Reading and Comprehension
What the comprehension paper asks of you
SEC English Language comprehension (Paper IIA or IIB) uses unseen passages - often a newspaper or magazine article, a letter, or a literary extract. You are tested on literal retrieval, inference, recognition of the writer's purpose and tone, vocabulary in context, and summary. Marks are attached to individual points, so the number of marks tells you how many separate ideas to give.
Core rules
- Read twice: once for gist (what is it about, who wrote it, who for?), once with the questions in front of you.
- For “in your own words” questions, change both vocabulary and sentence structure; a synonym dropped into a lifted sentence still counts as copying.
- Inferential answers (“What does the writer suggest…”, “Why does the writer use…”) need a point plus support from the text.
- Summary: select main ideas, drop examples and repetition, write continuous prose, and stay within the word limit.
- Vocabulary in context: identify the word class first, then its connotation in that particular sentence, not its commonest meaning.
Worked example
Passage: “Since the council moved the market's closing time to 4 p.m., stallholders say their takings have halved; many are furious.”
Question: What does the writer suggest about the effect of the new closing time on stallholders? (2 marks)
Reasoning: two marks means two points. Financial effect - income cut by half; emotional effect - anger. A full answer: “Traders are earning far less than before and are angry about it.” Copying the sentence earns little, because the marks are for selecting and rephrasing.
Traps that cost marks
Answering three parts when the question has five; leaving a question blank instead of attempting an inference; exceeding summary word limits; confusing “What does the word suggest?” with “What does the word mean?”; ignoring tone when asked about the writer's attitude.