DEPARTMENT FOR CURRICULUM,

LIFELONG LEARNING AND EMPLOYABILITY

Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes Track 3
Educational Assessment Unit
Annual Examinations for Secondary Schools 2021

YEAR 9 ENGLISH TIME: 2 hours

Name: ___________________________ Class: _____________

Marks
Oral Assessment Listening Comprehension Written Paper Total

SECTION A: LANGUAGE 15 marks

A. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb in brackets. The first
one (0) has been done for you. (5 marks)

It (0) wasn’t (be not) my usual holiday experience: (1) _______________

(stand) on the beach and getting ready (2) _______________ (release) a baby
sea turtle no bigger than my hand. Before booking my holiday, I (3)
_______________ (see) many online videos of tourists freeing turtles in the sea
and that was exactly how I (4) _________________ (decide) to spend my last
night once I was in Mexico. The event (5) ____________________ (organised)
by Oscar who (6) _________________________ (work) as a zoologist up till a
year ago. Since then, he (7) _______________________ (save) sea turtles that
are under threat from poachers who want their meat and eggs. At a signal from
Oscar, we gently placed them on the sand, stepped back, watched as they crawled
slowly into the sea and vanished beneath the waves. Back home, I still think of
the tiny baby turtle and wonder where it is now. (8) _______________ it
_______________ (make) it to the open sea? Oscar has dedicated his life to
saving sea turtles while I (9) ____________________ (only give) a few minutes
of my time but they (10) _______________ (stay) with me for a lifetime.

English – Year 9 – Track 3 – 2021 Page 1 of 10

B. Fill in the blanks with correct word formed from the word in brackets.
The first one (0) has been done for you. (5 marks)

Convincing someone to change their mind is really the process of convincing them
to change their tribe. If they abandon their (0) beliefs (believe), they run the
risk of losing social ties. You can’t expect someone to change their mind if you
take away their community too. Nobody wants their worldview torn apart if (1)
_______________ (alone) is the outcome. The way to change people’s minds is
to become friends with them, to integrate them into your tribe, to bring them into
your circle. Now, they can change their beliefs without the risk of being (2)
_______________ (social) abandoned. The British (3) _______________
(philosophy) Alain de Botton suggests that we should even share meals with those
who (4) _______________ (agree) with us: “Sitting down at a table with a group
of strangers has the incomparable and odd benefit of making it a little more
difficult to dislike them. For all the large-scale (5) _______________ (politics)
solutions which have been proposed to solve ethnic conflict, there are few more
(6) _______________ (effect) ways to promote tolerance between (7)
_______________ (suspicion) neighbours than to force them to eat supper
together.” Perhaps it is not difference, but distance that breeds (8)
_______________ (hostile). As people come closer together, so does (9)
_______________ (understand). I am reminded of Abraham Lincoln's quote, “I
don't like that man. I must get to know him better.” Facts don't change our minds,
(10) _______________ (friend) does.

C. Fill in the blanks with one appropriate word. The first one (0) has been
done for you. (5 marks)

Amazon, which is considered (0) one of the Big Four tech companies in the world,
is working (1) _______________ rules about technology that can recognise a (2)
_______________ ’s face. Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, says that his company is
working on these rules that he (3) _______________ to present to Congress.
Bezos believes that facial (4) _______________ has many advantages, but there
is also danger that it can be (5) _______________. Critics worry that this
technology could lead to discrimination and violation (6) _______________
human rights. Last February, Amazon released rules for the new technology, (7)
_______________ could become a part of federal legislation. The technology
must protect civil (8) _______________ and all activities must be transparent.
This is (9) _______________ as transparency builds trust and makes employees
feel that they are working for a company with (10) _______________ ethical
standards.

Page 2 of 10 English – Year 9 – Track 3 – 2021

SECTION B: READING COMPREHENSION 20 marks

Read the texts that are on a separate sheet, and then answer the
questions below about Text 1 and Text 2.

Underline the correct answer.

