Tuesday 11 January 2022

Reading and Writing:The unexpected at Delphi

Read the Passage carefully, and then answer the Questions that follow.

In the following passage the narrator describes the experience of leading a tour group around the
ancient Greek site of Delphi.

I took a look at my students and wondered if we should cancel the day trip to Delphi. We had been
touring for seven days non-stop with every morning an early one; the students were visibly exhausted.
Today I was tempted to give us all a break. We had already visited many of the ancient sites of Greece
and Rome and we still had a week to go. Surely, we could skip Delphi, a site I was only vaguely familiar
with, without causing undue harm to the students’ education? I knew they had wished for more time to
hang out in the city, and the three-hour drive each way to Delphi and back sounded gruelling.

‘Could we just stay here today?’ I asked our guide, careful to stay out of earshot of the students.‘Sure.’
He frowned. ‘But I think you should go.’I didn’t want to disappoint him. ‘OK, then,’ I said, ‘We’re going.’
After all, it seemed unfair to deny the interested ones in the group the trek to Delphi.‘It’ll be fine,’ I said,
trying to convince myself as well as the students. ‘You can sleep on the bus.

’When we first began to explore the site at Delphi, I realised I had become captivated by the place and
strangely protective of it. There was a power here, although I couldn’t tell what it was. Divine? Man-
made? Geological?

Certainly, the sheer majesty of Mount Parnassus was striking. I stopped and gazed down the winding
Sacred Way below me. With the mountain at my back and the valley below, I understood utterly how
the ancients had believed this was the centre of the world. I watched the students on the path spiralling
above me, feeling in awe of the timeless magnificence of the surroundings.

We walked on. There wasn’t much talking any more. It was as if everyone recognised the significance of
the place.

At the top of the site, a small path opened out to an enormous stadium – the site of the Pythian Games,
which rivalled only the Olympic Games in importance for the Ancient Greeks. The stadium was flanked
on both sides by benches carved out of stone. We stood and stared, overwhelmed by its size and the
fact that it had stood there for 2500 years. No one spoke. It was all more, much more, than we’d
expected.
We made our way back down. I stopped at the bottom of the Sacred Way and waited for our group. I
still couldn’t put my finger on what I was feeling. I only knew that this place had existedfor thousands of
years and that for all these years, others had known about it and I was grateful to have seen it. And to
think I almost hadn’t come. I was hot and parched and covered in ancient dust. Yet, I felt at home and
strangely at ease.

And I realised that this is Delphi’s power. There is something shockingly simple about the place. It is, at
its core, elemental: rocks, sky and earth. A place full of mystery and revelation. I thought back over my
life and felt its connection to this place. As the students approached me on the path, I turned and looked
up the mountain again. This was indeed a sacred place.

Answer all questions using your own words as far as possible.

(a) Give two reasons why the writer wanted the trip to Delphi to be cancelled (paragraph 1, ‘I took a
look …’) [2]

(b) Using your own words, explain why the writer wanted to speak to the guide ‘out of earshot’ (line 8).
[1]

(c) Using your own words, explain the writer’s reasons for finally deciding to go on the trip to Delphi
(lines 8–12). [2]

(d) Using your own words, explain the writer’s feelings when they first began to explore the site at
Delphi (lines 13–21). [2]

(e) Give two reasons why the writer found the stadium at Delphi so impressive (paragraph 9, ‘At the top
…’).[2]

(f) Using your own words, explain the true source of Delphi’s power (paragraph 11, ‘And I realised …’).[2]

(g) Give the meaning of the underlined words in the following three phrases as the writer uses them in
the passage. Then explain how the phrases help to suggest the narrator’s thoughts and feelings about
Delphi and her visit there.

(i) ‘feeling in awe of the timeless magnificence of the surroundings.’ (line 19)

Meaning of the underlined word as the writer uses it:[1]

(ii) Explanation of the whole phrase: ‘feeling in awe of the timeless magnificence of the surroundings.’
[2]

(iii) ‘It was as if everyone recognised the significance of the place.’ (lines 20–21)Meaning of the
underlined word as the writer uses it: [1]

(iv) Explanation of the whole phrase: ‘It was as if everyone recognised the significance of the place.’ [2]

(v) ‘We stood and stared, overwhelmed by its size’ (lines 24–25)
Meaning of the underlined word as the writer uses it: [1]

Explanation of the whole phrase:We stood and stared, overwhelmed by its size’ [2]

Wednesday 12 January 2022

Imagine that you are one of the students who visited Delphi, in Passage A. It is the evening of your
visit and you have now returned to Athens.

