Both sets, every time: words with two meanings
One word that fits two different brackets, where a wrong option is often a real synonym of one of them. Why naming both meanings first is what makes the question quick.
Vocabulary
5 posts on this. Written by Mat and Alicia, who prepare pupils for the Buckinghamshire Transfer Test every week in Winslow.
The pair that leaps out is usually wrong: opposites
Two brackets and one pair that means most nearly the opposite. Why the words that feel like they belong together are the trap, and six to try.
Meaning, word type, closest: finding the nearest word
Two brackets, three words in each, and one pair that means most nearly the same. The Three-Step Check, the larger version of the question, and six to try.
Meaning, swap, check: synonyms and antonyms
Four options, and every one of them put there for a reason. What each wrong answer is doing, and why the routine matters more than the vocabulary.
The exact name, and the test for it: abbreviations, irony and idioms
This part of the paper usually asks for the precise name. Initialism or acronym, idiom or proverb, verbal or situational irony — each has a test that helps settle it quickly.