Strategies to Tackle Paper 1

What is to be tested in Paper 1?

Knowledge and understanding of vocabulary Knowledge and understanding of grammar Knowledge and understanding of spelling & punctuation Reading skills

Guidelines for Questions 1 - 10 Vocabulary

This section tests on pupils vocabulary at either word, phrase or sentence levels. Pupils must have a good knowledge and understanding of vocabulary in order to answer the questions. If there are graphics, pupils must look carefully at the graphics before answering.

Vocabulary

Objects Clothing Activities Transport Places

Games Animals Relationship Occupation Food

Word level (Questions 1 4)

Read

the questions carefully Check on the clue word / words Check all the possible answers

Vocabulary (Word Level)

Example 1. A ________ is a place where scientists conduct experiments.

A B C D

kitchen lab clinic cinema

Vocabulary Word Level

Vocabulary lab Clues place where scientists conduct experiments

Vocabulary audience Clues listening/speaker gave his speech

Vocabulary safari Clues wild animals / park in Africa

Vocabulary oil-lamp Clues lights the / getting dark

Phrases (Questions 5 7 ) Some samples of phrases are;

Collective nouns (a bouquet of flowers, a troop of soldiers) Adverbial phrases (sleep soundly, more popular than me) Similes (as busy as a bee, as kind as an angel) Phrasal verbs (ran away from home, fell down this morning) Phrasal quantifiers (some books on the table, a few ringgits)

Phrase Level ( Questions 5 7)

Read the paragraph given Study the pictures Check on clue word / words

Phrase Level (Questions 5 7)

(phrase level) Vocabulary collective nouns Clue : picture of flamingoes at a pond

(phrase level) Vocabulary prepositional phrase Clue : picture of seeds in hand

(phrase level) Vocabulary prepositional phrase Clue : picture of seeds in a packet

Sentence Level Questions 8 - 10

Get clues from: the subjects the verbs the time or place described

Questions 8 10 (sentence level)

Study the pictures carefully Check and read all the possible answers Decide the best possible answer that descibes the picture as a whole.

Question 8
(sentence level)

Clue The picture shows a boy and a man making a wooden shelf.

Question 9
(sentence level)

Clue The picture shows a girl making a basket.

Question 10
(sentence level)

Clue The picture shows a woman feeding a cat a fish.

Types of situations and responses (Questions 11 15)

Greetings & saying farewell Introducing yourself or friends Asking for specific objects, permission Greetings during festival Making encouraging remarks Congratulating Offering assistance Seeking and making suggestions

Types of situations and responses (Questions 11 15)

Excusing yourself Making an emergency call Apologising Offering sympathy Inviting someone to a function Seeking clarification, confirmation Showing concern Expressing gratitude

SOCIAL EXPRESSIONS (Q 11 15)

Understand the situation in each picture. Read what the person is saying in each picture carefully. Ask this question, What will be a suitable sentence to respond to what is being said?

SOCIAL EXPRESSIONS (Q 11 15)

If not sure of the answer, read the list of answers given to see if any of them fits the situation. Find a suitable response. To do well in this section, pupils must get used to the different language forms and functions in the English Language.

1. Look at the picture and identify

The relationship between the two speakers. E.g. mother and son, teacher and pupil, two friends, etc. The place in which the dialogue takes place. e.g. in a bus, canteen, house, library, at the playground, etc. The action by one or both the speakers. E.g. receiving prize, looking at an object, waving hands, etc.

2. Read the words spoken by one of the speakers and identify

The purpose of the words spoken by one of the speakers. E.g. is the speaker making a statement, asking questions or exclaiming a word, etc. The second speakers possible response. E.g. could the response be positive or negative or must it contain information or show politeness?

Remember :

The speech bubble at the top indicates the speech of the first speaker The speech bubble at the bottom indicates the speech of the second speaker.

First speaker

Second speaker

Do not choose statement with negative attitude.

Questions 11 - 15

Question 11

Clue play basketball / court

Question 12

Clue second speaker answers No / Question should either start with Is or Are

Question 13

Clue hand gesture of the second speaker

Question 14

Clue first speaker is introducing someone to the second speaker

Question 15

Clue action of the first speaker

Grammar (Questions 16 - 20) Areas of grammars

Nouns singular & plural-table,tables Pronouns-he,she,they Adjectives-huge,round Tenses-present,past Adverbs-angry,fast Prepositionin,on,between

Articles-a,an,the WH-question words-who,what,where Conjunctionsan,but,because

Verbs-do,live,like Spelling Punctuation marks-? . , !

GRAMMAR
Questions 16-20 Read the questions carefully Study the picture (if any) Look for clue word / words Be extra careful with the tenses.

Question Question Question Question Question pronoun

16 17 18 19 20

adjective conjunction verbs (plural) future tense article / possessive

Opposite/Same (Question 21)

Read the instruction. Determine if the question is asking for opposite meaning or same meaning. Read the sentence and choose the best answer.

Questions 22-23 (Spelling)

Read

each suggested answers carefully. If possible, segment the words. Be aware of the spellings of each suggested answers. Choose the best answer that you think has the correct spelling.

Questions 24-25 (Punctuation)

Read

each sentences carefully. Listen carefully to the intonation as you read the sentences. Be aware of the capital letters, commas and other punctuation marks. Choose the best answer that you think is correct.

Make sure you know how to use all these properly ( . ) full stop (?) question mark ( ) apostrophes ( , ) comma ( ! ) exclamation mark, ( ) inverted commas, ( A-Z ) capital letters, etc.

Text Completion (Questions 26 30)

Look

at the picture carefully. Ask, What is this picture about? Read the passage at least twice. Underline all the verbs, the tenses used. This will give clues to choose the best answer. Read it again to see if the answers make sense.

READING COMPREHENSION
contains 2 texts for reading in the form of:-

Questions 31 35 (non-linear text) - posters, timetables, TV or movie guides, product labels, notices, advertisements, charts, graphs Questions 36 40 (linear text) - e-mails, dialogues, formal or informal letters, newspaper reports, stories, speeches

Steps in answering comprehension questions

Read

the passage quickly to get a general idea of the passage (skimming). Do not waste time on difficult words. Read the questions given (study the needs of the questions).

Steps in answering comprehension questions

Read through the passage slowly and carefully a second time (scanning) to find answers to given questions. Underline words or phrases which may help. Read the questions carefully again, paying attention to words in bold /italic or words in quotation marks. (e.g. best / most probably / them in line .)

Steps in answering comprehension questions

From

the options A, B, C and D, cancel the impossible answers. Then, check the remaining options for the BEST possible answer. For the vocabulary question,choose a word that is of the same tense and part of speech as the original word.

Steps in answering comprehension questions

If

a question is difficult, do other questions first and come back to it later. Dont leave any questions unanswered.

Guidelines for Questions 31 - 40 Reading Comprehension

When

asked to select a suitable title for the passage, choose the one which best summarises the passage as a whole
Because many questions have the word because. These questions ask about REASONS, which are WHY questions

Except, not, untrue some of the options contain WRONG details. Check the text and cross out the options that are wrong Most probably, best, main all given choices may be correct in some ways. Think carefully before answering.

Can best be replaced by read the paragraph where the word or phrases is used. Replace it with each option. Choose the one that fits the meaning in the sentence. [Be extra careful with words that have more than a meaning]

e.g. bank, bow, tear, watch