Paper 1: Section A Reading (Edexcel IGCSE English Language A: Paper 1: Non-fiction Texts and Transactional Writing): Flashcards
Exam code: 4EA1
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Fill in the gap: When you summarise, you express the most important ideas from a text in ＿＿＿＿＿ form, using your own words.
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Fill in the gap: When you summarise, you express the most important ideas from a text in ＿＿＿＿＿ form, using your own words.
Answer: shortened
Fill in the gap: For Question 2, you must write in full and complete ＿＿＿＿＿, not bullet points.
Answer: sentences
Summarising
Expressing the most important facts or ideas from a text in a shorter form, using your own words. Summarising focuses on the key points, not the detail.
Paraphrasing
Rearranging a text and putting it into your own words. Question 2 combines paraphrasing with summarising, so you re-word ideas rather than copy them.
Concision
Condensing the important information and leaving out unnecessary detail. Concision keeps a summary short and focused.
Objectivity
Sticking to the facts and staying unbiased. Objectivity means reporting what the text says without adding your own opinion.
What are the four key elements of a good summary?
Objectivity, concision, structure and accuracy. Together they keep a summary focused, fair and clear.
What should you do before you start writing your Question 2 summary?
Work out exactly what you are asked to summarise, then read the specified lines and highlight only the relevant information.
How can you keep each point in a 'thoughts and feelings' summary on task?
Use the word 'think' or 'feel' in each point, so every sentence answers the question.
Why should you avoid analysing the writer's language or structure in Question 2?
Question 2 only tests summarising information, so language analysis gains no marks.
Fill in the gap: Explicit information is clear and ＿＿＿＿＿ expressed in the text.
Answer: directly
Fill in the gap: Working out an implied meaning from the evidence is also called reading between the ＿＿＿＿＿.
Answer: lines
Explicit meaning
Information that is clear and stated directly in the text. An explicit meaning needs no working out.
Implicit meaning
Something that is suggested or hinted at, but not stated directly. You infer an implicit meaning from the evidence.
Inference
A logical conclusion you reach based on the evidence in the text. A good inference is always rooted in the words on the page.
Evidence
The specific words or details from the text that support an implied meaning. Every inference needs evidence to back it up.
How do you find an implicit meaning in a text?
Make a logical inference based on the evidence, then back it up with the words that suggest it.
Why is it risky to call a yawning student 'lazy' rather than 'tired'?
The evidence (a yawn) only supports 'tired'; 'lazy' jumps to a judgement the words don't prove.
What must every implied meaning in your answer be supported by?
Evidence from the text — the exact words that suggest it.
In 'shadows quake and shudder', what is explicit and what is implicit?
Explicit: the shadows are moving. Implicit: the place is creepy and frightening.
Fill in the gap: Just naming a technique is called feature ＿＿＿＿＿, and it will not gain you marks.
Answer: spotting
Fill in the gap: A word's literal meaning is its denotation; its associations are its ＿＿＿＿＿.
Answer: connotations
Denotation
The literal, dictionary meaning of a word or phrase. The denotation of 'home' is simply the place where you live.
Connotation
The associations or implied meanings a word carries. The connotations of 'home' are warmth, safety and belonging.
Structure
How a text is organised — at whole-text, paragraph and sentence level. Structure is about the order in which ideas are revealed.
Foreshadowing
A structural technique that places subtle clues hinting at future events. Foreshadowing builds tension and prepares the reader.
Why is it not enough to 'spot' a technique like a simile?
You must explain why the writer used it and what effect it creates, not just name it.
How do you embed a quotation well when analysing language?
Give the quote context, comment on its obvious meaning, then explore its implied meaning and why the writer chose it.
At which three levels can structural features be found?
Whole-text level, paragraph level and sentence level.
What is the 'what, how, why' approach to analysing a text?
What is being written about, how it is presented, then why the writer has chosen to present it that way.
Fill in the gap: "all my characters were white and ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: blue-eyed
Fill in the gap: "how impressionable and ＿＿＿＿＿ we are in the face of a story"
Answer: vulnerable
Fill in the gap: "Their poverty was my ＿＿＿＿＿ story of them."
Answer: single
Fill in the gap: "Stories can break the ＿＿＿＿＿ of a people"
Answer: dignity
Key quote: "I wrote exactly the kinds of stories I was reading"
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Shows how the books she read shaped what she thought stories should be, ignoring her own Nigerian life — the influence of foreign books on her cultural identity.
Key quote: "girls with skin the colour of chocolate, whose kinky hair could not form ponytails"
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The warm, specific image of African girlhood marks a moment of self-recognition, when she realised people like her could exist in literature.
