PREPARING FOR THE GCSE EXAM: THE MULTIPLE CHOICE READING TEXTS

WORKSHOP
PRESENTATIO
N


PREPARING FOR THE GCSE
EXAM: THE MULTIPLE CHOICE
READING TEXTS
I. Introduction
With the recently introduced GCSE for all high school leavers, there come
considerable obstacles for the teachers and students in many parts of
Vietnam. Those difficulties primarily involve the teaching, learning and finally
revising for this new type of national exam. The MOET released figures on
students’ performance in all the six papers have further cemented this
observation of the apparent lack of a suitable approach to the exam.
Accordingly, the failure ratio among test-takers of each of the eight papers,
namely Mathematics, Literature, English, History, Geography, Physics,
Biology and Chemistry is astoundingly high, and the most conspicuous
feature can be found in English, with the most popular score being around 2
out of a ten-point scale.
Being a teacher of English- the subject with the lowest average score
recorded in the exam last year, I have combined my teaching experiences
with the skills and knowledge gained from several professional development
workshop and propose a solution to a small part of the problem. In particular,
I suggest familiarizing students with the types of questions commonly found
what are often much dreaded- the most difficult part of the papers: the
multiple choice reading texts (MCQ texts).

II. Aims and objectives

- To provide fellow teachers with the types of questions commonly found in

the English papers of the national GCSE exam.


- To suggest the necessary strategies for successfully completing the tasks of
reading and answering questions effectively.
- To encourage discussion about and evaluation of the most effective
teaching tips and techniques for dealing with MCQ texts.

III. Multiple choice reading texts: An overview
For the sake of brevity, the specifics of MCQ texts are presented in the table
below:
Number of texts
Length of texts
Number of questions
Length of time
Level of difficulty

2
250 words per text
10 questions per text
N/ A, but possibly 12-15 minute/ text
Different: 1 text intermediate, 1 text
upper-intermediate

An example of the MCQ text (upper-intermediate), with its questions is given
hereby:
Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each
of the questions.
The Winterthur Museum is a collection and a house. There are many
museums devoted to the decorative arts and many house museums, but

rarely in the United States is a great collection displayed in a great country
house. Passing through successive generations of a single family, Winterthur
has been a private estate for more than a century. Even after the extensive
renovations made to it between 1929 and 1931, the house remained a family
residence. This fact is of importance to the atmosphere and effect of the
museum. The impression of a lived-in house is apparent to the visitor: the
rooms look as if they were vacated only a short while ago whether by the
original owners of the furniture or the most recent residents of the house can
be a matter of personal interpretation. Winterthur remains, then, a house in
which a collection of furniture and architectural elements has been
assembled. Like an English country house, it is an organic structure; the
house, as well as the collection and manner of displaying it to the visitor, has
changed over the years. The changes have coincided with developing


concepts of the American arts, increased knowledge on the part of collectors
and students, and a progression toward the achievement of a historical effect
in period-room displays. The rooms at Winterthur have followed this current,
yet still retained the character of a private house.
The concept of a period room as a display technique has developed
gradually over the years in an effort to present works of art in a context that
would show them to greater effect and would give them more meaning for
the viewer. Comparable to the habitat group in a natural history museum,
the period room represents the decorative arts in a lively and interesting
manner and provides an opportunity to assemble objects related by style,
date, or place of manufacture.
Câu 30: What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. Historical furniture contained in Winterthur
B. How Winterthur compares to English country houses
C. Elements that make Winterthur an unusual museum

D. The reason that Winterthur was redesigned
Câu 31: The phrase "devoted to" in line 1 is closest in meaning to
A. specializing in

B. sentimental about

C. surrounded by

D. successful in
Câu 32: What happened at Winterthur between 1929 and 1931?
A. The old furniture was replaced

B. The estate became a museum

C. The owners moved out

D. The house was repaired

Câu 33: What does the author mean by stating "the impression of a lived-in
house is apparent to the visitor"?
A. Few people visit Winterthur
B. The furniture at Winterthur looks comfortable
C. Winterthur does not look like a typical museum
D. Winterthur is very old
Câu 34: The word "assembled" in line 9 is closest in meaning to
A. summoned

B. appreciated

C. fundamentally changed

D. brought together

Câu 35: The word "it" in line 10 refers to
A. collection

B. English country house

C. visitor

D. Winterthur

Câu 36: The word "developing" in line 11 is closest in meaning to


A. evolving

B. exhibiting

C. informative

D. traditional

Câu 37: According to the passage, objects in a period room are related by
all of the following EXCEPT
A. place of manufacture

B. date

C. past ownership

D. style

Câu 38:

What is the relationship between the two paragraphs in the

passage?
A. Paragraph 2 explains a philosophy of art appreciation that contrasts
with that explained in Paragraph 1.
B. Paragraph 2 explains a term that was mentioned in Paragraph 1.
C. Each paragraph describes a different historical period
D. Each paragraph describes a different approach to the display of objects
in a museum
Câu 39:

Where in the passage does the author explain why displays at

Winterthur have changed?
A. lines 6-8

B. lines 4-5

C. lines 1-2

D. lines 10-12

IV. Types of MCQ reading questions and suggested
strategies
Again, brevity and clarity prevail, therefore the writer would like to present

this section in the form of a table, which is believed to be more readerfriendly and easier to understand. Further details on how to recognize certain
type of questions can be presented later in the conference (if time permits)
Question
types
Detail
questions
Reference
and
Vocabular
y
questions

Skills tested

Reading for
details:
Scanning
Skimming
Scanning
Skimming

Number Strategies
of
question
s
4-5/text
- Identify keywords in the questions
- Scan the text to find the keywords
- Read the surrounding text
carefully to answer the Q

2-4/ text
- Reference word may refer to a
noun, or a noun phrase
- Try substituting the choices for
the given word
- Use context clues


Reading
for
inference

Skimming
Scanning

0-2/ text

-

Reading
for main
ideas

Skimming
Scanning

1/ text

-

Use word formation knowledge
Go beyond the information stated
in the passage
Reason out what is implied
The answer will not be stated
word by word in the passage
Wrong answer may be overly
exaggerated to be precisely
correct.
Skimming is important
Read the first sentence of the
passage, and the last sentence
Read the first and last sentence of
each paragraph
Skim the text quickly to
determine the correct answer
The incorrect answr may be too
specific, too general, or incorrect

VI. Discussions of the suggestions and further
recommendations

I have attempted incorporating this knowledge of the MCQ into my teaching in
class, which seems to be effective. No official research has been done to confirmed
this, however.
From my experience, I strongly suggest dividing the questions into separate types
and spending at least 1.5 to 2 hours acclimatizing students with each category.
Finally, the teacher should provide students with ample opportunities for practice
and remind them of the strategies as she/he correct the exercises/ tests.
This being a mere report on the basics of my presentation at the coming workshop.

Time issues do not permit a lengthier explanation. I would be grateful for any
feedback and welcome to improve this report.