NAME:________________________________ SCHOOL:__________________

2024 M052/II

NSANJE DISTRICT MOCK

MALAWI SCHOOL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION EXAMINATION

ENGLISH
Subject Number: M052/II
Tuesday, 19 March Time Allowed: 1 h 45 mins
11:00-12:45 pm
PAPER II
(60 marks)

Instructions
1. This paper contains 11 printed pages. Please Question Tick questions Do not write
check. Number 1 & 2 if in these
2. This paper contains two sections, A and B. answered columns
1
3. Answer all questions in both sections.

4. Use the spaces provided to answer questions in 2

this paper.

5. Follow the instructions for each section carefully Total

6. Write your Name and School Name at the top of

each page of your question paper in the spaces provided.
7. In the table provided on this page, tick against the
question number you have answered.
8. At the end of the examination, hand in your paper
to the invigilator.

©2024 NE DISTRICT MOCK Turn over

NAME:_________________________________ SCHOOL:_________________
2024 Page 2 of 11 M052/II
Section A (20 marks)
NOTE MAKING

1. Read the following passage carefully and afterwards make a summary of it

in NOTE-FORM.
In your summary:
a. Provide a suitable title for the passage.
b. Give the main points
c. Supply the supporting points for each main point.

Marks will be awarded for content, note-style, and fair-copy layout.

Candidates who simply copy the passage will be penalised.

Sports provide an essential part of learning. Every school allocates time for
Sports like football, volleyball, basketball and athletics so that learners can
relax from the academic work. Learners play a lot during sports, hence the
reason why we sometimes call this time games time. There are many benefits
related to sports.

First, the use of games helps to regulate behavior among the participants. They
Learn the virtue of being fair. When the rules are broken, the player at fault or
even his or her team suffers. Players are careful not to hurt their opponents as
this could have adverse outcomes for their team. Following rules helps to instil
discipline in the individual.

Continued/…
NAME:_________________________________ SCHOOL:_________________
2024 Page 3 of 11 M052/II
Players also learn key lessons in a team work. When players fail to coordinate
with one another, the team ends up losing to their more organized competitors.
Players know that they all need each other and they must work together
in order to win. Yet players always fail to coordinate and annoy one another. In
ball games, a player can pass the ball poorly, sometimes even to the opponent to
the disgust of the other team members. To continue playing as a team, the players
need to constantly coordinate and cooperate.

Another point is tolerance. Tolerance is an important virtue in a world where we

are all different in terms of complexion, body shape, social status, gender, faith,
tribe, nationality and race, to name but a few. Tolerance helps to appreciate each
other’s weaknesses and strengths. It is tolerance and appreciation that helps
communities to live in peace and harmony. All these visual lessons are learnt
practically in sports.

Lastly, sports also helps to grow desirable leadership qualities in a person.

President Barrack Obama of United States of America and the late Nelson
Mandela, the founding president of South Africa were both great sports people. It
may be well known that the virtues of tolerance and appreciation of others,
cooperation and forgiveness that they learnt in sports turned them into great leaders
of their time. In a game, there will always be an opportunity to be a leader by
example. Whether you have been appointed as a team captain or not, being a team
player is itself a position of leadership, especially in moments of stress and fatigue,
conflict and tension. It should therefore be treated as a great honour when we are
asked to join sports in school. If you know the benefits that accrue from sports, you
would be scrambling to join the numerous school teams.

(Adapted from Excel & Succeed, Senior Secondary English Students Book 4
by Dr. Fritz Kadyoma)

Continued/…
NAME:_________________________________ SCHOOL:_________________
2024 Page 4 of 11 M052/II
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Continued/…
NAME:_________________________________ SCHOOL:_________________
2024 Page 5 of 11 M052/II
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Continued/…
NAME:_________________________________ SCHOOL:_________________
2024 Page 6 of 11 M052/II
Section B (40 marks)
Comprehension
Read the following passage carefully and answer all the questions that follow.
Mtchana, a sturdy twenty-seven year-old bachelor, was preparing his evening meal
when a piercing whistle sound jerked him.

“Pprrr… pprrr!” it pricked his ears and in a moment, a dreadful announcement

followed: “Someone has died in the township!” Young men eager to serve society
in the most productive way roared on top of their voices, street after street, making
the announcement that Mkhomazidebe, the tinsmith, had died. Mtchana had known
the deceased for a long time even before he began living in the township. The news
of his death did not surprise him because Mkhomazidebe had been unwell for a
very long time.

The announcement meant that Mtchana and other young men had to go to the
deceased’s house. It was a cultural edict that had to be followed. Besides,
Mkhomazidebe stayed a few houses away from his. Personally, he felt it would be
improper to be absent at a neighbour’s funeral.

Still he had to take his meal. Being a drunkard, he knew that prolonged drinking
habits were best sustained through good eating habits. In as far as liquor was
concerned; Mtchana was too weak to resist a temptation to wet his throat.

