Pearson Edexcel International

Lower Secondary Curriculum

English
Year 9
Time: 1 hour 30 minutes Advice

You do not need any other materials. • Read each question carefully
before you start to answer it.

• Try to answer every question.

Instructions
• Check your answers if you have
• Use black ink or ball-point pen. time at the end.
Answer ALL questions. Write your answers in the spaces provided.
Section A
Some questions must be answered with a cross in a box . If you change your mind
about an answer, put a line through the box and then mark your new answer with a
cross .

Read Text 1 below and answer the questions which follow.

Evelyn Glennie. World famous percussionist.
Since the age of 12 Evelyn Glennie has been profoundly deaf. She started to
lose her hearing at the age of just 8 years old. However, this does not hinder
her ability to perform all over the world.
To get a better feel of the music, Evelyn is regularly known to take her shoes off and
perform barefoot in both her live and studio performances. She claims to have been
able to teach herself to hear with other parts of her body instead of her ears. There
are no boundaries to what Evelyn wants to achieve. Her deafness doesn’t have the
slightest impact on her ability or willingness to do anything. She strongly promotes
improving the world’s understanding of deaf people.
Evelyn never highlights the fact she is deaf as she wants to encourage the audience
through her music. She does not want them distracted by wondering how a deaf
musician can play musical instruments. She claims ‘the media simply make stuff up’
about her deafness and are misinformed on the topic.
She states, ‘Deafness does not mean that you can’t hear, only that there is
something wrong with the ears. Even someone who is totally deaf can still
hear/feel sounds’. Her slogan is‘Teach The World To Listen’. These are very
wise words that continue to mean she is a positive role model within the deaf
community.
‘With my hearing I am better at certain things than others. I need to lip-read to
understand speech but my awareness of the sound in a concert hall is excellent and
I will sometimes describe it in terms of how thick the air feels.
My hearing is something that bothers other people far more than it bothers me.
There are a couple of inconveniences but in general it doesn’t affect my life much.
For me, my deafness is no more important than the fact I am female with brown
eyes. Sure, I sometimes have to find solutions to problems regarding my hearing
and its relation to music, but so do all musicians. Most of us know very little about
hearing, even though we do it all the time.’
1 What is the purpose of the first paragraph?
Put a cross in one box.

A It provides a brief history of the subject of this biography.

B It introduces what the biography is going to be about.
C It sums up what problems deaf people have.
D It introduces the subject of this biography.

(Total for Question 1 = 1 mark)

2 ‘Her deafness doesn’t have the slightest impact on her ability or willingness to
do anything. She strongly promotes improving the world’s understanding of
deaf people.’

(a) What does the word ‘promotes’ mean in the context of this sentence?
Put a cross in one box.
A advertises
B markets
C encourages
D upgrades
(b) Write one word from the sentence that means the same as ‘least’.

.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... (1)

(Total for Question 2 = 2 marks)

3 What is Evelyn’s main reason for not drawing attention to the fact that she
cannot hear?

..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)

4 Why do you think Evelyn uses the slogan ‘Teach the World to Listen’?

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 4 = 1 mark)

 5 Give the ways that Evelyn ‘hears’ in different situations.

Different situations Your answer

In conversation

When playing in a concert

(Total for Question 5 = 2 marks)

6 `There are a couple of inconveniences but in general it doesn’t affect my

life much’. Give the word from this sentence that shows deafness is
troublesome.

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 6 = 1 mark)

7 Give two ways that the final paragraph shows that Evelyn is no different from
other musicians.

1 ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

2 ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 7 = 2 marks)

