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Study Guide · Chapter 11
10. Frequently Tested Vocabulary and Collocation Consolidation
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This section gathers, in one place, the highest-yield word groups introduced across the guide, purely for rapid last-minute scanning. It is not meant to be read start to finish — treat it as an index to revisit in the final week before an exam.
| Category | Sample items to keep fresh in memory |
|---|---|
| Fixed prepositions after verbs | responsible for, prepare for, differ from, dissatisfied with, cope with, entrusted with, compensate for |
| Fixed prepositions after adjectives | keen on, capable of, aware of, confident of, eligible for, exempt from, prone to |
| Conjunctions of contrast | however, nevertheless, although, though, whereas, on the other hand |
| Conjunctions of cause/result | because, since, as, therefore, consequently, hence, so...that |
| Conjunctions of purpose | so that, in order that, lest |
| Correlative pairs | not only...but also, no sooner...than, hardly...when, either...or, neither...nor |
| High-frequency collocations | pay attention, take into account, in accordance with, bear in mind, give rise to, meet the requirements, subject to, at the discretion of |
| Register-sensitive pairs (formal/informal) | purchase/buy, commence/start, utilise/use, assist/help, request/ask |
| Intensity ladders | annoyed → irritated → furious → livid; happy → glad → delighted → ecstatic |
| Common cloze idioms | make sense of, come to terms with, break the news, raise an objection, strike a balance |
| Article-sensitive abstract nouns | information, advice, knowledge, evidence, furniture (all typically no article in the general sense) |
| Words frequently confused by spelling/sound | affect/effect, respectively/respectfully, farther/further, later/latter, than/then |
| Modal verbs by shade of meaning | must (obligation), need not (no obligation), must not (prohibition), may/might (possibility), can/could (ability, or polite request) |
| Relative pronouns by function | who (person, subject), whom (person, object), whose (possessive), which (thing), that (defining clauses only) |
| Determiner/quantifier pairs | much/many, little/few, a little/a few, some/any, every/each |
| Idiomatic openers common in editorial passages | by and large, if anything, all things considered, for the most part, on the whole |
10.1 Glossary of Grammatical Terms Used in This Guide
For candidates who find some of the grammatical vocabulary in Sections 3 and 4 unfamiliar, this glossary defines every recurring term in plain language, in the order it is most likely to be needed.
| Term | Plain-language definition |
|---|---|
| Blank | The gap in a cloze passage where a word or phrase has been removed. |
| Collocation | A pairing of words that fluent English habitually uses together, without a logical grammatical reason. |
| Register | The overall level of formality of a piece of writing — formal, neutral, or informal. |
| Connotation | The emotional shading (positive, negative, or neutral) a word carries beyond its literal meaning. |
| Countable noun | A noun that can be counted individually and take a plural form (candidate/candidates). |
| Uncountable noun | A noun that cannot be counted individually or pluralised in the ordinary way (information, advice). |
| Collective noun | A singular noun referring to a group of individuals (committee, staff, board). |
| Correlative conjunction | A conjunction used in a fixed pair (not only...but also, either...or). |
| Subordinating conjunction | A conjunction that introduces a dependent clause (because, although, if). |
| Coordinating conjunction | A conjunction that joins two independent clauses of equal weight (and, but, so). |
| Passive voice | A sentence structure where the subject receives the action rather than performing it. |
| Active voice | A sentence structure where the subject performs the action. |
| Modal verb | A helping verb expressing obligation, possibility, permission, or ability (must, may, can, should). |
| Relative pronoun | A pronoun introducing a clause that describes a noun (who, whom, whose, which, that). |
| Defining clause | A relative clause essential to identifying which specific noun is meant, with no surrounding commas. |
| Non-defining clause | A relative clause adding extra, non-essential information, set off by commas. |
| Reduced relative clause | A relative clause with the relative pronoun and "to be" omitted (e.g. "the officer [who was] consulted"). |
| Correlative inversion | Subject-auxiliary word-order reversal triggered by certain fronted negative words (never, no sooner). |
| Determiner | A word that introduces and specifies a noun (a, the, some, every, much, few). |
| Idiom | A fixed expression whose overall meaning cannot be worked out from its individual words. |
| Register ladder | A scale showing how the same idea is expressed at increasing levels of formality. |
| New-pattern cloze | A cloze format where one option, or one pair of options, must correctly fill two separate, related blanks. |
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