Key quote: "Her default position toward me, as an African, was a kind of patronizing, well-meaning pity"
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Exposes how a single story of Africa produces condescension even when it is kindly meant.
Key quote: "I had bought into the single story of Mexicans"
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Her honest self-criticism — admitting her own prejudice — makes her argument balanced and persuasive.
Key quote: "show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again"
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The repetition mimics how a single story is drummed in until it becomes accepted truth.
Key quote: "Stories matter. Many stories matter."
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The blunt short declaratives hammer home her central claim about the power of storytelling.
Fill in the gap: "I saw a thousand hungry, lean, scared and ＿＿＿＿＿ faces"
Answer: betrayed
Fill in the gap: "The search for the shocking is like the ＿＿＿＿＿ for a drug"
Answer: craving
Fill in the gap: "a famine of quiet suffering and lonely ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: death
Fill in the gap: "this smile had turned the ＿＿＿＿＿ on that tacit agreement"
Answer: tables
Key quote: "there is one I will never forget"
George Alagiah
The opening foreshadowing hints at the unforgettable smile, drawing the reader through the harrowing detail towards it.
Key quote: "you require heavier and more frequent doses the longer you're at it"
George Alagiah
The addiction simile conveys how journalists become numb and need ever more shocking images.
Key quote: "It was rotting; she was rotting."
George Alagiah
The blunt repetition collapses the woman and her wound into one image of decay.
Key quote: "a mixture of pity and revulsion"
George Alagiah
Alagiah admits an uncomfortable reaction most reporters hide, and this honesty makes the account feel truthful.
Key quote: "the feeble smile that goes with apology"
George Alagiah
The man's apologetic smile is the turning point, reversing the power between observer and observed and shaming the reporter.
Key quote: "my nameless friend, if you are still alive, I owe you one"
George Alagiah
The personal, conversational direct address shows how deeply the encounter changed his sense of his job.
Fill in the gap: "the plumes of spray from the narwhal catching the light in a ＿＿＿＿＿ play of colour"
Answer: spectral
Fill in the gap: "The evening light was turning ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: butter-gold
Fill in the gap: "one cannot afford to be ＿＿＿＿＿ in the Arctic"
Answer: sentimental
Fill in the gap: "Hunting is still an absolute ＿＿＿＿＿ in Thule."
Answer: necessity
Key quote: "I looked across the glittering kingdom in front of me"
Kari Herbert
The royal metaphor presents the landscape as precious and magical, conveying her awe at the Arctic.
Key quote: "an essential contributor to the survival of the hunters in the High Arctic"
Kari Herbert
The shift to a factual register shows the narwhal is vital food, not a luxury, balancing her emotion with fact.
Key quote: "It was like watching a vast, waterborne game with the hunters spread like a net around the sound"
Kari Herbert
The net simile captures the coordinated, encircling spread of hunters across the fjord.
Key quote: "my heart leapt for both hunter and narwhal"
Kari Herbert
Her split sympathy sets up the central dilemma at the heart of the passage.
Key quote: "And yet at the same time my heart also urged the narwhal to dive, to leave, to survive"
Kari Herbert
The triadic structure of verbs dramatises her wish for the whale to escape even as she admires the hunter.
Key quote: "This dilemma stayed with me the whole time that I was in Greenland"
Kari Herbert
Her honest reflection admits she never resolves her conflict, presenting both sides of the hunting debate fairly.
Fill in the gap: "Their last expedition ended in ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: farce
Fill in the gap: "their helicopter ＿＿＿＿＿ into the sea off Antarctica"
Answer: plunged
Fill in the gap: "it was “nothing short of a ＿＿＿＿＿”"
Answer: miracle
Fill in the gap: "The men were plucked from the icy water by a ＿＿＿＿＿ naval ship"
Answer: Chilean
Key quote: "Explorers or boys messing about?"
Steven Morris
The mocking rhetorical question in the headline sets a sceptical, disapproving tone towards the adventurers.
Key quote: "almost led to tragedy"
Steven Morris
The emotive language heightens the danger and frames the trip as recklessly risky.
Key quote: "there was resentment in some quarters that the men's adventure had cost the taxpayers"
Steven Morris
This introduces the central theme of public cost — that ordinary people paid for the pair's risky hobby.
Key quote: "boys messing about with a helicopter"
Steven Morris
Quoting the wife's own dismissive words undermines the explorers and supports the article's sceptical angle.
Key quote: "Both men are experienced adventurers."
Steven Morris
A more positive paragraph briefly acknowledges their skill, giving the article a sense of balance.
Key quote: "they'll probably have their bottoms kicked and be sent home the long way"
Steven Morris
The light, jokey humour of the closing quotation reduces the men to naughty schoolboys.
