Comprehension: Magazine or Newspaper

How Section A Works: Layout, Marks, and Time Plan

The reading section contains more than one extended text with the lines numbered down the margin — check the layout of a recent paper for your year. Some questions are set in German and must be answered in German; others are set in English and must be answered in English. Both types often appear on the same text, so check the instruction for every question before you write.

Three habits secure marks here:

• Obey the line reference: A prompt pointing to (Zeile 18–27) or (lines 89–115) marks out the exact zone where the answer sits. Information taken from outside those lines will not receive credit, and searching the whole text wastes valuable time.
• Count the marks before writing: Use the printed marks as a guide to how many details to provide. Many comprehension points are worth 2 marks each, so a 6-mark question usually requires 3 distinct points and a 4-mark question 2 — but some questions award 1 mark per detail. If you are asked to 'give details' and have found further relevant facts within the lines, include them all rather than stopping early.
• Separate your points clearly: Put each detail on a fresh line or number them (1, 2, 3). Never bury three facts inside one running sentence where an examiner could miss them.

A Five-Step Method for Each Text

1. Read the headline and the first paragraph only. In a news report, this provides the core details: who, what, when, and where.
2. Read all the questions on that text before tackling the rest of the passage. Knowing the questions in advance tells you what to track.
3. Turn to the line reference given in the question and read those specific lines carefully.
4. Underline the key words containing the answer, then write your response in the language specified by the prompt.
5. Check the mark count to confirm you have provided enough distinct points.

Time management: The written paper (Section A reading and Section B writing) runs for two and a half hours. Reading carries 30% of your total subject marks while writing carries 25%. Allocate approximately 30 to 35 minutes per comprehension text. Do not attempt to translate the entire passage word for word; your marks depend entirely on answering the questions set.

Text Types and Essential Journalistic Structures

Journalistic texts on the Higher Level paper generally fall into three formats:

• Factual reports (der Bericht, die Meldung): Informative pieces structured around current affairs, school projects, crime, or environmental initiatives. Reports employ the 'inverted pyramid', concentrating the core facts (wer, was, wann, wo, warum) into the opening paragraph.
• Opinion pieces (der Meinungsartikel, der Kommentar): Argumentative columns where a writer defends a specific thesis. Track the argument: look for the central claim, supporting examples, concessions, and the writer's final judgment, which usually appears in the closing lines. Look out for key opinion markers that signal the writer's own position:
• meiner Meinung nach – in my opinion
• ich halte … für – I consider … to be
• es steht fest, dass – it is certain that
• einerseits … andererseits – on the one hand … on the other
• zwar … aber – admittedly … but
• befürworten – to support / favour; ablehnen – to reject / oppose
• man sollte – one should

These expressions signal the writer's own stance, whereas laut …, … zufolge, and Konjunktiv I forms mark somebody else's reported opinion.

• Personal accounts (der Erfahrungsbericht): First-person narratives recounting an internship (das Praktikum), a school exchange, or voluntary work. Questions here focus on personal feelings, changes in perspective, and lessons learnt.

The Passive Voice (das Passiv)

News reporting regularly highlights what happened rather than who acted. German builds the passive voice with werden + past participle. Always translate werden here as 'to be', not 'to become'.

• Present passive: Das Gesetz wird verabschiedet. (The law is passed.)
• Simple past passive (Präteritum): Die Schule wurde 1998 gebaut. (The school was built in 1998.)
• Perfect passive: Über 200 Bäume sind gepflanzt worden. (Over 200 trees have been planted. Note the participle form worden, not geworden.)

If the agent is identified, German uses von (+ Dative): Der Preis wurde von der Schulleitung überreicht (The prize was presented by the school management).

German also avoids naming an agent by using the pronoun man: Man erwartet eine Verbesserung (An improvement is expected; never translate man as 'man').

