A Guide to English Language Paper 1: Reading

Paper 1 is 2 hours long, and worth 80 marks in total.

You must answer three compulsory questions on three
texts which may be on a similar topic.
Question 1: comprehension and summary task —30
marks

In this question you are given two passages (normally non-fiction) to look at, Text A
and Text B. Each text is usually 700-750 words. You will be asked to answer a series
of short comprehension questions on Text A and a summary question on Text B.

You should spend around 40 minutes on Question 1 – 15 minutes on the

comprehension, and 25 on the summary task.

Text A - Comprehension Task

• A series of short questions will test your comprehension of the passage, asking
you to show understanding of implicit and explicit meanings, as well as your
ability to extract relevant details

• You will be asked to pick out facts or information from the passage

• You will be asked to show your understanding of words or phrases by explaining

them in your own words

• You will also be asked to identify relevant ideas and show your understanding of
them by explaining them in your own words

Guidance

The questions go through the passage chronologically

Each question will state clearly which paragraph/s of the passage it relates to: if the
question refers to paragraph 3, do not produce an answer from paragraph 4

Make sure that you follow instructions: if asked to use your own words, you must
paraphrase or find synonyms that show your understanding

If a question asks you to explain a phrase, make sure that you communicate your
understanding of the whole phrase, not just part of it

The total number of marks for this section is 15.

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 Text B - Summary Task
The final task in Question 1 asks you to write a selective summary of Text B.
'Selective' means that the question will ask you to focus on particular ideas or aspects
of the passage.

• You will be asked to select specific information and should therefore select only
relevant material. If it is not relevant, omit it. You are not being asked to give a
précis of the whole article.

• There are 10 marks for the quality of the content of your summary, and 5 marks
for the quality of the writing.

Guidance

1. Write out a bullet point list in note form. In the passage there will be up to
about 12 possible points that you could make. You should aim to find them all.

2. You need to re-order your points so that they make the best logical sense. This
might involve grouping them together under common themes/topics/categories or
moving from more general points to more localised ones, for example. Do not
just list the points in the order that they appear in the text.

3. Write your summary.

Writing the summary

• Do not write an introduction or conclusion.

• You will be given a guideline for length (120 words). Do not exceed it. Aim for
as close to 120 words as possible: after 120 words, the examiner will stop marking
your summary.
• You must use all of the points that you included in your list
• You must use your own words as much as possible.
• Avoid repetition and aim for concision.
• There are 5 marks for quality of writing, so don’t neglect this. You must use
compound, complex and multiple complex sentences. Use a formal register at all
times: do not use slang, colloquialisms etc.
• Do not refer to the author of the article or feel tempted to comment on his/her
language etc.
• Do not include any personal opinion or additional information, even if you know
a lot about the subject discussed. You should not be using the first-person at any
time in this exercise.

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Question 2: Short-answer questions and language task -
25 marks

For Questions 2 and 3, you are given a third passage, Text C (may be fiction or non-
fiction), around 600-650 words in length.

You should spend around 40 minutes on Question 2: 15 minutes on the short-answer

questions, and 25 minutes on the language task.

Short-answer questions

• You will be asked a series of short questions, requiring answers of different

lengths.

• The questions will focus on language, testing your understanding of what

individual words or phrases mean, and how the writer uses them.

• Questions may ask you to use your own words to explain the meaning of selected
words from the passage.

• They may also ask you to identify words from the passage which have a particular
meaning.

• You may be given a short paragraph from the passage, and asked to select a word
or phrase, and explain how the writer uses it to create a particular effect.

Language task: Powerful Words and Phrases

• This question will ask you to focus on close analysis of the writer’s choice of
words and phrases and their effect (i.e. how they make the reader respond and
why s/he responds in this way).

• It will identify two separate paragraphs in Text C and ask you to explain how the
writer uses language to convey meaning and effect in these paragraphs.

• The question will instruct you to make sure that at least one of your choices for
each paragraph includes imagery

• For each paragraph, you need to identify the overall effect the writer is trying to
create, and then select and analyse three examples of the writer's use of language
from that paragraph, explaining how they convey this effect.

• The question will have a word limit: this is a guideline, not an absolute limit -
you will not be penalised if you write more than 300 words

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Guidance

You will be directed towards particular parts of the passage—do exactly what you are
asked. This is not an essay on the whole passage, and the examples you analyse must
come from the specified paragraphs.

1. Make sure that your answer on each paragraph begins by identifying the overall
effect you think the writer is creating, and which your selected quotations will
illustrate.

