VS 2A 2009 English Language Blog

DOs

• Analyse the question to determine what the question is asking for.
• Refer to the passage instead of relying on your memory/ knowledge to answer the question (this is important, especially for vocab questions!).
• Answer in the same tense as the question (a must for summary).
• Read instructions (especially for own words and quote questions)
• Answers for vocab question must follow the same word form (e.g., "frightened" = "scared", NOT "scary")

DON'Ts

• Don't be tricked by the question. Factual/ literal questions need not always start with the 5Ws1H (e.g., "what", "who", "when"), they could start with "list", "write", "state".
• Don't infer too far from the text (see example given at the end of this entry)
• Don't use the root word to explain the meaning (of the phrase).

Good luck for your exams!

================================================================

E.g., if given the statement, "The Minister confessed to owning the gun that was used to injure his wife", we may infer the following:

• the Minister is married (since he has a wife)
• the Minster is a man (since he has a wife)
• he owns a gun
• his wife was injured
• the minister acknowledged that he owned a gun

We may NOT infer the following (too far an inference):

• the Minister shot his wife (he only confessed to owning the gun)
• his wife is dead (statement only says she is injured)
• the Minister is covering up for someone