1. The most suitable title for this passage is (½ mark)
a. Luxurious Cities
b. The Benefits of Urban Trees
c. Innovative Public Funding

2. This passage is taken from an online (½ mark)

a. article
b. breaking news item
c. blog

3. What is special about urban tree-lined streets? (1 mark)

_____________________________________________________________
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4. List three benefits of having native trees in cities. (3 marks)

a. ___________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________________

5. In your own words, write down how trees reduce the risk of flooding.
(2 marks)
a. ___________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________

6. How do trees affect the property market? (1 mark)

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7. Why is replanting trees a pressing matter in America? (1 mark)
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8. What does Rob McDonald suggest? Why? (2 marks)

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9. Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage. (2 marks)
a. multitude (line 10) - ___________________________________________
b. mitigate (line 17) - ___________________________________________
c. insulation (line 22) - ___________________________________________
d. saplings (line 51) - ___________________________________________

10. What do the following words refer to in the passage? (2 marks)

a. It (line 3) – ___________________________________________
b. They (line 18) – ___________________________________________
c. This (line 40) – ___________________________________________
d. that (line 47) – ___________________________________________

11. Look at the illustration in Text 2. State whether the following

statements are True (T) or False (F) and give a reason for your
answers. (5 marks)

a. Haiti has planted over two million new trees throughout the last decade. ___
because ______________________________________________________
b. This reforestation has not seen any change in wildlife habitat. ___
because ______________________________________________________
c. Lumber is only being used to construct new buildings. ___
because ______________________________________________________
d. Reforestation has favourably affected energy bills. ___
because ______________________________________________________
e. There are now fewer chances of natural disasters hitting the area. ___
because ______________________________________________________

Page 4 of 10 English – Year 9 – Track 3 – 2021

SECTION C: LITERATURE 20 marks

Part 1 - Unprepared Text: Poetry 10 marks

Read the following poem and answer the questions below.

The Half-Mile by Pamela Gillilan

I was twelve when I swam the half-mile, 1

up and down the tide-fed cold concrete
pool, with a slow steady side-stroke.
My father counted the lengths,
at first from the deep-end board 5
and then, as I moved more laboriously,
pacing alongside, urging me on.

The race was only against myself

and distance. The grainy salt water,
though not translucent like the chlorinated 10
blue lidos of town, buoyed me helpfully,
lapped softly against the bath’s grey sides
variegated with embedded hardcore pebbles.
I swam from goal to alternate goal; he counted.

When he called enough I scrambled 15

over the sharp shutter-cast lip,
shuddered into a dry towel, drank
the words of praise. The planks
of the changing-room walls
were warm to touch. It had seemed to be 20
a great deal of swimming; still does.

Underline the correct answer.

1. The poem is about (1 mark)

a. a man who coaches a swimming team
b. a child who takes part in competitive swimming
c. the benefits of swimming for young people

2. The poem is written in (1 mark)

a. alternate rhyme
b. free verse
c. rhyming couplets

English – Year 9 – Track 3 – 2021 Page 5 of 10

3. a. In the first stanza, the persona describes the experience of swimming in a
“tide-fed cold concrete pool” (lines 2-3). What effect does this description
bring out? (1 mark)

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b. How does this impact on the persona’s effort? (1 mark)

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c. How does this contrast with the experience of swimming in the sea?
(1 mark)

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4. Quote a phrase in the first stanza that suggests that the persona followed a
rhythm when swimming. (1 mark)

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5. a. How is the persona’s father portrayed in the poem? Support your answer
with evidence from the poem. (2 marks)

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b. How does this affect the persona in the last stanza? (1 mark)

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6. The last stanza ends with the words “still does”. What effect does the poet
achieve with this phrase? (1 mark)

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Part 2 - Unprepared Text: Prose 10 marks
Read the following passage and answer the questions below.

