The ongoing Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations in Kerala have been a smooth affair for candidates so far since it commenced last week with the First Language (Malayalam) Part 1 paper. The English paper, the second in the series, too was found fairly easy by students as they claimed soon after taking it on Monday. The students are upbeat as the second test on the trot didn't trouble them.
In the English paper sufficient number of choices were given for the questions from all the 10 prose lessons, except one.
The answers to three of the questions from 1 to 5 could be found directly from the passage. Two of the questions from 6 to 9 were for finding poetic devices. The majority of the students would have found the 10th question on ‘appreciation’ easy. Four of the questions from up to 15 from the ‘unfamiliar passage’ section were also easy to answer.
Only the 8th question may have caused some confusion. The question on preparing the write-up was asked in a different manner from the model examination, but a mistake that got into the hints baffled examinees.
Since the question for writing the ‘narrative’ came from the lesson Cast Away, unlike the questions usually asked in the ‘narrative’ section, at least some students may have found it difficult.
The questions for 5 marks were on expected lines. The questions for 6 marks were also in the usual pattern. The questions from 26 to 30 were so easy that the answers could be picked directly from the question paper. Questions on reported speech that usually cause problems for those who are weak in English were not that tough. Questions on phrasal verbs which are usually asked were also there this time too.
Editing task may have troubled many. None of the four questions were easy to answer. However, those students who had read the text several times may have been able to find the answers quickly. The questions on ‘filling in conversation’ also followed the usual pattern.
Since the questions from the grammar part were all in the usual pattern, it was a relief to those who had come prepared. The 35th question could be scored by the majority of students. However, the 36th question which was asked in the same pattern as in the model examination may have caused confusion.