Mr. Reda Ghaly
15-06-2011, 06:52 AM
السلام عليكم
Question no. 3: Choose the correct answer.
Item no. 2 reads:
The astronauts are going to [build/ invent/ analyse/ arrest] a space station in space.
The logical answer would be to [build]. Where in Student's Book, page one, exercises 4, question no 2, there is a question: What are astronauts going to do in space? The answer is: [to repair a space station] and the other choices are wrong including [build a space station]. Besides, how can astronauts build a space station? Space stations are launched into space. This caused confusion to some students.
Choose, item no 4, reads:
Mona promised that she [be/ would have been/ will have been/ will be] home tomorrow.
Please compare this to Student's Book, Unit 8, Ex 3, a.: [reported speech]
"I'll be home tomorrow morning," she promised, and the printed answer:
She promised that she would be home the next morning.
This is what the unit is emphasising: The reported speech and changes in tenses. In light of this, you can see how confusing the exam question under discussion is and how it is out of place. The question never tested students' awareness. How can an average student see 'promised' as past, emphasised by the unit and should be followed by a backshift in tenses and find the expected answer 'would be' not there. Confusing?
Choose, no. 9, the question reads:
The play is suggested to [being cancelled/ cancel/ have cancelled/ be cancelled]
This is based on Grammar Unit 12 which deals with verbs followed by infinitive and gerund. The word under discussion ‘suggest’ is emphasised in many places in the book as a verb followed by gerund: SB, p72 ex1, no5 & WB p72 ex 1, no. e, & Review D p. 76 ex. 1f. After teaching students this and emphasising it in the SB and WB in various places, the question surprises the student with something they were never taught in their English learning years. The supposed answer in the question under discussion would be [be cancelled] contrary to what he previously learned. Is the examiner deliberately trying to confuse the students?
Question No. 4: Find the mistake: The specifications of the exam state:
"Six (6) separate sentences, with one mistake in each (three structure and three vocabulary), are provided."
If you look at the question under discussion you will find FOUR vocab and TWO grammar questions. The vocab questions are [2, 4, 5, 6] and the grammar questions are [1, 3]. This goes AGAINST the specification of the ministry.
Question no. 4 Find the mistake, item no. 6, reads:
Eighty kilometres is along way to travel using two liters of petrol.
The student is required to find the mistake which, supposedly, should have been a grammar item, and wrongly was put as a vocab item.
A similar sentence is in the student's book, p. 19, Review A, ex 1, d.
The question in the book reads:
“Thirty kilometres are a long way to travel on one litre of petrol. “
The mistake found in the sentence is that "Thirty kilometres" takes a singular verb because it describes a distance. I needn't mention that the items discussed in the 'Countable and Uncountable nouns' grammar lesson are too many for the student to grasp, yet we succeeded [AGAIN] to confuse the students by providing the mistake as a spelling vocab.
"A Long" instead of "Along". How brilliant! What are we testing actually? Please note that the English taught to the students is British English so the student is used to "kilomtres" and "litres" not "Kilometers" and "Liters" as in the exam
and this added more to the students' confusion. The exam is supposed to test the average student's ability with some questions for the distinguished ones. I am afraid the questions under discussions are only meant to confuse those distinguished ones.
Question No. 6. Reading comprehension, item no 5:
The question asks the students to guess the meaning of the word "fired" from the passage. Then it gives them choices:
[shot with a gun/ dismissed/ set on fire/ promoted]. The supposed answer is "dismissed".
According to the exam specifications, the questions test many skills one of which is: "vocabulary in context-implied meaning"
The question arises: when we ask a student to guess a new word from the passage, to measure his understanding and deduction skills, are we supposed to provide him with words he never learned in 2nd and 3rd Secondary? "Dismissed" was never taught in the syllabus of the 2nd or 3rd Secondary set books. Check for yourself. Is the examiner digging deep trying deliberately to confuse the students? Is the exam technically well put? I am afraid, it is not
المصدر
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=192739377423484&topic=3802
Question no. 3: Choose the correct answer.
