The Official Summer 2011 IB Exams Discussion Thread
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Original post by 2505
I NEVER HAVE TO DO HISTORY EVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!! although my writing hand is now crippled for life
I accidentally smacked my wrist off the kitchen counter top just after I got home today and I didn't even feel it...
I can't believe its possible to write that much in such a short time
What have you got left?
Original post by Escocia
I accidentally smacked my wrist off the kitchen counter top just after I got home today and I didn't even feel it...
I can't believe its possible to write that much in such a short time
What have you got left?
I can't believe its possible to write that much in such a short time
What have you got left?
it's unreal. They shouldn't have put the history exams so close together...
I've just got HL biology and spanish left now
what about you?Is anyone else taking the Econ HL exams next week?
We haven't really learned anything in that course :/
If you have any tips on how to cram 2 years worth of econ in 3 days
it would be much appreciated
We haven't really learned anything in that course :/
If you have any tips on how to cram 2 years worth of econ in 3 days
it would be much appreciated
Original post by HalfAsleep
Is anyone else taking the Econ HL exams next week?
We haven't really learned anything in that course :/
If you have any tips on how to cram 2 years worth of econ in 3 days
it would be much appreciated
We haven't really learned anything in that course :/
If you have any tips on how to cram 2 years worth of econ in 3 days
it would be much appreciated
We are on the same boat. What i think will help, at least im doing it, is making sure you know how to use diagrams and understand concepts. In youtube if you search for economics concepts like PPC or PPF diagrams or simple supply policies,you'll find teachers explaining them so that should help a lot. I use pajholden's channel, he has very good and straight forward explanations.
Hope this helps. :] And good luck!
Original post by 2505
it's unreal. They shouldn't have put the history exams so close together...
I've just got HL biology and spanish left now what about you?
I've just got HL biology and spanish left now
what about you?Spanish ab initio and ESS
Good luck to you
Original post by reyesy
We are on the same boat. What i think will help, at least im doing it, is making sure you know how to use diagrams and understand concepts. In youtube if you search for economics concepts like PPC or PPF diagrams or simple supply policies,you'll find teachers explaining them so that should help a lot. I use pajholden's channel, he has very good and straight forward explanations.
Hope this helps. :] And good luck!
Hope this helps. :] And good luck!
Same situation, thanks that helped! Does anyone know the difference between paper 1, 2, and 3 for HL Econ?? I know paper 3 is a data response, but not clear about paper 1 and 2...
Original post by A2Airwaves
Same situation, thanks that helped! Does anyone know the difference between paper 1, 2, and 3 for HL Econ?? I know paper 3 is a data response, but not clear about paper 1 and 2...
paper 1 is an essay, with two parts. part a is definitions, diagrams, analysis only. and b is all of that including evaluation.
paper 2 is short response questions, similar to part a of paper 1 - definitions, diagrams, analysis only
Original post by rhinger
ffs 3 exams today, 5 hours and a half worth of papers. History P3 + Chinese P1, P2.
Hands feel anally raped inside out by a stick tbf
Hands feel anally raped inside out by a stick tbf
jesus tell me about it.
I did 10 pages for History paper 3 then 3 hours of Russian I WANTED TO DIE AGH
no more russian ever again makes me exceptionally happy though. i burned the bugger.
Original post by A.M.A.M.
Anyone have any tips for the IB History exam?
Im taking the exam next year. (I know each year has totally different questions)
I really want to know any tips that you guys might have for each of the Papers.
Im taking the exam next year. (I know each year has totally different questions)
I really want to know any tips that you guys might have for each of the Papers.
Paper 1 - Question 1/Question 1a and 1b
this will always be a picture and/or a piece of text, the question will ask what the text or picture is telling the reader...if it's text basically quote what it says "Source A describes how Israel committed massacres in 1948" (you would know this because it would say it in the text) and if it's a picture use simple logic to describe the political message in the picture "The camel, which represents the middle east and is being chased by a man dressed as Khrushchev shows how Russia was trying to impose a proxy war against the USA in the region" stuff like that.
Paper 1 - Question 2
Compare and contrast
DO NOT DO THIS IN A RIGID FORMAT e.g. source 1 is this, source 2 is not this, source 1 is this, source 2 is also this. Include comparisons and contrasting points of each source (there will be 2) in each paragraph.
