How can you prepare for Task I before you
enter the exam site?

You can prepare by reading and re-reading the long essay and looking up unusual words and terms. Feel free to write all over the long essay; underline important points, highlight opinions, write definitions in the margins, and make notes about each page of the long reading, marking the page number to which your notes refer. Remember, YOU WILL NOT GET PENALIZED FOR DOING SO! You will especially want to indicate:

· Any statements of opinion by the author
· Any concepts or terms that are constantly repeated
· Any great “social conundrums” or problems that the author keeps referring to
· Any solutions that the author recommends to said problem(s)

When you read the long essay, it is important to identify the author’s subject matter, the thesis statement/main idea, and her/his line of reasoning. You may even find it helpful to write an outline of sorts that maps out the author’s argument section-by-section and all the supporting points therein.

The Short Reading Selection