1 Miss B was now my new Head Teacher. She was a stocky little body
and the school had christened her Crabby; she had a sour yellow look and
the skin and voice of a turkey. We were all afraid of the gobbling Miss B;
she spied, she pried, she crouched, she crept, she pounced – she was a
5 terror. Each morning was war without declaration; no one knew who would
catch it next. We stood to attention in our desks, until Miss B walked in,
whacked the walls with a ruler, and fixed us with her squinting eye. ‘Good
a-morning, children!’
‘Good morning, Teacher!’ The greeting was like a rattling of swords.
10 Then she would scowl at the floor and begin to growl ‘Ar Farther…’; at
which we said the Lord’s Prayer but scarcely had we said the last Amen
than Crabby moved and sprang, and knocked some poor boy sideways.
One rarely knew why and was always off guard. So we did not much
approve of Crabby and indeed there came the inevitable day when
15 rebellion raised its flag, when the tension was broken and a hero emerged
whom we would have gladly named streets after.
Spadge Hopkins it was, one of those heavy, full-grown boys,
designed for the great outdoors. He was nearly fourteen by then, and the
sight of him squeezed into his tiny desk was worse than a bull in ballet-
20 shoes. He didn’t like school; he groaned as he worked, or hacked at his
desk with a jack-knife. Miss B loved to annoy him by forcing him to read
aloud or asking him sudden difficult questions that made him flush and
stumble. The great day came. Crabby was at her sourest and Spadge
Hopkins had had enough. He began to writhe in his desk, kick his boots,
25 and mutter. Then he threw down his pen, got up and walked to the door.
‘And where are you going, young man, may I ask?’ said Crabby with
her awful voice. Spadge paused and looked her straight in the eye. We
shivered with pleasure at this defiance; Spadge then leisurely made for
the door. ‘Sit down this instant!’ Crabby suddenly screamed. ‘I won’t have
30 it!’
‘Ta-ta,’ said Spadge.
Then Crabby sprang like a yellow cat, spitting and clawing with
rage. She caught Spadge in the doorway and fell upon him. ‘Come and
help me, someone!’ wailed Crabby but nobody moved; we just watched.
35 We saw Spadge lift her up and place her on top of the cupboard, then walk
out of the door and away. There was a moment of silence, then we all laid
down our pens and began to stamp on the floor in unison.
Crabby stayed where she was, on top of the cupboard, drumming
her heels and weeping.
(Adapted from Laurie Lee’s “Cider with Rosie”)

English – Year 9 – Track 3 – 2021 Page 7 of 10

1. The passage is written (1 mark)
a. in the first person
b. in the third person
c. from different points of view

2. a. Quote a phrase from the first paragraph describing the physical appearance
of the head teacher. (1 mark)
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b. What does the author’s choice of words show about the narrator’s feelings
towards the Head Teacher? (1 mark)
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3. In line 9, the author uses the words “The greeting was like a rattling of swords”.
What effect does the author achieve? (1 mark)
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4. How does the author bring out the idea that Spadge was clumsy? Support your
answer with evidence from the text. (2 marks)
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5. Why does the author make use of a short sentence in “The great day came.”
(line 23)? (1 mark)
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6. Comment about Spadge’s attitude towards Miss Crabby when he walked to the
door. (1 mark)
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Page 8 of 10 English – Year 9 – Track 3 – 2021

7. a. How did the students react to Spadge’s behaviour? (1 mark)
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b. What does this show? (1 mark)

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SECTION D: COMPOSITION 25 marks

Write between 230 and 250 words on ONE of the following:

1. The College English Club has asked its members to send in short stories
entitled: If I could go back in time. The best short story will appear in next
month’s club newspaper.
2. Last night, a talent show was held in your town involving comedians, musicians
and dancers. You have been asked to write a review of the evening for the
school magazine.
3. You’re Sam (sam@dmail.com) and you’re taking part in a beach clean-up next
Saturday. Write an email to your friend Kay (kay@dmail.com) in which you
persuade her to join you.

From:
To:
Subject:

Composition No. _________

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English – Year 9 – Track 3 – 2021 Page 9 of 10

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Page 10 of 10 English – Year 9 – Track 3 – 2021