Fill in the gap: "It gives the space below the drop-off the ＿＿＿＿＿ feel of a short tunnel."
Answer: claustrophobic
Fill in the gap: "Instantly, I know this is ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: trouble
Fill in the gap: "The flaring ＿＿＿＿＿ throws me into a panic."
Answer: agony
Fill in the gap: "I yank my arm three times in a ＿＿＿＿＿ attempt to pull it out."
Answer: naive
Key quote: "I kick at the boulder to test how stuck it is"
Aron Ralston
The careful, methodical technical detail makes the sudden disaster more shocking.
Key quote: "the backlit chockstone falling toward my head consumes the sky"
Aron Ralston
The imagery of the rock blotting out the sky conveys how overwhelming and unavoidable the fall is.
Key quote: "The next three seconds play out at a tenth of their normal speed."
Aron Ralston
Slowing time — a moment of time dilation — lets Ralston detail each phase of the crush, intensifying the horror.
Key quote: "the boulder then crushes my right hand and ensnares my right arm at the wrist"
Aron Ralston
The present tense and precise verbs put the reader inside the moment of injury.
Key quote: "Good God, my hand."
Aron Ralston
The abrupt short sentence captures the raw flash of pain and disbelief.
Key quote: "while my body's chemicals are raging at full flood, is the best chance I'll have to free myself with brute force"
Aron Ralston
Even in agony he reasons coldly about adrenaline, showing his calculating survival instinct.
Fill in the gap: "We are the ＿＿＿＿＿, we are the designers."
Answer: architects
Fill in the gap: "the past is a different kind of ＿＿＿＿＿."
Answer: country
Fill in the gap: "In many ways being dyslexic is a ＿＿＿＿＿ way to be."
Answer: natural
Fill in the gap: "Dyslexia is not a measure of ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: intelligence
Key quote: "As a child I suffered, but learned to turn dyslexia to my advantage"
Benjamin Zephaniah
Zephaniah opens by reframing a hardship as a strength, setting the article's positive, empowering tone.
Key quote: "there was no compassion, no understanding and no humanity"
Benjamin Zephaniah
The triple negative structure hammers home how the old school system failed dyslexic children.
Key quote: "Shut up, stupid boy."
Benjamin Zephaniah
The direct speech, or dialogue, makes the teacher's cruelty vivid and lets readers hear the contempt he faced.
Key quote: "If you look at the statistics, I should be in prison"
Benjamin Zephaniah
He uses statistics and his own background to expose how easily society could have written him off.
Key quote: "I just had self-belief."
Benjamin Zephaniah
The short, blunt sentence emphasises that inner resilience was what saved him.
Key quote: "your 'creativity muscle' gets bigger"
Benjamin Zephaniah
The muscle metaphor turns dyslexia into something that can be trained and strengthened, encouraging young readers.
Fill in the gap: "we could join in the 'Wacky ＿＿＿＿＿'"
Answer: Races
Fill in the gap: "This was Formula One without ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: rules
Fill in the gap: "It was survival of the ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: fittest
Fill in the gap: "And then the ＿＿＿＿＿ began."
Answer: trouble
Key quote: "The two lads who had never been interested in this Karachi sport were suddenly fired up with enthusiasm"
Emma Levine
Levine shows how the chase ignites the boys' energy, building the passage's mounting excitement.
Key quote: "We waited for eternity on the brow of the hill"
Emma Levine
The hyperbole conveys her impatience and contrasts comically with the chaos that follows.
Key quote: "horns tooting, bells ringing"
Emma Levine
Listing the sound imagery immerses the reader in the overwhelming sensory chaos of the race.
Key quote: "a complete flouting of every type of traffic rule and common sense"
Emma Levine
Levine emphasises the danger and chaos, heightening the sense of risk and lawless thrill.
Key quote: "Voices were raised, fists were out and tempers rising."
Emma Levine
The escalating list captures how quickly the celebratory mood turns to conflict.
Key quote: "I don't even have my licence yet because I'm underage!"
Emma Levine
The driver's confession delivers a comic but alarming twist, underlining the recklessness in hindsight.
Fill in the gap: "Bhutan is all and only ＿＿＿＿＿."
Answer: mountains
Fill in the gap: "on the other side of mountains are ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: mountains
Fill in the gap: "the winter air is thin and dry and very ＿＿＿＿＿."
Answer: cold
Fill in the gap: "Land of the Thunder ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: Dragon
Key quote: "Mountains all around, climbing up to peaks, rolling into valleys, again and again."
Jamie Zeppa
The repetition and dynamic verbs make the mountains feel endless and alive, establishing the dramatic setting.
