Diploma Exam Preparation-Reading Comprehension


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Part B: Reading is the second and final part of your diploma exam.

  • Part B is worth 50% of your total diploma exam mark.

  • It is made up of 70 multiple choice questions.

  • It is designed to be completed in 3 hours, but you may have up to double that amount of time.

  • Its purpose is to assess your critical reading and thinking skills, including your understanding of:
    • vocabulary (the meaning of words and how they are used in a text)
    • tone (the text creatorโ€™s attitude towards the topic)
    • literary and rhetorical devices (tools text creators use to create a desired effect in their work)
    • the human experience (as explored by the texts provided)

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What to Expect:


  • You will receive two booklets on the exam.
    • Your Readings booklet includes the texts about which you will answer questions.  NOTE:  These WILL NOT be texts you studied in your English 30-2 course. 
    • The Questions booklet contains all the questions you need to answer. You will use the answer sheet provided to record your answers.

  • You will answer 70 multiple choice questions, based on your reading of texts provided to you in the exam.

  • There will be a variety of text types on your exam including any of the following: excerpts from longer texts such

The Rules:

 
  • Bring a government-issued picture ID, pencils, a good eraser, and a few highlighters with you to the exam.

  • You may not use a dictionary and thesaurus for the Reading portion of the exam (though you are allowed these on the Written portion).

  • The texts and the questions are written in a particular order to help you through the exam.  Therefore, you should complete the questions in the order they appear in the exam.

  • Read each text entirely before answering the questions.

This exam is multiple CHOICE, not multiple GUESS. CHOICE means you think carefully about the questions and select the correct answer.  You can prepare to write this exam.  This tutorial contains strategies to help you do so.