Paper 1 - Question 3
Reference to origin and purpose discuss the usefulness and weaknesses of each source (there will be 2)
DO THIS IN A RIGID FORMAT
Source A is useful / weak as a reliable source because of (factors of origin and purpose)
Source B is useful / weak as a reliable source because of (factors of origin and purpose)
Conclude which is more useful and why
Paper 1 - Question 4
WRITE THIS LIKE AN ESSAY
it will ask you to, using the sources and your own context and knowledge discuss an event or/and analyse significant of something / someone in an event.
To get maximum marks you MUST reference each source at least once and use your own background information.
Write as an essay, conclude and make a judgement
Paper 2 - Essay 1
I did a study of single party states and authoritarian leaders, you might do that or you might do something completely different. Not much to say about it, it's just an essay you need to structure and write well
Paper 2 - Essay 2
I did a study of the Cold War, you might do that or do something else, same applies for Part 1
Paper 3 - Higher Paper (only if you do it at HL)
2 hours and 30 minutes to do 3 essays out of a selection of 24, out of which you will have studies material to be able to do about 5 or 6 at most, I could only do 4 or 5 max.
Just write a well structured essay, introduction, make your numerous points, but don't make it a narrative (just talk about the story of the event without analysing it)!! And don't make it a rigid structure without linking the points cleverly like in Paper 1. Also, if relevant but not for the sake of it, mention historiography (relevance is key, only if it adds to your point) Then conclude and make a judgement!! Remember, if it's a wide time span, don't talk about anything, you'll be marked on your ability to discriminate (choose only the relevant useful points to analyse as you can't afford to talk about everything)
Hope this helps, have fun and good luck!
(edited 12 years ago)
Ok, so I have taken 4/6 of my exams so far, and here is my take on each of them.
1) Philosophy HL was my first exam that I took. In paper 1 I chose number 1, a question about war. My primary argument was found in Hobbes' Leviathan, in saying that war in inevitable because it is human nature to fight about what we want. Different perspectives about this that I included were Kant's deontological ethics, Locke's social contract, and Hume's theory of the self and other theories involving human nature. I then provided my perspective (agreeing with Hobbes) and providing possible solutions to this question from all perspectives, including Hume, Locke, and Darwin. Ultimately, I felt like my foundation for this question was pretty strong, and would probably predict 6/7 on that part of the exam. For section B, I chose question 5, and referred to consequentialism, and deontological ethics ( the question was somewhere along the lines of can we construct moral principle off of consequences). I also chose question 15, which spoke of technology. I referred to Taylor, Darwin, Kant, and a few others for that question. Technology always seems for me to be harder to find philosophical references for. In paper 2, I chose question 23 ( or was it 24?) about Taylor's emphasis on culture for authenticity. I referred to many aspects of his authenticity, including horizons of significance, his perspectives on art, and the devolution of the society of the world (essentially, the argument of cultural optimism versus cultural pessimism), even referring to Gans and Locke a few times. I felt pretty confident about that paper as well. Paper 3 was interesting for me to do an analysis of. I used Sartre, Taylor, Kant, and my own perspectives and came up with the impracticality of philosophy, using text support to support my argument. Given my not-so-great grade on my IA, (like a 20-21/30) I predict a grade of a 5. Given what I said, am I accurate?
2) English was the second paper I took. Paper 1 was pretty unusual poetic interpretation but I attacked it, analyzing thoroughly stanza by stanza, getting rhyme schemes, extended metaphors, apostrophe, and literary devices down pretty well. Paper 2 was my stronger paper, in which I answered question 11, using Bloodknot, No Exit, and Hairy Ape for referrences, including Measure for Measure and Autobiography of an Ex Colored Man. Multiple realities were supported by each play in its own medium, so I used that and tied them all in together. Given my stellar grades on my IOC, IOP and WLP 1/2, I predict a high 6/ low 7.
3) Math SL was next. Now, usually I am the kind of guy that f***s up simple math. This was no exception. On paper 1, I got everything right except one question, and part of another. Paper 2, I missed the range for part of a question and may have screwed up two parts of another question. Given my 31/40 on my IA's, I am predicting a High 6/ low 7.
4) Music HL was the most recent exam I took. Hey guys,
So I was the only Music HL from my school who lasted the entire 2 year process. I took the exam a few days ago. Here is what I thought of it.