Präteritum Forms to Recognise on Sight

Journalistic narratives rely on the simple past. Learn these common forms:

Verb-Final Clauses and the Sentence Bracket

After subordinating conjunctions (weil, dass, obwohl, wenn, da, während, bevor, nachdem), the conjugated verb moves to the very end of the clause: Viele Eltern sind froh, weil die Kinder wieder miteinander sprechen. (Many parents are glad because the children are talking to each other again.)

Relative clauses operate the same way, bordered by commas: Die Schulleiterin, die das Verbot eingeführt hat, zieht Bilanz. (The principal, who introduced the ban, takes stock.) Cover the section between the commas first to locate the main clause, then read the relative clause to extract supporting detail.

With separable verbs in main clauses, watch for the Satzklammer (sentence bracket). The conjugated stem occupies position two while the prefix waits at the end: Die Schule führt ab Montag neue Regeln ein** (The school is introducing new rules from Monday).

Reported Speech: Konjunktiv I and Attribution

A key Leaving Certificate skill is separating objective facts from claims made by external speakers. When a journalist cites a spokesperson, that statement does not necessarily represent the publication's view.

To signal that a statement comes from an outside source without personally verifying it, German writers use reported speech (die indirekte Rede), which relies on the Konjunktiv I.

Form the Konjunktiv I by taking the infinitive stem and adding the subjunctive endings (-e, -est, -e, -en, -et, -en). The third-person singular (er / sie / es) is the most frequent form in print:

• Der Minister betonte, die Reform habe Priorität. (The minister emphasised that the reform had priority.)
• Die Sprecherin erklärte, das Projekt komme gut voran. (The spokeswoman explained that the project was progressing well.)

The verb sein is irregular and has no -e ending in the singular: er/sie/es sei, wir/sie seien. The forms sei and seien appear constantly in news reports: Der Bürgermeister sagte, das Geld sei knapp. (The mayor said money was tight.)

When the Konjunktiv I form is identical to the ordinary present indicative—which occurs in all plural forms (sie sagen, sie haben) and in the first-person singular ich—writers substitute the Konjunktiv II (hätten, wären) or the conditional würden + infinitive:

• Eltern befürchten, die Schüler würden den Anschluss verlieren. (Parents fear the pupils will lose touch.)
• Experten gaben an, viele Familien hätten finanzielle Probleme. (Experts stated that many families had financial problems.)

Translate these verbs into standard English indicative statements, but remember their function: they mark an unverified outside claim, not an established fact.

Statistics, Trends, Negatives, and False Friends

Empirical studies, opinion polls (die Umfrage), and data regularly feature in press texts. Translating statistics accurately requires recognising number conventions, direction verbs, and limiting adverbs.

German reverses English decimal and thousands punctuation:

• A comma serves as a decimal point: 3,5% = 3.5% (drei Komma fünf Prozent).
• A full stop acts as a thousands separator: 25.000 = 25,000 (fünfundzwanzigtausend).
• Small numbers up to twelve are usually written in words (drei Viertel, jeder fünfte Jugendliche), whereas larger numbers and percentages appear as figures.

Verbs and Nouns of Trend

Distinguish carefully between um and auf: Die Zahl stieg um 15% means the figure increased by 15%, while Die Zahl stieg auf 15% means it climbed to 15%.

Essential Qualifiers

Never drop qualifying words in your English answers; they carry specific marking points.

Negations and Reversals

Watch out for words that flip the meaning of a sentence:

• kaum = hardly / scarcely
• keineswegs = by no means / not at all (Das ist keineswegs gelöst = That is by no means resolved)
• weder … noch = neither … nor
• ohne … zu (+ Inf.) = without doing (ohne nachzudenken = without thinking)
• anstatt … zu (+ Inf.) = instead of doing (anstatt zu lernen = instead of studying)

False Friends in Press Texts

• bekommen = to get / receive (never 'to become')
• aktuell = current / present-day (not 'actual')
• eventuell = possible / perhaps (not 'eventually')
• also = so / therefore (not 'also')
• sensibel = sensitive (not 'sensible')
• spenden = to donate (not 'to spend')
• der Chef = the boss / manager (not 'the chef')
• bald = soon (not 'bold')
• die Fabrik = factory (not 'fabric')
• genial = brilliant / ingenious (not 'genial' in the sense of friendly)
• die Milliarde = billion (a thousand million; not million)

Reading Between the Lines: Tone, Attitude, and Impressions

Higher Level questions regularly test implied meaning, asking you to identify the writer's attitude (die Einstellung) or tone (der Ton). For spoken voice in the aural, the term is der Tonfall, but for written articles use der Ton.

