PSLE English Comprehension 2027: Open-Ended Marks, a Practice Passage and Model Answers

Where the 20 marks sit in Paper 2

SEAB's full Paper 2 table, by booklet.

How the paper marks turn into an Achievement Level is in our AL scores guide, and the other English papers are on our PSLE English page.

The three levels SEAB names, in plain words

SEAB's Paper 2 objective names three levels of understanding. In our words:

1. Literal. The answer is stated in the passage. Find it and give only what was asked.
2. Inferential. The answer is not stated. Join clues, such as an action or a reaction, and say what they show.
3. Evaluative. Judge the text, for example what a line means for the whole story.

SEAB does not list question formats. The eight below are our own mix across the three levels.

The practice passage: The fourth leg

About 360 words, written by us. Paragraph numbers are for the questions.

(1) For three weeks, Haziq had watched Marcus run the last leg of the relay and told himself he did not mind. Coach Lim had picked the four fastest runners in Primary 6, and Haziq was the fifth. He carried the water bottles, timed every practice and smiled whenever someone asked if he was disappointed.

(2) On the Thursday before Sports Day, Marcus landed badly in the long jump pit. By the time the school nurse had strapped his ankle, everyone knew what it meant. Coach Lim walked over to the bench where Haziq sat and held out the red baton.

(3) "You know the changeover better than anyone," she said. "You have been watching it for three weeks."

(4) Haziq took the baton. It felt heavier than it looked.

(5) That evening, he hardly touched his dinner. His mother noticed the plate of mee goreng going cold but said nothing. Later, she found him in the corridor outside their flat, stretching his palm out behind him again and again, practising the signal for the changeover.

(6) On Saturday, the stadium was a wall of noise. Haziq stood in his lane, his knees trembling, and watched Aisha, the third runner, sprint towards him. He set off a fraction too early. For one terrible second the gap between them grew, and the baton seemed to hang in the air. Then he heard Aisha's shout of "Hand" and eased off just enough. The baton slapped into his palm.

(7) He hardly remembered the last hundred metres, only the tape brushing his chest and the roar that followed. The team had finished second, two places higher than in any practice.

(8) Marcus was waiting near the finishing line, leaning on a crutch. Haziq braced himself for a careless remark. Instead, Marcus raised his hand for a high five.

(9) "You went too early," Marcus said, grinning. "I always do that too."

(10) For the first time that week, Haziq laughed. The place he had wanted for so long, he realised, had never belonged to one person. It belonged to whoever was ready when the moment came.

Eight questions, model answers and where the half marks go

The set is worth 14 marks in our scheme. Try it before reading on.

Q1. Literal, 1 mark. Why was Haziq not in the relay team at first?

• Model answer. Coach Lim picked the four fastest runners and Haziq was only the fifth fastest.
• Why it scores. It gives the rule and where Haziq stood.
• Where marks slip. "Because he was slow" loses the mark. Fifth fastest in the level is not slow.

Q2. Vocabulary in context, 1 mark. What does "braced himself" in paragraph 8 mean?

• Model answer. He prepared himself for something unpleasant.
• Why it scores. "A careless remark" shows he expected something bad.
• Where marks slip. "He got ready" earns half, as it misses the unpleasant part.

Q3. Inference, 2 marks. Why did the baton feel "heavier than it looked" to Haziq?

• Model answer. The baton was not really heavy. Haziq felt the pressure of running the final leg and was afraid of letting the team down.
• Why it scores. One mark for seeing the weight is a feeling, one for naming it.
• Where marks slip. A literal answer about the baton itself scores nothing. See the comparison below.

Q4. Feelings with evidence, 2 marks. How did Haziq feel on the evening after he was chosen? Support your answer with evidence.

• Model answer. He felt nervous. He hardly touched his dinner, and he kept practising the changeover signal in the corridor.
• Why it scores. One mark for the feeling, one for evidence that proves it.
• Where marks slip. Leaving out the evidence halves the score. So does "He is nervous", which drifts out of the past tense.

Q5. True or false with a reason, 2 marks. Tick true or false and give a reason from the passage for each statement.

• Why it scores. In our scheme each row earns 1 mark only when the tick and the reason are both right.
• Where marks slip. A right tick with a reason that proves nothing, such as "She found him in the corridor" for (a), scores zero for that row.

Q6. Sequencing, 1 mark. Number these events 1 to 4 in the order they happened: Aisha shouts "Hand", Marcus hurts his ankle, Marcus offers a high five, Haziq practises in the corridor.

• Model answer. Marcus hurts his ankle (1), Haziq practises in the corridor (2), Aisha shouts "Hand" (3), Marcus offers a high five (4).
• Why it scores. All four must be in place.
• Where marks slip. Numbering from memory is risky. Find the paragraph for each event first, then number.

Q7. Inference, two parts, 2 marks. What did Haziq expect Marcus to do at the finishing line, and why was he surprised?

• Model answer. He expected an unkind remark because Marcus had lost his place in the race. He was surprised because Marcus gave him a high five and joked about making the same mistake.
• Why it scores. One mark for each part, each with its reason.
• Where marks slip. Answering only the first part, what he expected, halves the score.

Q8. Evaluative, 3 marks. Explain in your own words what Haziq means in the last sentence. How had he shown that he was ready?

• Model answer. No runner owned the place for good. It went to anyone who had prepared and could step up when needed. Haziq had studied the changeover for three weeks and practised it at home.
• Why it scores. Two marks for the meaning in fresh words, one for evidence of his readiness.
• Where marks slip. Copying "whoever was ready when the moment came" earns nothing when the question says "in your own words".

Inference answers: weak versus strong

Typical weak answers to the three inference and evaluative questions, beside stronger ones.

The weak answers read the words literally, cover half the question, or lift the line they were asked to explain. Each is a habit, not a reading problem, and habits can be trained.

A four-check method for every open-ended question

What to work on if your child keeps losing marks

If the gap is in Paper 1 instead, our PSLE composition guide works through a model story.

A 15-minute daily routine at home

You need one short text a day, such as a story book page or a school comprehension passage.

Question stems you can use with any text:

• Which word shows that (character) was (feeling)?
• How did (character) feel when (event)? How do you know?
• Why do you think (character) (action)?
• Is this statement true or false? Give a reason from the text.