The document provides a series of quiz questions testing iGCSE exam skills. The questions cover choosing the right words from passages, making reasonable inferences from pictures, defining vocabulary words, identifying facts about freediving, and matching conventions to genres. The quiz aims to prepare students for the range of question types they may encounter on iGCSE exams.

1. iGCSE Skills Preparation
Quiz
How ready are you?

2. Round One:
Can you choose the right words?
He had set off at seven a.m., and by eleven had
covered half the distance. Seated on a fallen tree,
he unmittened his right hand, reached inside his
coat and fished out a biscuit. He had barely
chewed the first mouthful when his numbing
fingers warned him to put his mitten on again.
This he did, surprised at the bitter swiftness with
which the frost had bitten. He could feel himself
beginning to chill, so he leaped to his feet and ran
briskly up the trail. This made him warm again, but
the moisture he exhaled crusted his lips with ice
crystals and formed a miniature glacier on his chin.
Now and again sensation abandoned his face, and
he rubbed it till it burned with the returning blood.
You have two paragraphs below... Can you pick out the phrases the exam board is expecting you to
comment on?
Bonus Mark: can you identify the focus of the descriptions?
It is impossible to build a fire wearing heavy
Alaskan mittens, so Tom bared his hands,
gathered a number of twigs, and knelt down
to kindle his nest of fire. From a pocket he
drew out his matches and a strip of thin
birch bark. He separated one match from
the bunch and scratched it on his trousers.
The bark burst into bright flame, which he
carefully fed with the smallest twigs,
cherishing it with the utmost care, gently
nurturing it. His feet had started to grow
numb, but the fire, although a very young
one, was now alive.
He had set off at seven a.m., and by eleven had
covered half the distance. Seated on a fallen tree,
he unmittened his right hand, reached inside his
coat and fished out a biscuit. He had barely
chewed the first mouthful when his numbing
fingers warned him to put his mitten on again.
This he did, surprised at the bitter swiftness with
which the frost had bitten. He could feel himself
beginning to chill, so he leaped to his feet and ran
briskly up the trail. This made him warm again, but
the moisture he exhaled crusted his lips with ice
crystals and formed a miniature glacier on his
chin. Now and again sensation abandoned his
face, and he rubbed it till it burned with the
returning blood.
It is impossible to build a fire wearing heavy
Alaskan mittens, so Tom bared his hands,
gathered a number of twigs, and knelt down
to kindle his nest of fire. From a pocket he
drew out his matches and a strip of thin
birch bark. He separated one match from
the bunch and scratched it on his trousers.
The bark burst into bright flame, which he
carefully fed with the smallest twigs,
cherishing it with the utmost care, gently
nurturing it. His feet had started to grow
numb, but the fire, although a very young
one, was now alive.

3. Round Two:
Reasonable inference
You are going to see four pictures. As a
group, decide on two reasonable inferences
for each one, based on what you see.

8. Round Three:
What’s it mean again?
All of these words have appeared on the iGCSE papers over the last year. Without a dictionary, can
you work out what they mean…
Bonus Mark: can you identify a least one synonym for each?
sturdy
formidable
grievous
counteracted.
pitifullypenetrate
perpendicularstunted
transparentranged (over)

9. Round Four:
Selecting the right facts
Freediving pushes the human body to
extremes and there is no scuba equipment
involved. The water pressure gets more
intense the deeper one goes, compressing
lungs to the size of lemons. ‘It feels as
though you have an elephant sitting on your
chest,’ says Tanya. The heart slows to 15
beats per minute. During ascent the lungs
expand again, and this rapid change can
bring on a blackout. How deep humans can
dive and survive is still a mystery to doctors
and scientists, as the limits keep being
pushed further. She explains that it is not
only a physical achievement but a mental
one. ‘The diver learns a lot about him or
herself on that long, dark dive, and I think
that’s where the real achievement lies, in
that degree of selfdiscovery. Once you
conquer something you thought was
impossible, it changes your life.’
What might attract someone
to free diving?
Freediving pushes the human body to
extremes and there is no scuba equipment
involved. The water pressure gets more
intense the deeper one goes, compressing
lungs to the size of lemons. ‘It feels as
though you have an elephant sitting on your
chest,’ says Tanya. The heart slows to 15
beats per minute. During ascent the lungs
expand again, and this rapid change can
bring on a blackout. How deep humans can
dive and survive is still a mystery to doctors
and scientists, as the limits keep being
pushed further. She explains that it is not
only a physical achievement but a mental
one. ‘The diver learns a lot about him or
herself on that long, dark dive, and I think
that’s where the real achievement lies, in
that degree of self discovery. Once you
conquer something you thought was
impossible, it changes your life.’

10. Round Five:
Convention Chaos
Can you identify which genre matches which convention… and yes there’s one for each!
Opening
paragraph
summing up
WWWWW and
contains
interviews
Writer appears
to be talking to
or confiding in
someone,
focusing on
feelings and
specific
moments
Direct address
to someone,
often someone
well known to
the writer and
needs to
include the
subject in the
text.
Needs a strong
sense of voice
and speck
directly to
audience,
grabbing their
attention early
on.

11. Round Six:
Only the essentials…
Ok, so your last
challenge is a simple
one.
Summarise the key
things to remember for
each question in no
more than 30 words for
each question.
You should link your
ideas together, and
include enough
information to achieve
a level 2 at a minimum.