ILAYS ACADEMY

END OF TERM EXAMS

Literature in English
Time: 2 hours

NAME…………………….......………………………………………………………………… YEAR 8A

Instructions
Use black ink or ball-point pen.

Answer all questions in Sections A and B and C

Answer the questions in the spaces provided
Information

The total mark for this paper is 60 .

The marks for each question are shown in brackets
Advice
Read each question carefully before you start to answer it.

Keep an eye on the time.

Check your answers if you have time at the end.
You are reminded of the importance of clear English and careful presentation.

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 Section A ( prose)
1. Reading text: A short story extract

Read the extract below and answer the questions that follow

Sam squinted against the sun at the distant dust trail raked up by the car on its way up to the big
house.The horses kicked and flicked their tails at flies,not caring about their owner’s first visit in ten
months. Sam waited. Mr Carter didn’t come out here unless he had to, which was just fine by Sam.The
more hekept out of his boss’s way,the longer he’d have a job.

Carter came by later while Sam was chopping wood. Carter lifted his hat as if he were waiting for an
appointment with the town priest, and then removed it completely as if he were talking to his mother.He
pulled out a pile of paper from his back pocket and held it out.

‘Don’t pick up your mail often, doyou?’

Sam took it without a glance and dropped the envelopes onto the bench.

‘Never,’ he replied and waited for Carter to say why he was here. The fact
it was Carter’shouse was no explanation and they both knew it. Carter
twisted his hat round and round,licking his lips and clearing his throat.

‘Nice work fixing those fences,’he said finally.

‘I’ll be back to the beginning soon,’ Samsaid .It wasn’t acomplaint. Afence that
took ayear to repair meant another year’s work to the man who did it well.

‘Don’t you ever want totake a holiday?’

‘And go where?’ A holiday meant being back out in the real world, a place even people
like Carter travelled to escape from. Sam’s escape was his reality and he wasn’t
going back.

Mr Carter wiped the sweat from the back of his neck. The damp patches on his shirt
drew together like shapes in an atlas. His skin was already turning ruddy in the

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 June sun. Other wise he had the indoor tano faman that made money while other
people did the work.

‘I’ve brought my son with me on this trip. He’s had some trouble at school.’ Mr Carter’s
eyes flicked up, blinked rapidly and then shifted back to the hat occupying his
hands.‘Not much trouble out here for a young boy.’Heat tempted a laugh but it came
out like adog’s bark.

The women looked towards the northern end of the property. It stretched as far as
the eye could see. Even the fences were barely visible from where they stood.
However bored and rebellious a teenage boy might get,it wasn’t possible to escape
on foot.Sam looked at the biggest of the horses,kicking at the ground with its
heavy hooves. Could the boy ride? he wondered.There was a whole load of trouble
a good rider could get into out here, miles away from anyone. But maybe there
was even more trouble for someone who knew nothing about horses and wanted to
get away from his father.

Question one

Put the descriptions in the correct group.

A B C
Lives on the farm Works with his hands He has done something
Owns the farm Doesn't often come wrong
to the farm Comes to the farm less
often

Write two descriptions for each person.

Sam
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Mr. Cater
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Mr. Caters son

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(12mks)

Choose the best answer.

1.What is Sam’s reaction to his letters? (2mks)

(a) Uninterested
(b) Surprised
(c) Afraid
(d) Curious

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 2. Why does Sam not take holidays from work? (2mks)
(a) He feels safer on the farm.
(b) He can’t afford it.
(c) He hasn’t finished repairing the fences.
(d) He doesn’t know where to choose.

3.What can we guess about Mr.Carter? (2mks)

(a) He works hard.
(b) He’s rich.
(c) He has tanned skin.
(d) He loves horses.

4. What does Sam think Carter’s son might do during his stay at the farm? (2mks)
(a) He might leave on foot.
(b) He might do something dangerous while riding.
(c) He might break the fences.
(d) He might get into trouble with the neighbors.

