AUB-EN - AUB English Entrance Examination common mistakes
AUB-EN - AUB English Entrance Examination · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Reading the passage once at normal speed and then answering comprehension items from memory of the general topic rather than returning to the specific sentences that decide each answer.
Under time pressure candidates treat the passage as background reading, and the brain stores the gist while dropping the qualifying words (only, unless, however, at least) that make one option correct and another wrong.
What to do instead
For every item, locate and underline the one or two sentences that decide it before choosing; write the line number next to the option you pick. Practise with a timer so the extra 20–30 seconds per item becomes habitual rather than a luxury.
Choosing an answer option because it repeats vocabulary from the passage instead of because it matches the passage's meaning.
Word-matching feels safe and fast; distractors are deliberately built from passage wording, while correct answers are usually paraphrases. Candidates who read quickly never notice the paraphrase.
What to do instead
Before selecting, cover the options and restate the answer in your own words, then find the option that says the same thing differently. Treat any option that copies a long phrase verbatim as suspect until verified against the text.
Answering inference and 'the author implies' items with personal opinion or real-world knowledge rather than with what the text supports.
Inference questions have no explicit sentence to point to, so candidates fill the gap from their own experience and pick a plausible but unsupported option.
What to do instead
Require a textual warrant for every inference: the answer must follow from stated evidence plus one small logical step. Reject options that would still be true if the passage were deleted.
Losing the function of connectors such as however, although, therefore, and rather than, so the answer states the opposite of the passage's logic.
These words are short and unstressed, and fast readers skip them; contrast and concession are exactly where examiners place the discriminating options.
What to do instead
Circle every contrast and cause-effect connector during a first skim, then reread that clause before answering. Drill with short paragraphs where removing the connector reverses the meaning.
Mismatching pronoun and reference chains (it, they, this, the former) so an answer attributes an action to the wrong person, group, or thing.
Reference words are grammatically light and candidates track the topic rather than the syntax, especially when two nouns of the same type appear in nearby sentences.
What to do instead
When a question hinges on who did what, draw a quick arrow from each pronoun to its antecedent in the margin. Verify number and gender agreement as a check.
Filling cloze and sentence-completion blanks by ear with a word that 'sounds right' but does not fit the grammar (wrong preposition, wrong verb form, wrong countability).
Colloquial fluency misleads candidates: a phrase may be common in speech yet ungrammatical in the register the item tests, and the distractors are designed to reward exactly that reflex.
What to do instead
After choosing, read the whole sentence back and label the part of speech required by the gap, then check agreement, tense, and preposition collocation separately. Keep a personal list of preposition and countability errors you repeat.
Writing an essay that answers the topic generally without stating a clear position or following the prompt's specific instruction (e.g., 'discuss both views and give your opinion').
Candidates prepare memorised topic paragraphs and force them onto the prompt; under time pressure they skip planning and only discover the missing task element while writing.
What to do instead
Spend three to four minutes on a plan: underline the task words, write a one-sentence thesis, and list one idea per body paragraph. Check the finished essay against the prompt instruction before moving on.
Producing an essay with good ideas but weak cohesion - no topic sentences, paragraphs that mix two ideas, and connectors used mechanically at the start of every sentence.
Cohesion is rarely taught explicitly, so candidates equate it with adding 'Moreover' and 'Furthermore' rather than organising information logically.
What to do instead
Begin each body paragraph with a claim, then support, then a link back to the thesis. Vary linking devices (this, such, consequently, whereas) and place them inside sentences rather than only at the front.
Losing marks on grammar accuracy in writing through repeated errors in articles, subject-verb agreement, and sentence boundaries (comma splices, fragments).
These errors are invisible to the writer because the meaning is clear, and candidates spend their remaining time adding content instead of proofreading.
What to do instead
Reserve the last five minutes for a targeted edit pass in a fixed order: sentence boundaries, verb agreement and tense, articles, then spelling. Keep an error log of your own recurring slips and check only those.
Running out of time because the candidate allocates equal minutes to every section and does not leave a buffer for transferring answers and proofreading.
Without a timing plan, hard items absorb disproportionate time; candidates also forget that answer transfer and the final edit are part of the task, not optional extras.
What to do instead
Set fixed checkpoints (for example, finish reading by a set minute, leave the last ten minutes for transfer and proofreading), mark and skip any item that exceeds its budget, and rehearse the full timing plan on at least two complete practice runs.