electronicity.space

USS · Paper I

English — comprehension

Reading a passage under time, plus vocabulary in context.

6 of the 50 questionsWrite this topic →
What the paper asks

Six questions: a short passage read under time, plus vocabulary in context, idioms and figures of speech. The passage is rarely difficult. What costs marks is reading it twice because it was read too fast the first time.

How to read a passage against a clock
  • Read the questions first, then the passage. You then know what you are looking for instead of trying to remember everything.
  • Answer from the passage, not from what you already know. A question about the passage has its answer inside the passage.
  • Watch the signal words — they carry the meaning more often than the facts do.
Signal wordWhat it tells you
although, despite, howevera contrast is coming — the expected thing did not happen
because, since, thereforecause and effect
for example, such asan illustration of a point already made
moreover, in additionthe same idea continuing
on the other handthe opposite view
Figures of speech — telling them apart
  • Simile — a comparison using like or as. Quiet as a graveyard.
  • Metaphor — the comparison is stated as fact, with no comparing word. The rain fell in silver sheets.
  • Personification — something not human does a human thing. The wind whispered.
  • Hyperbole — deliberate exaggeration. I have told you a million times.
  • Alliteration — the same sound repeated at the start of nearby words.
Prefixes and suffixes — meaning without a dictionary
PartMeaningExample
un-, in-, im-, dis-notunhappy, incorrect, impossible, dishonest
mis-wronglymisunderstand, misplace
re-againrewrite, rebuild
pre-beforepreview, prepare
-lesswithouthopeless, careless
-fulfull ofhopeful, beautiful
-ableable to bereadable, comfortable
-ista person whoscientist, artist
Idioms that come back year after year
IdiomMeaning
let the cat out of the bagreveal a secret by accident
burn the midnight oilwork or study late into the night
once in a blue moonvery rarely
over the moonextremely happy
a heart of stoneunkind, showing no pity
take after someoneresemble them, usually a parent
in hot waterin trouble
a piece of cakevery easy
turn a blind eyedeliberately ignore
Building vocabulary the useful way
  • Learn a word with its opposite. Abundant / scarce, reluctant / eager, expand / contract.
  • A hard word usually has an easy near-synonym among the options. Find that one and check it fits the sentence.
  • If a word sounds severe it is not automatically negative. Meticulous is a compliment.
Worked through

'Although he studied hard, he did not pass.' What does the sentence suggest?

  1. Although is a contrast word.
  2. It joins something you would expect to lead to success with an outcome that did not.
  3. So the meaning is carried by the contrast, not by either half alone.

Choose the meaning of 'inevitable'.

  1. Break the word up: in- + evitable.
  2. In- means not; evitable means avoidable.
  3. So inevitable means not avoidable.
Where the marks go

These are the mistakes, not the rules — each one is something a student who knows the topic still does under time pressure.

  1. Answering from general knowledge instead of from the passage. If the passage says something surprising, the passage is still the answer.
  2. Reading an idiom literally. 'Let the cat out of the bag' has nothing to do with animals.
  3. Calling anything with a comparison a simile. Without 'like' or 'as' it is a metaphor.
  4. Missing a negative prefix and choosing the opposite. 'Inevitable' and 'avoidable' are opposites, not synonyms.
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Write it

Sit 10 questions on this topic

Read the explanation on every one you get wrong — that is where the revision above actually sticks.

 Or the whole paper

Sit Paper I against the clock

Fifty questions in ninety minutes, drawn to the real subject mix. The scorecard will tell you what to revise next.

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