GCSE English Language Units 2 & 3

What’s in the Unit 2 paper? Description, Narration and Exposition…

Help your brain be ready… Bring a black pen you feel comfortable using for 2 hours! Make sure you’ve had a good night’s sleep Eat breakfast (even if you don’t usually) Stay hydrated – a dehyrated brain can’t concentrate for long periods Get here in plenty of time tomorrow!

Unit 2 – The reading section Spend 10 minutes looking at the questions and reading the material in the booklet. During this time, think about the theme of the texts, their purpose and what they are trying to achieve. Also note which questions are worth more marks, where are they in the paper and how should you divide your time…you need to try to answer every question!

Unit 2 – The reading section Reading questions can test a range of different skills: deduction summary retrieval inference verbal reasoning refering to evidence analysis comparison synthesis editing interpretion sequencing

Unit 2 – The reading section And they can come in a range of different forms… Multiple choice Point and reason Single word answer Bullet point answer Paragraphed response Sequencing Fill-the-gap Circle the right one!

Let’s see some examples using last year’s exam paper… Multiple choice Make your choices clear!

Word meaning Be clear and precise – and put it in your own words!

Summary • Read the text closely and highlight the main ideas • Look at topic sentences which may summarise information from a paragraph • Look at highlighted words/phrases. Can they be linked? • Put your highlighted words/phrases into own words • Never add any additional ideas or opinions • Keep comments brief or use bullet points

Summary – an example

Summary – an example Bullet points! Own words! No quoting! A7. Summarise five reasons why, according to the text, we should support Fairtrade. [5] Bullet points! Own words! No quoting!

What impressions...?

What impressions...? Repeat the key word + because Quote it!

Synthesis

Synthesis Don’t compare Do write equal amounts about both Do write it as two paragraphs – one for each text Do repeat the key word in the question

Editing

Editing (continued) 5 2 1 3 4 2 1

Proofreading

Proofreading

Comparison

A10. Compare and contrast what these two texts say about the urban fox Text A says that it is very common to see foxes in our cities and towns, and that they “saunter casually” around, suggesting that the animals are not scared of humans at all. The fox is described as “resourceful” and “intelligent” and has “found a place in our hearts. According to Text A, we give the fox half of its diet by feeding it, adding to the natural diet it normally gathers itself. The writer says that foxes are no real threat to humans as they have only ever taken a “curious nip” at a baby and we are told that dogs pose a much bigger threat. In contrast to the harmless image offered by Text A, Text B insists that foxes are dangerous and that we are only now realising just what a threat they are. Instead of lovable, they are described as “feral chavs”, suggesting that the writer feels they are being deliberately anti-social in our towns. Both texts mention that foxes scavenge for food, but it sounds far more like a problem in Text B where the fox is described as “feeding off discarded buckets of KFC”. The writers also agree that the fox population is growing, but the writer of Text B makes this sound far worse as the animals “breed indiscriminately”. Worse still, whilst Text A suggests that the fox is relatively harmless to humans, Text B gives a list of examples of the fox entering people’s homes and causing serious injury when it attacks. This is particularly disturbing when we compare the “curious nip” at a baby in a garden in Text A with the “mauling” and savage bitings mentioned in Text B.