Good ways for revising English language exam?

I know you people can't type at 95 words per minute like me, but that is no reason to give out incompatible advice. This is not a mickey-mouse exam. I would say it is the hardest exam of them all...

With all due respect... 'checking grammar', 'reading articles' and 'looking for language devices' does absolutely nothing unless you want to get a C...

This is a very difficult exam. 3 years ago it was easy and you could come out with full marks on every question with the equivalent detail to get roughly 70% on this exam. This should not be underestimated, every single question has it's own strategy and it is vital that you don't underlook them and assume that being adequately knowledgeable about articles will get you anywhere. I will go through each question 1 by 1: I will use the 2013 June exam as an example with the questions...

Question 1)

- This is ALWAYS a summary question. You need to look at an article and write a 1 page long summary of what it is saying.
- You structure it as so: 4 paragraphs. In each paragraph, you are to include at least 1 short quote. Don't make your quote any longer than 5 words. You then talk about the quote, summarise what it means and provide an interpretation about it. You start with "from this article we can infer that x"... you then include a short, embedded quote such as "we can infer that vegetarianism is actually a "greater drain" on our supplies than regular meat eating". Now don't get this wrong, YOU ONLY keep the quote you pick identical to the article's text. If the rest of the article says "...on our supplies than regular meat eating", DON'T copy that out, change it into your OWN words, like "...than normal diets on our reserves of energy and logistics." See what happened there? I re-wrote the article's message in this section using my own understanding. This gets you into the top band and makes sure that you actually UNDERSTAND the article, because that is what the question is asking you. That's what the paper is about, your READING ability, not your 'copying out information' skills.
- Add interpretations at the end, such as "this is actually very surprising as we would expect vegetarianism to be a 'greener' take on our diets which highlights the unlooked attitudes towards this problem". See that? That shows that you are able to not only read it but take it that bit further and 'read between the lines'. You can read an article and infer unspoken stuff.
- Quote from a range of the article, include ALL important details, and make sure you mention everything important, choose your quotes wisely - highlighting the article in the first 5 minutes helps.
- Finally, look for the 'ironic issues' or the 'other side of the argument'. This is ALWAYS in the texts we're given. For example: the June 2011 article talked about the problems with wind farms... but at the end they talked about the fact that these wind farms, despite their 'adverse effects' on the pristine view, they actually help. That is KEY, you HAVE TO MENTION the 'other side of the argument'. Miss it out, and you've got a maximum of 6/8.


Question 2)

- This one is probably the most predictable question. It will ALWAYS ask you the exact same thing: to explain the effect of a presentational device and explain how it links to the article. Easy as it sounds, this is a very over-looked question.
- You must structure it as so: 4 short paragraphs, 2 paragraphs about the PICTURE and 2 about the HEADLINE or other notable presentational features. Okay? In these paragraphs, mention one feature about the picture/headline, and explain how it is effective. Then include a quote from the text and explain how the picture is representative of the details in the article.
- Now, here's the over-looked part... You HAVE TO BE SPECIFIC to the text given. You cannot just say "the headline is bold and eye-catching". NO. You have to talk into context. The June 2013 Q2 was of a young teenage girl eating a ghastly looking burger, and the article talked about unhealthy diets. You NEVER just say "the teenager is eye-catching". For this, you have to say something like "the picture is effective because the teenager is pretty in appearance, and the way she is obliviously eating an extremely unhealthy burger highlights the severity of the issue, and it grabs the reader's attention as we are essentially forced to question why such oblivious actions on our bodies is bestowed by young teenagers who actually care about their appearance." Understand? You have to make specific points, not GENERAL points.


Question 3)

- Another predictable one, but the articles vary hugely. This one asks you to explain the thoughts and feelings of a character in a non-fiction novel. This one is pretty simple, and it can be nailed easily with 5 minutes of planning.
- At the beginning of the exam, READ THE EXTRACT and note down what the character is feeling at each point, offer a variety of feelings and give a variety of interpretations. Don't just say "she's feeling lonely", say "she's feeling lonely but also anxious at the same time". You need to explore a variety of feelings rather than just one. There will always be multiple feelings in one paragraph.
- Structure it with 4 short paragraphs, explaining the speaker's feelings 4 times with several quotations to support it. Talk about 'why' she may feel like this and explore deeply how her feelings change over the course of the extract.


