A Guide for Students Writing Diploma Exams
Completion requirements
These are past submissions that received a score of excellence.
Requirements of Part B: Reading
Multiple-Choice Questions
Questions for each reading relate to content, context, the writer’s craft, and the characteristic features of a genre. For example, the set of questions on a poem will acknowledge the poetic aspects of that poem through the use of carefully chosen quotations that reflect effective patterns of sound, image, and meaning. Each set of multiple-choice questions is designed to progress
through the reading selection in a sequential and helpful way. Therefore, answer the questions in the order in which they appear within each set of questions.
The first questions in a set will usually address the beginning of the reading and should alert you to important ideas or details that will help you to understand the whole text. For example, these questions could ask about a character’s emotions or the impact of the setting or atmosphere.
The middle questions within a set address specific elements of the selection. For example, there could be questions regarding word meanings, figures of speech, the writer’s tone, the effect of the writer’s choices on the reader’s impression, or details about characters (motivation, behaviour, relationships, attitudes, traits, or conflicts).
The last questions in a set often require you to consider the reading selection as a whole. For example, they could be about the main idea, context, theme, controlling idea, writer’s purpose, or intended audience.
Linked questions require you to consider specific elements of various reading selections, to consider several reading selections thematically, or to manage ideas and information from different reading selections collectively. For example, questions might ask you to focus on purpose and presentation, to identify similar or contradictory ideas, to assess sources for bias, or to assess the appropriateness of forming generalizations or inquiry questions. With multiple texts in combination or in sequence, you must maintain a critical awareness as you read.
Evaluation questions have words in boldface type, such as best, most strongly, or most clearly. Boldface type is used within a question to emphasize what you must do to select an answer, such as choosing the best possible answer from the alternatives or choosing the one answer that stands out as an exception to the others. All of the alternatives (A, B, C, and D) may
be, to some degree, correct. However, only one of the alternatives is the best response to the question, given the specific context of the reading selection and the writer’s purpose. Always return to the text(s) to consider the specific details in context before you answer an evaluation question.
through the reading selection in a sequential and helpful way. Therefore, answer the questions in the order in which they appear within each set of questions.
The first questions in a set will usually address the beginning of the reading and should alert you to important ideas or details that will help you to understand the whole text. For example, these questions could ask about a character’s emotions or the impact of the setting or atmosphere.
The middle questions within a set address specific elements of the selection. For example, there could be questions regarding word meanings, figures of speech, the writer’s tone, the effect of the writer’s choices on the reader’s impression, or details about characters (motivation, behaviour, relationships, attitudes, traits, or conflicts).
The last questions in a set often require you to consider the reading selection as a whole. For example, they could be about the main idea, context, theme, controlling idea, writer’s purpose, or intended audience.
Linked questions require you to consider specific elements of various reading selections, to consider several reading selections thematically, or to manage ideas and information from different reading selections collectively. For example, questions might ask you to focus on purpose and presentation, to identify similar or contradictory ideas, to assess sources for bias, or to assess the appropriateness of forming generalizations or inquiry questions. With multiple texts in combination or in sequence, you must maintain a critical awareness as you read.
Evaluation questions have words in boldface type, such as best, most strongly, or most clearly. Boldface type is used within a question to emphasize what you must do to select an answer, such as choosing the best possible answer from the alternatives or choosing the one answer that stands out as an exception to the others. All of the alternatives (A, B, C, and D) may
be, to some degree, correct. However, only one of the alternatives is the best response to the question, given the specific context of the reading selection and the writer’s purpose. Always return to the text(s) to consider the specific details in context before you answer an evaluation question.