What this lesson teaches
I can describe how Paper 2 is set out, what each part is worth and how to plan my time.
Syllabus 8881, Paper 2 description. Three passages of continuous prose will be set. The passages will allow for comparative analysis. The length of the passages will be approximately 1200 words in total. There will be a total of 8 or 9 questions in this paper.
I can answer literal questions on Passage 1 accurately and in my own words.
Syllabus 8881, Paper 2 questions: Passage 1. Questions cover literal comprehension, inference, analysis, evaluation and synthesis of ideas based on Passage 1 (9-11 marks).
I can write my summary and application answer in clear, accurate English, because they carry the language marks.
Syllabus 8881, Paper 2 scheme of assessment. Language: 15 marks (based on the responses to the summary and application questions).
Make a guess
Before you read: which answers earn Paper 2's 15 language marks?
- Every answer in the paper, short ones too
- Only the application question, as it is longest
- Only the summary and the application question
Show the answer
Only the summary and the application question
Right. The syllabus bases all 15 language marks on those two answers, so their English matters most.
Paper 2 has three passages and four kinds of question. The summary and the AQ carry the most marks and all the language marks.
Paper 2 is the comprehension paper. It is worth half of your GP grade. You have 1 hour 30 minutes to read three passages and answer every question. The three passages add up to about 1200 words. They share one theme, such as music or online shopping, and they look at it from different sides.
The questions come in four groups, in a fixed order. First come questions on Passage 1 alone, worth 9 to 11 marks in total. They test whether you understood the text, what it suggests, how the writer uses language, and whether a part of it works well.
Second is the summary of Passage 2, worth 8 marks. You pick out the points the question asks for and rewrite them in your own words. In recent papers the limit has been 120 words.
Third come the connection questions, worth 4 to 6 marks. Each one quotes a claim from Passage 1 or Passage 2. You find an idea in Passage 3 that supports or undermines the claim, then explain why.
Last is the application question, or AQ, worth 12 marks. It asks how far you agree with a view on the theme. You answer with ideas from the passages and with examples from your own life and your society, which for most students is Singapore.
Sort these
Which part of Paper 2 does each question belong to?
Groups: Passage 1 question, Summary, Connection question, Application question.
- State two reasons the writer gives for leaving the city (paragraph 1).
- Using paragraphs 2 to 4, summarise the benefits of quiet hobbies in no more than 120 words.
- How far do you agree with the views in the passages about hobbies? Refer to your own society.
- What does the writer suggest by calling the office 'a waiting room' (line 9)?
- Passage 2 says 'hobbies keep us sane'. Identify one idea from Passage 3 that undermines this. Justify your answer.
Show the answer
Passage 1 question
- State two reasons the writer gives for leaving the city (paragraph 1). It asks what one passage says, so it is a literal Passage 1 question.
- What does the writer suggest by calling the office 'a waiting room' (line 9)? It asks what one phrase in one passage suggests. That is a Passage 1 inference question.
Summary
- Using paragraphs 2 to 4, summarise the benefits of quiet hobbies in no more than 120 words. It names paragraphs, a topic to collect points on and a word limit. That is the Passage 2 summary.
Connection question
- Passage 2 says 'hobbies keep us sane'. Identify one idea from Passage 3 that undermines this. Justify your answer. It quotes one passage and asks for a linked idea from Passage 3, so it is a connection question.
Application question
- How far do you agree with the views in the passages about hobbies? Refer to your own society. It asks how far you agree and wants your society's examples. That is the 12-mark AQ.
Content is worth 35 marks and language is worth 15. All 15 language marks come from your summary and your AQ. So those two answers must be written in clear, accurate sentences. The Passage 1 answers earn content marks only, but they still need care.
Some Passage 1 questions are literal. They ask what the passage says, for example 'State two reasons...'. Find the lines first, then give each point in your own words. Copying a whole sentence shows the examiner where the answer is, not that you understood it.
The marks are uneven, so plan your time before you start. One workable plan is 10 minutes to read and 25 minutes for Passage 1 and the connections. That leaves 20 minutes for the summary and 35 for the AQ. Test the plan in timed practice and adjust it, but never leave the AQ short.
- Paper 2 marks
- Content 35 and language 15, out of 50. Half of the GP grade.
- The four parts
- Passage 1 questions (9 to 11), summary of Passage 2 (8), connections (4 to 6), AQ (12).
- Language marks
- All 15 come from the summary and the AQ.
Words that tell you the question type
State, identify, give
Literal. Find the point in the lines given and put it in your own words.
Suggest, imply, what does it tell us
Inference. Say what the writer means but does not state, and point to the words that show it.
How does the writer illustrate, how does the language support
Analysis. Quote the words or example, then explain how they back up the writer's point.
