Year 9: Exam Preparation

Section A: Reading • You will have 2 non-fiction texts to

read.

• You must answer ALL the questions on the paper.

• You can use evidence from both articles when answering all the questions.

Hacking ‘fun’ for British teens

One in four young Britons attempts to access the Facebook accounts of their friends, a survey claims. The most common route of access was by working out - or "cracking" - each other's passwords. The poll of 1,150 under-19s found that nearly half of those who accessed other accounts did so from either their own computer or one at school. The main reason given for doing it was for fun, and a further 21% admitted they hoped to cause disruption. The young people questioned took part in the online survey anonymously. 78% of them said that they knew that hacking was wrong and 82% said they found it difficult to do in practice. Reuven Harrison, co-founder of Tufin Technologies which commissioned the survey, told the BBC that young people need better education in order to understand when hacking is unacceptable. "Playing around with computers and trying to understand the system can be leveraged for good and bad purposes," he said. "There's a fine line at which point it becomes something bad. Children don't always understand where that line is." 20% of those who admitted to hacking in the survey believed they could make money from the activity and 5% described hacking as a career option. "Hacking into personal online accounts can be child's play if users do not protect their own passwords," said Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde, president of the Society for the Policing of Cyberspace. "Hacking is illegal and we need to ensure everyone understands that."

Read item 1, see if you can find the following...

• A fact

• An opinion

• Another language device of your choice

• Now say what the effect of each of the above is.

Presentational Devices• List 3 presentational devices in the

article.

• Explain clearly and in detail:1) What they are?

2) How they are effective?

Section B: Writing• You will be asked to write 1

paragraph.

• There will be only 1 question that you have to answer (You will not be given a choice of questions)

• You should include a variety of language devices to make your writing effective.

Writing to advise...• Why do you need to write to advise?

• What devices are effective in writing to advise?

• Remember AGONY AUNT

WRITING TO ADVISEWhen we are Writing to Advise

then we need to use the reminder :

A G O N Y A U N TAn ‘Agony Aunt’ is the slang name for someone who writes an advice column for newspapers and magazines. Readers write in with their problems and the ‘Agony Aunt’ advises them on their best course of action(what they should do to solve their problem).

PROB

LEM

SPROBLEMS

PROBLEMS

Help, I need advice!

is for AUDIENCEWe always need to think about the person we are writing to. This helps us to choose solutions suitable for them.

For example if we are replying to teenagers, we will try andthink of solutions to their

problems that they will feel comfortable with.

is for Giving Good reasons tofollow your advice

• It will help you here to use Modal Verbs e.g. Should, would,

could.• Always explain your advice. Eg. If you could try and not be so jealous, then maybe your girlfriend would forgive you. (Nobody likes to be told

what to do, without a good reason)

Is for being OBJECTIVEBeing OBJECTIVE means that you are able to consider a situation from everyone’s point of view and not take sides. This helps you to give fair and balanced advice.

Is for NEW paragraphs for NEW topics

Always remember to start a NEW PARAGRAPH if you start a new topic.

Eg. I advise you to try talking this through.(New topic, so start new paragraph by clearly indenting your next line)

Another approach you could try is to ask a mutual friend to talk to her first.

Is for YOUUse the personal pronoun YOU, often in your

writing to advise. This will make the reader feel as if you are putting them

and their problems first.

Is for AUTHORITYWhen giving advice, we

must sound as if we know what we are talking about. We must sound as if we are

an AUTHORITY on the subject.

Authority =Expert

Is for UNDERSTANDINGIt is important to always try to understand theproblem that the reader is experiencing.This will help the reader to feel he is not

struggling on his own.

Use sentence starters such as ,

I understand how you feel….Or

You are not alone…….

Is for NEVER be NEGATIVE!

In ‘Writing to Advise’, remember thatsomeone is relying on you to encourage andsupport them. Never be negative whenadvising people. Try and make them feel like

Number 1!

Is for TONE

TONE is very important. It will decide whether you use FORMAL or INFORMAL language in your writing. It will also help you decide what vocabulary

to use. When writing to advise use friendly, supportive,

kind words to give advice.