KS POST cheat sheet

Main idea = the claim the whole passage supports; a detail supports only one paragraph and cannot serve as the main idea.

Passage order rule: answers to 'according to the passage' questions must be defensible from stated text, not from outside knowledge.

Inference limits: a valid inference is forced by the text; if two or more explanations fit equally, the choice is unsupported.

Tone words: 'critical', 'neutral', 'advocating' describe the author's stance toward the subject, not the subject's own mood.

Scope traps: choices using 'all', 'never', 'only', or 'must' are wrong unless the passage states them absolutely.

Cause vs. correlation: if the passage says two events coincided, an answer claiming one caused the other is incorrect.

Vocabulary in context: substitute each option into the sentence and keep the one preserving the sentence's logic and tone.

Comparison passages: track which author holds which view; a common trap attributes Author A's claim to Author B.

Sequence questions: locate the earliest and latest event in the text first, then order the middle items against those anchors.

Subject-verb agreement ignores prepositional phrases: 'The box of files (is/are)' takes 'is' because the subject is 'box'.

Compound subjects joined by 'and' take a plural verb; joined by 'or'/'nor', the verb agrees with the nearer subject.

Pronoun case: after 'between', 'with', and prepositions, use object pronouns (me, him, her, them).

Dangling modifier test: the noun right after an introductory phrase must be the entity performing the action.

Comma splice fix: two independent clauses need a period, semicolon, or comma plus coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS).

Restrictive clauses take 'that' with no commas; nonrestrictive clauses take 'which' set off by commas.

Parallelism: items in a list or after 'and' must share grammatical form (all nouns, all gerunds, all infinitives).

Active voice preferred in reports: actor first, action second; passive only when the actor is unknown or irrelevant.

Fewer counts items, less counts mass; between covers two entities, among covers three or more.

Percent change = (new - old) / old x 100; a 20% rise then 20% fall yields 96% of the original, not 100%.

Distance = rate x time; for combined travel, add rates for opposite directions and subtract for same-direction pursuit.

Average (mean) = sum / count; if the mean of n items is m, the total is n x m.

Ratios: set up a proportion a/b = c/d and cross-multiply; scale all parts by the same factor.

Area of a circle = pi r^2; circumference = 2 pi r; area of a triangle = 1/2 base x height.

Pythagorean theorem a^2 + b^2 = c^2 applies only to right triangles; c is the hypotenuse.

Work problems: combined rate = 1/a + 1/b; time together = 1 / (combined rate).

Probability of independent events = product of individual probabilities; 'at least one' = 1 minus probability of none.

Unit conversion: multiply by fractions equal to 1 arranged so unwanted units cancel diagonally.

Encoding specificity: recall is best when the retrieval context matches the encoding context.

Serial position effect: first (primacy) and last (recency) items in a list are remembered best; middle items are weakest.

Change blindness: a person can miss large scene changes when attention is elsewhere or a brief interruption occurs.

Weapon focus: attention narrows toward a threatening object, reducing recall of the person's face and clothing.

Estimating time intervals is unreliable under stress; elapsed-time estimates tend to compress during high arousal.

Cross-race effect: faces of one's own racial group are generally recognized more accurately than other-group faces.

Confidence and accuracy are not the same; high confidence in an eyewitness does not guarantee correct identification.

Description order for a person: sex, age, height, build, hair, eyes, complexion, clothing, distinguishing marks.

Memory decay: detail loss is fastest early; periodic review at increasing intervals slows forgetting.

Escalation rule: use the least intrusive intervention that resolves the issue, then document and escalate if it recurs.

De-escalation sequence: calm tone, reduce audience, create distance, offer choices, then act if compliance fails.

Supervisor notification is required for use-of-force, injury, arrest, or any incident likely to draw a complaint.

Conflict style: collaborating suits shared goals; accommodating suits trivial issues; avoiding suits trivial or cooling-off periods.

Active listening: paraphrase the speaker's content and reflect feeling before responding with your own position.

Bias check: judge conduct against the written rule, not against the person's manner, appearance, or prior history.

When a colleague breaks policy, the first step is direct private correction; if it continues, report up the chain.

Confidentiality: share information only with those who have an operational need to know.

Documentation timing: record facts as soon as practicable; delay degrades detail and invites challenges to accuracy.

Report structure: who, what, when, where, how, and what action was taken, in chronological order.

Use first person past tense for actions taken ('I observed', 'I advised') and keep tense consistent throughout.

Quote speech verbatim inside quotation marks; paraphrase without quotes and attribute it ('Smith stated that...').

Record exact times, locations, names, and badge or ID numbers; approximations must be labeled as approximate.

Omit conclusions about guilt or motive; state observed behavior and the facts that support any charge.

Neutral language: replace loaded terms ('went crazy', 'obviously drunk') with described conduct and observations.

Never alter a submitted report; corrections are made by dated, signed supplemental report.

Objectivity markers: attribute opinions to their source and separate what you saw from what you were told.

Completeness test: a reader with no prior knowledge should be able to reconstruct the event from the report alone.