Item no. 2 reads:
The astronauts are going to [build/ invent/ analyse/ arrest] a space station in space.
The logical answer would be to [build]. Where in Student's Book, page one, exercises 4, question no 2, there is a question: What are astronauts going to do in space? The answer is: [to repair a space station] and the other choices are wrong including [build a space station]. Besides, how can astronauts build a space station? Space stations are launched into space. This caused confusion to some students.
Choose, item no 4, reads:
Mona promised that she [be/ would have been/ will have been/ will be] home tomorrow.
Please compare this to Student's Book, Unit 8, Ex 3, a.: [reported speech]
"I'll be home tomorrow morning," she promised, and the printed answer:
She promised that she would be home the next morning.
This is what the unit is emphasising: The reported speech and changes in tenses. In light of this, you can see how confusing the exam question under discussion is and how it is out of place. The question never tested students' awareness. How can an average student see 'promised' as past, emphasised by the unit and should be followed by a backshift in tenses and find the expected answer 'would be' not there. Confusing?
Choose, no. 9, the question reads:
The play is suggested to [being cancelled/ cancel/ have cancelled/ be cancelled]
This is based on Grammar Unit 12 which deals with verbs followed by infinitive and gerund. The word under discussion ‘suggest’ is emphasised in many places in the book as a verb followed by gerund: SB, p72 ex1, no5 & WB p72 ex 1, no. e, & Review D p. 76 ex. 1f. After teaching students this and emphasising it in the SB and WB in various places, the question surprises the student with something they were never taught in their English learning years. The supposed answer in the question under discussion would be [be cancelled] contrary to what he previously learned. Is the examiner deliberately trying to confuse the students?
Question No. 4: Find the mistake: The specifications of the exam state:
"Six (6) separate sentences, with one mistake in each (three structure and three vocabulary), are provided."
If you look at the question under discussion you will find FOUR vocab and TWO grammar questions. The vocab questions are [2, 4, 5, 6] and the grammar questions are [1, 3]. This goes AGAINST the specification of the ministry.
Question no. 4 Find the mistake, item no. 6, reads:
Eighty kilometres is along way to travel using two liters of petrol.
The student is required to find the mistake which, supposedly, should have been a grammar item, and wrongly was put as a vocab item.
A similar sentence is in the student's book, p. 19, Review A, ex 1, d.
The question in the book reads:
“Thirty kilometres are a long way to travel on one litre of petrol. “
The mistake found in the sentence is that "Thirty kilometres" takes a singular verb because it describes a distance. I needn't mention that the items discussed in the 'Countable and Uncountable nouns' grammar lesson are too many for the student to grasp, yet we succeeded [AGAIN] to confuse the students by providing the mistake as a spelling vocab.
"A Long" instead of "Along". How brilliant! What are we testing actually? Please note that the English taught to the students is British English so the student is used to "kilomtres" and "litres" not "Kilometers" and "Liters" as in the exam
and this added more to the students' confusion. The exam is supposed to test the average student's ability with some questions for the distinguished ones. I am afraid the questions under discussions are only meant to confuse those distinguished ones.
Question No. 6. Reading comprehension, item no 5:
The question asks the students to guess the meaning of the word "fired" from the passage. Then it gives them choices:
[shot with a gun/ dismissed/ set on fire/ promoted]. The supposed answer is "dismissed".
According to the exam specifications, the questions test many skills one of which is: "vocabulary in context-implied meaning"
The question arises: when we ask a student to guess a new word from the passage, to measure his understanding and deduction skills, are we supposed to provide him with words he never learned in 2nd and 3rd Secondary? "Dismissed" was never taught in the syllabus of the 2nd or 3rd Secondary set books. Check for yourself. Is the examiner digging deep trying deliberately to confuse the students? Is the exam technically well put? I am afraid, it is not
المصدر
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=192739377423484&topic=3802