AdUCET key terms

A word or phrase that expresses the same or nearly the same meaning as another word in the same language; vocabulary questions ask you to pick the closest match from the given options.

A word whose meaning is directly opposite to that of another word, such as hot and cold; antonym questions test whether you can spot the contrasting word among the choices.

A fixed group of words whose overall meaning cannot be worked out from the individual words, for example to let the cat out of the bag, meaning to reveal a secret.

One of two or more words that sound the same when spoken but differ in spelling or meaning, such as pair and pear; tested in spelling and vocabulary items.

A verb combined with an adverb or preposition so that together they carry a new meaning, such as give up meaning to stop; questions ask for the correct particle or meaning.

The sentence pattern in which the subject performs the action of the verb, as in the teacher marked the papers; converting between active and passive forms is a common grammar item.

The reporting of a speaker's exact words inside quotation marks, as in She said, I am tired; questions test conversion between direct and indirect reported forms.

A passage followed by questions that test whether you can find stated details, infer unstated meaning, identify the main idea and judge the writer's tone or purpose.

A set of sentences given in scrambled order that you must rearrange into a coherent paragraph by spotting linking words, pronouns and the logical flow of ideas.

A single word that replaces a whole phrase or clause, such as orphan for a child whose parents are dead; tested as a direct vocabulary item in objective papers.

A fraction expressed out of one hundred, written with the per cent sign; used to compare quantities and to solve increase, decrease, discount and profit problems.

A comparison of two or more quantities of the same kind by division, written in the form a to b, showing how many times one quantity contains the other.

The sum of a set of values divided by the number of values; also called the arithmetic mean, it summarises a whole group with a single representative figure.

Interest calculated only on the original principal for the whole period, using principal times rate times time divided by one hundred, with no interest added back to the principal.

Interest calculated on the principal plus any interest already earned, so the amount grows in each period; found by multiplying the principal by one plus the rate raised to the number of periods.

Highest common factor, the largest number that divides each of two or more given numbers exactly; used to split quantities into equal groups of the greatest possible size.

The comparison of cost price with selling price: profit when the selling price is higher, loss when it is lower, usually expressed as a percentage of the cost price.

An arrangement of a set of items in a definite order, where changing the order creates a different permutation; the number of such arrangements is written with the letter P.

A number between zero and one giving the chance that an event happens, calculated as the number of favourable outcomes divided by the total number of equally likely outcomes.

The middle value of a set of numbers arranged in order of size; if the set has an even number of values, it is the average of the two middle values.

A form of reasoning that gives two or more statements as premises and a conclusion, and asks you to judge whether that conclusion validly follows from them.

A reasoning puzzle that describes family links through words such as father, sister-in-law or nephew, and then asks how two named people are related to each other.

A puzzle in which people or objects must be placed in a row or around a table using clues about who sits next to, opposite or to the left of whom.

A question that gives words together with their artificial codes and asks you to work out the letter or number rule and apply it to encode or decode another word.

A sequence of numbers that follows a hidden rule, such as adding a fixed amount, doubling or squaring; you must find the rule and supply the missing term.

A problem that traces a person's path using north, south, east and west turns, then asks for the final facing direction, the distance travelled or the displacement from the start.

A reasoning item that gives a statement and asks which unstated assumption is implied, that is, which belief the speaker must hold for the statement to make sense.

A drawing of overlapping circles used to show how sets relate to one another; in reasoning it helps test whether a conclusion follows from statements about categories.

Gross domestic product, the total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country's borders during a given period, usually one year.

The interest rate at which a country's central bank lends short-term money to commercial banks; in India it is fixed by the RBI's monetary policy committee.

A sustained rise in the general level of prices of goods and services, which reduces the purchasing power of money; in India it is tracked mainly through the consumer price index.

The basic rights guaranteed to citizens by Part III of the Indian Constitution, such as equality before the law, freedom of speech and protection from discrimination, enforceable through the courts.

A protected area in Assam famous for the greater one-horned rhinoceros, recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and lying on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra.

A major trans-Himalayan river that enters India through Arunachal Pradesh and flows through Assam before reaching the sea, shaping the state's floodplains and agriculture.

The Indian government's policy think tank, created in 2015 to replace the Planning Commission and to advise on development strategy, monitoring and cooperative federalism.

A region with an unusually high number of species found nowhere else combined with serious habitat loss; the Eastern Himalayas and Indo-Burma are two such hotspots touching India.