UNFAMILIAR TEXTS REVISION

Read each of the three texts below carefully and then answer the questions set on them.

Pay close attention to what each questions asks you to do. Remember that you will be awarded
additional marks for the quality of your written communication as well as the depth and insightful
nature of your responses. This means that your answers need to be well structured, clearly
expressed in fluent language, and have the necessary knowledge being tested, as well as show an
awareness of the effects of the language and techniques employed.

Text One: ‘The Crab’ - a poem by Andrew Young

A rosy shield upon its back,

That not the hardest storm could crack,
From whose sharp edge projected out
Black pin-point eyes staring about;
Beneath, the well-knit cote-armure 5
That gave to its weak belly power;
The clustered legs with plated joints
That ended in stiletto points;
The claws like mouths it held outside:—
I cannot think this creature died 10
By storm or fish or, sea-fowl harmed
Walking the sea so heavily armed;
Or does it make for death to be
Oneself a living armoury?

a. Identify ONE language feature the writer employs in line 1. Provide a word from the line to
that reveals this technique.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping
you understand the appearance of the crab. You may support your answer with further
evidence from the text.

c. Explain how the poet uses language techniques in Stanzas 2-4 to create and develop the
physical appearance of the crab.

Text Two: ‘‘The Doughnut Thief’ – prose piece from a Year 11 student

My stomach growls. Loudly. It’s utterly empty, and hunger threatens to overcome me.

I ignore it and continue walking purposefully down the street. Places to go, people to see. No time for breakfast.
But I pass a bakery and a cold gust of wind blows its sweet yeasty warmth towards my nose. The smell is
tantalising. My feet turn uncontrollably to the beckoning door, and I enter.

Inside, the shop is cosy and filled with the mouth-watering aromas of baking. It seems to glow with warmth, a
haven of comfort from the harsh outdoors with its grey sky and biting wind. The windows have fogged up, and
children have been writing their names in the glass. Rows on rows of baked goods fill the store, counters
heaving with cakes, muffins, loaves of bread and soft white buns. A girl stands behind them, a crisp white
apron tied around her waist. She smiles at me as I survey the food. There is flour on her cheeks. I smile back and
then I notice the doughnuts.
There are so many – round ones; plain ones; long cream-filled ones with pink icing; and raspberry-jam,
chocolate covered ones; and ones topped with lurid multi-coloured sprinkles. I eye up a particularly fat but
relatively plain example, coated merely with a layer of bright orange icing. Ninety-five cents, the price reads.
Very reasonable.

But there’s no money in my pockets. I turn them inside out in desperation. Darn! The warmth of the bakery
suddenly seems uncomfortable rather than comforting. Sweat trickles down my forehead. The doughnut calls to
me, a beacon, the golden light at the end of my tunnel of hunger. I’m not leaving without it.

a. Identify one technique employed in paragraph 1. Provide a quotation from the text.
b. Explain why/ how the language feature/ technique you identified in (a) above develops your understanding
of the narrator’s hunger.
c. Explain how the writer uses language to create sensory responses and appeals in the reader. Give examples
of techniques and words used.
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Text Three: ‘Transtasman marriage? But we're family’, a column by Brian Rudman
Just over a century ago, the six rambunctious Australian colonies tried to woo their exotic Maoriland sibling to
the east into wedlock.

Our forebears gave them the slip, but the Aussies have never quite taken no for an answer. They even left an
open invitation in their federal constitution in case we changed our minds. As recently as 2006, the Australian
Parliament's committee on legal and constitutional affairs turned on the charm again.

While acknowledging Australia and New Zealand were sovereign countries, the committee reported that "the
strong ties between the two countries ... suggest that an even closer relationship, including the possibility of
union, is desirable and realistic".

Prime Minister Helen Clark brushed the overture aside without comment, and Finance Minister Michael Cullen
rejected even the idea of a common currency. Now Australian pollster UMR has canvassed the possibility, once
more, of New Zealand becoming the seventh Australian state. New Zealand politicians have been quick to diss
the idea, but at grassroots, the response has been rather more open-minded.

