Year 3 · Unit 11 · Lesson 4 of 5
Mock Paper 2 (Theory): Write Under Pressure
Theory · 1 hour
Answer three questions in all: one question from Part A and all the questions in Parts B and C. Write by hand on paper, or type in the boxes. Suggested timing: Part A about 30 minutes, Part B about 20, Part C about 10. When you have finished, open the marking scheme at the bottom of the page.
Answer one question only from this part. Your composition should be about 250 words long.
Question 1 · Letter
Your school plans to cancel this year's sports day to save money. Write a letter to your headteacher giving two reasons why the sports day should continue.
Question 2 · Article
Write an article for your school magazine on two ways students can reduce waste at school.
Question 3 · Story
Write a story that ends with the words: "...and that was when I realised that true friends are rare."
Your composition (state the question number):
Question 4. Read the following passage carefully and answer all the questions which follow.
Passage · written for this course
The Bicycle Repair Shop
1When the factory in our town closed, my father lost the job he had held for eighteen years. For weeks he sat by the window, saying little and eating less. My mother took on extra work as a seamstress, and I learnt to stretch a single loaf of bread across three days.
2It was my younger sister, Nadia, who changed things. One evening she wheeled her broken bicycle into the kitchen and dropped it at Father's feet. "You fix everything," she said simply. "Fix this."
3For a moment I thought he would send her away. Instead, he knelt, turned the bicycle upside down and began to spin the wheel slowly, listening to it the way a doctor listens to a heartbeat. By midnight the bicycle was as good as new.
4Word travelled fast. Within a fortnight, neighbours were queuing at our gate with punctured tyres, rusty chains and bent wheels. Father charged very little, and often nothing at all to those who could not pay. "A kindness is never wasted," he would say whenever my mother raised an eyebrow.
5Two years later, the shop has a proper sign above the door and a second-hand till that rings like a church bell. Father still listens to every wheel before he touches it. Sometimes, when a customer thanks him, he glances at Nadia and smiles, as if to remind her who started it all.
(a) Why did the narrator's father stop working? [2 marks]
(b) Give two ways in which the family coped with the loss of income. [2 marks]
(c) In what ways did Nadia's action change things for the family? [3 marks]
(d) "A kindness is never wasted." What does this saying tell us about the father? [2 marks]
(e) Explain in your own words the following expressions as used in the passage: (i) stretch a single loaf of bread across three days; (ii) word travelled fast; (iii) raised an eyebrow. [3 marks]
(f) For each of the following words, give another word or phrase that means the same and could replace it in the passage: (i) knelt; (ii) fortnight; (iii) queuing; (iv) glances. [4 marks]
(g) In two sentences of not more than ten words each: (i) summarise how the repair shop began; (ii) state one lesson the passage teaches. [4 marks]
Question 5. Answer all the questions in this part. (BECE candidates: your real paper uses your prescribed set texts; these extracts test the same skills.)
Extract 1 · Drama (written for this course)
[A small kitchen. MOTHER is stirring a pot. BEN rushes in, holding a letter.]
BEN: Mother! I've been selected for the national team!
MOTHER: [dropping the spoon] The national team? My son?
(a) The words in square brackets are called ___.
(b) How does Mother feel when she hears the news? Give one clue.
Extract 2 · Robert Louis Stevenson, "My Shadow" (1885)
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
(c) The literary device in "a little shadow that goes in and out with me" is ___.
(d) Who is most likely the speaker?
Extract 3 · William Blake, "The Tyger" (1794)
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
(e) The device in "Tyger Tyger" is ___.
(f) The device in "burning bright" is ___.
Extract 4 · A fable retold (after Aesop)
The fox jumped again and again, but the grapes hung just out of reach. At last he gave up. "Those grapes are sour anyway," said the fox, and walked away with his nose in the air.
(g) The literary device in "said the fox" is ___.
(h) What lesson does the fable teach?
Extract 5 · Poem (written for this course)
Grandmother's hands are maps of the years,
each line a road she has travelled.
(i) The literary device in "Grandmother's hands are maps" is ___.
(j) What do the "lines" on her hands refer to?
