NUST language proficiency test in English
Domain 2: NUST language proficiency test in English
The English proficiency test establishes that you can read academic prose, control grammar and vocabulary, and write clear formal English - the working tools of every degree. It typically combines reading comprehension, language use (tense, concord, prepositions, connectors), vocabulary in context, sentence correction or cloze, and a short writing task such as a paragraph, formal letter or opinion piece.
Core rules and concepts
- Comprehension: answer from the passage, not from general knowledge. Locate the sentence supporting your choice and eliminate two options on evidence before choosing.
- Concord: the verb agrees with the head noun, not the nearest noun. Strip the prepositional phrase and test again.
- "One of the + plural noun" takes a singular verb: one of the applicants has.
- Modifiers sit next to what they describe; a dangling modifier credits the wrong doer.
- Connectors carry logic: however (contrast), therefore (result), moreover (addition), whereas (contrast inside one sentence).
- Writing: topic sentence, two supporting sentences with one concrete example, closing sentence. Formal register means no contractions, slang or vague fillers.
Worked example
Correct: "One of the reasons given by the committee were rejected."
Strip the phrase "of the reasons given by the committee" and the subject is "One", which is singular, so the verb must be "was": "One of the reasons given by the committee was rejected." The plural "reasons" sits inside a prepositional phrase and cannot govern the verb.
Traps that cost marks
Options that are true in real life but not stated in the passage; extreme wording such as always and never; a tense shift halfway through a sentence; comma splices joining two full clauses; informal phrasing (a lot of, gonna) inside a formal letter; and ignoring the required length or purpose of the writing task.