Reading comprehension: Introduction

CXC English A: Reading comprehension

Reading comprehension is a major area of the CXC English A exam.

CXC English A paper 1

Your skill in reading comprehension is tested in Paper 1 of the English A exam when you are given four (4) or five (5) written passages and you have to answer forty (40) multiple choice questions on the passages.

These forty (40) multiple choice, reading comprehension questions make up 16% of your final exam mark.

CXC English A paper 2

Your skill in reading comprehension is tested again in paper 2 of the English A exam. In section 2 of the paper you must answer 2 compulsory questions. Each of these questions is made up of one written passage and 7-8 questions on the passage.

You must answer all the questions on each passage to get full marks. These two questions account for 12% of your final exam mark.

Finally, summary writing also requires the active use of reading comprension skills. We consider it impossible to write a good summary if you are not good at reading comprehension.

The summary question on the CXC English A exam is complusory and worth 17% of your final exam mark.

In the following pages of this wiki book, you will find resources to help you develop your reading comprehension skills.