Recognising Tone in Context

• Critical or disapproving (kritisch, ablehnend): Uses evaluative nouns and adjectives with negative connotations, or verbs expressing rejection (ablehnen, kritisieren).

„Diese Fehlentscheidung wird die Schulen noch jahrelang belasten.“ (This wrong decision will burden schools for years to come.)

• Supportive or optimistic (unterstützend, optimistisch): Uses encouraging vocabulary or verbs of endorsement (befürworten, loben).

„Ein vorbildliches Projekt, das Schule machen sollte.“ (An exemplary project that ought to set a precedent.)

• Ironic or sceptical (ironisch, skeptisch): Employs scare quotes to question legitimacy, often paired with small 'flavouring' words called modal particles (natürlich, ja, doch, eigentlich) that signal attitude without changing the facts, or adverbs like angeblich (supposedly) — note natürlich in the example below.

„Die ‚Experten‘ hatten das Problem natürlich wieder voll im Griff.“ (The 'experts' naturally had the issue under control again.)

When asked to identify tone, provide a three-move answer: name the tone, quote the exact German indicator word or phrase, and explain briefly how that word creates the effect.

Answering 'What impression do you get? / Support your answer'

This question style requires a structured response:

1. Name the impression in one clear sentence.
2. State your first piece of evidence from the text in your own words.
3. State your second piece of evidence from the text.

For example: 'Jonas comes across as frustrated and independent-minded. Firstly, he explicitly feels patronised by the school rules. Secondly, he argues that an outright ban fails to teach students how to manage technology responsibly, indicating that he wants to be trusted as a young adult.'

Lexical Deduction: Compound Nouns and Word Families

You are expected to work out unfamiliar words by breaking them into their parts, linking them to words you already know, and using the surrounding context.

German compound nouns (Komposita) should be decoded from right to left. The base word on the far right (das Grundwort, plural die Grundwörter) determines the grammatical gender, plural ending, and the core meaning. The preceding components specify and refine it:

• die Umweltschutzmaßnahme = die Umwelt (environment) + der Schutz (protection) + die Maßnahme (measure) → an environmental protection measure.
• die Arbeitslosenquote = die Arbeitslosen (unemployed people) + die Quote (quota/rate) → unemployment rate.
• die Hochschulreife = die Hochschule (higher education institute) + die Reife (maturity/qualification) → general qualification for university entrance (Abitur).

Use word families: most German nouns and adjectives are built from a verb you already recognise:

• entscheiden (to decide) → die Entscheidung (decision) → entscheidend (decisive)
• belasten (to burden) → die Belastung (strain / burden) → belastend (stressful / burdensome)
• verantworten (to answer for) → die Verantwortung (responsibility) → verantwortungsvoll (responsible)

Question Protocols: Answering in German vs. Answering in English

Comprehension questions are set either in German or in English. Your answer must match the language of the prompt.

Answering in German

Avoid indiscriminate copying of multi-line blocks. Lifting long, unadapted chunks suggests you cannot pinpoint the answer. Extract only the necessary clause and adapt the grammar:

• Change first-person pronouns: ich becomes er or sie; mein becomes sein or ihr.
• Adjust the verb endings to match the new subject.
• If the text says: „Ich fühle mich überfordert und brauche eine Pause“, write: Er fühlt sich überfordert und braucht eine Pause.

