How To Ace Your Paper Two?

For PMR, all you guys had to do was answer MCQ questions. UNFORTUNATELY, things get harder as we grow older so for SPM, you would only have 15 MCQ questions and 15 comprehension questions, a summary of 120 words, 4 comprehension questions on a poem, 4 comprehension questions on a short story and a short response (150 words) on a novel.

But most of you are baaaaaaaddddd in answering comprehension questions. Lain yang ditanya, lain yang kamu jawab (waaaaah... Malay Language sikit!). So here are some tips on how to answer comprehension questions if you are bluuuur about what to do.

The reading comprehension questions aim to test your understanding of the passage as well as vocabulary. Among the skills tested are recognising general and specific ideas, finding important details and guessing meaning from context.

Guidelines for comprehension
1. Read the whole passage through once to get a general idea of what the passage is about. Do not worry if you come across unfamiliar words. Sometimes, it is not necessary to understand every word you read.
2. Read the passage a second time, if necessary. The second reading helps you take in the details and improve your understanding.
3. Read the questions carefully. Use cue words in the questions to help you answer the questions. These can be the “wh” words (what, when, where, why, who, whose, how) and action verbs (identify, find, list).
4. Questions sometimes contain words found in the passage. Use these words to help you identify the part of the passage where the answer can be found.
5. You can lift clauses or sentences from the passage to answer questions. You do not have to use your own words unless you are told to do so. Moreover, there is a danger in paraphrasing – you might alter/distort the meaning expressed in the passage.
6. For questions on vocabulary, if you are asked for a word, then give only ONE word and nothing else. Make sure you spell the word correctly. If you are asked for a phrase, then give the relevant phrase.
7. Some questions require you to use your own words and you must do so.
8. Do pay attention to the tense used in the questions when formulating your answers.

Pitfalls to avoid
1. Do not give more than the required information. Sometimes, students copy chunks from a text, giving two or more sentences. This only highlights their weakness – failure to understand the question and/or text.
2. Do not give two or more answers to a question. Some students write down all the possible answers to a question just to be on the safe side.
3. Do not waste time paraphrasing answers unless you are asked to do so.