Standard Grade Close Reading Support Sheet
Exam Question Types:
Word-choice
This is a very common type of question. Nearly every Credit and General paper will have word-choice questions.
For this type of question you are usually asked to think about why a particular word or expression is appropriate. This just means that you are being asked to think about why the author chose that particular word or expression when they have so many to choose from. What makes this a good word to have chosen?
So how do you go about answering these questions?
It is a good idea to take it in steps.
1. First of all find the word in the passage that you have been directed to and read that paragraph again.
2. Consider whether you understand the meaning of the word. If so, great! If not, look at the surrounding words and try to work it out.
3. Think about why the author chose that word in particular when they could have chosen another.
· Is it appropriate because it is particularly relevant to what the passage is about?
· Does it help to create a particular atmosphere? Is it frightening or funny perhaps?
· Does it give you a clear picture of what the writer is trying to describe? If so, make sure you explain what that picture is.
This sounds quite difficult in theory, but it is really quite straightforward once you have got the hang of it!
Have a look at the following examples from actual past papers which have been done for you.
Credit 1995. This passage describes the lesson a young boy, Howard, learns when he lies to his father.
Question 5:
“…his moustache bristling over the paper.”
Why is bristling a particularly appropriate word to use in this context?
Paragraph 6:
“ ‘They’re asking for trouble,’ his father said, his big legs folded at the table, the tackets in his boots squealing shortly when he moved – ready to stride out if anything was wrong – his moustache bristling over the paper. ‘They’ll catch it,’ he’d add. In the early days of aviation his father detested its uselessness and looked for the flyers to get their come-uppance.”
1. Do I know what it means?
Yes, a bristle is a short, coarse hair like you would find in a sweeping brush.
It is also used to convey anger or to suggest that someone is offended if they are said to be ‘bristling’.
2. Why is it a good word to use here?
The writer tells us that his moustache is ‘bristling’ over the paper, so there is a literal connection with hair and he is also angry at the aviators.
Answer:
The word ‘bristling’ is literally connected to the idea of the hair of the man’s moustache, but he is also angry with the aviators and so the word ‘bristling’ is used figuratively here to show how much he despises them.
General 2000. This passage deals with a man’s experience of swimming with sharks at Deep Sea World.
Question 11)
Look at paragraphs 13 and 14
Why do you think the writer has chosen the word “flooded” to describe how his memories returned?
“Childhood memories of underwater programmes on TV flooded in, mixing with books and magazines on sharks and the film cartoon of Marine Boy. Once I had gained some confidence, Stuart returned to the surface to collect underwater photographer Gavin Anderson. ….”
1. Do I know what it means?
Yes it is when lots of water pours into something, usually very quickly.
2. Why is it a good word to use here?
The passage is about a man surrounded by water as he swims with sharks. Flooded suggests lots of water moving quickly, but he is talking about memories, so what is the connection? The idea is of lots of memories and the speed of the memories returning.
Answer:
He is suggesting that the memories come back very quickly and
that there are lots of them. It’s also a good word to use as the
passage is about water.
Now have a go yourself using the following examples.
This example is from the 2003 General paper which is about the author visiting the Romanian birthplace of the “original Dracula”.
Question 2.
Explain fully what the writer suggests by using the word “flickering” when describing the candle.
“The door creaked open. A draught of cold air blew up from the stairs to the dark crypt and the hairs on our arms stood on end. The faint light from the flickering candle disappeared, there was a muffled scream, a sound of running footsteps and then some raised voices.”
This example is from the 2004 Credit paper. It tells the story of Pelagia, a young woman, who is confronted in her home by someone she believes to be a stranger.
Question 10.
Why is “gibbering” (Paragraph 5) an appropriate word to describe the stranger at this point?
“ ‘Ice,’ said the stranger, as though he had not heard her, ‘I’ll never be warm again.’ His voice cracked and she realised that his shoulders were heaving. ‘Oh, the ice,’ he repeated. He held his hands before his face. He wrapped his fingers together, and his whole body seemed to be fighting to suppress a succession of spasms.
‘You can come back tomorrow,’ said Pelagia, appalled by this gibbering apparition, and completely at a loss.
‘No crampons, you see. The snow is whipped away by the wind, and the ice is in ridges, sharper than knives, and when you fall you are cut.’”
This example is from the 2002 General paper. The first few paragraphs describe a man having breakfast with his young daughter and then dropping her off at school.
Question 3a)
In paragraph 1, why is “perched” a particularly suitable word to describe how the five year old girl sat on her stool.
“…He sat the full pot on the formica-topped breakfast bar and made a silly face at his five-year-old daughter who was perched on a stool slowly getting through a bowl of milky porridge.”
This example is from the 2002 Credit paper. It describes a store detective’s encounter with an unusual shoplifter.
Question 3
Explain why it is appropriate to describe the shoppers as “a plague”.
“Sometimes on dark winter mornings he watched them before the doors were opened: pressing their hands and faces against the glass, a plague of moths wanting in to the light. But you couldn’t lokk at them like that, as an invading swarm. To do the job – which was under threat anyway because of security guards and surveillance cameras – you had to get in among them, make yourself invisible.”
Remember to follow the steps!