READING FOR IDEAS: NOTE MAKING

Reading for Ideas: NOTE MAKING

PAPER 2/ SECTION 1

1.  A factual communication passage of approximately 700 words is to be read twice: first as a whole to understand its theme (skimming) and the second time for extraction (scanning) of theme-relevant content points.


2. The two themes can be based on similarities and differences, causes and effects, advantages and disadvantages, actions and consequences, the spread and popularity of a particular product, etc.


3. You may take approximately 20 minutes to accomplish this task of 12 marks.


4. Read the question (task description) properly to identify the two themes and the number of paragraphs to be considered for the extraction of content points. Sometimes, you have to read the WHOLE PASSAGE yet often PARAGRAPH numbers are mentioned (Example: 2-6).


5. Keep your points concise and in the given order. Disorganized or jumbled points may cause confusion in the case of timelines.


6. Write within the given space. The eight dotted lines for each theme are sufficient for writing 7 to 8 content points.


7. You may write more than 12 content points. If any point is considered wrong, you will get the marks for the additional points.


8. While you extract the points, it's good to underline them. You can get back to them when writing the summary (in case of any confusion).


9. Avoid the use of your own words while making notes. This may create trouble when you struggle for your own words in summary writing.


10. Stick to the given information in the passage. DO NOT include any information on your own. The task assesses your reading skills NOT general knowledge.


11. Keep the content points relevant to the themes throughout the task.


12. Avoid writing incomplete points (that lack reasoning).


13. Write legibly: clear enough to be read and understood by the examiner.


14. Number your content points so that you have a clear idea of how many are remaining. DO NOT include the given examples for each theme while numbering the content points.


15. DO NOT add details and examples in the content point. You can easily identify them with the use of specific phrases and punctuation: For example/ like/ such as/ dash/ colon or brackets.


16. DO NOT edit your work for errors of grammar, punctuation, and spellings. No marks will be deducted on these grounds in this part of the paper.


Practice past papers for perfection.


All the best.

STORY WRITING

DEVELOPING COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Anger:

1)   I felt an over-whelming sense of grief and anger

2)   He gritted his teeth/ he was boiling with rage/burst into tears of frenzy

3)   'That's not so!' she snapped (uttered sharp or cutting words), angrily and bitterly

4)   His anger poured out upon me like a volcano

5)   Staring with an expression of mingled flurry and alarm

Cry:

1)   Tears rolled down his cheeks/ I began sobbing in hysterical despair

2)   Tears glittering in his deep blue eyes /tears welled up in her eyes again

3)   He buried his face in his hands and wept/ her eyes were brimming with tears.

4)   He scrubbed away some tears that had got into his eyes

Happiness:

1)   gave a cry of pleasure

2)   He walked back with a tremendous feeling of elation

3)   thrilled with deep delight/ laughing wildly shrieking with pleasure

4)   A twinkle came into his eyes/ He muffled

 ( barely audible) a chuckle

5)   He nodded merrily/ tingling(shivering) with excitement

Smile/ Laugh:

1)   A smile creased his face

2)   Her face beamed with astonishment and mirth.

3)   She giggled with hands to her helpless mouths (laugh in an affected, silly, or nervous manner)

4)   He gave a chortle of pleasure and satisfaction. (a loud gleeful chuckle)

5)   Jenny could not help a little snigger of amusement (give a half-suppressed or secretive laugh)

6)   He gave a hearty guffaw. (laugh coarsely or boisterously)

7)   You can wipe that self-satisfied smirk off. (sneer, simper, grin)

8)   A grin split across his face/ a hideous/detested grin slowly split his face

Fear/ Shock/ Anxiety (nervousness)/ Surprise:

 1)    he clapped a hand to her mouth/ she clapped a hand to her forehead

2)    it made my heart pound/ thump or his heart raced/ pulse racing, my breath coming in short gasps

3)    frozen with fright, my heart stopped beating

4)    the words seemed to have frozen solid inside his mouth/ I could not believe my eyes/ ears

5)    the breath caught in her throat/ a chill ran down my bones

6)    he was sitting with his mouth hanging open/ dropped open

7)    she sat down feeling goose bumps rising up his arms/ butterflies in her stomach

8)    I was wet/ drenched/ soaked with perspiration

9)   A blush ( embarrassment) crept over her face/ She added with a rueful (apologetic) smile

10)  wiping the sweat from his red throat/ sweating down his face

11)  To her utter dismay, no sound came from her throat

12)  she was fraught and worn out, biting her lower lip to

 keep from crying

13)  a lump rose in Clare’s throat/ he could hear his heart pounding

14)  my heart beating so fast that I could feel it shaking my whole body

15)   terrified as I was, I could not bring myself to regret the decision

16)  for an instance, I felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms

Guidelines for O' Level English Language Paper 1 (Writing)

Common Errors in English Language Paper 1 (Writing)

Section 1 (Directed Writing)

· The questions are not read properly and answered inappropriately.

