Real Madrid stars feature in popular question

SPAIN are out of Euro 2004 but Real Madrid stars David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo all appeared on yesterday’s Spanish exams.

A comprehension piece about the Beckhams featured in the Leaving Certificate ordinary-level paper.

ASTI Spanish spokesperson Máire Ní Chiarba said it was a good to start with something students found interesting.

She said the paper was generally satisfactory, although the letter question was quite prescriptive, telling students exactly what to write rather than leave it to themselves.

The questions on the listening tape were appropriate for that level but there were many complaints about the content. Ms Ní Chiarba said parts of it were too fast, some voices were not clear and there was very little time between the pieces.

The same tape is used for higher and ordinary level students, but they answer different questions based on the excerpts. The higher- level question on prescribed literature was difficult for some people, but the text about Superman was quite interesting. Students were also asked to write about drugs, suiting those used to dealing with social issues.

Ronaldo and Zidane were the subject of a story about charity work on the Junior Certificate higher level Spanish paper. The paper also featured interesting topics for younger students such as mobile phones and a comprehension piece about the tomato festival in Bunol, Spain, which Ms Ní Chiarba said students found fun.

She said ordinary level students also liked a piece on tennis star Lleyton Hewitt. Some reading texts were difficult but students did not have to understand them fully to answer the questions.

Most chemistry students should have been pleased with yesterday’s Leaving Certificate higher-level paper, said TUI spokesperson Ted Forde. He was happy the pattern of recent years to include different course areas in questions did not feature as much.

Mr Forde said that the ordinary-level paper was reasonably student-friendly, covering most areas of the syllabus but with a fair level of diagrams and contextualisation.

The metalwork theory papers for Junior Certificate students were worth 25% of the total marks in the subject after the earlier submission of project work, and a practical exam in the case of higher-level students.

ASTI’s spokesperson Phelim O’Doherty said the same type of questions as in the past appeared on the higher-level paper, and students he spoke to after were very pleased.

TUI metalwork spokesperson Willie Culkeen said there was a practical emphasis in project- based questions and others required logical thinking.

He said the format of the ordinary-level paper was in line with previous years and he liked the fact that the illustrations were more like pictures than diagrams.