Cơ Bản: Conversation/Short Sentences

This guide will help you understand and answer conversation and short sentence completion questions on college entrance exams. We'll cover the basics, common phrases, and tips to improve your score.

Part 1: Understanding Conversations

Conversation questions test your ability to understand spoken English. You'll need to pick the best response to complete a short conversation.

Key Concepts:

• Context: Pay attention to who is speaking and the situation.


• Tone: Notice the speaker's feelings (happy, sad, angry, etc.).


• Grammar: Make sure your answer is grammatically correct.


• Logic: The answer should make sense in the conversation.

Example 1:

A: "Hi, how are you?"

B: "(A) I'm fine, thank you. (B) Yes, I am. (C) See you later. (D) Not at all."

Answer: (A) is the best choice because it's a polite and logical response to the question.

Common Phrases:

• Greetings: Hello, Hi, Good morning/afternoon/evening


• Asking about someone's well-being: How are you? How's it going?


• Responding to greetings: I'm fine, thank you. Not bad. Pretty good.


• Making requests: Can you help me? Could you please...? Would you mind...?


• Offering help: Can I help you? Do you need any help?


• Accepting offers: Yes, please. That would be great. Thank you.


• Declining offers: No, thank you. I'm okay. I'm all set.


• Expressing gratitude: Thank you. Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.


• Responding to gratitude: You're welcome. No problem. Don't mention it.


• Apologizing: I'm sorry. I apologize.


• Accepting apologies: That's okay. No worries.


• Making suggestions: Let's... How about...? Why don't we...?


• Agreeing: I agree. That's a good idea. Sounds good.


• Disagreeing: I don't agree. I'm not sure about that. I see your point, but...

Tips for Conversation Questions:

1. Read carefully: Understand the question or statement.


2. Eliminate wrong answers: Look for answers that don't make sense grammatically or logically.


3. Choose the most appropriate answer: Pick the answer that fits the context and tone of the conversation.

Part 2: Short Sentence Completion

These questions test your vocabulary, grammar, and understanding of sentence structure. You need to choose the best word or phrase to complete the sentence.

Key Concepts:

• Vocabulary: Know common words and their meanings.


• Grammar: Understand verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and word order.


• Context clues: Use the surrounding words to understand the meaning of the sentence.

Example 2:

"The book was very _______. I couldn't put it down."

(A) boring (B) exciting (C) sad (D) difficult

Answer: (B) is the best choice because it makes sense that you couldn't put down an exciting book.

Common Grammar Points:

• 
  

  Verb Tenses:

  
  
  
  
  • Present Simple: Habits, facts (e.g., I eat breakfast every day).
  
  
  • Present Continuous: Actions happening now (e.g., I am eating breakfast now).
  
  
  • Past Simple: Completed actions in the past (e.g., I ate breakfast yesterday).
  
  
  • Past Continuous: Actions in progress in the past (e.g., I was eating breakfast when the phone rang).
  
  
  • Future Simple: Future predictions (e.g., I will eat breakfast tomorrow).
  
  
  • Future Continuous: Actions in progress in the future (e.g., I will be eating breakfast at 8 am tomorrow).
  
  
  
  


• 
  

  Prepositions: Words that show the relationship between nouns (e.g., on, in, at, to, from, with, by).

  
  


• 
  

  Conjunctions: Words that connect words, phrases, or clauses (e.g., and, but, or, so, because, although).

  
  

Example 3:

"He is good _______ playing the guitar."

(A) at (B) on (C) in (D) to

Answer: (A) is the best choice. The correct phrase is "good at".

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

• Incorrect verb tense: Make sure the verb tense matches the time frame of the sentence.


• Incorrect preposition: Use the correct preposition based on the context.


• Subject-verb agreement: The verb must agree with the subject in number (singular or plural).


• Confusing words: Be careful with words that sound similar but have different meanings (e.g., there/their/they're).

Tips for Short Sentence Completion Questions:

1. Read the entire sentence: Understand the meaning before choosing an answer.


2. Look for context clues: Use the surrounding words to help you understand the meaning.


3. Check grammar: Make sure your answer is grammatically correct.


4. Try each option: If you're not sure, try each option in the sentence to see which one makes the most sense.

Part 3: Practice

The best way to improve is to practice! Do as many practice questions as you can to get familiar with the types of questions and the common phrases and grammar points tested.

Remember these tips:

• Pay attention to context.


• Consider the speaker's tone.


• Choose grammatically correct answers.


• Eliminate wrong answers first.


• Practice regularly!

Example Questions and Solutions

Question 1:

Shop assistant: "Do you need any help?"

Customer: "_______. I'm just looking around."

(A) Yes, please (B) No, thank you (C) Here you are (D) That's right

Solution: The customer is declining the offer of help. The best answer is (B).

Question 2:

Ann: "I think children should help with housework."

Peter: "_______ It teaches them responsibility."

(A) I don't think so (B) You're wrong (C) I totally agree (D) That's impossible

Solution: Peter agrees with Ann. The best answer is (C).

Question 3:

As they remembered _______ about the danger of getting lost in the forest, they decided to turn back.

(A) to be warned (B) being warned (C) to warn (D) warning

Solution: The correct form is "being warned" because it refers to a past experience they remembered. The best answer is (B).

Question 4:

Once _______ for viruses, the software can be installed in the school computer system for use.

(A) checking (B) checked (C) to check (D) check

Solution: The sentence requires a past participle to form a passive construction. The best answer is (B).

Question 5:

The teacher entered the room while the students _______ their plan for the excursion.

(A) discussed (B) were discussing (C) are discussing (D) discuss

Solution: The teacher entered while the students were in the middle of discussing. The best answer is (B).

Question 6:

His choice of future career is quite similar _______ mine.

(A) as (B) to (C) with (D) than

Solution: The correct preposition to use with "similar" is "to." The best answer is (B).

Question 7:

With his good sense of humour, Martin is quite _______ with the students.

(A) popular (B) popularity (C) populate (D) popularly

Solution: Martin is popular with the students. The best answer is (A).

Question 8:

The residents of the village are living a happy life _______ they lack modern facilities.

(A) because (B) despite (C) although (D) therefore

Solution: They are happy even though they lack facilities. The best answer is (C).

Question 9:

Action films with big stars tend to _______ great public attention.

(A) attract (B) distract (C) detract (D) extract

Solution: Action films attract attention. The best answer is (A).

Question 10:

This is ________ most beautiful song I've ever listened to.

(A) a (B) an (C) the (D) one

Solution: Superlatives (most beautiful) need "the". The best answer is (C).

Question 11:

The scientists are working on a drug capable _______ of the spread of cancerous cells.

(A) to prevent (B) of preventing (C) preventing (D) to preventing

Solution: The correct form is "capable of preventing." The best answer is (B).

Question 12:

The little boy took an instant liking to his babysitter _______.

(A) , did he? (B) , didn't he? (C) , does he? (D) , doesn't he?

Solution: This is a tag question. The statement is positive, so the tag is negative. The best answer is (B).

Question 13:

It's time he acted like a _______ adult and stopped blaming others for his wrongdoings.

(A) grow (B) grown (C) growing (D) grew

Solution: Requires the past participle 'grown' to be an adjective modifying 'adult'. The best answer is (B).

Question 14:

We _______ on a field trip if the weather is fine this weekend.

(A) will go (B) went (C) are going (D) have gone

Solution: Indicates a future planned event. The best answer is (A).

Question 15:

Once recipe for success is to stay focused and _______ yourself to whatever you do.

(A) dedicate (B) dedicated (C) dedicating (D) dedication

Solution: Requires the infinitive form after 'to', the answer is (A).