Get That Grade

GET THAT GRADE!
Unit 10

» Sitting The Exam

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Sitting The Exam
Exercise 10

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If you have followed the full Get That Grade! course through to here you should be very well prepared for your exam. You deserve to have a last exercise which is not too demanding but which:

	(a)	gives you some useful practice of techniques that have not been concentrated upon so far in this course
	(b)	revises a few facts and ideas
	(c)	gives some useful exam tips which may not have been covered elsewhere

Here is a page from an examination paper:

1	Look at the graph below (click to enlarge). Investment by Japan in the European Union (EU)
	(i)	In 1998, Japan invested £7000 million in the EU. Complete the graph to show this.	(1)
	(ii)	What was the total sum invested in the EU, by Japan, between 1993 and 1998?	(1)
	(iii)	Why does Japan want to invest in the EU? ........................................................................................... .......................................................................................... .......................................................................................... .......................................................................................... .......................................................................................... ..........................................................................................	(3)

There were 5 marks available on this page. Unfortunately a significant proportion of the candidates for this exam lost a mark because they just did not see one of the questions, so they missed it out altogether. It happened to be one of the easiest questions on this paper, so the candidates who missed it threw away an almost certain mark. For some, that mark may well have made the difference between a D grade and a C grade.

It seems like madness, doesn’t it? And I am sure that you are sitting there thinking ‘It would never be me. I wouldn’t be so stupid. Only other people would do that’. But are you sure?

An exam is a very stressful situation! Candidates can panic. They get in a hurry. They start looking ahead for the big, important questions. They do not always read every word. Some even start, subconsciously, to look just for the ‘runners’, as lines for writing on are sometimes called. The little ‘skills’ questions can get missed out because they do not have these runners.

It may even be the most conscientious candidates who are most likely to panic in an exam. The ones who have revised hardest (you? I hope so!) are the ones who care most and who may get most tense and so make silly mistakes.

Take particular care to look for graph and map completion questions. These are the ones that tend to be hidden away. These are the ones that are missed most often.

24 Hours Before The Exam

1 You should have revised thoroughly in the months leading up to the exam. So don’t revise new topics on the night before. Do consolidation work, revisiting your most important topics, but new work at this stage often leads to confusion.

2 Relax before you go to bed. Watch TV; ring your friend; go outside and kick a ball about; do whatever helps to clear your mind.

3 Go to bed in reasonable time. Not too early, or you may lie awake worrying; not too late or you will not feel fresh on the day of the exam.

4 Get up sensibly. Again – try to keep in a familiar routine.

5 Eat breakfast as usual. You ought to be in a routine of eating enough to keep you alert, but not so much that you feel lumpy and heavy.

6 Take a drink or sweets into the exam if you think that will help. High energy sports drinks are very useful for some people. They may actually give an energy boost, or it may just be psychological – but if it works for you, do it.

7 Dress comfortably. Don’t break your school’s uniform code. The last thing that you need as you go into the exam is a confrontation with your year head!

8 Make sure that you are equipped and that your equipment is in working order. For a geography exam the minimum you need is:

two good pens
two sharp pencils
a rubber
a ruler
at least four coloured pencils (or felt tips, but they may blot on exam paper)
a calculator (probably won’t be needed – but just in case)
a watch (to make sure you get the timing right)

9 Take deep breaths to help you relax just before you go in, and just before you open the paper.

10 Read the rubric on the front page and at the top of each page. You ought to be familiar with it from your mocks and practice papers, but it just might have changed. Don’t do anything careless at this stage, especially if there is a choice of questions on the paper.

So, have you done the question at the start of this unit that started all the discussion?

You will have noticed that questions with map or graph skills are almost always followed by questions needing written answers. In these you are expected to use the information provided on the graph. In such questions make sure that you read the graph carefully and thoroughly.

Sometimes it is a very small, seemingly simple point in the data which provides the key to getting the answer correct. You may find it useful to mark or highlight key points on the graph.

All through your time in school you have been taught not to write on or mark books etc., even in mock exams you may have been told not to mark the question paper. Obviously the teachers cannot waste money and resources and may well want to use the paper again. However, in the exam it is YOUR paper. You should do what you need to do with the paper. If it helps you to highlight key words in questions or key points on the graphs Just Do It. Also if you need to work out any little sums on the paper, show your working. Even if you get the final answer wrong you may get marks for correct working.

Study the table below which shows some information about agriculture in certain countries.

Country	% of population working in agriculture	% of national wealth from agriculture	Kg of fertiliser used per hectare	People per tractor	Major farming type
Bangladesh	82	48	26	20580
Canada	4	3	32	38
The United Kingdom	2	2	140	96

Use the information from the table to answer these questions.

(i)

In which country does the highest proportion of the national wealth come from agriculture?
.......................................................................................

(1)

(ii)

In which country does farming seem to be most mechanised?
.......................................................................................

(1)

(iii)

Add the following terms to the table to complete the final column.

INTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE

INTENSIVE COMMERCIAL

EXTENSIVE COMMERCIAL

(2)

(iv)

Using data from the table draw a graph below to show the amount of fertiliser used per hectare in each country.

(4)

3	By the year 2000 the rural area around Kettering will need new houses for the 2500 ‘newcomers’. This is a problem for the District Council. (a) Study the table below A comparison between ‘newcomers’ and ‘villagers’ (people in existing villages)
	(i)	How does the average household size of ‘newcomers’ compare with that of ‘villagers’? ....................................................................................... ....................................................................................... .......................................................................................	(1)
	(ii)	Calculate the number of houses needed for 2500 ‘newcomers’. .......................................................................................	(1)
	(iii)	Study the population structure graphs. Tick the statements that are correct. ‘There are more old people in the existing villages, compared with the newcomers.’ ‘There are many more children amongst newcomers than in the villages.’ ‘Most newcomers are aged between 31 and 50.’ ‘There are more males than females amongst the villagers.’	(2)
	(iv)	The table shows that ‘newcomers’ and ‘villagers’ also have different levels of car and house ownership (tenure). What is the difference between ‘newcomers’ and ‘villagers’ in levels of car and house ownership? Car ownership................................................................. House ownership............................................................. .........................................................................................	(2)
	(v)	What is meant by the term ‘socio-economic groups’? ......................................................................................... .........................................................................................	(1)
	(vi)	How do socio-economic groups explain the differences in car and house ownership? ......................................................................................... .........................................................................................	(2)