5. How does Mr. Carter feel while he’s talking to Sam in this scene? (2mks)
(a) Angry
(b) Impatient
(c) Nervous
(d) Excited

6. Why has Mr. Carter come to his house? (2mks)

(a) Because he wants to give Sam his mail.
(b) Because he needs to check on the work on the fences.
(c) Because his son has had problems at school.
(d) Because his son needs a holiday.
Total marks (24)
Section B

Read the extract below from things fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and answer the questions
that follow.

Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on
solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village
by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was

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unbeaten, from Umuofia to Mbaino. He was called the Cat because his back would never
touch the earth. It was this man that Okonkwo threw in a fight which the old men agreed was
one of the fiercest since the founder of their town engaged a spirit of the wild for seven days
and seven nights.

The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath. Amalinze was a wily
craftsman, but Okonkwo was as slippery as a fish in water. Every nerve and every muscle
stood out on their arms, on their backs and their thighs, and one almost heard them
stretching to breaking point. In the end Okonkwo threw the Cat.

That was many years ago, twenty years or more, and during this time Okonkwo’s fame had
grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan. He was tall and huge, and his bushy eyebrows and
wide nose gave him a very severe look. He breathed heavily, and it was said that, when he
slept, his wives and children in their houses could hear him breathe. When he walked, his
heels hardly touched the ground and he seemed to walk on springs, as if he was going to
pounce on somebody. And he did pounce on people quite often. He had a slight stammer and
whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his
fists. He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had had no patience with his father.

Unoka, for that was his father’s name, had died ten years ago. In his day he was lazy and
improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow. If any money came his way,
and it seldom did, he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine, called round his neighbours
and made merry. He always said that whenever he saw a dead man’s mouth he saw the folly
of not eating what one had in one’s lifetime. Unoka was, of course, a debtor, and he owed
every neighbour some money, from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts.

He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop. He wore a haggard and mournful look except
when he was drinking or playing on his flute. He was very good on his flute, and his happiest
moments were the two or three moons after the harvest when the village musicians brought
down their instruments, hung above the fireplace. Unoka would play with them, his face
beaming with blessedness and peace. Sometimes another village would ask Unoka’s band
and their dancing egwugwu to come and stay with them and teach them their tunes. They
would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets, making music and feasting.
Unoka loved the good hire and the good fellowship, and he loved this season of the year,
when the rains had stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty. And it was
not too hot either, because the cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down from the
north. Some years the harmattan was very severe and a dense haze hung on the atmosphere.
Old men and children would then sit round log fires, warming their bodies. Unoka loved it all,
and he loved the first kites that returned with the dry season, and the children who sang

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songs of welcome to them. He would remember his own childhood, how he had often
wandered around looking for a kite sailing leisurely against the blue sky.

Questions

1. From the extract, list four things you learn from Okwonko. (4mks)

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2. What was Amalinze the Cat well known for? ( 2mks)

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3. What simile does Achebe use to describe Okonkwo and what's it's significance? (4mks)

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4. Summarise the differences between Okonkwo and his father Unoka from paragraph 3 ‘That
was many years ago’ to the end of the extract. Look for at least three differences, use short
quotations in your summary and remember to explain in your own words what you infer
(understand/deduce) about each man. ( 3mks)

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5. Does Okonkwo has a lot of respect for his father. What shows? (3mks)

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Total marks =16

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 Section C

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

Still I Rise

BY MAYA ANGELOU

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

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Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

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Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Questions

1. Who is the speaker of the poem? ( 2mks )

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2. Who is the speaker addressing in the poem? (2mks)

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3. What does " I dance like I've got diamonds" mean in the poem? (2mks)

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4. Which themes do you find appealing in the poem? (8mks)

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5. In your own words, explain the meaning of the following words as used in the poem.

(a) I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide. ( 3mks)

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(b) "welling and swelling I bear in the tide " (3mks)

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Total marks =20

END.

GOOD LUCK!

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