Read Text 2 below about sound and answer the questions which
follow. Sound

Sound
It’s almost impossible to imagine a world without it. It’s probably the first thing you
experience when you wake up in the morning — when you hear birds chirping or
your alarm clock bleeping away. Sound fills our days with excitement and meaning,
when people talk to us, when we listen to music, or when we hear interesting
programmes on the radio and TV. Sound is the last thing you hear at night as well
when you listen to your heartbeat and drift gradually into the soundless world of
sleep. Sound is fascinating — let’s take a closer look at how it works!
What is sound?
Sound is the energy things produce when they vibrate (move back and forwards
quickly). If you bang a drum, you make the tight skin vibrate at very high speed (it’s
so fast that you can’t usually see it), forcing the air all around it to vibrate as well. As
the air moves, it carries energy out from the drum in all directions. Eventually, even
the air inside your ears starts vibrating—and that’s when you begin to perceive the
vibrating drum as a sound. In short, there are two different aspects to sound: there’s
a physical process that produces sound energy to start with and sends it shooting
through the air, and there’s a separate physiological process that happens inside
our ears and brains, which convert the incoming sound energy into sensations we
interpret as noises, speech, and music. We’re just going to concentrate on the
physical aspects of sound in this article.
Sound is like light in some ways: it travels out from a definite source (such as an
instrument or a noisy machine), just as light travels out from the Sun or a light bulb.
But there are some very important differences between light and sound as well. We
know light can travel through a vacuum because sunlight has to race through the
vacuum of space to reach us on Earth. Sound, however, cannot travel through a
vacuum: it always has to have something to travel through (known as a medium),
such as air, water, glass, or metal.
8 How might the introduction help the reader?
Put a cross in one box.

A It makes it clear what the reader already knows.

B It makes the writer seem more knowledgeable.
C It makes it seem like someone is speaking.
D It makes the content seem more accessible.

(Total for Question 8 = 1 mark)

9 Look at paragraph 1.
Put a tick in a box for each statement given below to show whether it is true or false.
True False

Sound is an integral part of every day.

Sound wakes us up.

Sound stops us sleeping at night.

Sound is made up of many different things.

(Total for Question 9 = 1 mark)

10 Look at paragraph 2. Copy out the words that explain what vibrate means.

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
 (Total for Question 10 = 1 mark)

11 In paragraph 2, the writer says vibration is a key feature in the production of

sound. Give one other feature.

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 11 = 1 mark

12 Complete the table below.

Evidence from the text

One feature where

sound is like light.

One feature where

sound is different from
light.

(Total for Question 12 = 1 mark)

13 Find and copy the sentence in the last paragraph that shows a sense of urgency.

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 13 = 1 mark)

14 Use Text 1 and Text 2 to answer the following question.

Compare the different ways that the writers present their views on the
importance of sound to the reader.

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 14 = 4 marks)

Read Text 3 below, and answer the questions which follow.

Text 3
This is a story about Helen Keller’s teacher. Helen Keller was a young girl who lost
her sight and hearing when she was ill as a young child. Helen must learn to
communicate in different ways, for example through having letters spelt on her
hand.
Outside the warm sunshine makes her skip and hop like a little frog. Her nose
trembles in the soft air, drawing her to the honeysuckle that covers the pump
house. Reaching it, she stretches to weave her fingers into the tangle of cool
leaves.
I pull her aside and force the mug into her hand. ‘Like this!’ I demand positioning the
mug under the spout. I take a step back. Helen slouches. With a jerk I twist the mug
and reposition her. Another step back. She holds her pose. Joining our free hands I
catch hold of the pump handle, wincing at the heat of the sun-scorched paint.
I spell w-a-t-e-r, first slowly, then faster and faster as I work the handle. Suddenly
a wide tongue of water gushes from the mouth of the pump.
She freezes. The mug drops, shattering on the packed dirt. Her hand clutches at
mine. She stands transfixed, her whole attention focused on the motion of my
fingers.
I feel a change in the way she grips my hand. Her muscles, so often limp with
indifference, strain to catch each movement. My chest heaves as I realise the
difference: she’s listening with every bone and fibre.
Something is happening inside her head.
The letters don’t thud blankly into her palm. I feel them crackle through her skin,
forging a lightening-path up the muscles on her arms. Her chin trembles. Light
washes over her face, smothering my impulse to pat her hand.
Rigid with astonishment, Helen pulls my whole arm under the cold stream, spelling
water again and again and yet again, begging me to understand. Amazement
makes her movements slow, almost graceful, and I know she is realising, as she
never has before, how simple it can be to make the world understand anything in
her mind. I feel a bursting, the flash of two minds meeting there in my palm. The
weight of it chokes me.
In a frenzy Helen breaks free and drops to the ground. I stand for a moment looking
into my empty hands as if expecting to find something left behind. A broken shell, a
withered cocoon? Pulsing with excitement, Helen slaps the wet earth at my feet,
seizing my skirts like a desperate pauper. My fingers won’t make the letters fast
enough. G-r-o-u-n-d. In the space of a breath she spells the word to me, to herself,
to the very ground beneath us.
Hungry for more, Helen pulls me to the pump, the fence, anything within reach,
tearing their names from my fingers. Her breath comes in great, choking gulps,
like a crippled laugh. She throws her arms out wide, ready to embrace the world.
Flinging herself around, her hands fall on me.
She stops still. Her fingers walk up to my face. For the first time she seems
unsure of herself. Softer now, she pats my cheek, then my hand.
Me. She wants to know what I am, in a single word.
I bite my lips as I spell out the letters: t-e-a-c-h-e-r.
15 What sense does Helen use to find the honeysuckle?
Put a cross in one box.