Is it effective, is it convincing
Evaluation. Give a judgement and the reason it works or does not.
Try it on a new passage: Set 2, crowds and civility (our own)
Passage 1, paragraph 1
The doors of the merchandise booth had not even opened when the queue dissolved into a scrum. Adults who would hold a lift for a stranger on any other day were suddenly shoving past children for a limited-edition T-shirt. Something happens to good manners when people become a crowd. Each person feels less watched, and so less responsible.
Passage 1, paragraph 2
The same thing happens, more quietly, on a packed train at peak hour. Commuters plant themselves by the doors and will not move in. Bags take up seats while an elderly man sways in the aisle. Nobody is cruel; everybody is in a hurry. In a crowd, elbows become currency, and the polite are simply left behind.
Passage 1, paragraph 3
The online ticket rush is no better. Thousands refresh a page at the same second, and the losers turn on one another in comment threads, or pay a tout three times the price. At the stadium gate, the usher smiles the tired smile of someone who has said 'please queue' a thousand times.
Passage 2, paragraph 1
Crowds have a bad name, but they are also where strangers learn to trust each other. At a big parade, people who have never met pass water bottles down the row, lift children onto their shoulders and sing the same songs off-key.
Passage 2, paragraph 2
Crowds do real good. A shared event gives people the sense that they belong to something larger than themselves. It gets strangers cooperating: fans shuffle along a row so that a latecomer can sit, and a packed platform parts at once for a wheelchair. Big events also bring money to a city, filling hotels, food stalls and taxis. A cheering crowd can lift the mood of a whole city for days. And a crowd that stands together can give people the courage to speak up when one voice alone would stay silent.
Passage 2, paragraph 3
At the end of one stadium concert, many fans stayed behind to pick up their own litter. Nobody asked them to. They had watched the people around them do it.
Passage 3, paragraph 1
Whether a crowd is rude or kind depends less on the people in it than on how the event is run. Where queues are clearly marked, exits are staggered and tickets are sold by ballot, crowds stay calm. Where everyone must rush for the same door at the same moment, even patient people push.
Passage 3, paragraph 2
Manners in a crowd are also learned from what others do. People copy those around them, for good or ill. One person cutting the queue invites ten more, and one person clearing a table invites the next. Rules help, but mostly by making the good habit the normal one. Once most of a cinema audience has switched off their phones, the last glowing screen starts to look rude.
How to use Set 2
Each Paper 2 lesson ends its notes with one question on this set, so you can try the method on a passage you have not seen worked. Write your answer on paper first, then check it against the points given and the check question in that lesson.
Worked example: Planning 90 minutes
Mei often runs out of time and writes her AQ in 15 minutes. She plans her next practice paper by marks instead of by question order.
- Read all three passages first (10 minutes). Mark the theme and each writer's stance in the margin.
- Answer the Passage 1 questions and the connection questions (25 minutes). They are short and worth about 15 marks together.
- Write the summary (20 minutes). It is worth 8 content marks and part of the language mark.
- Write the AQ (35 minutes). It is worth 12 content marks and the rest of the language mark, so it gets the most time.
- Check the clock after each part. If one part runs over, cut time from Passage 1, never from the AQ.
Watch out for this
The Passage 1 questions come first, so they matter most. I will perfect them and do the AQ if I have time.
Passage 1 questions are worth 9 to 11 marks in all and earn no language marks. The AQ alone is worth 12 content marks, and with the summary it carries all 15 language marks.
Check your understanding
You have 30 minutes left and have not started the summary or the AQ. What is the best use of the time?
- Write a short summary in about ten minutes, then give the AQ the rest
- Spend the time on a careful, complete summary and leave the AQ blank
- Go back and polish your Passage 1 answers first
Show the answer
Write a short summary in about ten minutes, then give the AQ the rest
Right. Together they hold 20 content marks and all 15 language marks, so each needs an attempt.
Check your understanding
A question asks: 'State two reasons the writer gives for moving abroad (paragraph 2).' What does a good answer do?
- Copies the whole of paragraph 2 so that neither of the reasons is missed
- Finds both reasons in paragraph 2 and rewords each one
- Gives your own reasons why people move abroad
Show the answer
Finds both reasons in paragraph 2 and rewords each one
Right. It is a literal question. Locate the points, then show you understood them by using your own words.
Check your understanding
Set 2 question: 'What does the writer suggest about the usher in Passage 1, paragraph 3?' What kind of question is this?
- Language: name the device the writer uses to describe the usher
- Literal: copy out what the usher says at the gate, 'please queue'
- Inference: say what the words imply about the usher, with proof
Show the answer
Inference: say what the words imply about the usher, with proof
Right. 'Suggest' asks for meaning the writer does not state. Here the tired smile and 'a thousand times' imply the usher expects to be ignored.