Department: Education
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
17. Remember to put units in your answers if they are needed, such as km, ms2 etc 18. Work through past year examination papers. Answering these questions will help you to become familiar with what examiners look for. You will develop abilities to perform better under exam conditions. 19. Use the SSIP materials with past examination questions. Work through questions on your own then do this with a friend. Mark each others work, using the answers provided. Ask your teacher for help. 20. Look at the number of marks allocated to a question. Often a 4 mark question needs 4 points or steps. A 4 mark comprehension question may require you to agree or disagree and to explain 3 or 4 points. 21. Once you are told you can begin the exam, read quickly through the entire paper. This may assist you to choose the easy questions. Do them first and then tackle the more difficult ones later. 22. For comprehension questions, read through the passage once. Then read the questions. Then read the passage again. As you read through it the second time you will see some of the answers. 23. Dont panic if you cant remember how to answer a question, move onto the next question. Often the answer will come a bit later, when you have relaxed a bit. 24. Try to avoid repetition of phrases. Dont waste time writing things like Another point / idea / function is or In addition or Furthermore Avoid long and flowery introductions. 25. Show each step when solving maths problems. This helps avoid making mistakes. It shows that you know what you are doing. Even if the final answer is wrong, you can get marks for correct workings. 26. There are no trick questions.You will not be given irrelevant information. Ensure that you use all the given information in answering questions in subjects like maths, geography, sciences and accounting. 27. You can check your answers to problems in maths by substituting simple numbers like 2 or 3 for x and y in your answers. If your solution is correct, the expressions should be true. 28. 3 rules for learning to do calculation problems in accounting, science and maths: Practice, Practice, Practice. It gets your mind used to using problem solving techniques, even though you are not aware of it. 29. If you run out of time, answer in point form instead of complete sentences. Write down anything you know that is related to the question. 30. Plan essays by writing down the main ideas and key words. Then decide on the best order to write them in. Once you just start writing, it is difficult to insert ideas that come to you later on. 31. If you finish with time to spare, check your work. Check high mark questions first. Then check medium mark questions and lastly check low mark questions. 32. Resolve expressions in algebra in this order: Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction PEMDAS for short.