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how to manage time in CEM exam

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 12:09 pm
by happymommy2
My DS is doing the CEM tests. He is ok with Maths to finish the questions within time. But, with English, he is not able to finish all the questions as there are lots of questions to finish in a short time. Especially with comprehension, they are giving 6 min with 12 to 15 questions. He is just able to do 3 to 4 questions. Is there any technique to achieve a good score in CEM tests?

Re: how to manage time in CEM exam

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2020 2:50 pm
by Deb70
When my child sat the CEM he was advised not to read the passage first and just start the questions. However, what he ended up doing was skim reading it for 1 minute, then starting the questions. I think the point of doing it that way is to avoid spending too long reading it because they need to keep referring back to it anyway. Also, the questions were in order (not sure if they still will be) so question 1 was about something near the start of the passage, question 2 about something a bit further on and so forth. So they could then mark the part that went with question 1 and keep doing that which helped them remember where they were and not waste time searching for things.

Re: how to manage time in CEM exam

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2020 9:29 am
by choceyes
I get my DD to read the comprehension passage thoroughly and underline the important information and then work through the questions. It seems to work for her. If she skim reads it I feel that she doesn't get a feel for what the passage is about. It seems to work for her as she gets good results in the given time. I think different techniques work for different children. DD is a fast reader anyway, so even with a thorough reading she doesn't take that long to read the passage.

Re: how to manage time in CEM exam

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 9:21 am
by Mandy21
I think its a question of finding a technique that works for your son. Our tutor recommended reading through the questions first, then reading the passage quickly so that you had an idea of what you were looking for before you started reading and underlining the words which matched / corresponded to a question.

Re: how to manage time in CEM exam

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 1:50 pm
by happymommy2
Thank you for all your replies.