Question 4)

- This question is the easiest to learn but the hardest to master. You must not lose any time on this question, you need exactly 16 minutes on this and every single one of them counts. Try to do one paragraph for 4 minutes.
- This involved describing the effect of language devices, you should know a lot about this from poetry essays and all of that stuff. But the ironic thing is; you don't even need to analyse a 'list of three' or a 'metaphor'... you can pull out one word and explain it's effect without it actually being a distinct language device. Try to ramble on about how it sets the scene, or creates tension.
- This is a PEC structured question. Make a point, quote it, and make a conclusion. In the conclusion, include at least 3 statements about the word. Try to offer different interpretations, like "it could suggest that x. But also that y"... You must say A LOT about SO LITTLE. Take a word and analyse every single possible thing it could be referred to, and don't be afraid - MOST of the marks are about language analysis rather than comparison. You can take two words and make the slightest hint of comparison and complete that aspect of band 4.
- As I said, don't compare so much, analyse. The analysis marks are far more valuable than comparing. As long as the two devices do such little in common as to 'setting the tone', you can compare them. But analyse the hell out of the words and what they mean. Do this 4 times and you will get 16/16.


Question 5)

- Okay, you've done the reading, that is the hard part. But now comes the writing section. This question is always a describing question, you will be bestowed a dull as hell question like "describe your best meal" and you will have to go for it with everything you've got.
- THIS is where your last 4 years of reading articles, looking at their effects and explaining how they create feelings/tension comes into play.
- PLAN an answer, 5 minutes will give you an array of things you want to outline. You will need this as you will find that you will just ramble on and on in your writing piece until you find a closing point. You NEED everything outlined.
- Acknowledge this, and plug in language devices and effects (no matter how cringe they are) and describe. Talk about the senses, describe how you feel. But don't be too repetitive.
- The structure depends on the question, I'd do 3-4 paragraphs with separate 'intentions' to aim towards, but it depends on the task itself by a huge amount.


Question 6)

- This is a juicy question where you should be able to get 18+/24 with ease. You have to argue for or against something, OR persuade someone to do something.
- This has some unspoken rules: you have to quickly and boldly outline your argument at the beginning, don't waste time with an anecdote, don't waste time repeating yourself (YGM?!) and just say what you need to say... If you can think of an effective opening, go for it.
- As with Q5, PLAN AN ANSWER TO THIS. You need to come up with 4-5 main points which your paragraphs will describe. You need to know your argument's points so you know when you've finished - I tend to see that if I don't plan, I will just keep on writing until I feel I've finished.
- You can use satire if you want, this can be very effective and it takes skill to accomplish. You need to have a confident, assured tone and argue directly for what you want with no misconceptions...
- Make counter-points, think of any other arguments against the issue and shoot them down cleverly and effectively. Argue as if your opinion is a fact, and that no one else is right about anything.

- FURTHERMORE an extremely important thing with Q5/6 is that you use COMPLEX sentence structures, don't just write a 15 worded sentence 20 times... You need to use semicolons and commas to show that you're literate and can write things well. Check below if you don't know how to use a semicolon.






As I said, this is a difficult exam... You NEED to time yourself correctly and plan your answers. The first 15 minutes MUST be dedicated to analysing each of the 3 sources, highlight and go through it. And vice-verse you must plan answers to the writing tasks, or you'll just keep writing until you feel you've finished.

You must time yourself well. In order:
- 15 minutes highlighting sources 1-3.
- 12 minutes on Q1.
- 12 mins on Q2.
- 12 mins on Q3.
- 24 mins on Q4.
- 25 mins on Q5 (ideally 5 planning out of this 25).
- 35 mins on Q6 (as per above).

As for grammar, you should know all of the basic rules right now. If not, correct them RIGHT NOW:
- you're = you are
- your = your object/entity
- their = their object/entity
- there = there is...

Semicolons, you use them to connect two sentences with linked meanings. IE - This is a semicolon. It can link two connected sentences...... (THIS BECOMES...) This is a semicolon; it can link two connected sentences.

Use a comma when you have a connective, and never connect more than 3 sentences with commas. You will comma-splice and just ruin your accuracy mark.




Good luck, I am sitting it myself on the 5th Nov... I hope I get interesting writing tasks, they are the only hindrances I plan to experience. But for everything else, I've closed all doors.