· Improper formats are used.

· Improper beginning. (In letter despite the given instructions to start from ‘ Dear

      Principal’, the address is given.)

· Improper beginning or ending. (Despite the given instructions to end properly, the directed

      writing is not ending with the sign, full name and date.)

· Subject or Headline is not written.

· Introduction is missing and composition has started directly from description of content  

    points. Though the given situation should be reiterated in the introduction.

· Yours faithfully is used to end a letter to Principal. Though it is used for the recipient who    

         is not known.

· Use of informal tone in formal essay.

· Content points are not justified

· Only one or two content points are focused and elaborated properly.

· Pronoun ‘I’ is used when the whole class was to be represented.

· The given options are misunderstood and missed out in elaboration. For instance, barbeque   

         and movie was a single option yet in some cases, one of it was discussed only.

Section 2 (Creative Writing)

· Rubrics are not followed and question has not been started from a fresh page.

· Topic number is not mentioned or wrongly written.

· Plan is not made or is too brief.

· Rough work or plan is not cross out.

· Topics are not addressed properly. Relevance to the theme is not maintained.

· Coherence is missing.

· The given sentence/ dialogue is not used in the story.

· The given beginning is not used or used in the middle or end.

· In some of the cases own titles are given for the essays.

· Selection of lexis is inappropriate for the topic.

· Ambitious vocabulary is aimed with out understanding its correct usage or are spelt   

    wrongly.

· Weak plot is crafted, with no action or adventure.

· Lack of imagery or expressions in descriptive and narrative essay.

· Lack of supportive arguments in argumentative essay.

· Facts and figures missing to justify the given case in argumentative essay.

· Beginning and Endings are quite stereotype and in some cases irrelevant. For instance, most

    of the narratives start from description of morning scene.

· Traces of copied material in the composition or plots of movies or famous novels are used.

· Illegible Writing or untidy presentation.

· No paragraphs are made.

· Less use of linking words.

· Dialogues are not written separately or in inverted commas.

· Tenses consistency is not maintained. For instance: Narrative essay should be written in 

      past tense.

· Word limit has been exceeded, resulting in monotony and recurrent grammatical and          

    spelling errors.

· The difference between ‘there’ and ‘their’ is not understood.

· There is no expression like ‘according to me’. As far as I am concerned can be used.

· With the expression “one of the” plural noun should be used. One of my

      friends/ family members.

· Object is used in place of subject. For instance: Me entered the room in hurry. Here ‘I’   

    should be written.

· Preference should be given to others. For Instance: Instead of writing, ‘I and my class’  

      mates, ‘My classmates and I’ should be used. 

Common Errors in English Language Paper 2

Section 1 (Reading for Ideas)

Note Making:

· Notes are not précised. Details and examples are mentioned.

· Some points are not extracted from the specified paragraphs.

· Points are written out of the given space.

· Points are illegible.

· Own points/ opinions are included.

· Two given points are also added to complete 15 points.

Summary:

·         Own words are not used

·         Linking Words are missing.

·         Word count is either not mentioned or wrongly written.

·         Word Count is exceeded. (More than 160 words.)

·         All the points of notes are not included.

  

Short Question/ Answers:

· Facts and opinions are not taken from the specified paragraphs.

· No conclusion is drawn in conclusion question.

· In personal experience or opinion question, information or examples from the given   

      passage are taken.

Section 2 (Reading for Meanings)

·  Types of questions are not identified so answered inaccurately.

·  In own words questions, mere keywords are written than mentioning synonyms.

·  In quotation question, sentences are written instead of a word or phrase.

·  In vocabulary question, more than one meaning is given or more than seven words are

      used for description.

·  In vocabulary question, literal meaning is written instead of contextual meaning.

·  Conclusion is not drawn for inferential questions.

How to Be Happy

By Saima Abedi

Brooding over our worries, we often drown in the bottomless sea of despair and fritter away our precious time. The deeper we dig, the greater our agony grows. We tend to feel that mulling over our problems will lead us to a solution and the accumulating anxiety will be alleviated. However, each time we rack our brains for a way out, our optimism and enthusiasm ebbs away, pushing us into the zone of negativity; ultimately the result is disastrous; mounting tension, ruining our mood and even putting our relationships at stake.

