GP Paper 2 Notes (8881 Syllabus)

GP Paper 2 Notes (8881 Syllabus) Preface This set of notes is intended as a comprehensive yet non-excessive set of advice to succeed in Paper 2 of the H1 General Paper syllabus. To maximise the utility of this document, you are strongly advised to compare questions from your comprehension practices with the question types to understand how to apply the tips. As this is a relatively new syllabus, take the advice provided with a grain of salt. In every case that this document contradicts your tutor’s advice, take his/her advice to be correct, and those in this document to be wrong. Nonetheless, the notes provided in this document are designed to be aligned with the 8881 syllabus (as explained later) and hence should cover the approach to most, if not all questions. Time Management It is extremely important to be aware of the time constraint in Paper 2. For me personally, it is absolutely necessary to allocate a minimum of 35 minutes to attempt the application question. This ensures sufficient time to plan the AQ for a proper answer. 0800 - 0805 Read Passage 1 0805 - 0830 Attempt Passage 1 Questions 0830 - 0833 Read Passage 2 0833 - 0850 Attempt Summary 0850 - 0855 Attempt Passage 3 Questions 0855 - 0900 Plan AQ 0900 - 0930 Finish AQ Note: If you are unable to complete the SAQ on time, move on to the AQ. A lot of students (me included) struggle with time management because they think that spending 5 additional minutes won’t hurt. But 5 minutes is about 15% of the time you should be spending on the AQ, which is time you cannot lose. The AQ is worth 12 marks in the 8881 syllabus. That’s more than a third of the content marks. 1

GP Paper 2 Notes 8881/02 Short Answer Questions Fundamentally, Paper 2 of the H1 General Paper syllabus is a test of understanding language use. Cambridge is assessing you on your ability to empathise with perspectives of people around the world. Therefore, the primary principle when dealing with Paper 2 is to demonstrate understanding of issues raised. In the 8881 syllabus document, Cambridge states that “There will be a range of questions on the passages, requiring candidates to demonstrate their ability to comprehend, infer, analyse, evaluate, summarise and synthesise.” These skills are what Cambridge is expecting from students. Hence, that is how this set of notes are structured. 1. Read the preamble carefully . It gives the