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How to be successful on exam: best Strategy: best photo |
1. Problem : Using Long Method (Traditional Method)
To answer questions about ‘sentence’, mostly, many students use Traditional way (common sense). They read the whole sentence and then try to see if it gives sense or not. This method may help to answer some questions, but it does not help us to know WHY meaningless sentences are meaningless. If you use meaningfulness + elimination techniques, you will be able to answer any question about sentence.2. Techniques: Meaningfulness + Elimination:
This is short method! To use the techniques, rather than reading the whole sentence and trying to understand its correctness or meaningfulness:
Take the first two or three words and check their order whether each of them is grammatically correct and meaningful.
Take the first two or three words and check their order whether each of them is grammatically correct and meaningful.
♦ If the first group of words is correct, do the same to
the next phrase.
♦ If one of them (the groups of words) is
meaningfulness, eliminate that choice.
Break →Testing→ Eliminating
Explanations
Q.Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?A. She very hard worked last week at school.
B. She last week very hard worked at school.
C. She worked very hard at school last week.
D. She worked at school very hard last week.
B. She last week very hard worked at school.
C. She worked very hard at school last week.
D. She worked at school very hard last week.
Explanation-1
Choices A&B will be eliminated since in both choices the subject (She) is not followed by verb (worked). Now, you have got 50% probability. In this sentence, you are given three adverbs:- very hard: manner
- at school: place
- last week: time
Ans. C
Note:
If you want first to practice questions, click here for Worksheet on Word Order (Entrance)!
Q. Was the spot down at the criminal gunned right. (G-12: Entrance)
A. The spot was gunned down right at the criminal.
B. The right spot was gunned down at the criminal.
C. The right spot at the criminal was gunned down.
D. The criminal was gunned down right at the spot.
Explanation-2
We
can answer this question by applying ‘Meaningfulness Technique’ and
Extending Clue Technique. *[NB. Spot means place, gun down means shoot
by bullet/gun]
Look each choice of
the above question. Take sentence on choice A and break into different
words/group of words. Then test the meaningfulness of each group of
words/phrases.
In choice A, ‘The
spot’ is the phrase before the verb (was gunned down). This phrase (‘The
spot’) could not be the subject of this sentence. Because ‘spot’ is
place, it could not be gunned down/ shoot. It is a place where the
action (gunning down) was done. It is meaningless here. Eliminate A. You
have 3/4 probability.
The reason
why sentence A is eliminated is that the usage of the word ‘spot’ as
subject is incorrect. So, by ‘Extending Clue Technique’, look other
choices in which the word ‘spot’ is used as subject and eliminate
them.In choices B & C the word ‘spot’ is used as the subject: The
right spot.... All are eliminated except D.
Ans. D
Q. Mammo dog the skinny killed. (G-12: Entrance)
A. Mammo the skinny dog killed.
B. Skinny dog killed the Mammo.
C. Skinny the dog Mammo killed.
D. The skinny dog killed Mammo.
Explanation-3
Look
this question, let’s take choice /sentence A and break into different
words or group of words and see whether the groups of words are
meaningful (separately and together) or not. Mammo/ the skinny dog
killed. The word Mammo, name of person can be used at the beginning as
subject (meaningful); the groups of words ‘the skinny dog killed’ is
also meaningful. But when we put them together, they are meaningless.
Because, the meaning is Mammo is dog. Eliminate choice A.
Brief Rule
Rule1:
transitive verb: Additionally, the word ‘killed’ is transitive verb, it
needs object after it. ‘Killed what?’ In English sentence: S+V+O. Look
also choice C the verb ‘killed’ is used at the end. Eliminate C.
Rule
2: Article the is not used before proper nouns, especially with
people’s names (the Million, the Abiy....). So the Mammo on choice B is
incorrect.
Ans. D
Q. Looking have we over you all been for. (G-12: Entrance)
A. You have been looking for we all over.
B. We all have been looking over for you.
C. We have been looking for you all over.
D. All over you have been looking for we.
Explanation-4
In
the above question, the group of words are meaningful up to ‘we’, but
when put these group of words (Y ou have been looking for) with ‘we’ it
will be meaningless. As the sentence is affirmative, the order is S+V+O.
After ‘for’ object is needed but ‘we’ is subject. So, eliminate choice
A; take this as clue and look for other choices in which the word ‘we’
is used in place of object. Look choice D; eliminate it. ‘Looking for’
is phrasal verb, the preposition ‘for’ must be used with ‘looking’, it
should not be separated. Eliminate choice B.
Ans. C
Q. Plane I by travelling hate. (G-12: Entrance)
A. By plane I hate travelling.
B. Travelling by plane I hate.
C. I hate travelling by plane.
D. I hate by plane travelling.
Explanation-5
We
can answer this question by applying meaningfulness technique. Let’s
begin by breaking sentence A into different groups of words and test
their meaningfulness (separately and also together). Sometimes, some
groups of words could be meaningful separately but meaningless when put
together. For example, in ‘By plane/ I hate travelling’, the group or
phrase ‘By plane’ is meaningful because we can say by car, by plane, by
cycle.... “I hate travelling” is also meaningful as we can say or have
this type of word orders (I/We/They hate writing/talking/ reading….).
But
when we put them (the first and the second groups of words), they will
be meaningless. So, eliminate choice A. Because they were interchanged,
their places were exchanged. The sentence is declarative (SVO), it
should begin with subject. The subject of this sentence could be "I".
Let’s
exchange the places by putting “I hate travelling” first and “ by
plane” second. We can get “I hate travelling by plane.” So, eliminate
all choices except C.
Ans. C
Q. World I the sail to around want. (G-12: Entrance)
A.To sail around the world I want.
B. I want around the world to sail.
C. Around the world I want to sail.
D. I want to sail around the world.
Explanation-6
(Sail
means travelling on water body by ship…) “To sail around the world” /
“I want.” Both groups could be meaningful separately because we can say
/have word order like this (To sail around the country/city/ continent…
I/We/ They want...). But when put together both groups of words, they
will be meaningless. A is meaningless; we eliminate it.
The
reason is that their positions were interchanged. Because the sentence
is ‘declarative’, it should begin with subject. When we exchange
(rearrange) the position, we can get meaningful sentence. “I want to
sail around the world.”
Ans. D
Q. You next do in who class to sit? (G-12: Entrance)
A.Who do you sit next to in class?
B. Next who do you sit in to class?
C. To who next do you sit in class?
D. Who next to do you sit in class?
Explanation-7
This
question is about ‘interrogative sentence’. As a rule the word order in
‘question sentence’ should begin with ‘Wh-words or AV’. So, choice
B&C could be eliminated (why?). Choice D will be eliminated by
‘Wh-word + AV’ rule.
Ans. A
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