Semester English paper 1 Grade 8 Set A

I.

Read the following poem carefully Breakfast Of all the meals that glad my day My morning ones the best; Purveyed me on a silver tray, Immaculately dressed. I rouse me when the dawn is bright; I leap into the sea, Returning with a rare delight To honey, toast and tea. My appetite was razor edged When I was in my prime; To eggs and bacon I was pledged. . . Alas! the March of Time; For now a genial old gent With journal on my knee, I sip and take with vast content My honey, toast and tea. So set me up for my delight The harvest of the bee; Brown, crispy toast with butter bright, Ceylon - two cups or three. Let others lunch or dinner praise, But I regale with glee, As I regard with grateful gaze Just honey, toast and tea. -------Robert Service

(8 marks)

1. Below is the summary of the poem. Complete it by writing the missing word/ phrase against the correct blank number in your answer sheets. (1/2 x 6 = 3 marks) On returning from a (a) in the morning, the poet experiences (b) in having, what to him is the days best meal comprising honey, toast and tea. With time, the poet has been transformed from a young man to (c) . His tastes have also changed from (d) to honey, toast and tea. The poet differs from others in that, while he thinks that breakfast is the (e) of the day, others may (f) . 2. The poet uses certain expressions in the poem to suggest something to the reader. There are some suggestions given below in circles. Choose one suggestion that best fits each of the expressions in the table, and write the answer against the correct blank number in your answer sheets. (4 marks) 1. The single file parade by time 2. Look delightfully exultantly, Gratefully 3. Respect and offer gratitude

4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

My appetite had sharp edges Wearing fine clothes Passage of time I was extremely hungry Perfectly laid out EXPRESSION FROM THE POEM I was in my prime Immaculately dressed My appetite was razor edged March of time Regard with grateful glee TO SUGGEST THAT I was young a) b) c) d)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

l.3. On the basis of your reading of the poem, explain the following expressions. Write the answer against the correct blank number in your answer sheets. a. Ceylon b. harvest of the beeII.

(1 mark)

Read the passage given below. (12 marks) Decision-making is a very vital part of our lives. This is because what we are today is largely a result of the decisions we took in the past. Similarly, whatever happens tomorrow will be a result of the decisions we take in the present. It is not possible to reverse the wrong decisions taken in the past but it is possible to train ourselves into becoming a good decision-maker for the future. If we dont, well end up doing what weve always done and thus get what weve always got. Philosopher Walter Kaufman has called this Decidophobia. All sorts of decisions big or small, relevant or irrelevant, conscious or unconscious punctuate our lives. Sometimes we dont even realise we are taking a decision. Those who avoid taking a decision leave everything to chance and float along life with a what will be, will be attitude. To enhance our decision-making, we must, first of all, gather as much information as possible about the issue before we make our decision. We might be heading for a failure if our decisions are based on half-baked information. If you have a set of guiding principles for your life, decision-making becomes a lot easier. For example, if you value integrity and honesty and consider them to be of vital importance, you will never waver. Sometimes decisions are very difficult to make, especially when the odds seem to be against us. In this case, giving ourselves a little time to decide wouldnt be a bad idea at all. Circumstances may change with time and then it may be easier to see which action is more preferable to the others. Being clear about your goals can facilitate decision-making. If we know exactly where we want to be or what we want to do in the next five years or even ten, we will decide to undertake actions which will lead us to our goals. So outline your short and long-term goals in black and white. Action is a vital consequence of decision-making. It is the necessary follow-up. Only when we act will we get a feedback of whether our decision has been correct or not and then we can proceed in a more focused way. So it is essential to move from the world of thought to the arena of action.

1. On the basis of your reading of the passage above complete the following sentences. Write the answers in your answer sheets against the correct blank number. a) The course of our life is largely determined................................................

(8 marks)

b) People who suffer from Decidophobia are unable to shape their lives because........ c) The first step towards decision-making would be................................................ d) If your value system is clearly defined then ........................................................ e) In situations where ................................................ taking a little time to decide would be the best way out. f) Outlining your goals can facilitate decision-making because................................. g) Decision-making is futile if it is not ........................................................ h) To proceed in a focused way it is essential that ................................................ 2. Find words/ phrases from the passage which mean the same as the following from the paragraphs Write the answers in your answer sheets against the correct blank number. (4marks) i) to interrupt repeatedly ii) not considered carefully iii) to make possible or easier iv) information or statements of opinion about something that provide an idea of whether it is successful or liked

III.

Read the following account of the sinking of the Titanic, written by a survivor.

(10marks)

We did not begin to understand the situation until we were perhaps a mile or more away from the Titanic. Then we could see the rows of lights along the decks begin to slant gradually upwards from the bow. Very slowly the lines of light began to point downward at a greater and greater angle. The sinking was so slow that you could not perceive the lights of the deck changing their position. The slant seemed to be greater every quarter of an hour. That was the only difference. In a couple of hours though she began to go down more rapidly. Then the fearful sight began. The people in the ship were just beginning to realise how great their danger was. When the forward part of the ship dropped suddenly at a faster rate, so that the upward slope became marked, there was a sudden rush of passengers on all the decks towards the stern. It was like a wave. We could see the great black mass of people in the steerage sweeping to the rear part of the boat and breaking through into the upper decks. At the distance of about a mile we could distinguish everything through the night, which was perfectly clear. We could make out the increasing excitement on board the boat as the people, rushing to and fro, caused the deck lights to disappear and reappear as they passed in front of them. This panic went on, it seemed, for an hour. Then suddenly the ship seemed to shoot up out of the water and stand there perpendicularly. It seemed to us that it stood upright in the water for four full minutes. Then it began to slide gently downwards. Its speed increased as it went down headfirst, so that the stern shot down with a rush. By: Mrs D H Bishop Mrs Bishop describes each stage of the sinking of the Titanic. A) Write a summary of her account of what happened to the ship. Write about 70 words. Use your own words, as far as possible.

