Dear forumers,
I have a few question with regards to the English Language Paper, namely, for the summary section for Paper 2. I shall list down my enquiries below and hopefully someone will come to my rescue before dawn breaks on the 26 Oct 2009. ><
1. How do we know that the points we covered can get us close to full marks for content in summary? Or rather, how do we know if we have covered comprehensive enough for summary in listing out the points?
2. What are the things that we must not include in summary writing other than figures of speech?
3. For comprehension Paper 2, if the question did not specify that we have to 'use your own words', are we allowed to lift the string entirely from the passage? Will we get penalised? I'm a bit confused here because I heard somewhere that we are not supposed to lift 'wholesale' even though the question did not specify 'use your own words'.
4. For 'use your own words' question, do we substitute the words word-for-word? Or do we just give an idea of the quote given?
Please label your answers to the questions as "1, 2, 3, and 4" respectively. Thanks for clearing my doubts. =)
Regards,
galaxy_twirls
1) It's usually 15 marks for content aka 15 points for content in summary.
Advice is to use your COMPREHENSION skills.
It's the only way, considering it's a comprehension paper.
2) Common sense says, avoid useless information.
How do you tell if it is useless information?
Read the summary question thrice, underline what it is asking for, and use your COMPREHENSION skills (lol).
No joke. Also make sure it is grammatically sound, or else marks will be deducted and you'll end up with just 15/25 even with all 15 points.
Other than that, I probably don't understand your question.
3) Yes, you still should not be lifting entirely from the passage even though the answer can be obtained solely from the passage.
Marks can be deducted even if it does not say "use your own words" at the discretion of the marker.
4) Don't know. I replaced the word "children" with "miniature homosapiens" once.
I didn't get marked wrong, but my teacher advised me against doing that in the examinations ever again.
Just remember to write short and sweet sentences that are concise and to the point, and you won't go wrong for any section of the paper.
I've gotten 23/25 for summary multiple times simply by getting all 15 points right (through reading, understanding and answering the summary question) and occasionally replacing a few words here and there. Some words almost can't be replaced within the stipulated exam time, don't panic.
For "own words" question types, feel free to replace word-for-word, or just rephrasing with different usage of vocabulary, just make sure it's still easily understood and the meaning of the sentence has not been altered.
Good luck for tomorrow.
Hope you read this on time. I'm going back to Amaths revision for Thursday's paper. Ciao!
Hi Dejomel. Thanks for the advice. [: Now I feel a bit more confident for my EL paper tomorrow. ^^ Good luck for your O levels too! =D
Let me ask a question.
Will repharsing my points affect my marks. What i meant by rephrasing is changing the sentence structure. I looked through some answer keys for some good neighborhood schools and found out that some did not change the structure while some did. Can anyone help clear this doubt of mine?
And i would like to give a word of caution on the topic of summary. Be extra careful in changing the words. You will lose marks for both content and language if your point is wrongly intepreted. My strategy is to play safe. Don't change the words that you are not confident in changing.
can rephrase. rephrase until meaning gone=0
got 2 for content once. =.= '
hand itchy.