IGCSE ESL (Comprehension) Guide

IGCSE EXAM PREPARATION
Comprehension

What do exercises 1 and 2 look like?
The text for Exercise 1 will be taken from an advertisement, brochure, leaﬂet
guide, report or manual, and will often have headings and sub-headings. The
Exercise 2 text is usually a report or newspaper or magazine article, and it will
include a graph, chart or some other visual.
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What do I have to do?
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Tips for Exercises
1 & 2
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Read quickly (skim) through the text – concentrate on finding the main idea in each
paragraph. As you read, underline any names, numbers or dates. Use the pictures and
other visuals to help you understand.
• Read the questions carefully and make a note of any questions that need two pieces of
information in the answer. If there are two lines, this means that you should write one
answer on each line.
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• Underline the question word and think about what it means:
‘Where’ means ‘a place’;
‘How’ means ‘in what way’,
and ‘Why’ means look for a reason or cause.
• Try to match the words in the question with the correct point in the text. (This is called
‘scanning’). This also means to glance at text or simply read hastily.
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• Don’t write full sentences in your answer. Keep your answers short – a date or number
or a few words will be enough to get a mark. Too much writing can waste your time,
and, if you give too much information, you might include wrong details which could
mean you lose a mark.
• You can copy the words from the text – you don’t need to use your own words. If you
write in your own words, you won’t lose a mark as long as you include all the correct
information needed in the question.
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• Look out for and learn the meaning of signpost phrases such as ‘apart from’, or ‘rather
than’, or ‘According to the graph’, and make sure you understand what they refer to.
 DO NOT write in the ‘For Examiner’s Use’ side. That is ONLY for the examiner’s use!!
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 There are no half marks! If the question is worth one mark and asks you for
two details, you must supply both pieces of information to get the mark. If
you only supply one detail instead of two, you get 0 not ½.
 In the ﬁnal question of Exercise 2 in the Extended paper there are always four
marks available. These marks are awarded for four pieces of information from
the text, usually around the same theme.
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GOOD LUCK & THANK YOU! :D
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IGCSE ESL (Comprehension) Guide

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IGCSE ESL (Comprehension) Guide