Paper 2 Set A

A. Read the following passage carefully, and answer all the questions

A Moment of Madness
It was Arvind's birthday. In the afternoon there would be a cake and a party, but it would be like other birthdays, and Arvind was eleven. So in the morning, he collected his friends, Jimmy and Paudeni, and they set off to the forest that lay on the hillside in a huge half-moon behind the village. When they reached the first few trees they stopped, listening to the sounds of the birds and searching for the rare striped butterflies that Arvind's uncle had told them about. They cried out to test the echo and then became savages, rushing carelessly into the forest and battering the undergrowth with sticks. Eventually they reached a clearing. Jimmy said he was hungry and they started to devour the birthday food they had brought. Arvind pulled out a packet from his bag. "Look," he said, "I've brought some chicken. We'll make a fire and cook it." He pulled out some matches. "Get some sticks, Jimmy. Make a big pile. Everything's dry; it'll burn like crazy." Paudeni looked worried. "My Mum says never ever start a fire in a forest, specially this year because it hasn't rained and because of the winds. She says you don't know what fire can do until you've experienced it. She says people who know always dig a big circle round a fire because it can't burn through the soil. She says "Rubbish, there's no danger," interrupted Arvind, with the authority of a boy on his eleventh birthday. "I know what I'm doing." Jimmy returned carrying a great armful of sticks and made a castle out of them. Arvind struck a match and the fire was alive. His satisfaction was short-lived. The dry wood exploded into a sheet of threatening flame and, from nowhere, a breeze began to blow. The children watched, horrified, as the fire spread like scuttling mice into the surrounding undergrowth. They never realised that everything was tinder dry. They had never seen how quickly a fire could start to devour all the twigs and the dead leaves that had lain undisturbed on the forest floor. "Quick! Stop it!" screamed Paudeni. But how could they? The fire spread in too many directions at once. If they managed to stop one of its tentacles, two more would have spread beyond their reach. The boys rushed back and forth, stamping pointlessly on the flames and then, after a short while, just looked on in a sort of awful fascination. "Look!" shouted Jimmy. The fire had reached the trees at the sides of the clearing and was shooting upwards, devouring ancient, dead ivy and dry bark. In no time the sounds of the forest were drowned by frightening explosions. Birds and animals rushed for safety as their homes and feeding areas were engulfed in flame. The speed and magnitude of such destruction were beyond the boys' imagination. They ran for their lives, trying to find a way out of the terrible, burning forest. It was the only story in the newspaper the next day. There were interviews with the villagers, recounting their fears as the fire had threatened their homes before the wind miraculously changed. The forest lay in ruins, a minor ecological disaster, threatening the village with floods and landslides when the rains eventually returned. And poor Arvind lay in a hospital bed, his face scarred for life by the sudden sheet of flame that had risen up without warning to challenge his last steps to safety. Who was to blame? The newspaper blamed the schools for not teaching the children a fire code or giving them stories about the dangers of fires. The schools privately blamed the parents for not hiding matches and for not keeping control of their children. Parents blamed the newspapers and television for not continuing to publicise the state of the forests in conditions of drought and wind. The story of Arvind's birthday is a sad reminder that fire is a dangerous force to be reckoned with and that its effects are potentially terrible. Fire is everyone's responsibility, but how do we ensure that everyone understands, and what exactly are responsibilities of school, parents and the media?

1. a. Using your own words, give three details the writer gives about the forest in paragraph 1 [3] b. Why did the boys cry out when they entered the forest? [1] (c) For what two reasons was Paudeni concerned about lighting a fire? [2] (d) Give two words of your own to describe Arvinds behaviour. Explain why you have chosen each word by referring to details from the passage. [4] (e) Re-read the final paragraph of the passage and, using your own words, explain what the writer means by it. [3] (f) What two reasons are given in the passage to explain why the children could not control the fire? [2] (g) Re-read paragraphs 5-7 (Rubbish, theres no dangerawful fascination) and explain what each of these words or phrases tells you about the fire: castle spread like scuttling mice tentacles [6] (h) Why do you think the writer describes the boys as looking on in a sort of awful fascination at the end of paragraph 7? [2] (i) Re-read paragraphs 10 and 11 (It was the only storyconditions of drought and wind.) Write a summary of the effects of the fire and what different peoples reactions were to it . [7]

B. Write an article for a school magazine about owning animals. (20 marks) You could include some of the following in your article: The different reasons why people keep animals The responsibilities of owning animals the care and attention they will require Whether animals should be kept as pets You may wish to add some of your own experiences of owning an animal or your own opinion about owning animals .