After his super, Mtchana latched the door and trotted to the deceased’s house
where he joined a multitude of other mourners who had already gathered. A fire
had been lit outside the deceased’s house to provide the much needed warmth for
this cold June night. Young men sat around it and one could easily mistake it for a
festive gathering for they laughed consumedly.

At dawn, the young men left for the township’s cemetery with hoes, picks and
shovels. Mtchana was amongst them. A spot that was to be the final resting place
of the deceased was identified. Mtchana's friend, who responded to the nickname,
Zhoba began to dig. His lips were patched red due to excessive intake of kachasu
liquor.

Continued/…
NAME:_________________________________ SCHOOL:_________________
2024 Page 7 of 11 M052/II
“Look at how Zhoba is handling the hoe. One would think that he is holding a
bottle of kachasu liquor. I can dig the grave alone if someone bought me a packet
of cigarettes and five packets of Chibuku beer,” remarked Mtchana and everybody
broke into uncontrollable laughter.

Zhoba momentarily held the hoe in mid air and looked intently at Mtchana. “It’s
only five o’clock and you have already started creating a mountain out of a
molehill. That is all a dumb mind like yours can think of,” Zhoba shot back.
The others laughed at Mtchana’s senseless talk. One of the young men, however,
was thrilled with the prospect of seeing a lone grave digger. He was Mandevu and
he owned a vibrant coffin shop that was situated close to the cemetery.

“Perhaps you mustn’t shoot him down yet, remember that digging is his career,”
Mandevu said. “I will buy him whatever he needs and let us see if he can book a
place in the Guiness Book of Records.”

In the ensuing moments, Mandevu managed to persuade the group to let Mtchana
attempt his bizarre feat. The items were bought on the understanding that Mtchana
would smoke the cigarettes at will and drink packet of Chibuku beer only during
the exercise. The rest of the packets would be consumed later.

Five hours later, a six feet deep grave was completed. There was a loud noise in
the cemetery as the young men swarmed round Mtchana to congratulate him on
what they termed a brave act. Mtchana boasted that he would dig his own grave
yard someday.

They all laughed him off. A message was sent to the deceased’s house to let them
know that the grave was ready.

Meanwhile, the bereaved family members and some elders of the area were locked
in a heated meeting. An influential relative, who hither to unknown to them, had
offered to transport the remains of Mkhomazidebe to Tsalani, his home district.
Family members were briefing the elders about the sudden change of the program.

“Where was this benevolent man all along? Does he realize that abandoning a dug
grave is a bad omen?” fumed one of the elders. After a protracted meeting, it was
agreed that a banana stem would instead be buried in the grave.

Continued/…
NAME:_________________________________ SCHOOL:_________________
2024 Page 8 of 11 M052/II

As Mkhomazidebe’s remains were being taken to their resting place, some young
men were entrusted with the responsibility of hunting for the banana stem that was
a rarity in the area. At that time, Mtchana had left the cemetery and was on his way
home heavily drunk. A decrepit lorry veered off the road and before anyone could
tell what was going on, the lorry ran him over. He died on the spot.

News of Mtchana's death shocked everybody. More shocked were the young men
who had actually been with him at the cemetery. The banana stem had not yet been
thrown in the grave. This is where they buried Mtchana the following day. During
Mtchana’s burial, Zhoba, his best friend, wept uncontrollably.
(Adapted from The Sunday Times, July, 2007)

Questions

a. What was Mtchana doing when the death announcement was made?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)
b. Give any two reasons why Mtchana felt obliged to go to the deceased’s
house when the news of death was announced.
(i)
_____________________________________________________________
(ii)
_____________________________________________________________
(4 marks)
c. Why did Mtchana make it a point not to miss his meals?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

Continued/…
NAME:_________________________________ SCHOOL:_________________
2024 Page 9 of 11 M052/II
d. Why did Mandevu offer to buy cigarettes and packets of beer for Mtchana?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

e. Give meanings of the following words as they are used in the passage:
(i) “dreadful” (paragraph 2)
__________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)
(ii) “edict” (paragraph 3)
__________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)

(iii) “thrilled” (paragraph 9)

__________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)
(iv) “protracted” (paragraph 15)
__________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)
f. Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the passage:
(i) “creating a mountain out of a molehill” (paragraph 8)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
(ii) “mustn’t shoot him down” (paragraph 10)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

Continued/…
NAME:_________________________________ SCHOOL:_________________
2024 Page 10 of 11 M052/II
(iii) “laughed him off” (paragraph 13)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
g. Explain the sudden change of program in the burial of Mkhomazidebe.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)
h. On what condition was Mtchana allowed to have the beer which Mandevu
bought?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
i. In what way are Zhoba and Mtchana’s habits similar?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
j. In what way does the story end tragically?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
k. Suggest the title for the passage.
_____________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

Continued/…
NAME:_________________________________ SCHOOL:_________________
2024 Page 11 of 11 M052/II
l. Summarize the passage in your own words. The summary should be between
70 and 100 words.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(10 marks)
END OF QUESTION PAPER
NB: This paper contains 11 pages.