English Proficiency
What the exam tests
Vocabulary, grammar, and reading comprehension in legal and maritime contexts. Expect sentence completion, error identification, and short passages on law enforcement, safety, and international cooperation.
Core rules
- Agreement: the verb agrees with the subject, not with a phrase between them. 'The officer, along with two crew members, was...'
- Tense: use past for completed incidents, present perfect for continuing results, and past perfect for the earlier of two past events.
- Passive voice: 'The vessel was detained' is used when the actor is unknown or less important; do not drop the auxiliary.
- Reading: identify the main idea, then the author's purpose, then details. For inference, choose the answer supported by the text, not by outside opinion.
Worked example
'The Coast Guard, together with local fishermen, ___ the search.' The subject is 'the Coast Guard' (singular), so the verb is 'has resumed,' not 'have resumed.' The phrase 'together with local fishermen' does not change agreement.
Traps
Do not choose an answer because it sounds formal. Watch for subject-verb agreement with 'each,' 'every,' and 'none.' In reading questions, avoid extreme words like 'always' unless the passage says so. Do not confuse 'detain' with 'retain,' or 'seize' with 'cease.'