MATSEC SEC English Language cheat sheet

Skimming gives the gist in seconds: read title, first sentence of each paragraph and the final paragraph before answering questions.

Scanning means hunting for one specific item (a date, a name, a figure); move the eye in a zigzag pattern and ignore surrounding meaning.

Question types map to skills: literal (stated fact), inferential (implied), evaluative (judgement), and vocabulary-in-context (meaning from surrounding words).

For inference questions, the answer must be supported by textual evidence; a plausible opinion with no textual anchor is a distractor.

Distractors typically reuse words from the passage but reverse the logic, overstate ('always', 'never'), or swap cause and effect.

For vocabulary-in-context, substitute each option back into the sentence and test whether the sentence still makes sense.

Summary tasks: keep only main ideas, drop examples and repetition, and rewrite in your own words; copied sentences earn no credit for selection.

Writer's purpose is usually one of: to inform, to persuade, to entertain, to instruct, or to describe; tone is the attitude conveyed (ironic, nostalgic, critical).

Text-feature questions ask how layout, headings, bullet points, or images guide the reader; answer with the effect, not just the label.

Marks split between content and organisation (ideas, structure, paragraphing) and style (vocabulary, sentence variety, accuracy); plan for both.

Paragraph = one controlling idea; open with a topic sentence, develop with evidence or example, close with a link or comment.

Transactional formats each carry fixed conventions: formal letter (addresses, date, salutation, sign-off), article (headline, byline, subheadings), report (headings, findings, recommendations), review (judgement plus reasons), speech (direct address, rhetorical questions).

Register must match audience: formal writing avoids contractions, slang and first-person anecdote; informal writing may use them deliberately.

Persuasive writing uses a clear thesis, a chain of reasons, and rhetorical devices (rule of three, rhetorical question, direct address, anecdote) - but every claim needs support.

Narrative structure: orientation (who, where, when), complication, climax, resolution; show through concrete detail rather than telling through adjectives.

Sentence variety comes from mixing simple, compound and complex sentences and varying opening words; a run of subject-first simple sentences reads flat.

Descriptive writing appeals to the five senses and uses precise nouns and strong verbs; adverbs and stacked adjectives weaken prose.

Always reserve time to proofread: check subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, apostrophes, and comma splices before submitting.

Subject-verb agreement: the verb agrees with the head noun, not the nearest noun - 'The box of tools is heavy'; collective nouns take singular verbs in British usage.

Tense consistency: a narrative in past simple keeps past simple; use past perfect for the earlier of two past events ('She had left before he arrived').

Direct to reported speech shifts tense back one step and changes pronouns and time words: 'I am tired today' becomes 'she was tired that day'.

Conditionals: zero (if + present, present), first (if + present, will), second (if + past, would), third (if + had + past participle, would have + past participle).

Active voice is subject-verb-object and is preferred for clarity; passive is used when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or deliberately hidden.

Comma rules: no comma between subject and verb; use commas for lists, after introductory phrases, and around non-defining relative clauses ('My brother, who lives in Rome, ...').

Apostrophes mark possession (singular 's, plural s') or contraction (it's = it is); 'its' is possessive with no apostrophe.

Common confusions: affect (verb) / effect (noun); their / there / they're; practice (noun) / practise (verb) in British English; fewer (countable) / less (uncountable).

Colons introduce a list or explanation after a complete clause; semicolons join two independent clauses or separate complex list items.

Listening tasks test gist, specific detail, attitude and inference; predict content from the task headings before the recording starts.

Answers usually come in the same order as the audio; if you miss one, move on rather than losing the next two while searching.

Distractors are spoken and then corrected ('We meet at six - sorry, make that seven'); the correction is the answer.

Numbers, dates, times and spellings are commonly tested; note them in figures immediately and confirm the unit (pounds, metres, per week).

Speaker attitude is signalled by intonation, stress and fillers ('Well...', 'I suppose'), not only by words.

In a discussion, note who says what: matching tasks often require attributing an opinion to a named speaker, not just identifying it.

Oral assessment criteria typically cover fluency, pronunciation and intelligibility, range of vocabulary and structures, and interaction (turn-taking, responding, repairing).

Prepare a short talk with a clear structure (introduction, two or three points, conclusion) and anticipate one follow-up question per point.

Interactive strategies that earn credit: asking for clarification, paraphrasing to check understanding, and linking contributions to what the previous speaker said.