Year 8 End of Year Exams

As you know, you will be completing end of year exams, in class, next half term.
o The exams will assess you on the reading and writing skills you have been working on
throughout the year.
o Your exam will last 1 hour.
o Your English teacher will let you know the exact date.

READING REVISION TIPS:

1. You will be given a text to read and asked to identify statements that are true.
You may be asked to retrieve information from the text -you will need to list your answers for
this question.
REVISE by reading different texts and listing information you are given about characters/setting etc.
2. You will be asked to identify quotations/techniques/information about characters and/or
setting.
REVISE by reading different texts and listing information you are given about characters/setting etc.
3. You will be asked to focus on one section of the extract and answer a question about the
language used.
- You will need to write using PEA (point, evidence, analysis)
- You will need to identify and comment on the effect of language techniques (adjectives,
similes, metaphors, adverbs)
REVISE by making sure you are familiar with different word classes and techniques. Can you spot
them in the book you are reading? What do they tell you about characters/setting/relationships
etc?
WRITING REVISION TIPS:
4. You will be given a scenario/topic and asked to explain your views.
- You can be for, or against – it is up to you!
- You will need to lay your work out in a particular format (article, letter, speech)
- You aren’t expected to know statistics – if you want to use some then you can make them
up.
- You will need to make ambitious, creative and precise word choices.
- You will need to use persuasive language (rhetorical questions, listing, emotive language,
anecdote, repetition etc)
- You will need to use a variety of sentence types and correct paragraphs.
- SPaG will also be marked.
REVISE by making a list of adventurous words you may be able to use (imperative, ludicrous,
tedious, enrich etc) It is always useful to have a bank of positive and negative adjectives! Practise
using rhetorical questions, alliteration, listing, emotive language etc)
REVISE by recapping rules. You can use this website:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zc2sv4j/revision/1

Example questions/tasks on the next page.

 I took my torch and shone it in. The outside doors to the back lane must have fallen off years
ago and there were dozens of massive planks nailed across the entrance. The timbers holding the
roof were rotten and the roof was sagging in. The bits of the floor you could see between the
rubbish were full of cracks and holes. The people who took the rubbish out of the house were
5 supposed to take it out of the garage as well, but they took one look at the place and said they
wouldn’t go in it even for danger money. There were old chests of drawers and broken wash-
basins and bags of cement, ancient doors leaning against the walls, deck chairs with the cloth
seats rotted away. Great rolls of rope and cable hung from nails. Heaps of water pipes and great
boxes of rusty nails were scattered on the floor. Everything was covered in dust and spiders’
10 webs. There was a little window in one of the walls but it was filthy and there were rolls of
cracked lino standing in front of it. The place stank of rot and dust. Even the bricks were
crumbling like they couldn’t bear the weight anymore. It was like the whole thing was sick of
itself and would collapse in a heap and have to get bulldozed away.
I heard something scratching in one of the corners, and something scuttling about; then it all
15 stopped and it was just dead quiet in there.
I tiptoed further in and felt spider webs breaking on my brow. I opened a cupboard an inch,
shone the torch in and saw a million woodlice scattering away. I moved so carefully. I was scared
every moment the whole thing was going to collapse. There was dust clogging my throat and
nose.
20 I knew my dad would shortly be calling me for my tea and I thought I’d better get out. I
leaned across a heap of packing boxes and shone the torch into the space behind and that’s
when I saw him.
I thought he was dead. He was sitting with his legs stretched out and his head tipped back
against the wall. He was covered in dust and webs like everything else and his face was thin and
25 pale. Dead bluebottles were scattered on his hair and shoulders. I shone the torch on his white
face and his black suit.

1. List 4 things that suggest the garage is in poor condition in lines 1 to 13. (4 marks)
a. ______________________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________________
c. _____________________________________________________________________
d. ______________________________________________________________________

2. Why is the narrator moving carefully? (1 mark)

_________________________________________________________________________________
3. Why does the narrator think he needs to leave the garage quickly? (1 mark)
_________________________________________________________________________________

4. In the extract, the narrator moves carefully. Provide a short quotation to support this point (1 mark)
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

5. What is the effect on describing the garage as unkempt and dusty? (2 marks )

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Read the following extract – identify and correct 5 spelling mistakes. Write the correct spelling
clearly on the provided lines. (5 marks)

The ancient stone walls of the forgoten castle stood tall against the 1. __________________

backdrop of the midnight sky. Moonlight spilled through the cracks, casting 2. __________________
an eerie glow upon the moss-coverd courtyard below. Wispers of a long-
3. __________________
forgotten tale carried on the breeze, hinting at the secrets that lay within.
The children huddled together and looked up at there elders, who were 4. __________________

mesmerising them with the tale that they were so eager to here. 5. __________________

Read the text below and the 5 pieces of punctuation that are missing or misused – make sure you
make the punctuation clear. (5 marks)

Welcome to the Haunted House a chilling and eerie abode that lies at the edge of

darkness, like a ghostly watchman guarding the secrets it holds as you approach its

weathered gates a shiver runs down your spine you can sense the presence of the

supernatural lurking within its walls, like an invisible spectre watching your every move.

This once grand mansion now stands as a forsaken relic steeped in a history of mystery

and tragedy, its soul trapped forever.

 WRITING SECTION: EXAMPLE TASKS
Year 8 - A proposal has been made to develop a large area of your local park, purely for use by retired
people. Write a letter to your local MP, Theresa May, expressing your views on this topic.

o Use persuasive devices (MADFOREST)

o Try to make adventurous and precise word choices
o Don't forget to use a variety of sentence structures and starters.
o Check your spelling and punctuation
o Don't forget to format your text correctly (article, letter, speech)