Paper 2 Skills: Vocabulary in Context (Cambridge (CIE) AS English General Paper): Revision Note

Paper 2 summary

Paper 2 of your CIE AS English General Paper exam is the comprehension paper:

• 1 hour 45 minutes

• 50 marks

• 2 sections each worth 25 marks

• 50% of the AS level

• Source materials will be provided in a separate insert booklet:

  • The materials may come from reports, reviews, essays, blogs, scripts, speeches and descriptions, and may include visual data such as diagrams or graphs

  • The materials will be up to 900 words in length

Below we break down the skills required to demonstrate your ability to understand vocabulary in context in the Paper 2 exam, along with the types of questions that assess these skills.

Synonyms

Synonyms are words or phrases that mean exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase.

For example, “tiny” is a synonym of “small”, and “excellent” is a synonym of “fantastic”. 

Developing your knowledge of synonyms can help you expand your vocabulary and your use of more sophisticated words and phrases. This can be a useful life skill, as instead of applying for a “job”, you can be applying for a “position”, or instead of saying “sorry” you could be offering an “apology”.

In the exam, you may be asked to identify a word or phrase in a text that means the same as something else, or state the exact meaning of a word or phrase. However, it is important that any synonym you choose means the same in context as the original word or phrase. 

For example, if we take the word “dying”. The literal meaning of this word is something that is reaching the end of its life. But in the exam, you might be asked to explain what the writer means by the word “dying” in a sentence such as:

On the other side, there was a streetlamp with a dying bulb.

Here, the examiner would be looking for an explanation of the word “dying” appropriate to the context in which it has been used. So, in this case, the bulb is becoming fainter and dimmer, so the appropriate synonyms would be “fading” or “dimming”.

This is why it is always important to consider the context in which a word or phrase has been used in order to explain it.

Exam questions: vocabulary in context

These questions test your ability to locate a word or phrase that means the same as another word or phrase, or to state the exact meaning of a word or phrase in context.

Examples:

These questions focus on the precise selection of words or phrases in the correct context.

In addition, some questions require explanation of phrases in your own words as far as possible. You may also be asked to use a word or phrase in a sentence of your own to demonstrate that you understand their meaning in context.

To answer this kind of question, it is important that you consider the context in which the words or phrases have been used, in order to give the correct meaning.