END OF TERM 1- 2020

BGCSE

ENGLISH PAPER 2

 

Duration: 1hr 30 min                        Marks: 40

 

 

Student name: ____________________________________

 

Branch Name:_____________________________________

Instructions

1. Answer one question on section A.

2. Use a blue or black pen only.

3. Adhere to examination rules.

Section 1: Reading for Ideas

Read Passage 1 in the insert and answer all the questions below.

1 (a) Notes [15 Marks]

Identify and write down the advantages and disadvantages of social networking sites, as outlined in the passage.

USE THE MATERIAL FROM THE WHOLE PASSAGE.

At this stage, you need NOT use your own words. To help you get started, the first point in each section of notes is done for you. You will be awarded up to 15 marks for content points.

MAIN POINTS

Advantages of social networking

People can get in touch with friends easily

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

Disadvantages of social networking sites

Relationships formed are impersonal to be described as real relationships

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

1 (b) Summary [5 Marks]

Now use your notes to write a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of social networking sites, as outlined in the passage.

This time, you will be awarded up to 5 marks for using your own words wherever possible and for accurate use of language.

Your summary, which must be in continuous writing (not note form), must be no longer than 160 words, including the 10 words given below. Begin your summary as follows:

Many people are in favour of social networking sites because ………………………………………….

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                                Number of words =

2. Paragraph 2 gives two examples of ‘down time’. From your own knowledge or experience give two examples of ‘down time’ as defined in lines 13–14. Do not use the examples given in the passage.

One example is………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Another example is…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… [2]

                                                

3. From paragraph 4, select and write down two of the writer’s opinions. You may use the words of the text or your own words.

One opinion is………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Another opinion is…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………[2]

4. From your reading of the whole passage, decide which one of the following statements is true and tick the box you have chosen.

The writer thinks that the advantages of social networking sites outweigh the

disadvantages.

The writer thinks that the disadvantages of social networking sites outweigh

the advantages.

The writer is unsure whether or not the advantages of social networking

Sites outweigh the disadvantages.

[1]

Total for Section 1 [25]

 

 

Section 2: Reading for Meaning

Read Passage 2, Albert the lion, in the Insert and answer all the questions below.

From paragraph 1

3 (a) The writer ‘had to start by looking after the lion’ (line 2). What kind of animals did he expect to start with?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [1]

 

(b) The writer tells us ‘I plucked up my courage and displayed an indifference that I did not truly feel’ (lines 4–5). Explain in your own words what the writer did. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [2]

 

From paragraph 2

4 (a) Why do you think Joe ‘rattled a stick along the fence’ (line 9)? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [1]

 

(b) What ‘lesson’ did Joe want to teach the writer when he said ‘He may look tame, but he’s not’ (line 12)?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [1]

 

From paragraph 3

5 (a) Why did the writer soon have more time to try to ‘learn something about’ (line 16) lions?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [1]

 

(b) What two things did the writer do to try to ‘learn something about’ lions? (i) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(ii) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [2]

 

(c) The lion is called ‘King of Beasts’ (line 21). Why is this name ‘un-zoological’ (line 21)? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [1]

 

6 (d) In what way, according to the writer, did Albert show on the first morning that ‘he did not have an ounce of pity in his character’ (line 24)?

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……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [1]

 

(e) The writer says that Albert’s eyes were ‘full of ferocious amusement at my panic’ (line 28). Describe in your own words Albert’s reaction to the writer’s panic. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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From paragraph 4

6 (a) Why did Joe and the writer place ‘a huge piece of meat’ (line 32) inside the cage? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [1]

 

(b) Give one word from the paragraph which shows that the procedure for ‘trapping a lion’ (line 35) always followed the same pattern.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [1]

 

From paragraph 5

7 In what two ways was the performance to trap the lion ‘doubly ridiculous’ (line 40)?

(i) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. (ii) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. [2]

 

8. From the whole passage

For each of the words or phrases below, circle the letter (A, B, C or D) which has the same meaning that the word or phrase has in the passage.

  1. uneasiness (line 2)

A) Guilt             B terror         C reluctance     D anxiety        [1]

 

  1. withering (line 10)

A tired             B uncertain         C scornful    D dying         [1]

 

  1. vied with (line 21)

A competed with    B worked with     C raced with    D agreed with         [1]

 

  1. obligingly (line 41)

A politely          B helpfully         C peacefully     D wonderfully         [1]

(e) trophy (line 44)

A souvenir         B medal         C prize     D cup

        

 

 

 

 

9. Re-read paragraphs 2 and 5, which contain sentences telling us about (a) what Joe did and (b) what Joe and the writer did.

Give:

• the meaning of each sentence as it is used in the passage.

• the effect of each sentence as it is used in the passage.

  1. ‘he fixed me with an intense stare’ (line 11)

     

    Meaning__________________________________________________________

    _________________________________________________________________

Effect____________________________________________________________

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[2] (b) ‘we would saunter off down the path’ (line 43)

Meaning ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Effect ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. [2]

[Total: 25]    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English language

Paper 2: Reading

INSERT

Passage 1 – Social Networking Sites

1 Social networking sites are a recent and, sometimes, controversial innovation. They enable people, by means of the internet, to get in touch with friends easily, without having to worry about interrupting them in the way that telephone calls might. People can keep in regular, even daily, contact with details of their friends’ lives, such as the clothes they wear and the music they listen to, even sharing photos by way of illustration. The fact that messages can be posted on the site at any time of the day or night makes for almost instantaneous updates; every detail of a day’s events – meals eaten, lessons attended – is there to be shared almost as it happens. Using such social networking sites is obviously much cheaper than long distance travel, and maintaining relationships with friends or family in faraway places becomes much easier, making the world seem a small place when, say, a friend goes to a foreign university to study or a daughter emigrates to take up a better job.