Key quote: "It is easier to picture a giant child gathering earth in great armfuls"
Jamie Zeppa
The childlike imagery makes the vast geology imaginable and conveys her wonder at the land.
Key quote: "I am exhausted, but I cannot sleep."
Jamie Zeppa
The short, contrasting clauses convey her restless excitement on her first night in a new country.
Key quote: "these signs of cultural infiltration are few, but they are startling"
Jamie Zeppa
Zeppa notes how the occasional Western object stands out sharply against Bhutan's cultural distinctiveness.
Key quote: "The Bhutanese are a very handsome people"
Jamie Zeppa
Her direct admiration of the people reflects the respectful, admiring tone of the travel writing.
Key quote: "I am full of admiration for this small country that has managed to look after itself so well."
Jamie Zeppa
The closing reflection sums up her respect for Bhutan's independence and self-preservation.
Fill in the gap: "everything is brilliance and ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: fury
Fill in the gap: "She is a conjuring ＿＿＿＿＿."
Answer: trick
Fill in the gap: "It was the wrong ＿＿＿＿＿."
Answer: bird
Fill in the gap: "a sort of madwoman in the ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: attack
Key quote: "the box shook as if someone had punched it, hard, from within"
Helen Macdonald
The violent simile builds tension and hints at the hawk's raw, contained power before it appears.
Key quote: "The air turned syrupy, slow, flecked with dust."
Helen Macdonald
The slowed, sensory imagery stretches the dramatic moment just before the hawk emerges.
Key quote: "an enormous, enormous hawk"
Helen Macdonald
The repetition conveys her overwhelmed astonishment at the bird's size and presence.
Key quote: "My heart jumps sideways."
Helen Macdonald
The startling present-tense image captures her instant, visceral shock at meeting the hawk.
Key quote: "She is a conjuring trick. A reptile. A fallen angel."
Helen Macdonald
The rapid listing of contrasting images shows the hawk as something otherworldly and impossible to define.
Key quote: "instead of twittering, she wailed"
Helen Macdonald
The shift in sound marks the second hawk as wilder and more disturbing, deepening the drama.
Fill in the gap: "the thought of leaving school throbbed at the back of my mind like a persistent ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: toothache
Fill in the gap: "Full of ＿＿＿＿＿, I ran downstairs as in a nightmare"
Answer: foreboding
Fill in the gap: "I had been summoned by Father to enter the Holy of ＿＿＿＿＿"
Answer: Holies
Fill in the gap: "I only had to stretch out my hand to reach the ＿＿＿＿＿."
Answer: stars
Key quote: "perhaps the end of school forever"
Adeline Yen Mah
The ominous phrase establishes her fear and uncertainty about her future, an early note of anxiety.
Key quote: "my heart was full of dread and I wondered what I had done wrong"
Adeline Yen Mah
Her assumption that she is in trouble reveals her fear of her father, filling a summons home with dread, not joy.
Key quote: "Is this a giant ruse on his part to trick me?"
Adeline Yen Mah
The rhetorical question shows she cannot trust her father's kindness, exposing their damaged relationship.
Key quote: "For once, he was proud of me."
Adeline Yen Mah
The simple statement, with 'For once', reveals how rare and precious her father's approval is to her.
Key quote: "Going to England is like entering heaven."
Adeline Yen Mah
The simile conveys the overwhelming hope she invests in escaping to study abroad.
Key quote: "'Writer!' he scoffed. 'You are going to starve!'"
Adeline Yen Mah
Her father's scornful dialogue crushes her ambition, showing his controlling dismissal of her dreams.
Fill in the gap: Question 5 asks you to compare how the writers present their ideas, perspectives and ＿＿＿＿＿.
Answer: information
Fill in the gap: A writer's ＿＿＿＿＿ is what they think about something.
Answer: perspective
Comparing
Identifying areas where two texts share common ground. Comparing looks for similarities between the writers.
Contrasting
Pointing out the differences between two texts. Contrasting shows where the writers' ideas diverge.
Perspective
What a writer thinks about a subject, and the unique way they present it. Comparing perspectives is the heart of Question 5.
Methods
The language and structural choices a writer uses to convey their perspective. You compare writers' methods, not just their ideas.
What three things must a top Question 5 answer include?
Understanding of both texts' ideas, a comparison of the writers' perspectives, and short quotations showing each writer's methods.
Name three connectives that signal a contrast.
However, whereas, on the other hand.
Why is it not enough just to list similarities and differences?
You must analyse why they matter and what they reveal about the writers' intentions.
What should you annotate in the margins before writing your Question 5 answer?
Each writer's feelings and perspective on the focus of the question.
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