English comprehension tests have long been a staple of 11 plus and common entrance exams. 11+ Essentials Comprehensions (Contemporary) for CEM: Book 2 provides a further selection of passages, this time from contemporary literature, introduced by Book 1. These tests, based on conventional classroom testing sessions, are representative of the standard comprehension section of multi-discipline CEM style 11 plus exams. Extensively road-tested by Eleven Plus Exams, all 11+ Essentials tests are best used as real exam practice to benchmark a child s performance. The online service helps to identify areas for improvement and, crucially, to gauge relative progress. They are perfect for use both in the classroom and at home. This collection of tests is representative of the standard comprehension section of contemporary multi-discipline 11 plus exams, which typically have two papers such as those set by CEM (Durham University).
For testing ability in English, one paper usually contains longer extracts with multiple-choice questions more akin to traditional comprehensions, while the other has a series of cloze tests which are essentially gap-fill comprehensions with extracts that are more concise and challenging than the traditional format. This book addresses the former. The suggested time for each paper is based on data obtained from conventional classroom testing sessions. Students requiring publications that address the cloze testing sections of English comprehension will benefit from the 11+ Essentials Cloze Tests Book 1 and Book 2. These books cover three styles of cloze tests - Word Bank, Multiple Choice Vocabulary and Partial Word. [For further practice with traditional comprehensions, there are more First Past the PostTM resources available, such as 11+ Practice Papers English (Multiple Choice) Pack 1, which contains a number of longer comprehensions with a stronger focus on spelling and grammar questions.