I know you people can't type at 95 words per minute like me, but that is no reason to give out incompatible advice. This is not a mickey-mouse exam. I would say it is the hardest exam of them all...

With all due respect... 'checking grammar', 'reading articles' and 'looking for language devices' does absolutely nothing unless you want to get a C...

This is a very difficult exam. 3 years ago it was easy and you could come out with full marks on every question with the equivalent detail to get roughly 70% on this exam. This should not be underestimated, every single question has it's own strategy and it is vital that you don't underlook them and assume that being adequately knowledgeable about articles will get you anywhere. I will go through each question 1 by 1: I will use the 2013 June exam as an example with the questions...

Question 1)

- This is ALWAYS a summary question. You need to look at an article and write a 1 page long summary of what it is saying.
- You structure it as so: 4 paragraphs. In each paragraph, you are to include at least 1 short quote. Don't make your quote any longer than 5 words. You then talk about the quote, summarise what it means and provide an interpretation about it. You start with "from this article we can infer that x"... you then include a short, embedded quote such as "we can infer that vegetarianism is actually a "greater drain" on our supplies than regular meat eating". Now don't get this wrong, YOU ONLY keep the quote you pick identical to the article's text. If the rest of the article says "...on our supplies than regular meat eating", DON'T copy that out, change it into your OWN words, like "...than normal diets on our reserves of energy and logistics." See what happened there? I re-wrote the article's message in this section using my own understanding. This gets you into the top band and makes sure that you actually UNDERSTAND the article, because that is what the question is asking you. That's what the paper is about, your READING ability, not your 'copying out information' skills.
- Add interpretations at the end, such as "this is actually very surprising as we would expect vegetarianism to be a 'greener' take on our diets which highlights the unlooked attitudes towards this problem". See that? That shows that you are able to not only read it but take it that bit further and 'read between the lines'. You can read an article and infer unspoken stuff.
- Quote from a range of the article, include ALL important details, and make sure you mention everything important, choose your quotes wisely - highlighting the article in the first 5 minutes helps.
- Finally, look for the 'ironic issues' or the 'other side of the argument'. This is ALWAYS in the texts we're given. For example: the June 2011 article talked about the problems with wind farms... but at the end they talked about the fact that these wind farms, despite their 'adverse effects' on the pristine view, they actually help. That is KEY, you HAVE TO MENTION the 'other side of the argument'. Miss it out, and you've got a maximum of 6/8.


Question 2)

- This one is probably the most predictable question. It will ALWAYS ask you the exact same thing: to explain the effect of a presentational device and explain how it links to the article. Easy as it sounds, this is a very over-looked question.
- You must structure it as so: 4 short paragraphs, 2 paragraphs about the PICTURE and 2 about the HEADLINE or other notable presentational features. Okay? In these paragraphs, mention one feature about the picture/headline, and explain how it is effective. Then include a quote from the text and explain how the picture is representative of the details in the article.
- Now, here's the over-looked part... You HAVE TO BE SPECIFIC to the text given. You cannot just say "the headline is bold and eye-catching". NO. You have to talk into context. The June 2013 Q2 was of a young teenage girl eating a ghastly looking burger, and the article talked about unhealthy diets. You NEVER just say "the teenager is eye-catching". For this, you have to say something like "the picture is effective because the teenager is pretty in appearance, and the way she is obliviously eating an extremely unhealthy burger highlights the severity of the issue, and it grabs the reader's attention as we are essentially forced to question why such oblivious actions on our bodies is bestowed by young teenagers who actually care about their appearance." Understand? You have to make specific points, not GENERAL points.


Question 3)

- Another predictable one, but the articles vary hugely. This one asks you to explain the thoughts and feelings of a character in a non-fiction novel. This one is pretty simple, and it can be nailed easily with 5 minutes of planning.
- At the beginning of the exam, READ THE EXTRACT and note down what the character is feeling at each point, offer a variety of feelings and give a variety of interpretations. Don't just say "she's feeling lonely", say "she's feeling lonely but also anxious at the same time". You need to explore a variety of feelings rather than just one. There will always be multiple feelings in one paragraph.
- Structure it with 4 short paragraphs, explaining the speaker's feelings 4 times with several quotations to support it. Talk about 'why' she may feel like this and explore deeply how her feelings change over the course of the extract.