When a question asks you to verify an answer (Belegen Sie Ihre Antwort mit einer Textstelle), give your statement first, then provide a short, exact quotation: Wie steht die Schulleiterin zum Verbot? → Sie befürwortet es. Textstelle: „… habe sich die Lernatmosphäre seitdem spürbar verbessert.“

Answering in English

Answers written in English are marked purely on accuracy and factual completeness, not on literary style. Full, polished sentences are not required, but all qualifying details (just under, at least, no longer) must be included.

If a question is asked in English, answer entirely in English. Copying a German sentence into an English answer scores zero, unless the question explicitly asks you to quote a specific German word or phrase.

Thematic Vocabulary: The Core Leaving Certificate Topics

Journalistic texts consistently draw on the cultural and social themes listed in the Leaving Certificate specification. Learn these terms in both directions:

Environment and Climate (Umwelt und Klima)

• der Klimawandel – climate change
• der Umweltschutz – environmental protection
• der Verbrauch – consumption
• die erneuerbaren Energien – renewable energies
• der Müll / der Abfall – rubbish / waste
• die Verschmutzung – pollution
• nachhaltig – sustainable
• umweltfreundlich – environmentally friendly
• vermeiden (vermied, vermieden) – to avoid

Media and Technology (Medien und Technik)

• das Handyverbot – mobile phone ban
• die sozialen Medien – social media
• der Bildschirm (-e) – screen
• die Sucht / süchtig – addiction / addicted
• die Nachrichten (pl.) – news
• der Datenschutz – data protection
• das Mobbing im Netz – cyberbullying

School, Training, and Work (Schule, Ausbildung, Arbeit)

• das Abitur – German school-leaving examination
• die Note (-n) – grade / mark
• die Ausbildung – apprenticeship / professional training
• das Praktikum – work experience / internship
• der Leistungsdruck – pressure to perform / academic stress
• die Arbeitslosenquote – unemployment rate
• der Arbeitsplatz (¨-e) – job / workplace

Health and Lifestyle (Gesundheit und Lebensstil)

• die Ernährung – diet / nutrition
• sich bewegen – to exercise / move
• die Belastung (-en) – strain / burden
• die psychische Gesundheit – mental health
• gesundheitsschädlich – damaging to health

Youth and Society (Jugend und Gesellschaft)

• die Jugendlichen (pl.) – young people / teenagers
• die Generationenkluft – generation gap
• die Gleichberechtigung – equality / equal rights
• die Flüchtlinge (pl.) – refugees
• die Integration – integration
• das Ehrenamt – voluntary post / voluntary work
• freiwillig – voluntary / voluntarily

Key terms

der Bericht (-e)

An objective factual news report detailing events, dates, locations, and verified information.

der Meinungsartikel (-)

An argumentative opinion piece or commentary presenting a writer's subjective perspective and argument.

der Konjunktiv I

The grammatical mood used in journalistic German to report indirect speech neutrally (e.g. er sei, sie habe).

das Grundwort (¨-er)

The final component on the far right of a German compound noun, which determines its gender, plural form, and core meaning.

das Passiv

The passive voice formed with werden + past participle, used to describe actions without highlighting the agent.

die Satzklammer

The sentence bracket enclosing information between an auxiliary/modal/conjugated verb in position two and an infinitive/participle/prefix at the end.

die Umfrage (-n)

An opinion poll or survey frequently cited in articles to provide statistical evidence.

laut (+ Dat. / Gen.)

Preposition meaning 'according to', used to attribute claims or findings to a source.

knapp

Qualifying adverb meaning 'just under' or 'barely' when preceding numbers or percentages.

gut

Qualifying adverb meaning 'just over' or 'a good' when preceding numbers or percentages (e.g. gut ein Drittel = a little more than a third).

die Arbeitslosenquote (-n)

The unemployment rate; a standard compound noun and statistical indicator in economic reports.

die Milliarde (-n)

One billion (1,000,000,000); a classic false friend that must never be translated as million.