2. Make sure that you select three quotations, as the question instructs you, and that
at least one of them uses imagery.

3. Keep your quotations reasonably brief: a word, or a short phrase, rather than a
lengthy sentence. You have to show that you can isolate a particular word/phrase.

4. For each quotation, you must

a. show your understanding by explaining what it means using your own

words (eg synonyms/connotations) - do not assume the meaning of the
word or phrase you have selected is self-evident
b. explain the effect that the writer uses it to create.

You are advised to adopt the following structure when responding to both
paragraphs.

1. The overall effect the writer creates in the paragraph as a whole

2. Word/Phrase 1:
a. The literal meaning/connotations of the word/image etc
b. The effect(s) of the word/phrase in its particular context
3. Word/Phrase 2:
a. Literal meaning/connotations
b. Effect
4. Word/Phrase: 3:
a. Literal meaning/connotations
b. Effect

You do this twice over, so you are looking at a total of 6 words/phrases: 3 from the first
paragraph of text, 3 from the second.

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Finer points to consider:

• There will almost certainly be at least two images (i.e. similes or metaphors)—
these must be picked out and analysed

• Do not comment on effects of sound unless these are being used for very obvious
effect (e.g. a rhyme, a very noticeable example of alliteration). Similarly,
comments on sentence length or punctuation are not really what they expect you
to identify. The examiners are interested in meaning and effect of language here.

• Do not select a quotation which you do not understand as you will not be able to
explain either its meaning or its effect.

• When explaining a quotation do not repeat the words used in it. Do not repeat
quotations; you cannot get credit more than once.

• Generalised and ‘gushing’ comments such as ‘The writer makes me feel as though
I am there’ and ‘The passage is cleverly written’ gain no marks and give the
impression that you are failing to find things to say.

• There is no need to use technical terms, and they are no substitute for explaining
an effect in your own words; if you do use technical terms, such as onomatopoeia,
make sure they are actually correctly used.

• Introduce your choices of language with phrases such as ‘gives the impression
of’, ‘suggests that’, ‘makes me think that,’ ‘connotes’. Do not say over and over
again ‘This has the effect that...’

• Once you have arrived at an overview, do not contradict yourself, e.g. do not say
that one quotation makes a character seem physically old and another one makes
her seem physically young.

• However, there are no ‘right answers’ to this (or any other) part of the exam and
you can score highly by engaging with the text and thinking about the way
language is being used, whether or not your comments are what the examiner is
expecting.

• Things to look for are: use of the five senses; use of contrast; use of colour; use of
noise; links between subject and environment; surprising, or unusual words;
words which create sound effects; unusual or dramatic punctuation; imagery
(similes and metaphors)

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Question 3: extended response to reading - 25 marks

This question will ask you to look again at Text C and produce a piece of extended
writing based upon the material in the passage.

You should spend around 40 minutes on this question.

• You will be asked to use the material from the passage and to re-present it in
a different form, such as a letter, interview transcript, news report, formal report,
magazine article, diary or a speech.

• You will be given very clear instructions about the task, the format and the
persona in which you are writing. You must follow these instructions to the letter.
You will be given three bullet points to help you select material. Follow these
bullet points exactly. The third bullet point often involves some degree of
inference from the text.

• Make sure that you cover the three bullet points equally. Aim for about five
points for each bullet point.

• You are basing your writing on material from the passage, but you must use your
own words.

• Make sure you adopt a suitable tone and register for the genre and/or persona that
you are asked to write in.

• You may be given the first line of your response—do exactly as instructed.

• You should aim to spend about 40 minutes on this question. Spend the first 5–10
minutes reading the passage. Then read the question and work out exactly what
you are being asked to do.

• You will be told how much to write (usually 250–350 words). You should take
the higher figure as a guide, and don’t be afraid to write more than this if
necessary. This is a guideline, not a strict limit.

• This question is marked out of 25. There are 15 marks for the content of your
answer, and 10 for the quality of the writing

• In this exercise you are being assessed on:

- your ability to understand and collate explicit meanings

- your ability to understand and collate implicit meanings and attitudes
- your ability to select, analyse and evaluate what is relevant to specific purposes
- your ability to write accurately and in appropriate language

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• You must not add to the passage, but the creation in your answer of plausible
extensions and developments of the material is a sign of good inference.

• Remember, this is not a creative writing exercise: it is a question designed to test

your comprehension of Text C, and your ability to select relevant details and
develop them in a way which shows your understanding of both their surface
meaning and significance, and also what they imply or suggest beneath the
surface.