Write a letter to your parents, telling them about your experiences so far.In your letter you should
include the following points:

• details of your trip and your feelings about it before you visited Delphi

• your thoughts and feelings about the visit to Delphi and about how your teacher reacted to it

• what you have learnt from your trip so far and why you would (or would not) recommend your
parents to make a similar visit.

Base your responses on what you have read in Passage A, but do not copy from it. Be careful to use your
own words. Address each of the three bullet points.

Begin your letter: ‘I had mixed feelings when I first set out on this tour …’

Write about 200 to 300 words.

Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 5 marks for the quality of your
writing. [15]
Thursday 13 January 2022

Summary Writing

Read the following passage carefully, and then answer the following questions

Ostia Antica

Ostia Antica, the location of the harbour city of Ancient Rome, is a fascinating and under-visited
archaeological site.Ostia Antica is not far from the centre of Rome, and makes a pleasant half-day (allow
longer if you want to lunch there or are particularly interested in archaeology). To get there, take the
suburban train line to Ostia from Piramide Station. The train journey takes about 20 minutes. The
archaeological area is close to the station, over a footbridge.Although it is now four kilometres inland,
Ostia was originally developed as a sea port, prior to the silting up of the estuary of the River Tiber.

Ostia increased in importance approximately 2400 years ago, becoming a major naval and trading base.
As Rome’s port, the town had obvious commercial significance, and expanded in size and grandeur to
match this position. However, about 1700 years ago, its place was taken by a new port at Fiumicino, and
within the next couple of centuries Ostia had begun its decline. The Tiber was no longer navigable, the
roads were overgrown, and Ostia sank into muddy oblivion.

Nowadays much of the old town has been excavated, and visitors can wander and explore at will; a
street plan can be obtained from the ticket kiosk. There is a lot to see. Major sites include the Roman
Theatre (there are plays put on here in the summer), the impressive Forum, a large baths complex and
several temples. Many of the buildings are preserved up to the second storey, giving a powerful sense of
the past.

There are impressive mosaics and columns everywhere, but highlights include the smaller domestic
details: the fishmonger’s marble slab, the bar with its wares illustrated on the wall, the communal public
toilets, the residential villas with peaceful courtyards.The old village of Ostia, with a papal fortress, is just
down the road from the Roman town. Modern Ostia – Ostia Lido – is further away, by the sea. It is a
construction of modern apartment blocks and boulevards with little atmosphere and – thanks to high
fences – not much of a sea view either.

Answer the questions in the order set.

1 (a) Notes
What do you learn about the history of Ostia Antica and what it offers to modern-day visitors,
according to Passage B?

Write your answers using short notes. Write one point per line.You do not need to use your own words.
Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer. [10]

(b) Summary

Now use your notes to write a summary of what Passage B tells you about the history of Ostia Antica
and what it offers to modern-day visitors. You must use continuous writing (not note form) and use
your own words as far as possible.

Your summary should not be more than 150 words.

Up to 5 marks are available for the quality of your writing. [15]

Friday 14 January 2022

Grammar, punctuation and Vocabulary.

Pronoun, Verb, Adjective,Adverb.

1.Cacao is native to Central and South America.

2.It is grown commercially throughout the tropics.

3.Fermentation changes the bitter flavours in the bean into something more edible.

4.It all starts with a small tropical tree. [4]

5 Underline the simple sentence in this sentence. Finally, the beans are ready to be shipped to a factory
where they are turned into chocolate. [1]

6.Finish this sentence by the correct verb forms in the brackets.

A hungry Snake (forage) in the grasslands when it (find) a termite mound. [1]

7.Correct two mistakes in this sentence. Do not change the meaning. The Cat use its mightiness claws
to dig a hole. [1]

8 .Add two apostrophes to this sentence. Aardvarks tongues are sticky so that theyre able to suck up as
many ants as they like. [1]

9. Add the missing punctuation to these sentences. “Do Ants live in England I asked my teacher “No she
replied they live In Africa.” [2]

10. Re-read these sentences It’s actually the perfect design because the fruit attracts forest animals,
such as monkeys, which eat the fruit but cast the seeds aside, dispersing them and allowing new trees
to grow.

Write other words or phrases that mean the same as the underlined words. Your new words must
keep the meaning and make sense in the sentence. 2