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Table of Contents ACING PAPER 1: COMMENT AND APPRECIATION When faced with the task of tackling an unseen passage, particularly in the exam, some candidates get gripped by terror and end up panicking and doing the unthinkable. Yet there is no need to allow your fears to rule you to the extent of ruining your academic success. First Things First Assuming you have made a decision on which question(s) to tackle, what then should be the first thing to do? Undoubtedly, careful close reading. You want to establish what the writer is communicating to the readers (you in particular) at the same time taking note of the means which have been employed to convey those thoughts. Remember, the subject and the means are not far from each other; they work together to create impressions on the reader. So, as you read along, you should identify interesting points about both and annotate the text accordingly.  Plan Having identified the main points in relation to the question, ...

WHY CAN'T I UNDERSTAND SPOKEN ENGLISH? PART 2 To be able to understand spoken English, it is important for you to learn how competent English speakers pronounce words.  In why can't I hear English Part 1 , I discussed briefly the inconsistency of English pronunciation, based on the fact that English is not a phonetic language. In this article, I will discus more examples of letters and letter combinations that are pronounced differently in different words.  More often than not, learners of English get confused when they hear a  different  sound than they expected to hear. The combination th  occurs in several words in English language. However, the pronunciation of this letter combination is not uniform. For example, the first parts [th]of the words thing and this do not sound the same. The sounds represented by the combination th in the word thing and the word this  appear differently on the IPA chart. These sounds, although distinct units, hav...

Have you ever wondered why, no matter how hard you try, you always find yourself failing to understand native English speakers, or competent non-native English speakers? You may have tried to raise or to reduce the volume on your television when you are watching the latest movie your friends are talking about , but still, you just can't understand what the actors are saying. Sometimes you even try to incline your ear in a certain way only to get a disappointing outcome . Well, listening to a recorded speech might be regarded less frustrating than a face to face conversation. Asking a speaker to repeat what they have said over and over again isn't a thing many people are comfortable with. However, in most cases, competent speakers would be glad to make themselves understood and they will try their best to even rephrase their sentences to make sure the other person gets the message. The problem of failure to understand fluent English is very common and some...

Dangarembga's critical stance towards religion is evident in the text She No Longer Weeps not only through the use of aptronyms but also through overtones that reflect religious ideologies. Rather than cherrypicking issues, Dangarembga's holistic analysis of the society brings out the subtle dimensions that converge at some point and disenfranchise women.  Christianity (the church) is portrayed as an extended arm of misogyny. It is ironic that the church seem to be violating one of the fundamental principles of Christianity. When expected to embrace the afflicted, it does the opposite. Mathrah's father, the character who predominantly represents the church is only concerned about how the society will view him. When he says, "How can I preach when my daughter behaves like this?" He is proving that he is a narcissist and a selfish person. His ego blinds him and as such, he fails to live up to the ideals of Christianity.  The church is also seen as a driver of ...

As was pointed out in How to Write a Summary Part 1 ,    the summary question tests candidates on whether they have understood the passage or not. Summarising information indicates that the reader has a clear understanding of the key points raised by the writer. Candidates should take note of the following aspects as they write summaries. Distractors are a major stumbling block when it comes to identify relevant points. Distractors are pieces of information which have the potential to mislead the reader/candidate into thinking that they also have to be included in the summary. Candidates who fail to discern properly end up including such information resulting in scoring low marks or failing. To avoid this mistake, candidates should analyse the summary question carefully before they start compiling their points. Question analysis involves identifying key words and content words. Key words are instructional words or phrases. These words direct the candidate as to what ex...

The summary question tests candidates' ability to select relevant information from the passage at the same time presenting it concisely and precisely within the stipulated word limit.  In this part, I will focus on question analysis, key words, content words and responding to all the aspects of the question. It is very important for the candidates to carefully analyse the summary question in order to unpack all its demands. More often than not, candidates perform badly on this question as a result of failure to understand the demands of the question. Understanding the question entails several aspects including identifying the material to be summarised. The summary question always specifies the parameters of the material to be summarised and candidates must always stick to it otherwise they may spend precious time working on material which is irrelevant thus risking losing all the marks allocated for this question. Pay attention to the instruction, "...

Some of the characters in The Government Inspector engage in trivial micro quarrels. The significance of such interactions lies in the thematisation of negligence of duty and inefficiency of the government officials. In addition, these petty squabbles mirror the real life problems afflicting the residents of the town. Anna and Marya disagree on matters pertaining to apparel and physical appearance. Their different tastes and opinions on aesthetic issues reflect not only the disharmony between the two of them but also the conflict that exists between government officials or servants with the general public, especially the shop owners. Justice is non-existent in this town as the judge is involved in bribery and abdication. Instead of executing his duty as a judge, Lyapkin-Tyapkin pursues hunting. This creates dissatisfaction among the residents of the town as some cases are left unsettled. The sergeant's widow who is flogged unjustly illustrates the gross  misapplication  of law...