A taste
B touch
C smell
D sight
 (Total for Question 15 = 1 mark)

16 From paragraph 1, give an example of a simile.

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 16 = 1 mark)

17 Complete the table below with one reason why the reader might feel sorry for
Helen and one reason they might feel sorry for the writer at the beginning of the
text.
Character Reason to feel sorry

Helen

Writer

(Total for Question 17 = 2 marks)

18 From paragraph 4, give one way that shows Helen has understood what her
teacher is doing.

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 18 = 1 mark)

19 What do Helen and her teacher have in common?

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 19 = 1 mark)

20 From the paragraph beginning ‘Rigid with astonishment’, give two ways the
writer shows Helen is excited by the breakthrough.

1 ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

2 ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 20 = 2 marks)

21 How does the writer react to Helen’s breakthrough?
Put a cross in one box.

A She is proud
B She is overwhelmed
C She is heavy
D She is understanding

(Total for Question 21 = 1 mark)

22 What makes all of the objects she touches exciting for Helen?

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 22 = 1 mark)

23 ‘…as if expecting to find something left behind,’

What does this suggest about what the writer felt when Helen signed for the
first time?

.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ............................

......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................

..............................................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 23 = 1 mark)

24 Give evidence from the text that shows Helen has changed in her manner.
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 24 = 1 mark)

25 Put a cross in the box that best sums up the character of the teacher.

A unsure
B impatient
C enthusiastic
D determined

(Total for Question 25 = 1 mark)

26 Give two ways that show the contrast between Helen as she was at the
beginning of the extract and how she is at the end.
Beginning End

(Total for Question 26 = 2 marks)

27 What event causes Helen to slow down?

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 27 = 1 mark)

28 Explain as fully as you can how the writer has made the extract interesting
and engaging for the reader.
(4)

.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ............................

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ ........................................................

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ ....................................................................................

................................................................................................................................................................................................ ................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................ ........................................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................ ....................................................................................................................................................................................................

................................................................................ ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

....................................................

(Total for Question 28 = 4 marks) TOTAL FOR SECTION A = 40

MARK

SECTION B: Grammar and punctuation.

29 Change this sentence into the active voice.
This day will never be forgotten by Helen and her teacher.

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 29 = 1 mark)

30 Insert brackets for parenthesis into the sentence below.

Helen who was both blind and deaf following a childhood illness was indulged
by her parents.

(Total for Question 30 = 1 mark)

31 Put apostrophes into the correct place in these sentences

(a) Helens teacher was patient.
(b) Teachers greatest assets are patience and tolerance.
(c) The schools teachers were all trained to use sign language.

(Total for Question 31 = 3 marks)

32 Add an expanded noun phrase to the sentences below to provide more

detail.

(a) The ground grew muddy as the

............................................................................................ ....................................... gushed out of the tap.

(b) The ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ran from

object to object.

(Total for Question 32 = 2 marks)

33 Use a suitable adverb to describe how Helen approached her new skill.

Helen signed the new words ............................................................................................

(Total for Question 33 = 1 mark)

34 Correct these mistakes of agreement.

Mistake Correction
 We was

They is

I were

(Total for Question 34 = 1 mark)

35 Change these adjectives into adverbs.

Adjective Adverb

immediate

spiteful

stony

(Total for Question 35 = 1 mark) TOTAL FOR SECTION B =

10 MARK
SECTION C: Writing.
36 Write a short account of a time when you have learnt a new skill.
In your writing, you should describe:
• what the skill is
• what you had to do to learn it
• how you felt when you were successful.

.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ............................

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ ........................................................

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ ....................................................................................

................................................................................................................................................................................................ ................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................

(Total for Question 36 = 20 marks) TOTAL FOR SECTION C = 20

MARKS