The better way to cope up with such issues is to divert our attention and indulge ourselves in something we really love to do: watching a movie, listening music or any creative activity like painting or gardening. It will mask our negativity and bring us back in our element. Furthermore, taking a nap or going out with our friends will not only change our environment and mood yet will certainly give us strength to think of a better solution, with renewed hopes plus zeal to encounter challenges of life.

Sometimes pouring our heart out, helps to a great extent; we may call one of the closest friends to confide in worries or start writing freely on a paper. Letting the weight off the heart, lightens our mind and we start behaving normally. Another way to feel contented is to smile as much as we can, since it instantly elevates our mood.

Drinking a lot of water and eating chocolates are too proven beneficial in staying happy and healthy as water is very effective in reducing stress and the sugar in chocolate boosts our levels of endorphins, a hormone that makes us happy.

In a nutshell, it’s all up to us, how we react in difficult moments; aggravate our anxiety by over thinking or assuage via smiling.

GCE O’ Level English Language Guideline for Comprehension- Passage 2 (Paper 1123/22)

By Saima Abedi

The passage 2 will be fiction that’s a narrative. It is important to read the whole passage carefully before attempting the questions. After comprehending the main ideas of the passage, questions should be read thoroughly and passage paragraph wise. Understanding the types of questions is important in this regard. Broadly there are two major types, explicit and implicit.

Explicit Questions

Literal: The answer of such question is quite obvious. Furthermore, the key word in the question directs you towards the answer.

E.g. According to the beliefs of ancient peoples, what caused earthquakes to happen?

Quotation: A single word or phrase from the passage is to be extracted. However, following instruction is very important here. A single word means single word.

E.g. Pick out and write down the single word which shows that the teacher did not believe that ancient peoples understood what caused earthquakes.

Vocabulary: Eight words will be given; only five words’ meaning ought to be written. Here, a synonym or description of that word within seven words is required. Yet the meaning should be according to the context.

E.g. Choose five of the following words. For each of them give one word or short phrase (of not more than seven words) which has the same meaning that the word has in the passage.

Implicit Questions

Inferential: The reader is expected to think about the ideas given in the passage and drive a conclusion.

E.g. Why might Rena’s mother’s smiling expression in the photograph be described as ‘inappropriate at this time’?

Your Own Words: The reader needs to look for the keywords in the passage and replace them using their synonyms. The number of marks tells the number of key words to be found.

E.g. Explain in your own words why the baby was ‘gurgling with happiness’.

Writer’s Craft: Here the reader should mention the effect the writer wants to create through his words.

E.g. Many people risked their lives by returning to their burning homes. Why does the writer describe this as ‘pathetic’?

Guidelines for Section 1/ Reading Paper (GCE O’ Level English Language -1123)

Reading for Ideas

By Saima Abedi

Summary writing in GCE O’ Level English language paper has tasks to do:

Ø     Note Making

Ø     Using your own words for summarizing the content points.
A    Answering critical thinking questions

Read the question properly, themes given in the question will help you out in finding the relevant content points. The tentative themes are advantages and disadvantages; compare and contrast, action and consequences; causes and effects or a timeline (for increase/ decrease in popularity or uses in former/ modern times). 

For note-making, the following guidelines will ensure maximum marks :

1.      Read the themes carefully along with the paragraph numbers (material for information).

2.    Find at least 15 relevant content points from the particular paragraphs (Do not include the given examples). The task is of 12 marks but the extra point would give you an edge in case any of the points is marked incorrect.

3.      While you extract the content points, underline the topic sentences and key facts.

4.      Leave out details and examples (easy to identify: such as/ for example/ like/ written in brackets or after the colon).

5.      Write the points legibly in the specified space (under the correct theme).

6.      While note-making, do not use your own word that may cause confusion later (in summary writing).

7.      Stick to the given information in the passage (do not display your general knowledge for the theme).


For the summary, the following guidelines will ensure maximum marks :

8.      After note-making, do not read the passage again; use your own words to summarise the content points as far as possible. Use a variety of sentence structure simple, compound and complex.  Add connectors.

9.      Be concise. Write the summary in the given space. Do not exceed the word limit (180 words).

1.  Once you have written your summary, you should review it for style, grammar, and punctuation.


For the critical thinking question, reread the paragraph specified in the question and answer accordingly. Most of the time, candidates are instructed to identify and write down facts and opinions. Remember, facts can be proven true and are supported by evidence and experiences whereas opinions are statement or views that are not conclusive. 

               Examples: Nelson Mandela was a politician and philanthropist. (Fact)
                                  Apple pie is the best dessert in the world. (Opinion)