I saw I only had 3 hours to work, so I went right into it and started tearing up my score from everything I studied on El Salon Mexico. I answered question 2, and spoke of the additive meter, alternating rhythm, syncopation and harmonic framework, referred to Stravinsky a few times, Mahler, and even Mozart on this question once or twice. This question played to my strong suits of El Salon Mexico, so I felt very satisfied with my answer,
Question 3 was extremely convenient for me. I studied the first movement of Jupiter and the entire El Salon Mexico score in hoping that only the first movement of Jupiter would be referenced in the comparison question. I lucked out
So essentially the question asked to compare the themes of both the whole El Salon Mexico, and Jupiter's one movement of choice. I talked about the Antiphony similarity that both works shared in the very beginnings, their cadence structures, El Salon Mexico's Neoclassic references to Mozart's forms, harmonies, and melodies, syncopation similarity, comparison of tertiary modulations, ritornellos, and isolated strings playing ( yet another Neoclassic reference by Copland,) and finished it off with the comparison of each piece's unique usage of irregular meter, rhythm, and musical embellishments. That question took a lot of paper too :P
Question 4 (Fast ride in a something machine) was typical minimalist music. I estimated this piece was from around Copland's time since it seemed like antiphony, and I was right when I checked that fact against our friend the internet. Straightforward melodies, unique percussion introductions, occasional modulations, unresolved dissonances, and a similar ending to El Salon Mexico's style. Overall, a good piece to compare to El Salon Mexico, so I did on occasion. It was in triple meter, in a binary form and started off in A flat major I believe if I remember correctly. I felt strong on this audio example.
Question 5 was pretty time-consuming. I saw the composer name and automatically thought that it was Neoclassic music from the 1930's. Again, I hit the target. Tons of references to both Jupiter and El Salon mexico, including instrumentation, frequent tertiary modulation, strings isolation, antiphony, additive meter, ritornellos, and other musical styles common for the classical period. I am glad I had the score, it was much easier to describe the harmonic, melodic and cadence framework with a score to refer to
Question 6 was the jazz tune. Upbeat twelve bar blues at some points. Typical jazz progression: chorus, bridge, improve, chorus. Trade-offs between the instruments and the singer, which was both pretty commonplace for the time period it was written ( I am REALLY surprised that questions 4, 5, and 6 came from the same time period). There was a tap-dance solo in the middle that had a call-and-response with various parts of the jazz ensemble, which was another obvious indication of the time period which this piece was written. 4/4, upbeat, common time jazz of the early 1900's. Pretty cool to listen to as well.
Question 7 took me a little time as well, and I compared it to a more Africanish version of El Salon Mexico's introduction in saying that there was antiphony between the pan flute and the other instruments (later turned out to be a vocal singer, who used dialects that were obviously from the Eastern World.) Interesting percussion instrumentation, instrumentation in itself was indicative of the culture that it came from, since I could hear Eastern zithers playing a little towards the vocal parts of this piece. I remember writing good notes about this one, but this is all I remember about this question.
Question 8 I was cutting really close, and only really did bullet points as to what to compare my two section B pieces were. I used questions 4 and 5, the fast ride and the neoclassic score one, and did a bullet-point comparison on the structure based on the answers from my two individual questions, and El Salon Mexico. I finished with question 8 with about one full side of an ib page of bullet points, not expecting the highest marks for that one :P
I ended up using 14 pages front and back for the entire exam. I feel pretty confident about the exam, and I think it is a good model for the next year's exams, and the following exams that will use this syllabus. Overall, an awesome (if not lengthy >:P) music exam. Considering my 19/20 for composition, performance, and my A on my musical Investigation, I am predicting a solid 6 on Music HL, 5 would probably be a worst case scenario.
I am really worried about Latin though, since we read the wrong list and have been in crunch time ever since. Given my 19/20 on my IA, and my pretty good ability to translate and BS, I predict a 4. A 5 if the Roman Gods are merciful.
Enviro I am on a confident side as well. I got a low 6 on my IA's. Based on my practice exams, I will probably hit up a 6 on Enviro.
Based on these predictions, and the A predicted on my EE and a C predicted on my TOK paper, 2 points on my EE/TOK block, so my predicted IB points for my diploma will be somewhere around: 33/45 to 36/45.
