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2014 HKDSE English Language Paper 1 Reading Final Tips

By Emmett Poon

Choosing B1 or B2?

2012-2013 B1 B1 B2

B1 B2 B1 Level 4 B1 Level

4 Level 3 Level 2 Poems, Songs, Drama

Scripts, Novels B1 Language Arts

B2 Level 5**B1 Level 4

Time allocation

Part A 30 -40 minutes

Part B2 50 -60 minutes

Or for weaker candidates:

Part A 40 minutesPart 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

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.

This is exactly the rule for questions including refer to,Matchingand most direct questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

Eliminate answers which are:

Illogical (no sense)

Wrong facts and opinions

Read the title and introductory paragraph (if provided). This can give you a quick summary ofthe 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

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Partly correct

Choose the best options instead of good options!

True, False, Not Given

Note modal verbs, tenses, adjectives, plurality and singularity ( 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

Interpret meanings

The phrases are usually easy to comprehend literally. However, they contain deeper meanings

The author may want to present an abstract concept in a vivid way. He must have given the hints in

the passage

Remember to quote the sentences and phrases which give hints to the answers

The answer is obvious when you can locate the hints

Do you agree?

Give your stance as you like. However, the stance should be highly related to the passage

List the reasons in the passage only. Never make up reasons and evidence by your common sense

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 themes 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

END OF FINAL TIPS

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR EXAM!