How we got there
Read this like a teacher at the board. We go slowly, name every number, and say why we take each step.
Explain in another language · 11
1. What is the question asking?
Read the question twice. Circle the unknown. Underline every number and unit. The paper is asking: Paper 1 comprehension, Grade 12. Passage: “The clinic queue inches forward after the rain. A nurse calls the next name, and the boy keeps his place.” What is the main idea? Quote four words that prove it.
In other words — as if you have never seen this before
If you have never seen this before: The main idea is in the whole passage, not in one interesting word. The quote must be from the text. We will name a method in words, write the formula with no numbers, then substitute one line at a time.
2. What do we already know?
an NSC-length passage
3. Which method — and why this one?
The main idea is in the whole passage, not in one interesting word. The quote must be from the text.
4. Step-by-step working
01 / 05
Point
He does not leave the queue. The nurse calls the next name and he stays.
main idea: he waits his turnWhy this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
02 / 05
Apply the law
Quote only what is printed: “calls the next name”.
quotationWhy this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
03 / 05
Sense-check
The quote supports the idea. A quote about the rain alone would miss the point.
quote matches the pointWhy this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
04 / 05
Step F — Box the answer with its unit
The boy stays in the queue until his name is called. Proof: “calls the next name”.
Why this step: A number without a unit is half a mark on a Physics paper, and a marker can miss a Maths answer that is buried in working.
05 / 05
Step H — What the marker is looking for
On an NSC memo you usually earn: (1) a method mark for naming the right formula or idea in words, (2) an accuracy mark for substituting the given numbers with units, (3) an accuracy mark for the boxed answer with its unit. Write those three lines even if you are unsure of the arithmetic — blank pages score zero.
Why this step: First-timers chase the final number and leave the method blank. The memo still pays out for the idea and the substitution even when the last line is wrong.
5. The answer
The boy stays in the queue until his name is called. Proof: “calls the next name”.
6. Check it like a marker
Do not add a war, a metaphor, or a feeling the passage never states. Comprehension marks stay inside the text.
7. A trap first-timers fall into
First-timers often grab the first formula they remember, mix units (cm with m, minutes with seconds), or drop a minus sign. Write the formula in words first: “this equals that, because…”