I think 'extract' was a horrible word to use. They need to be more specific: refer to 2 scenes or quotes or whatever. Because when my teacher said it meant scenes, I was crapping myself, coz I though that 'extracts from the prescribed text' meant quotes from Lear.
After we were all dismissed, I discussed it with my friends, and those who thought that 'extracts' referred to scenes saw how it could also meant quotes. The same case with my teacher, who is an experienced HSC marker. He said that students will interpret this particular question differently, and HSC markers MUST take this into consideration - they had no set marking criteria beforehand; they must see how students interpret the question FIRST.
Using 'extracts' as the word is horrendous IMO. I've read past questions where it says 'refer to 2 scenes from the text', not 2 bloody 'extracts'.