There are lots of question types in HKDSE English Paper 1, which is difficult to predict. So, the best way is to familiarize yourself with the types of questions and the skills you need to answer them. In the following passage, questions regarding tone and reference will be introduced!

 

Tone

Sample question:

Q : What is the tone in paragraph 2 ? / What is the writer’s tone in paragraph 1 ? / Which word best describes the writer’s tone in paragraph 6?

A : humorous / doubtful / frightened / excited 

Answering skills:

  1. Pay attention to the adjective(s) in that paragraph. See if the adjective(s) is / are positive, negative, neutral or other types, and match it / them with the most suitable tone provided.
  2. Be cautious with the sentence structure, in order to understand the thought of the writer. For instance, in ‘ …,but…’ , the main focus and stance are usually emphasized in the last part of this sentence.

 

Reference

Sample question:

Who does ‘they’ in line 58 refer to?

What does ‘it’ (line 24) refer to?

Answering skills:

  1. Pay attention to the same line and about two lines forward.
  2. Make sure your answer is grammatically correct. For example, if the answer is asked to be a noun, you may need to add ‘the fact that…’ before the sentence you locate in the passage. If the answer is required to be a noun, but it appears to be a verb in the article, you need to change it to a noun by using V-ing form.

 

Next time when you need to face these question types, the answering skills above can surely help you to get the mark! Remember to read the other related articles, so that you can both learn the examination skills and improve your English!