1) Philosophy HL was my first exam that I took. In paper 1 I chose number 1, a question about war. My primary argument was found in Hobbes' Leviathan, in saying that war in inevitable because it is human nature to fight about what we want. Different perspectives about this that I included were Kant's deontological ethics, Locke's social contract, and Hume's theory of the self and other theories involving human nature. I then provided my perspective (agreeing with Hobbes) and providing possible solutions to this question from all perspectives, including Hume, Locke, and Darwin. Ultimately, I felt like my foundation for this question was pretty strong, and would probably predict 6/7 on that part of the exam. For section B, I chose question 5, and referred to consequentialism, and deontological ethics ( the question was somewhere along the lines of can we construct moral principle off of consequences). I also chose question 15, which spoke of technology. I referred to Taylor, Darwin, Kant, and a few others for that question. Technology always seems for me to be harder to find philosophical references for. In paper 2, I chose question 23 ( or was it 24?) about Taylor's emphasis on culture for authenticity. I referred to many aspects of his authenticity, including horizons of significance, his perspectives on art, and the devolution of the society of the world (essentially, the argument of cultural optimism versus cultural pessimism), even referring to Gans and Locke a few times. I felt pretty confident about that paper as well. Paper 3 was interesting for me to do an analysis of. I used Sartre, Taylor, Kant, and my own perspectives and came up with the impracticality of philosophy, using text support to support my argument. Given my not-so-great grade on my IA, (like a 20-21/30) I predict a grade of a 5. Given what I said, am I accurate?
2) English was the second paper I took. Paper 1 was pretty unusual poetic interpretation but I attacked it, analyzing thoroughly stanza by stanza, getting rhyme schemes, extended metaphors, apostrophe, and literary devices down pretty well. Paper 2 was my stronger paper, in which I answered question 11, using Bloodknot, No Exit, and Hairy Ape for referrences, including Measure for Measure and Autobiography of an Ex Colored Man. Multiple realities were supported by each play in its own medium, so I used that and tied them all in together. Given my stellar grades on my IOC, IOP and WLP 1/2, I predict a high 6/ low 7.
3) Math SL was next. Now, usually I am the kind of guy that f***s up simple math. This was no exception. On paper 1, I got everything right except one question, and part of another. Paper 2, I missed the range for part of a question and may have screwed up two parts of another question. Given my 31/40 on my IA's, I am predicting a High 6/ low 7.
4) Music HL was the most recent exam I took. Hey guys,
So I was the only Music HL from my school who lasted the entire 2 year process. I took the exam a few days ago. Here is what I thought of it.
I saw I only had 3 hours to work, so I went right into it and started tearing up my score from everything I studied on El Salon Mexico. I answered question 2, and spoke of the additive meter, alternating rhythm, syncopation and harmonic framework, referred to Stravinsky a few times, Mahler, and even Mozart on this question once or twice. This question played to my strong suits of El Salon Mexico, so I felt very satisfied with my answer,
Question 3 was extremely convenient for me. I studied the first movement of Jupiter and the entire El Salon Mexico score in hoping that only the first movement of Jupiter would be referenced in the comparison question. I lucked out
So essentially the question asked to compare the themes of both the whole El Salon Mexico, and Jupiter's one movement of choice. I talked about the Antiphony similarity that both works shared in the very beginnings, their cadence structures, El Salon Mexico's Neoclassic references to Mozart's forms, harmonies, and melodies, syncopation similarity, comparison of tertiary modulations, ritornellos, and isolated strings playing ( yet another Neoclassic reference by Copland,) and finished it off with the comparison of each piece's unique usage of irregular meter, rhythm, and musical embellishments. That question took a lot of paper too :P
Question 4 (Fast ride in a something machine) was typical minimalist music. I estimated this piece was from around Copland's time since it seemed like antiphony, and I was right when I checked that fact against our friend the internet. Straightforward melodies, unique percussion introductions, occasional modulations, unresolved dissonances, and a similar ending to El Salon Mexico's style. Overall, a good piece to compare to El Salon Mexico, so I did on occasion. It was in triple meter, in a binary form and started off in A flat major I believe if I remember correctly. I felt strong on this audio example.
Question 5 was pretty time-consuming. I saw the composer name and automatically thought that it was Neoclassic music from the 1930's. Again, I hit the target. Tons of references to both Jupiter and El Salon mexico, including instrumentation, frequent tertiary modulation, strings isolation, antiphony, additive meter, ritornellos, and other musical styles common for the classical period. I am glad I had the score, it was much easier to describe the harmonic, melodic and cadence framework with a score to refer to
Question 6 was the jazz tune. Upbeat twelve bar blues at some points. Typical jazz progression: chorus, bridge, improve, chorus. Trade-offs between the instruments and the singer, which was both pretty commonplace for the time period it was written ( I am REALLY surprised that questions 4, 5, and 6 came from the same time period). There was a tap-dance solo in the middle that had a call-and-response with various parts of the jazz ensemble, which was another obvious indication of the time period which this piece was written. 4/4, upbeat, common time jazz of the early 1900's. Pretty cool to listen to as well.
