2013 HKDSE English Language

Paper 1 Reading
Final Tips
By Emmett Poon
Choosing B1 or B2?
2012 B1 B1 B2
B1 B2 B1 Level 4 B1
Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Poems,
Songs, Drama Scripts, Novels B1 Language
Arts
Time allocation
Part A

30 minutes

Part B2

60 minutes

Or for weaker candidates:

Part A

40 minutes

Part B1

50 minutes

[You may complete Part B1 before doing Part A]

Skip those questions if you have no ideas at that moment. Come back to the
question later on
You can do the questions randomly, that means no need to follow the order. Some of
the questions can be easily done in a short period of time.
If abnormality occurs and the above time allocation cannot be worked out
effectively. Make sure you also need to follow the follow rule:
1 mark = 0.8 minutes = 48 seconds

Steps for doing Reading Exercise

Read the title and introductory paragraph (if provided).

This can give you a quick summary of the passage
Read the first and last paragraph. Also read the topic
sentence of other paragraphs
Go to the Questions and search for the answers in the
reading comprehension
For Poems and Songs, Novels, Drama Scripts, you are highly advised to read the whole text
before answering the questions.
Important Notes for answering questions
(congruent)
e.g. Why is Hong Kong better than China in terms of education?
Hong Kong has good secondary schools and medical care.
better education
Hong Kong has a better secondary school education system than China.
Multiple Choice Questions

Eliminate answers which are:

Illogical (no sense)

Wrong facts and opinions
Partly correct

True, False, Not Given

Note modal verbs, tenses, adjectives ( True False/Not Given)

True + False = False

False + Not Given = Not Given

Summary Cloze

Locate the answer by the key words and language items in the summary cloze
Remember to have language and pronoun adaptation
For those which you are required to use one word, summarize the terms into a single
word (e.g. father and mother parents)

Open-ended Question

The questions may ask you for your opinions or summarize the ideas from the passage
Remember to have a clear idea and topic sentence followed by the elaboration
If necessary, quote from the reading passage

Style of the article

Formal (with long expressions, firmer tone and more standard)

Informal (with contracted forms and expressions)
Literary (with polished words, usually with narrative style)

Common theme of the poems

About Love
About Friendship
About Family

About Nature

About Role Models

About Past and Present

Skills for novels

Make a table for the characters in the novel

Mark down their action and dialogue
Try to eliminate the polished phrases and expressions so that you can get the ultimate
plot for the passage

As the extract of the novel is selected from a relatively long story, just treat the text as a
minor event in the passage with a few actions from the characters