2 The internet can be accessed outside the home on smartphones, and on laptop or tablet computers, making social networking sites a useful way to utilise down time, which is time which might otherwise be wasted in, for example, the dentist’s waiting room or on the bus. Because very many people can contact each other on the same site, social networking sites provide the opportunity to be introduced to new friends through existing contacts. In this way, these sites offer what is to some the attractive possibility of greatly increasing their circle of friends; why have one or two close friends when you can have hundreds?

3 Social networking sites have a role to play in the world of work too. In certain businesses and professions, employees rely on them to keep themselves up to date with the latest developments in their field. People with no jobs, or wanting new or better ones, do not have to wait for advertisements to appear in newspapers; they can be pro-active and advertise themselves on such sites. A converse situation exists for employers, who are able to recruit the best potential employees by examining information about their background, experience and qualifications posted, and so make an informed choice which does not rely on interview skills alone.

4 However, more importantly, social networking sites have many critics who say that relationships formed through them, unlike face-to-face friendships, are too impersonal to be described as real friendships. They argue that it is all very well to have a hundred cyber friends, but such a number of contacts devalues true friendship, which implies a certain exclusivity. Certainly, to describe a hundred people as your ‘best’ friends is absolute nonsense. Real meetings with friends for coffee or lunch might be trivialised; if your friend has read on screen every detail of your life that week, and she yours, what are you going to talk about? Information overload is another drawback of these sites, where readers are bombarded with intimate facts which might be best left unsaid because they are inappropriate. In fact, most information posted is utterly boring.

5 The constant desire to know what their contacts are doing leads networking site users to become almost addicted to checking for updates. And what could be more insulting than to be out with a friend who makes it clear that the friend he is contacting online is far more interesting than you are? People often cannot relax in the company of others because there is a persistent niggle about what their social networking contacts might be doing; there is a blurring in the distinction between the real and the virtual worlds. Instead of enjoying a social occasion, people might be thinking about whether or not it would be worth posting later on a social networking site.

6 In the business and professional sphere, there is often pressure for instant responses from social networking sites, so that taking even a short holiday becomes unthinkable. The fact that trivial information about people is posted on such sites might have repercussions in the world of work; seeing you having fun at a party might be amusing to your contacts, but your boss might not find it as charming as you do. Stricter regulation of social networking sites is long overdue.

 

Passage 2

Albert the lion

1 I had recently achieved my dream of getting a job in a zoo, but was shocked to be told that I had to start by looking after the lion. I was determined to show no outward sign of uneasiness when I was given this assignment, but I did feel my boss might have let me start on less dangerous animals. However, I plucked up my courage and displayed an indifference that I did not truly feel and set off through the zoo in search of my work area.

2 On arrival there, I met my colleague, Joe, who took me along the narrow path which led to the lion’s enclosure, which was spread over three acres and was surrounded by a tall barred fence. Moving alongside the fence, Joe and I came to an area of long, lush grass bordering a pool, where the lion, Albert, lay picturesquely under a tree. Joe rattled a stick along the fence. Albert merely gave us a withering look. He did not look fierce and wild to me but Joe must have read my thoughts because he fixed me with an intense stare. ‘Now you listen to me, young man,’ he said. ‘He may look tame, but he’s not. Understand?’ He surveyed me to see if I had absorbed this lesson.

3 My first few days were fully occupied with memorising the daily chores of feeding and cleaning, but this work was fairly basic and, once I had mastered it, I had more time for trying to learn something about lions. Joe was amused that I carried an enormous notebook in my pocket and that I would – at the slightest provocation – write down something I had noticed about Albert’s behaviour. There is probably no other animal in folklore that has been endowed with as many imaginary virtues as the lion has; I discovered this when I decided to read all I could and see how it matched my own observations. Ever since someone, in a moment of un-zoological enthusiasm, called it the King of Beasts, writers have vied with each other to produce evidence of the lion’s right to this title, although, notably, no scientist has ever done so. Some writers have praised the lion for its kindness, wisdom and courage. I soon realised these virtues certainly did not fit Albert; he did not have an ounce of pity in his character. On that very first morning, I was walking past his enclosure. Albert had concealed himself in a thick bed of grass; suddenly and mercilessly he jumped out against the bars with a hair-raising roar at me. He did this again on the second day, after which he squatted on his haunches and fixed me with eyes full of ferocious amusement at my panic.

4 Once a week we had to move Albert so that we could enter the enclosure and clean it. Built into the side of the enclosure was a large, iron-barred cage accessed by two sliding doors, one into the enclosure and one to the outside world. Looking radiantly innocent, we would place a huge piece of meat inside the cage, where Albert could both see and smell it. Then, closing the outer door, we would raise the inner door to the enclosure so that Albert could get to the meat, while we stood chatting outside as if there was nothing further from our minds than trapping a lion. In defence of Albert’s intelligence, he was not fooled by any of this for one minute, but it had become a sort of ritual which had to be respected or the whole procedure would become disorganised.

5 While Albert studied the meat from a distance, we would speak in childish voices to him, saying: ‘Would you like some meat, Albert?’ We would repeat this endlessly, and the whole performance was made doubly ridiculous by the fact that Albert understood none of it. The theory was that Albert would obligingly go into the cage to eat the meat; while he feasted we cleaned the enclosure in safety. If Albert wasn’t taken in by any of our tricks after ten minutes, we tried another ruse: we would saunter off down the path. But occasionally Albert would make a sudden dash into the cage, grab his trophy, and escape with it before we had time to slam the door on him. When that happened we just had to wait till the next day when Albert would be hungry again.

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