IGCSE English As a Second Language Reading: Exercises 1 & 2 (Passage &

Multiple-Matching)
HomeNotesEnglish as a Second Language – 0510/0511Reading: Exercises 1 & 2 (Passage &
Multiple-Matching)
The first two exercises of the IGCSE English as a Second Language Paper 2 are two reading
exercises, where you have to answer direct questions based on the text given.

These are reading exercises, because it tests your understanding of the contents of the
passage – what it is about, what point the author is trying to make, etc. This is the easiest
section in the entire paper so it is important that you nail it and gain maximum marks.
 First, simply skim through the texts and get an idea of what it is about. Skimming, is simply
glancing through the text to catch words and phrases. Find out what kind of text it is (travel
brochure, newspaper article, leaflet etc.) and the main idea of each paragraph. For exercise
2, the texts are very similar, designed to confuse you, so it’s easier to look through the
questions first and then read the text.
 Read the questions. Underline the keywords in the questions. Understand what the
question is asking you; is it, what, why, when, were or how? Also underline the other key
phrases or words (nouns and verbs that tells you what you should look for). Questions can
be confusing sometimes so make sure you read the question thoroughly and can pinpoint
on what exactly they are asking for. Be wary of questions with signpost phrases like ‘apart
from’, ‘rather than’, or ‘according to the graph’; they tell you what exactly you need to find.
For exercise 2, be very careful when marking points because they tend to be very similar
and requires detailed examination.

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17_qp22 Exercise 2 (current syllabus’ Exercise 1)
 For exercise 1, find the answers, by locating the keywords (noun and/or verb) from the
question, in the passage. Then read that sentence properly to get the answer. It is also
worth noting that, usually, answers will be found in chronological order within the
passage. The first questions’s answer will mostly be in the introduction paragraph and the
next one in the second paragraph and so on. (However, for the last question of Exercise 2
you will need to scan the entire passage to find the answer).
Some questions are very specific, so the answers are very easy to find.
Others you will have to read between the lines– you have to look at what the author is

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 implying- what he means. Some questions will also use synonyms of the words used in the
passage simply to confuse you! So make sure you know your vocabulary!
Remember, you don’t have to come up with your own answers, everything is there in the
passage itself; it’s a reading exercise, not writing.
For exercise 2, you have to match each point to the corresponding person/thing. You will
have to examine each paragraph closely and choose which para the given point matches to.
 Write the answer of a question once you’ve found it from the passage. You won’t lose
marks for spelling and grammar mistakes, again, because it is a reading exercise. You can
copy the text from the passage itself; you don’t have to write in your own words! You don’t
even have to write in full sentence! As long as the answer is correct, no worries! For exercise
2, just write the person/thing the point corresponds to, given in the text. Nothing more.
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Time Management
For the core paper 1, spend about 15 minutes on the first two reading exercises.
For the extend paper 2, spend around 20 minutes on the first two reading exercises. The
first passage is relatively easy to find answers for. So quickly finish it up. The second exercise
requires a little more detailed reading, so allot more time for it.

Exercise 3 of Paper 1 is a reading task, where a short passage is given and you are asked to
make notes on it under the headings given. This is again, an easy enough task but you need
to be careful to ensure that you’re writing the correct points.

Let’s dive straight into it.

 Read the headings

First, reading the headings given in the question will be the best course of action. It will tell
you what information you need to find from the passage and copy into your answer.

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 I have colour-coded the headings with their corresponding points from the passage below
 Read the passage.
As you go underline the points that you can write down under each heading. Answers could

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 be found anywhere, but usually goes in a chronological order.

 Write down the points under each heading.



 You don’t have to write in full sentences



 You can copy the text as it is from the passage



 No marks will be deducted for spelling/punctuation/grammar errors



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  You should only write one point per line given. Thus, all points that you could write do
not have to be written. In the example above, for heading one I have marked three
points, but there are only two line, so write any of the two.

That’s about. It’s again, like the previous question, an information transfer. You just need to
know what the relevant information is and where you should put it.

Time management
For the core paper 1, spend about 10 minutes on this question.
For the extended paper 2, spend 12 minutes on this question.

Exercise 4 of ESL paper, is summary writing. A passage will be given, on which you are
required to write a summary.

What is a summary? The formal definition is: a brief statement or account of the main
points of something. And that’s exactly what you have to do. Identify the main, relevant
points and write them in your own words in an organized manner.
This is the part of the paper I, personally, had the most trouble with. It is not as easy as it
looks. So, let’s get to it.

 Read the question properly.

What exactly do you have to write a summary on. In the question, they could specify one or
more detail. So you need to write the summary on just those details. Leave out the rest.

w17_qp22. See the emboldened part? That”s what you have to focus on.
 Read the passage.
As you go, underline the points that you need to include in your summary, that are relevant

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 and important to the question.

 Write the summary.

That’s easier said than done. You have got all your points, now you need to collate and
organise it into one write-up using your own words.


 Write a one-line introduction that tells the examiner what you’re writing a summary on.
Keep it short. In the example above, you could start the summary by writing : Poon Lim,
a ship-wreck victim, managed to survive an astounding 133 days on an island all alone.


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 Start organising the points. You could do it chronologically, advantage-disadvantage
format or problem-solution format- whatever works for the task at hand. In the example
above, writing points in their chronological order seems to be the right choice since it’s a
narrative type of article.


 Use connectives, lots of them, to organise your points and add a sense of continuity.
Some examples are: Firstly/Secondly/Thirdly, In Addition/Also/Furthermore,
Consequently/As a result, Thus/Hence etc.


 Use your own words. Use synonyms of word in the passage, if possible. In the example
above, the phrase ‘invented ways to find food and water’ can be changed to ‘came up
with a system to obtain food and water’.


 You don’t have to write a conclusion. If the question asked you to write the summary
on the entire passage, then maybe a conclusion would be fitting. But in questions like
the one above, it is irrelevant to the question.


 Stick to the word limit. For the extended paper you have to write at least 100 word but
not more than 120 words. For the core paper you need to write at least 70 word but not
more than 80 words. Don’t write too much; scrap unnecessary points not relevant to
the question; cut short words.
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That’s all about Exercise 4! The best way to get better at it, is to keep practicing past paper
questions, nothing more. Polishing up your vocabulary skills might be helpful in using your
own words.
Time Management
The summary writing exercise in the core paper 1 is too easy, so it should only take about 5
minutes to attempt it.

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Spend about 15 minutes on this exercise, in the extended paper 2. Reading the passage
should take about 5 minutes and the rest 10 minutes should be used to write your
summary.