Question 7 took me a little time as well, and I compared it to a more Africanish version of El Salon Mexico's introduction in saying that there was antiphony between the pan flute and the other instruments (later turned out to be a vocal singer, who used dialects that were obviously from the Eastern World.) Interesting percussion instrumentation, instrumentation in itself was indicative of the culture that it came from, since I could hear Eastern zithers playing a little towards the vocal parts of this piece. I remember writing good notes about this one, but this is all I remember about this question.
Question 8 I was cutting really close, and only really did bullet points as to what to compare my two section B pieces were. I used questions 4 and 5, the fast ride and the neoclassic score one, and did a bullet-point comparison on the structure based on the answers from my two individual questions, and El Salon Mexico. I finished with question 8 with about one full side of an ib page of bullet points, not expecting the highest marks for that one :P
I ended up using 14 pages front and back for the entire exam. I feel pretty confident about the exam, and I think it is a good model for the next year's exams, and the following exams that will use this syllabus. Overall, an awesome (if not lengthy >:P) music exam. Considering my 19/20 for composition, performance, and my A on my musical Investigation, I am predicting a solid 6 on Music HL, 5 would probably be a worst case scenario.
I am really worried about Latin though, since we read the wrong list and have been in crunch time ever since. Given my 19/20 on my IA, and my pretty good ability to translate and BS, I predict a 4. A 5 if the Roman Gods are merciful.
Enviro I am on a confident side as well. I got a low 6 on my IA's. Based on my practice exams, I will probably hit up a 6 on Enviro.
Based on these predictions, and the A predicted on my EE and a C predicted on my TOK paper, 2 points on my EE/TOK block, so my predicted IB points for my diploma will be somewhere around: 33/45 to 36/45.
Original post by Saxappeal13
Ok, so I have taken 4/6 of my exams so far, and here is my take on each of them....
Its kinda too long to quote,, anyway
Holy... hahaha, i took the Music SL exam of 2hours n 15min and i felt a cramp from my elbow until the tips of my fingers, srsly you totally have my respect for taking the HL test. Looks like you knew pretty well what you were talking about, most of the questions asked were the same as SL, but I can tell you pretty much covered really good concepts n i depth. Srsly, congrats.
Hmm, on english HL paper 2 i did question 9 about the methods used by authors to shock their readers. I thought I had answered great and it worked perfectly but apparently question 11 was a better question. I dont think I even read it correctly, thats why i didnt pick it. Haha. I just keep thinking about how much that sucks. On paper 1 how come u went for the poem? I analyzed the prose, which wasnt that bad, i think.
Math, well.. yeah..math.. I did so bad, not even worth talking about it. Paper 2 killed me.
Ohh yeahh one more week and its all over. We can do this. Good luck!
well, I chose the poem because I studied poetry analysis in depth at my school. And, it was shorter :P
Original post by SPRINGFINGER1
this is wrong. our ib coordinator said that it was fine to exceed the boxes, provided that you don't exceed the barcode at the end. obviously when its scanned the examiners will see the whole sheet of paper and mark what is relevant.
Going on that logic, the boxes are redundant. The point of the boxes is that ONLY THE WRITING IN THE BOXES IS SCANNED.
Hey, is there anyone here who took Math HL with the Series and Diff. Equations Option? How did you find the Paper 3? I can't speak for anyone but me, but I think it was utterly overblown - no way of managing it in one hour... Hope the grade boundary is gonna be merciful (50% for a 7 or similar )
(50% for a 7 or similar )Original post by metjush
Hey, is there anyone here who took Math HL with the Series and Diff. Equations Option? How did you find the Paper 3? I can't speak for anyone but me, but I think it was utterly overblown - no way of managing it in one hour... Hope the grade boundary is gonna be merciful (50% for a 7 or similar )
(50% for a 7 or similar )i diiiddddd........ yaaa i solved the first three exercises, where i culdnt finish the effing integral but sok i showed imagination n then bits and pieces from the other two quests...... im praying for a 5
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