Practice Test 2 - Comprehension

The Comprehension Test

This test carries between 10 and 12 marks. You will be asked a series of questions on a passage of text from a government report or a school based document. These questions will test your ability to identify, for example, main points in a text, the distinction between fact and opinion, and how to make inferences and deductions.

Read this extract from the Executive summary of a 2013 report from the Department for Education and Science and answer the questions which follow.

Raising the achievement of minority ethnic pupils

All children and young people should be able to achieve their potential, whatever their ethnic or cultural background and whichever school theyattend. However, such opportunities are unequal for many of the one in eight pupils who come from a minority ethnic background.

New data from the annual pupil census confirms the picture to be complex.While Chinese and Indian children achieve better exam results than average, children from Black Caribbean and Pakistani backgrounds do significantly worse. While over half of White, Indian and Chinese pupils now achieve at least five good GCSE passes, the same is true for just three in ten Black Caribbean children and four in ten of those of Pakistani or Black African origin.

We know from analyses of performance data that socio-economic disadvantage is closely associated with low educational attainment. But poverty is not the only factor which impacts on the achievement of minority ethnic pupils. We need to look seriously at the impact of policies, practice and procedures within schools and the wider education system.

These issues are not new. They were identified in both the Rampton and Swann reports. And continuing underachievement endangers social cohesion and leaves personal and economic potential unrealised. Further action is needed if the improvement for some is to be translated into improvement for all.