Tone of paragraph:

1) Check topic sentences/concluding sentences [+ve/-ve]

Answer skills:
1) Copy the keywords associated with the meaning of the given phrase, theme,
photo.
2) Clarify pronoun in your answer.
3) Link the examples to topic sentence: Why does the writer mention
[example]?
4) Don’t confine your answer to a particular paragraph. Check next paragraph.
5) Link metaphor to the gist
6) Avoid being too brief/general, pay attention to the space provided
7) Elaborate on keywords of the question.
8) Guess the meaning by context:
i. Contrast: but, however
ii. Casual: because, as
iii. Synonyms

Tell us about/imply/suggest the meaning of the phrase:

1) Check +ve/-ve of the phrase
2) Rephrase the phrase by summarizing the examples in your own words

Summary cloze:
1) Synonyms of contextual clues
2) Words around the blank: location of answer
3) Grammatical context
4) Singular vs plural
5) Personal adjective vs Impersonal adjective: Stressed vs Stressful
6) Calculation: year (decade=10, century=100, millennium=1000)
7) Turn adjective clause into adjective: water that was heated=hot water
8) Turn adverbial phrase into adverb: by machine=automatically, by
hand=manually, of his own accord=voluntarily.
9) With Options:
i. correct in meaning, wrong in grammar
ii. similar spelling are usually wrong
iii. discourse markers imply a +ve/-ve word is needed
Simplifying the complex sentences:
1) Main clause [SVO]
2) Don’t focus on the optional elements :
i. Adjective phrase [ved/ving]
ii. Adjective clause [whose/which/that]
iii. non-defining clause [, … ,]

Writer’s attitude:
1) Sentence adverbs
2) Title/Subtitle/Introduction/Conclusion [+ve/-ve][Gist statement]
3) Don’t be distracted by other people’s opinion in counter-argument
[Yet/However]
4) Critical:
i. less critical: reserved
ii. more critical: negative
5) Rhetorical Questions

{ }{
Yes
6) Acknowledgement + Refutation: Of course
Admittedly
,… , but
; however , }
[Stance]

Undeniably

{ }
admit
7) Though they confess
acknowledge
{
argue }
that [SVO -ve], they contend that [SVO +ve]

Person’s view/opinion/argument:
1) Make deduction from the keyword of what he said
2) Stance+ rephrased points

Order of the events:

1) Eliminate the false choice
2) Discourse marker:
i. First/Initially/At first
ii. Subsequently/Then/Afterwards
iii. Finally/In the end/At the end of the day
iv. no DM
3) Synonyms
Question about targets readers:
1) Specific
2) Campus/library: Students

Main purpose of a paragraph:

1) To compare and contrast two things
2) To explain the meaning of a word
3) To support/refute the idea that [SVO]
4) To prove that [SVO] with examples
5) Generalized idea
6) No Specific examples

Antecedent:
1) This: preceding point: the fact that [SVO]
2) It: preceding word/phrase: [N/ger]
3) That/those : subject
4) Pay attention to its form (singular/plural): It/They

Global Question:
1) Don’t answer it until you’ve read the whole passage.
2) Pay attention to Topic Sentence
3) What does the article discuss?
4) Title + gist statement of last paragraph

T/F/NG:
1) Synonym: T
2) Antonym: F
3) Words cannot be proved: NG
4) Check purpose/reason
5) Check double negatives
6) One of them may be missing (Usually NG)

Footnotes:
1) Baby boomers: Born between 1946 and 1964
2) The Cellar Tapes: 1st TV show
i. excited (1st)
ii. appeared on TV show (TV show)
Finding words/phrases for replacement:
1) Parts of speech
2) Adjective: +ve/-ve
3) Adjective: -ed/-ing
4) Noun: singular/plural
5) Noun: Countable/Uncountable
6) Don’t copy the irrelevant part
7) sb/sth

Advantage/Disadvantage:
1) Contrastive discourse markers:
i. but, however, nevertheless, yet, despite this, nonetheless, even
so, in spite of this

Sentences providing hints:

{ }
crunch
crisis
1) Here lies the problem : [SVO]
scourge
bane
curse

{ }
crux
2) Here lies the nub of the matters: [SVO]
heart
central point

Question about differences [2 points]

1) is more than
2) not only, but also
3) unlike… , …
Order in ranking:
1) Descending order
2) Ascending order
3) Alphabetical order
4) Chronological order
5) Descending chronological order
6) Numerical order
Synonyms concerning 1st:
 1) Coining the term: the first to use the term
2) Debut: the first performance
Main purpose of last paragraph:
1) related to theme/title

Poem analysis skills(writer’s message):

1) Title: Gist
2) Picture: Association
3) Glance through all questions
4) Facts-Attitude-Tone: Live apart-homesick-yearning
5) 1-2 stanzas reflect the theme of poem
6) Literal/Figurative meaning of a phrase

Proof-reading:
1) Number of ticks = lines – mistakes
2) FAC type:
i. Factual Details (Yea/Time/Place/Figures/Post/Role/Subject)
ii. Antonyms (East/West, Employee/Employer)
iii. Contracted Forms (Should/Shouldn’t, Will/Won’t)
3) The mistakes may be language+content or content only [Read instruction]
4) Check if you can put a tick
5) Syntactic errors:
i. Fused Sentence (2Main Verbs):
1. Add the following:
i. conjunctions: (and/but/or)(if/when/though)
ii. relative pronouns: (who/which/where)
iii. participles: (ving/ved)
ii. Sentence Fragment (No Main Verb):
1. Delete the above

Open-ended Question (Personal Choice):

1) Yes: 2+
2) No: 2-
3) Check previous questions
4) ORE:
i. Opinion: Yes
ii. Reason: It’s bad for environment
iii. Evidence: Nauseating odour
MC (Meaning of word):
1) +ve/-ve
2) Parts of speech
3) Choose the simple words

Rhetorical devices in poetry (sound):

1) Rhyme: girl=curl
2) Alliteration: deep=devotion
3) Assonance: leave=ease
4) Consonance: wind=bend

Rhetorical devices in poetry (description):

1) Simile
2) Metaphor
3) Personification
4) Irony

Irony/Sarcasm:
1) Explain the contrast:
[x] is supposed to [be good for environment(VO)], but it turns our to [be bad
for the environment(VO)]. For examples, [producing pollution] and
[disgusting odour]

Alternative title:
1) Writer’s stance
2) Most of the article

Traps of MC:
1) Extreme/Exaggerated answers: All/Every/None of
2) Exact wording: Ending 300 years of deterioration vs has been deteriorating
for 300 years
3) Primary reason vs Secondary reason: “assisted by”

Degree of certainty:
1) Possibly(50%), Probably(90%), Certainly(100%)
2) may vs will:
 i. will lead them to believe that they will be successful
ii. will lead them to be successful