The Unseen Passage and the Two-Mark Inference
A Class 10 candidate is 40 minutes into a three-hour KSEAB SSLC Persian mock paper. Section A contains a 110-word unseen passage about a boy who leaves home early on Friday to visit his uncle’s garden. The passage says that at noon the clouds turned black and a cold wind blew, and that the boy had no umbrella; he returned before lunch. Five questions follow: Q1 vocabulary (1 mark), Q2 true/false (1 mark), Q3 ‘Why did the boy return early?’ (2 marks), Q4 ‘What does the passage suggest about his planning?’ (2 marks), and Q5 a personal response (2 marks). For Q3 the candidate writes only ‘Because it rained.’ He has six minutes left and four questions untouched. He considers copying the full sentence about the clouds and wind into Q3, because it is the only sentence he can find that mentions the weather. The invigilator has already announced that ten minutes remain.
1. Should the candidate copy the full weather sentence into Q3, or write a combined answer? Explain how a 2-mark inference question is usually marked, and give a model Persian answer with reasoning.
Read the worked answer
Copying the whole sentence is not the best use of six minutes. A 2-mark question normally splits into one mark for the correct reason and one for relevant textual support; a copied sentence can earn the support mark but may bury the reason and waste time. The candidate should write a short combined sentence that names the cause and the missing precaution: «او زود برگشت زیرا ابرها سیاه شدند و باد سردی وزید و او چتر نداشت.» This earns the reason mark because it states that the weather turned bad, and the support mark because it cites the black clouds, the cold wind and the absence of an umbrella. It does not reproduce the whole passage, so it avoids mechanical copying. If he cannot spell a word, he should use a simpler equivalent rather than copy eight lines. Copying also risks losing the untouched Q4 and Q5 marks, which are worth more in total than polishing Q3.
2. Q4 asks what the passage suggests about the boy’s planning. Give two possible inferences and say which is better supported, using only the details in the setup.
Read the worked answer
Inference A: the boy did not check the weather or prepare for a change in conditions, because he set out early without an umbrella and had to turn back when the sky darkened. Inference B: the boy is generally impulsive or careless. Inference A is better supported because it rests on two concrete details given in the passage - the early departure and the missing umbrella - and it explains why he returned. Inference B is a character judgement that goes beyond the evidence; the passage does not say that he often acts without thinking. A good answer should therefore make a limited claim and attach it to the details: «او برای تغییر هوا آماده نبود، چون چتر نداشت و وقتی ابرها سیاه شدند مجبور شد برگردد.» This shows the examiner that the candidate can infer from evidence rather than invent a personality trait.
3. With six minutes and four questions untouched, in what order should he answer them, and why?
Read the worked answer
He should answer by expected marks per minute and by certainty, not by question number. Q1 and Q2 are one-mark items that usually require a word or a true/false decision; they should be completed first and quickly. Q5 is a personal response worth two marks and can often be answered from the candidate’s own view without a long re-reading, so it comes next. Q4 requires two details from the passage and a controlled inference, so it should come after the quick items but before any rewriting of Q3. Q3 already contains a partial reason, which may earn one mark; rewriting it could consume the remaining time and leave Q4 and Q5 blank. A sensible order is Q1, Q2, Q5, Q4, then a brief check of Q3. The guiding principle is to secure marks that are nearly certain before spending time on an answer that is already partly credited.