Tochigi Public High School Entrance Examination - English cheat sheet

Numbers, times, and prices are usually stated once and then restated with a small change; the second number is normally the answer.

Question words decide the target: when→time, where→place, who→person, why→reason, how→method or degree, how much/many→quantity.

Distractors often repeat a word from the question; the correct option usually paraphrases it (e.g., "cheap" for "doesn't cost much").

Negative forms to catch by ear: don't, doesn't, didn't, can't, won't, isn't, never, hardly, few, little.

"Could you…?", "Would you mind…?", and "Why don't we…?" are requests or suggestions; the reply is an action, not a fact.

Dates are read month + ordinal (April third); times with past/to use the previous or next hour (a quarter to seven = 6:45).

In Japanese high school exams, the English passage is read twice and the question is read before it; the first hearing should fix the topic and speaker roles.

Topic sentence is usually the first or last sentence; the rest supports it with examples or reasons.

Pronouns (it, they, this, that, one) refer to the nearest preceding noun that fits the meaning, not always the nearest noun.

Signal words: however/but = contrast, therefore/so = result, for example = illustration, in fact = emphasis or correction.

True/False and "which is stated" items: an option is wrong if it adds information the passage never gives.

Titles must cover the whole passage; a title that fits only one paragraph is a distractor.

Cause and effect are marked by because, since, so, lead to, result in, make; do not reverse the direction.

Numbers and names in the passage are checked by exact match; a changed number is the standard trap.

Skim the questions first, then locate the paragraph containing the keyword; answers follow passage order in most exams.

For charts, tables, and notices, match conditions one by one: date, time, place, price, eligibility, deadline, and exception notes (*, ※).

"Not stated" vs "false": false contradicts the passage; not stated is simply absent from it.

Summary or paragraph-insertion items require the sentence to link both the previous and the following sentence by topic word or pronoun.

Author's purpose options: to inform, to persuade, to explain how, to warn, to compare; choose the verb matching the whole text.

Long passages often ask about the writer's conclusion; the last paragraph and words like should, need to, important signal it.

When two options seem right, the correct one is supported by an explicit line; the other needs an assumption.

Subject–verb agreement: each/every/either/neither + singular verb; people/police + plural verb; news/mathematics + singular verb.

Tense sequence: past main clause takes past or past perfect in the subordinate clause; since/for with present perfect.

Participles: -ing modifies the doer or an active situation; -ed modifies the receiver or a completed state (boring vs bored).

Infinitive vs gerund: decide, hope, want, plan + to do; enjoy, finish, stop, mind, avoid + doing; remember/forget change meaning.

Comparatives: as … as, the same … as, -er than, the most + long adjective; never double (more better is wrong).

Articles: a/an for first mention and jobs; the for unique things, superlatives, and second mention; no article for general plurals.

Preposition collocations: good at, interested in, afraid of, different from, look forward to + noun/-ing, depend on, arrive at/in.

Offers: "Can I help you?" → accept (Yes, please) or decline (No, thank you); never answer with a fact.

Invitations: "Would you like to…?" → Yes, I'd love to / Sorry, I can't; "How about…?" takes -ing in the reply.

Apology: "I'm sorry" is answered by "That's all right / No problem", not by "You're welcome".

Thanks: "Thank you" → "You're welcome / My pleasure"; "You're welcome" never answers "Sorry".

Asking back: "Could you say that again?", "Pardon?", "How do you spell it?" fit when the second speaker missed information.

At a shop or station, the clerk's line asks quantity, size, time, or payment; the reply supplies exactly that item.

The reply must match the function (request, offer, apology, opinion) and the register (polite to strangers, casual to friends).

A short guided essay uses three parts: topic sentence stating the opinion, two supporting reasons with examples, and a concluding sentence.

Opinion frame: I think … because … For example, … Also, … Therefore, I believe ….

Word-count items: count each English word as one; contractions (I'm) count as one word; keep within the stated range.

Free-writing accuracy checks in order: subject–verb agreement, tense consistency, articles, plural -s, spelling, capital letters at sentence start and for I.

Connectives raise the score: first, second, however, in addition, for this reason, finally.

Avoid translating Japanese word order; English requires subject + verb early in the sentence.

If asked to write about your own experience, use past tense for the event and present tense for the general opinion.

Find the fixed unit first: a phrase (in order to, as soon as, too … to) or a set expression occupies consecutive slots.

Question order: question word + auxiliary + subject + main verb; in indirect questions use statement order (Do you know where he lives?).

Adverb position: frequency adverbs go before the main verb but after be; place before time (I play tennis in the park every Sunday).

Relative clauses: who/that for people, which/that for things; the relative pronoun is omitted when it is the object.

Passive: be + past participle, and the object of the active sentence becomes the subject.

Indirect speech shifts tense back one step and changes pronouns and time words (today→that day, tomorrow→the next day).

With give/show/tell/send, two orders are possible: verb + person + thing, or verb + thing + to/for + person.

Silent letters: kn- (know), wr- (write), -mb (climb), -lk (talk), ps- (psychology), h in hour and honest.

-ed pronunciation: /t/ after voiceless sounds except t (stopped, watched); /d/ after voiced sounds except d (played, opened); /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted, needed).

Plural and third-person -s: /s/ after voiceless sounds (books), /z/ after voiced sounds (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, x, ge (boxes).

Long vs short vowels change meaning: ship/sheep, full/fool, bat/bet; spelling patterns often signal it (ee, ea = long; single vowel + double consonant = short).

Stress in two-syllable nouns usually falls on the first syllable (REcord, PREsent); as verbs, on the second (reCORD, preSENT).

Suffixes -tion, -sion, -ic, -ity pull stress to the syllable just before them (inforMAtion, ecoNOmic).

Same sound, different spelling: /iː/ in see, sea, piece, key; /eɪ/ in name, day, eight, they.