Junior Cert Geography
Sophie - Higher Level
Today was the Geography exam. Geography was probably the only exam I haven’t been worrying about, because I got an A in the mocks. When we got the paper I went straight to the long questions and ticked which ones I could do. Then I did all the short questions. I didn’t know all the answers but I made a guess. I did the short questions super quick I was finished them in 15 minutes.Then I made my way onto the long questions. I did questions: 1, 3 and 5. The first question was about Rocks, about the formation of Basalt, oil exploitation and weathering. I knew this question and I was happy when it came up. I also did question 5 which was an ordnance survey map and aerial photograph question. My sketch of it was a little funny but the question is really easy. Question 3 was about population, I hadn’t studied population since Christmas but I still remembered everything. Overall the geography paper was pretty easy, and now can say I’ve another exam done and dusted and ready for week two of the exams.
Keela - Higher Level
Day 3. Geography.I went into the exam with a few nerves as before hand I looked over different topics as a quick revision and there was just so much to remember.I started off with the short questions. I found these easy. I answered all of them except for the glaciation questions as my class didn't cover that topic since it's optional. I thought they were a great way to get me in the zone for the long questions. The questions I was dreading.After a few short minutes , I was on to the long questions. I gave them a quick read to see what options there were. I started with the OS Maps and aerial photograph. I found this the best to start with as I knew I could get marks on this section. I thought the map of Dungarvan was quite easy to sketch as there wasn't to much coast line to draw and the features were easy to find and fill in. Also answering the questions on the OS Map and aerial photograph were quite easy as I found it easy to find the answers on the pages.I then answered question 1 on Rocks and Weathering. Even though it was all 1st year stuff I found it easy to remember as I read over them at the weekend. I especially like the question on Freeze Thaw Action as I got to draw diagrams to do with it.Finally I answered question 3 on Population Studies. I found these quite easy as the the graphs were clear and easy to read and also the work we did this year in school on population really helped. I found some of the answers were quite simple.Overall I was quite happy with how the exam went and how I did. After leaving the exam a few minutes early I found out that I was not the only one who found geography easy. Many people in my year were happy with what came up and think they will all do well, as do I .
Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.
Junior Cert Irish
Sophie - Higher Level
Today was the Irish exam, everyone was terrified coming into school today. When we got paper 1, I had a quick read through it. At the beginning there was the two “Leamhthuiscint”s, they weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. But even before that there was the listening test, I found it very easy. In the “Trialacha Teanga Comhtheacsula ”, I wasn’t very confident. But I gave it my best shot, although I’m not very good at grammar. We had to change the words into the present tense (Aimsir Laithreach ). Everyone was praying for the past tense, but the present tense is pretty easy too.I was really nervous about the “Ceapadoireacht” section at the end. I was so happy when I saw the “Laethanta Saoire” question. I knew exactly what to write. I wrote 2 A4 pages for that question. Which I was overjoyed with because that question was worth 50 marks. Paper 2 I found extremely hard. The unseen “Pros” I wasn’t sure what the story was about. But I think I answered it okay. The “Filiocht” I found average. I definitely answered well.Also the studied poetry was good I could use the poem “An Blascaod Mor Anois” so I was good in the poetry aspect of the paper. The Letter on the other hand, was awful. In my opinion I thought the subjects were very unusual. I ended up writing a letter about a new computer game I had got recently. I was disappointed, as I really studied for the letter but nothing I had studied came up. Tomorrow is Geography and Maths paper1, wish me luck!
Keela - Higher Level
Paper 1.The first part of the exam was the aural section. I found cuid A quite easy as it was easy to understand the people talking and the questions were not hard to understand. Cuid B I found a little harder as the people on the c.d were talking quite fast I thought but still answerable. Cuid C I found the hardest out of all parts of the aural.Next were the Léamhthuiscints. I was happy with the reading comprehensions on The Hobbit and and Festival. I found that they were quite easy to find the answers.I found that the verb section was quite easy as it only have a few verbs to change and it was into the present tense.Also the grammar section I found quite easy as well.The last section on paper 1 was the ceapadoireacht. My class were always told to answer question B part ii about the event that happened. We were taught how to write about a car accident or a fire but suprisingly a funny event that happened in school came up. My class found this quite hard to answer.Paper 2.I started paper 2 off with the Litir as I found it had the most marks for a single question. I answered B and found it easy enough but little bits hard to answer as I was not quite sure what parts of one of the points meant.I then answered the prós question Q.2. part B first.I studied the prós " Díoltas an Mhadra Rua" by Seán Ó'Dálaigh, so I found it quite easy to answer as one of the mothuchains was Díoltas. I found the reading comprehension for prós quite hard at times as I was not sure what the question was saying or what some of the words in the comprehension meant.I then answered the Filíocht question. I answered B for Q.4 .I also found that the studied poem was quite easy to answer and one of the types of people went perfectly with the poem. I finished my paper as much as I could with the unseen poetry . I found this the hardest section as I did not know all of the words from the poems or questions. Though it was hard I tried my best to answer the exams and I'm quite happy.
Please note: blog post reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students' Union.
Junior Cert English
Sophie - Higher Level
Today was the first state exam that I have ever sat. To be honest I wasn't exactly calm, despite all the “Best of Luck’s” I had received beforehand. English is not my best subject, but, of what I wrote I was pretty happy.I found paper 1 harder, which surprised me. I did not have a lot to write in one of the reading questions. But it wasn't too bad, I’m sure I made up for it in the Personal Writing section. I thought we got really good topics this year, in terms of personal writing. I wrote “A Moment of Sheer Madness”. I Would have liked to write more but, I was very conscious of the time I was spending. Section 3, I found okay, but in comparison to the topics in personal writing, they were a little boring.Finally media studies, I was happy with the media studies questions. I had a lot to write about, but my worst nightmare come true. I ran out of time and paper mid-sentence. Although I didn't finish, the exam couldn’t have ended sooner, my hand was sore from writing.After the break, I was ready for paper 2. I was delighted with the studied aspects of the paper 2. The scene I had been studying before the exam begun, ”Act 3 Scene 1”, I could use for Question 2. So I started the paper optimistically. I also liked the studied poetry question we got, because you could answer with any poem I studied. After I finished the two main parts of the paper, I realised I didn't have enough time to answer all the questions in the Fiction section. But apart from the questions I didn't answer I definitely did my best and was happy with the paper.
Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.