Grade 5 Scholarship Examination cheat sheet

Sinhala and Tamil are abugidas: each consonant carries an inherent vowel, and a vowel sign changes that vowel without writing a separate vowel letter.

In Sinhala, the hal kirima (්) placed after a consonant cancels its inherent vowel, so ක is read as k rather than ka.

The Sinhala anusvara ං represents a nasal sound after a vowel and does not carry a separate vowel of its own.

Tamil letters fall into three groups: 12 uyir (vowels), 18 mei (consonants) and 216 uyirmei (vowel–consonant compounds).

A common Tamil plural suffix is -கள்; for example, மரம் (tree) becomes மரங்கள் (trees) with a linking nasal change.

Both Sinhala and Tamil normally use Subject–Object–Verb order, with the finite verb at the end of the sentence.

Sinhala distinguishes short and long vowels, such as අ (a) and ආ (ā); vowel length can change the meaning of a word.

Tamil case suffixes show the grammatical role of a noun, so word order may change for emphasis without changing the basic meaning.

Rectangle: area = length × breadth; perimeter = 2 × (length + breadth).

Square: area = side × side; perimeter = 4 × side.

Triangle: area = ½ × base × perpendicular height.

Metric conversions: 1 km = 1000 m; 1 m = 100 cm; 1 cm = 10 mm; 1 kg = 1000 g; 1 L = 1000 mL.

Time conversions: 1 hour = 60 minutes; 1 minute = 60 seconds; 1 day = 24 hours; 1:30 p.m. = 13:30 in 24-hour time.

Average = sum of all values ÷ number of values.

In base-ten place value, each position to the left is 10 times greater than the position to its right.

To add or subtract fractions with unlike denominators, first use a common denominator, then operate only on the numerators.

Angle facts: right angle = 90°, straight angle = 180°, complete turn = 360°; angles on a straight line add to 180°.

Living things need food, water, air and a suitable temperature; green plants make food by photosynthesis using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.

Food groups: carbohydrates give energy, proteins build and repair the body, vitamins and minerals protect against disease, and fats store energy.

At sea-level air pressure, pure water boils at 100 °C and freezes at 0 °C.

The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west; shadows point away from the Sun and are shortest around midday.

Sri Lanka's southwest monsoon brings rain to the west and south mainly from May to September; the northeast monsoon brings rain to the north and east from December to February.

Aedes mosquitoes, which spread dengue, breed in clean standing water; emptying or covering containers removes breeding places.

The 3Rs are reduce (use less), reuse (use an item again) and recycle (make new products from waste).

Sri Lanka has 9 provinces and 25 districts; local administration includes Divisional Secretariats and Grama Niladhari divisions, and the voting age is 18.

Washing hands with soap before meals and after using the toilet removes germs and helps prevent diarrhoea and other infections.

Sri Lanka: official languages are Sinhala and Tamil, English is the link language, the legislative capital is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the commercial capital is Colombo, and the currency is the Sri Lankan rupee.

Sri Lankan national symbols include the blue water lily (Nil Manel) as national flower, the Ceylon junglefowl as national bird, the Na tree as national tree and the Sri Lankan elephant as national animal.

Planets in order from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune; Jupiter is the largest planet.

Leap year rule: a leap year has 366 days and 29 February; a year divisible by 4 is usually a leap year, but a century year must be divisible by 400.

Direction rule: facing north, east is right, west is left and south is behind; clockwise order is north → east → south → west.

Number-series rule: first check repeated differences, then ratios, then alternating or two-step patterns before selecting the next term.

Odd-one-out rule: identify the shared property of most items and choose the item that lacks that property.

Analogy rule: the relationship between the first pair must be applied in the same direction and same way to the second pair.