Mark your paper
Finish the whole paper before you open the scheme.
Part A (30 marks). Suggested split, following the weighting common in WAEC marking: Content 6 (relevant, developed ideas; both required points covered) · Organisation 6 (conventions of the form; paragraphs; linking) · Expression 12 (vocabulary, sentence variety, register) · Mechanical accuracy 6 (grammar, spelling, punctuation; deduct for frequent errors). A letter missing its addresses, date, salutation or subscription loses organisation marks.
Model answer · Question 1 (letter)
12 Hillside Road
Riverside Town
14 March
The Headteacher
Riverside Junior High School
P.O. Box 25
Riverside Town
Dear Sir/Madam,
REQUEST TO KEEP THE ANNUAL SPORTS DAY
I am writing on behalf of the final-year students to ask you to reconsider the decision to cancel this year's sports day. We understand that the school must save money, but we believe the event is worth keeping for two important reasons.
First, sports day keeps students healthy and active. Many of us spend most of the day sitting in classrooms, and the weeks of training before the event encourage regular exercise. Students who find academic work difficult also get the chance to shine, which builds their confidence.
Secondly, the event brings the whole school community together. Parents, teachers and students meet in a relaxed setting, and the competition between houses teaches teamwork and fair play. These are lessons that cannot easily be taught in a classroom.
We would also like to suggest ways of reducing the cost. Instead of buying new medals, the school could award certificates printed in the computer laboratory, and parents could be invited to donate refreshments. The Student Council would be happy to help organise this.
We hope you will consider our request and allow the sports day to go ahead.
Yours faithfully,
Daniel Brooks
School Prefect
Article plan: Headline: "Waste Not: Two Easy Wins for Our School" · Hook: a striking fact or question about the school's daily rubbish · Way 1: separate bins for paper, plastic and food waste, with a class monitor rota · Way 2: reusable bottles and lunch boxes, encouraged by a termly "zero-waste week" · Ending: a challenge to readers to start tomorrow.
Story plan: Opening: the narrator is popular, surrounded by "friends" · Problem: falls ill (or is blamed for something) and almost everyone disappears · Turning point: one quiet classmate visits every day, brings notes, stands up for the narrator · Ending: back at school, the crowd returns, but the narrator now knows who matters: "...and that was when I realised that true friends are rare."
Part B (20 marks).
(a) The factory where he had worked for eighteen years closed, so he lost his job. (1 mark for the factory closing, 1 for losing the job; accept own words.)
(b) His wife (the narrator's mother) took on extra sewing work; the family made their food last longer, for example one loaf for three days. (1 each.)
(c) It got the father working again and lifted his spirits; neighbours heard about the repair and brought their bicycles; this grew into a repair shop that earns money for the family. (1 each, any three.)
(d) He is generous and kind; he believes that helping others is always worthwhile, even without payment. (1 for the quality, 1 for the explanation.)
(e) (i) to make a small amount of food last a long time / to be very careful with food; (ii) the news spread quickly; (iii) showed surprise or disapproval. (1 each.)
(f) (i) knelt: went down on his knees / bent down; (ii) fortnight: two weeks; (iii) queuing: lining up / waiting in line; (iv) glances: looks quickly / takes a quick look. (1 each; the form must fit.)
(g) (i) e.g. "It began when Father repaired Nadia's broken bicycle." (ii) e.g. "Kindness and hard work can turn hardship around." (2 each: 1 for content, 1 for a correct sentence within ten words.)
Part C (10 marks, 1 each).
(a) stage directions
(b) surprised / shocked and delighted; she drops the spoon
(c) personification (the shadow is described as "him", moving like a companion)
(d) a child
(e) repetition
(f) metaphor (the tiger's bright coat is described as fire); also accept alliteration
(g) personification (an animal speaks like a human)
(h) People often pretend to dislike what they cannot have.
(i) metaphor
(j) her wrinkles, which show the experiences of a long life
Your total: Part A ___ / 30 + Part B ___ / 20 + Part C ___ / 10 = ___ / 60. Add your Paper 1 score for a total out of 100, then take your results to Lesson 5.
Next: Lesson 5, After the mock. Bring both scores.