the book that I bought yesterday; omit who/which/that only when it is the object.

Reordering items: find the subject and finite verb first, then attach modifiers. Preposition + noun stays together as a unit.

Two-object verbs: give/send/show/tell + person + thing, or + thing + to/for + person (give me the book = give the book to me).

Question formation needs do/does/did when there is no be or auxiliary: Where did you go? - the main verb stays in base form.

Conjunctions pair correctly: both A and B, either A or B, neither A nor B, not only A but also B - keep the same grammatical form on both sides.

Respond to Thanks with You're welcome / Not at all / My pleasure; respond to apology with That's all right / Never mind / Don't worry.

Offers use Would you like …? or Shall I …?; accept with Yes, please / That would be nice, decline with No, thank you / I'm fine, thanks.

Requests: Could you …? / Would you mind -ing? Answer a mind-question negatively to agree: No, not at all (= I'm happy to).

Permission: May/Can I …? Grant with Sure / Go ahead / Of course; refuse with I'm afraid you can't / Sorry, but ….

Introductions: Nice to meet you / How do you do; respond with the same phrase. Use This is … for introducing a third person.

Phone and shop formulas: May I speak to …? / Hold on, please. - How can I help you? / I'm just looking, thanks.

Invitation refusals need a reason plus an alternative: Sorry, I can't. I have a club match. How about next Sunday?

Agreement and disagreement: So do I / Neither do I mirror the auxiliary; disagreement uses Actually, I don't think so / I'm not sure about that.

Shimane composition tasks are typically 20–40 English words on a familiar topic (school life, club, hometown, future dream); answer every element the Japanese prompt names.

Structure: one topic sentence + one or two supporting sentences with a reason (because / for example) + one closing sentence.

Count words after writing; a stated word limit means the answer must reach the lower bound. Contractions count as one word.

Keep to grammar you control: simple past for experiences, present for habits and opinions, want to / would like to for hopes.

Japanese-prompt traps: 「あなたの考え」 requires an opinion, not a description; 「理由も書く」 requires an explicit because/so clause.

Avoid direct translation of Japanese set phrases; write short, correct sentences rather than long, broken ones.

Punctuation and capitalization are scored: capital letter at sentence start, period at end, I always capitalized.

Spelling of frequent school words matters: favorite, friend, practice, club activity, library, uniform, hometown, junior high school.

Chart and table tasks: read the axis labels and units first (people, %, times per week); the answer must match the unit asked for.

Compare two data points explicitly: A is larger/higher than B; A is twice as large as B; B is the second most popular.

When transferring from a passage to a form or email, keep the same facts but change the person: I → he/she, my → his/her, and adjust verbs to third person.

Summarizing: one sentence per paragraph, keeping only who did what and the result; delete examples and repeated adjectives.

Note-completion items must respect the grammar of the gap: a gap after "to" takes a base verb, after "a" takes a singular countable noun.

Email replies must answer each question in the original message, in the same order, using the requested length.

Data + opinion tasks: state the fact from the chart first (According to the chart, …), then give your view with a reason.

Check consistency: numbers, names, and dates copied into the answer must match the source exactly, including singular/plural forms.