SQU English Placement cheat sheet

Main idea test: if a choice covers only one paragraph's detail, it is a supporting detail, not the main idea.

Inference rule: an answer is valid only if it must be true from the passage; plausible real-world facts that the text never states are wrong.

Vocabulary-in-context: replace the target word with each option and re-read the full sentence; pick the option that preserves the author's logic, not the dictionary's first sense.

Pronoun reference: the antecedent must agree in number and gender and must make sense in the sentence; the nearest noun is often a distractor.

Tone words: positive (approving, admiring, optimistic), neutral (objective, analytical, informative), negative (critical, skeptical, dismissive). Extreme words like 'outraged' rarely fit academic prose.

EXCEPT/NOT questions: three choices are supported by the passage, one is not; verify each choice against a line before answering.

Chronology and cause: signal words 'because', 'thus', 'as a result' mark cause; 'however', 'although', 'nevertheless' mark contrast and often carry the author's real point.

Time budget: passage of about 700 words plus 5 questions in roughly 8-9 minutes; skim the first sentence of each paragraph for structure before reading questions.

Subject-verb agreement: ignore prepositional phrases between subject and verb ('The list of items is'); indefinite subjects each/every/everyone/nobody take singular verbs.

Neither...nor / either...or: the verb agrees with the nearer subject ('Neither the students nor the teacher was').

Present perfect (have/has + past participle) for past action with present relevance or unspecified time; simple past for a finished time ('yesterday', 'in 1999').

Conditionals: real (If it rains, we will cancel), unreal present (If I were you, I would), unreal past (If she had left earlier, she would have caught it).

Passive voice: be + past participle; only transitive verbs passivize, so 'happen', 'occur', 'arrive' have no passive form.

Relative clauses: 'who' for people, 'which' for things, 'whose' for possession; 'that' may replace who/which in defining clauses but not after a comma.

Parallelism: items joined by and/or/but must share grammatical form ('reading, writing, and speaking', not 'reading, writing, and to speak').

Modals of deduction: 'must have + past participle' (certain past), 'might have' (possible past), 'should have' (unfulfilled obligation), 'can't have' (impossible).

Dangling modifiers: the opening participial phrase must describe the subject of the main clause ('Walking home, I saw...', not 'Walking home, the rain began').

Academic Word List high-frequency families to recognize: analyze, assess, assume, constitute, derive, establish, indicate, occur, perceive, restrict, significant, vary.

Collocation rule: choose the noun that conventionally follows the verb - 'conduct research', 'draw a conclusion', 'meet a deadline', 'raise awareness', 'pose a threat'.

Prefix meaning: un-/in-/im-/non- = not; pre- = before; post- = after; sub- = under; over- = excessive; mis- = wrongly; re- = again.

Suffix part of speech: -tion/-ment/-ness/-ity = noun; -ive/-ous/-al/-able = adjective; -ize/-ify/-ate = verb; -ly = adverb (except friendly, likely, costly).

False friends to check: 'economic' (relating to the economy) vs 'economical' (money-saving); 'sensible' (reasonable) vs 'sensitive' (easily affected); 'actual' means real, not current.

Connotation pairs: 'thrifty' (positive) vs 'stingy' (negative); 'confident' vs 'arrogant'; 'childlike' vs 'childish'; 'inexpensive' vs 'cheap'.

Formal register markers for academic text: 'furthermore', 'consequently', 'approximately', 'demonstrate', 'sufficient', versus informal 'a lot of', 'get', 'stuff', 'kind of'.

Word-formation in context: when a blank follows an article or possessive, a noun is required; after 'very' or a linking verb, an adjective.

Signpost phrases announce structure: 'First...', 'Moving on...', 'To sum up...', 'That brings me to...' - the answer to a main-idea question usually follows them.

Numbers and dates: listen for correction cues ('actually', 'sorry, I mean', 'no, wait') because the second number stated is usually the correct one.

Spelling aloud: letters that are commonly confused in English are B/V, G/J, M/N, and A/E/I; write the word as spelled, then verify against context.

Distractors: a speaker may mention an option and then reject it ('I was going to take the train, but the bus is cheaper'); the rejection overrides the mention.

Note-taking format: use a two-column layout (keyword left, detail right) and abbreviations; do not write full sentences, which causes missed information.

Inference from tone: rising intonation on a statement signals doubt or a question; stressed words carry the contrast the question usually targets.

Lecture organization patterns: problem-solution, cause-effect, comparison-contrast, chronological; identifying the pattern predicts where details fall.

Before audio plays, read the questions and underline the key noun in each; this primes you to hear the specific word rather than everything.

Paragraph architecture: topic sentence stating one claim, 2-4 supporting sentences with evidence or example, closing sentence linking back to the prompt.

Thesis placement: last sentence of the introduction; it must name the topic and the writer's position, not merely announce that the topic will be discussed.

Cohesion devices: 'however', 'moreover', 'therefore', 'for instance', 'in contrast', 'as a result' - each signals a specific logical relation and must match it.

Sentence variety check: mix simple, compound, and complex sentences; three consecutive sentences of the same pattern read as immature.

Common ESL errors to proofread for: missing articles (a/an/the), subject-verb -s, plural -s, preposition choice (depend on, interested in, consist of), and run-on sentences.

Formal writing rules: avoid contractions, 'you' as a general subject, and vague quantifiers ('a lot', 'things'); use 'one', 'individuals', and specific nouns.

Word count discipline: an essay prompt asking for 200-250 words is scored down for both under-length and grossly over-length; plan paragraph lengths before writing.

Timed essay plan: 3 minutes planning, 20 minutes drafting, 5 minutes revising for agreement, tense consistency, and article use.