Question 4)

- This question is the easiest to learn but the hardest to master. You must not lose any time on this question, you need exactly 16 minutes on this and every single one of them counts. Try to do one paragraph for 4 minutes.
- This involved describing the effect of language devices, you should know a lot about this from poetry essays and all of that stuff. But the ironic thing is; you don't even need to analyse a 'list of three' or a 'metaphor'... you can pull out one word and explain it's effect without it actually being a distinct language device. Try to ramble on about how it sets the scene, or creates tension.
- This is a PEC structured question. Make a point, quote it, and make a conclusion. In the conclusion, include at least 3 statements about the word. Try to offer different interpretations, like "it could suggest that x. But also that y"... You must say A LOT about SO LITTLE. Take a word and analyse every single possible thing it could be referred to, and don't be afraid - MOST of the marks are about language analysis rather than comparison. You can take two words and make the slightest hint of comparison and complete that aspect of band 4.
- As I said, don't compare so much, analyse. The analysis marks are far more valuable than comparing. As long as the two devices do such little in common as to 'setting the tone', you can compare them. But analyse the hell out of the words and what they mean. Do this 4 times and you will get 16/16.


Question 5)

- Okay, you've done the reading, that is the hard part. But now comes the writing section. This question is always a describing question, you will be bestowed a dull as hell question like "describe your best meal" and you will have to go for it with everything you've got.
- THIS is where your last 4 years of reading articles, looking at their effects and explaining how they create feelings/tension comes into play.
- PLAN an answer, 5 minutes will give you an array of things you want to outline. You will need this as you will find that you will just ramble on and on in your writing piece until you find a closing point. You NEED everything outlined.
- Acknowledge this, and plug in language devices and effects (no matter how cringe they are) and describe. Talk about the senses, describe how you feel. But don't be too repetitive.
- The structure depends on the question, I'd do 3-4 paragraphs with separate 'intentions' to aim towards, but it depends on the task itself by a huge amount.


Question 6)

- This is a juicy question where you should be able to get 18+/24 with ease. You have to argue for or against something, OR persuade someone to do something.
- This has some unspoken rules: you have to quickly and boldly outline your argument at the beginning, don't waste time with an anecdote, don't waste time repeating yourself (YGM?!) and just say what you need to say... If you can think of an effective opening, go for it.
- As with Q5, PLAN AN ANSWER TO THIS. You need to come up with 4-5 main points which your paragraphs will describe. You need to know your argument's points so you know when you've finished - I tend to see that if I don't plan, I will just keep on writing until I feel I've finished.
- You can use satire if you want, this can be very effective and it takes skill to accomplish. You need to have a confident, assured tone and argue directly for what you want with no misconceptions...
- Make counter-points, think of any other arguments against the issue and shoot them down cleverly and effectively. Argue as if your opinion is a fact, and that no one else is right about anything.

- FURTHERMORE an extremely important thing with Q5/6 is that you use COMPLEX sentence structures, don't just write a 15 worded sentence 20 times... You need to use semicolons and commas to show that you're literate and can write things well. Check below if you don't know how to use a semicolon.






As I said, this is a difficult exam... You NEED to time yourself correctly and plan your answers. The first 15 minutes MUST be dedicated to analysing each of the 3 sources, highlight and go through it. And vice-verse you must plan answers to the writing tasks, or you'll just keep writing until you feel you've finished.

You must time yourself well. In order:
- 15 minutes highlighting sources 1-3.
- 12 minutes on Q1.
- 12 mins on Q2.
- 12 mins on Q3.
- 24 mins on Q4.
- 25 mins on Q5 (ideally 5 planning out of this 25).
- 35 mins on Q6 (as per above).

As for grammar, you should know all of the basic rules right now. If not, correct them RIGHT NOW:
- you're = you are
- your = your object/entity
- their = their object/entity
- there = there is...

Semicolons, you use them to connect two sentences with linked meanings. IE - This is a semicolon. It can link two connected sentences...... (THIS BECOMES...) This is a semicolon; it can link two connected sentences.

Use a comma when you have a connective, and never connect more than 3 sentences with commas. You will comma-splice and just ruin your accuracy mark.




Good luck, I am sitting it myself on the 5th Nov... I hope I get interesting writing tasks, they are the only hindrances I plan to experience. But for everything else, I've closed all doors.

I did this English language last year and got 95% overall! the exam was a complete doss as I finished with 20 minutes to go.