Shizuoka Public High School Entrance Examination - English cheat sheet

Question types on the Shizuoka listening section: picture/illustration selection, dialogue content matching, and short passage comprehension; each recording is played once in most years, so answers must be marked while listening.

Numbers, times, and prices are the most common trap: the recording usually states two figures (e.g., 3:30 then corrected to 4:15), and the correct answer is the final corrected figure, not the first one heard.

Directional and spatial words decide picture answers: on the left/right of, next to, between A and B, in front of, behind, across from, near the station. Match the preposition to the picture position, not to the object name alone.

Listen for discourse markers that signal the answer: 'but', 'actually', 'instead', 'so', 'because', 'the problem is'. The clause after 'but/actually' usually overrides the earlier statement.

Action verbs distinguish similar pictures: carrying / holding / putting / picking up / giving / showing / borrowing / lending. Two pictures may show the same object with different actions, so the verb is the deciding cue.

When speakers disagree, the answer follows the second speaker's final decision: 'Well, I wanted A, but let's do B then.' The plan adopted is the last proposal accepted by both.

Weather, day-of-week, and transport questions: note the day and the vehicle separately; distractors swap the vehicle (bus vs. train) or shift the day by one.

If a word is missed, keep listening: the answer is usually restated in simpler words later in the same recording, and stopping to think loses the next item.

Short-dialogue items ask for the response or the reason: identify the function of the other speaker's line (invitation, apology, request, suggestion, refusal) and choose the reply that matches that function and tense.

For invitation lines ('Would you like to ...?', 'How about ...?'), the natural acceptances are 'Sure, I'd love to', 'That sounds good'; refusals pair an apology with a reason: 'Sorry, I have to ...'.

Pronoun reference items: 'it/they/this/that' refers to the nearest preceding noun phrase that fits the meaning; test by substituting the candidate back into the sentence.

Short-passage main-idea items: the answer covers the whole passage, not one detail; a choice that repeats one sentence's wording is usually a detail distractor.

True/false and 'which is NOT stated' items: verify each option against a specific line; the false option typically reverses a relation (cause/effect, before/after) or changes a number.

Time-order items in notices and schedules: convert stated times to a single timeline (arrival, start, break, end) and check which event comes first or how long a gap lasts.

Signal words carry the logic: 'because/so' = cause and result, 'but/however' = contrast, 'for example' = illustration. The question usually targets the clause after the signal.

Vocabulary-in-context items: replace the target word with each option inside the original sentence; the correct option keeps the sentence's meaning and grammar.

Long-passage structure in Japanese entrance exams: introduction of a topic or experience, a turning point ('but then I realized'), and a conclusion stating the writer's changed view. The final paragraph carries the main-idea answer.

Empathy/feeling items ask how a character felt at a marked point; the answer must be supported by an action or quote in the same paragraph, not by general knowledge.

'Why did X do ...?' items: the reason is stated with because/since/so/that is why, or implied by the sentence immediately before the action.

Information-retrieval (multiple-source) items: read the question first, then locate the matching row/column in the table, poster, or email; combine two conditions (e.g., date AND price) before choosing.

Condition-matching rule for tables and flyers: an option is correct only if it satisfies every stated condition; one failed condition (wrong day, wrong age, closed time) eliminates it.

Numbers in retrieval tasks: watch units and qualifiers - 'per person', 'for students', 'free for children under 6', 'half price after 5 p.m.' Change the unit before comparing.

Paragraph-insertion and ordering items: use connective clues (however, therefore, for example, also) and pronoun links to place the sentence where the logic flows.

Answer evidence rule: every chosen option must be traceable to a specific sentence; an option that is true in real life but absent from the passage is wrong.

Tense agreement: a past-tense narrative keeps past tense; use past progressive for an action in progress ('was reading when the phone rang') and present perfect for experience continuing to now ('have lived here for ten years').

Subject-verb agreement: third-person singular present takes -s; 'one of the + plural noun' takes a singular verb; 'each/every/everyone' is singular.

Infinitives and gerunds: want/hope/decide/plan + to do; enjoy/finish/stop/mind/practice + doing; 'stop to do' = pause in order to, 'stop doing' = quit the activity.

Participles after nouns: 'the boy playing tennis' (active, doing), 'the letter written in English' (passive, done). Choose by whether the noun performs or receives the action.

Comparatives: as ... as, not as ... as, the -est / the most, 'the + comparative ..., the + comparative ...' ('The more you practice, the better you become').

Relative pronouns: who for people, which for things, that for both in defining clauses, where for places, whose for possession. Omit the pronoun only when it is the object.

Modal meaning: must = obligation, have to = external necessity, should = advice, may/might = possibility, can't = impossibility. Match the modal to the situation described.

Preposition and collocation vocabulary: depend on, good at, interested in, afraid of, look forward to + doing, take part in, be proud of. These fixed pairs are frequent blanks.

Reordering strategy: find the subject and main verb first, then attach modifiers (adverb, prepositional phrase, to-infinitive, participle) in the order English requires: subject + verb + object + place + time.

Indirect questions use statement order: 'Do you know where he lives?' (not 'where does he live'); 'I wonder what time it starts.'

Transformation rule: 'too ... to do' = 'so ... that ... cannot' = 'not ... enough to do'. Example: 'too young to drive' = 'not old enough to drive'.

Passive transformation: move the object to the front, use be + past participle, and add 'by' only when the agent matters. Keep the original tense.

Reported speech: shift tense back one step (is → was, will → would, can → could) and change pronouns and time words (now → then, tomorrow → the next day).

Question tags and negatives: affirmative sentence → negative tag ('You like it, don't you?'); negative sentence → affirmative tag ('She isn't here, is she?').

It/there constructions: 'It is + adjective + for A + to do' and 'There is/are + noun + place'. Do not mix them ('There is difficult to ...' is wrong).

Conjunction transformation: 'because A, B' ↔ 'B because A' ↔ 'A, so B'; 'although A, B' ↔ 'A, but B'. Keep the causal direction unchanged.

Shizuoka composition tasks are usually guided: a prompt with conditions (number of sentences or words, required content points, sometimes a required opening). Fulfil every condition; missing one costs marks even with good English.

Standard paragraph frame for a 3-sentence answer: (1) topic statement with I think / I want to, (2) reason with because, (3) example or conclusion with for example / so.

Answer the question in the first sentence: restating the prompt as a statement ('I think students should ...') guarantees the reader sees a direct response.

Reason sentences need a concrete detail, not repetition: 'because it is good' is empty; 'because we can learn how other people live' is substantive.

Grammar accuracy beats length: keep to structures you control (present/past simple, because, when, if, to-infinitive) and avoid long chains of clauses that invite agreement errors.

Word-count conditions: count articles and prepositions as words; if the limit is 'at least 25 words', write 28-35 to be safe without exceeding any maximum.

Spelling and punctuation are scored: capital letter at sentence start, period at the end, 'I' always capitalized, and comma after an introductory phrase.

Self-check sequence before finishing: does it answer the question, are all conditions met, is every verb tense consistent, and is the subject present in every sentence?