A significant 24 per cent of Kiwis and 37 per cent of Australians immediately supported the proposal, with 41
per cent of Kiwis thinking it at least worth further discussion. Of course a majority on both sides of the Tasman
gave it the thumbs down, 52 per cent of Aussies and 71 per cent of New Zealanders saying no.
a. Identify one language feature used in paragraph 1. Quote the words that reveal this technique.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping the reader
understand the writer’s intention. You may support your answer with further evidence from the text.
c. Explain how the writer uses language to reveal his attitude to the proposal of marriage. Give examples of
techniques and words used.

Text One: POETRY Fire! (Opoutere, New Zealand) by Jan Fitzgerald

This poem describes an experience at an estuary (a river mouth area covered and uncovered by the tide).

Scared of what we might see,

we ran from our beds to the edge of the bank,
scanning the black estuary.
Here in the daytime, daffodils,
leggy ballerinas, 5
had shivered in the wind
how had we travelled so fast
from innocent to ominous, deafened by this crackling?

Was it a fire without flames 10

 creeping through the toetoe?
A fire that fed on darkness?
The night was tight-lipped,
the moon, Methuselah-hag, shuffled
across the mudflats on her sticks 15
of pohutukawa.

Crabs!
It was crabs up from their caverns,
clack-clacking their claws,
snipping the air with bony scissors. 20
Crabs,
in their white evening jackets,
courting the world
with such loud kisses!

Glossed word Methuselah: the name of the oldest person ever to have lived, according to the
Bible

Source: Jan Fitzgerald, "Fire!", from On a Day Like This (Wellington: Steele Roberts, 2010), p 52.

a. Identify ONE language feature the writer employs in Stanza 1 to help develop the setting. Provide a
quotation from the text to support your answer.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping you picture the
setting. You may support your answer with further evidence from the text.

c. Explain how the poet uses language techniques to create and develop ideas about the crab.
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Text Two: NON-FICTION- Don't be an Egg! Three Golden Rules of Online Safety

The Internet can be a scary place. No, really. I don't want to be a fear-monger here, but behind its cuddly kitten.gif exterior
lies a shady pack of wolves ready to bully; steal, and deceive, while cloaked in the shroud of anonymity.

Don't say anything online that you wouldn't in real life

We've all seen them-keyboard warriors spewing venomous nastiness over the Internet. Not only is this a very uncool thing
to do, but as one Twitter troll in Britain found out this year, it can have some dangerous real-life consequences.
This doofus decided to repeatedly taunt the professional boxer Curtis Woodhouse after he lost to Shayne Singleton.
Eventually; Woodhouse decided that he'd had enough, and somehow tracked down the troll's real-life address. Woodhouse
then live-tweeted paying this anonymous man a visit, putting the fear of God into the dude until he publicly and quite
embarrassingly apologized. It's all fun and games until a professional boxer decides to take exception to your bullying
tactics and pay you a visit, isn't it?

Jeepers creepers, where'd you get that stalker?

I've met some really amazing, smart and lovely people over the Internet. But as a brief glance at the shadier corners of
Reddit or 4chan will confirm, there are some real creeps out there. If this person you met on Twitter who likes all the same
bands and movies as you do and just totally gets you wants to meet up, always do it at a safe, public place the first time you
meet. Also, I understand that as teenagers we have raging hormones, but please do NOT send "inappropriate" selfies to
anyone. Studies have found that around 17% of recipients share the photos that they receive, and 55% of those share them
with more than one person. Even if the recipient is someone you can trust NOW, are you 100% certain that they will be
forever?

Source (adapted): Jason Kim, "Things You'll Wish You Knew, Later:4 Golden Rules of Online Safety", Tearaway, Term 3

a. Identify one technique employed in paragraph 1 that develops the impression one gets of the internet. Provide a
quotation from the text.

b. Explain why/ how the language feature/ technique you identified in (a) above develops ones impression of the
internet.

c. Explain how the writer uses language to persuade the reader of the dangers of the internet. Give examples of
techniques and words used.
Text Three: FICTION: A Misunderstanding with Mr Taylor by Fleur Beale

It wasn't the best of beginnings for me with my Year 11 Science teacher. I stalled on the starting grid, sort of thing.
Mr Taylor was new to the school. We had our first Science class with him a couple of days. I came in late from lunchtime.
"Name?" he barked while taking a swift look at my bandaged arm.
Before I could reply, my mate-my good mate-Colin piped up from the back row. "That's Archie Barrington, sir. Our very
own boy racer."
Thanks, Colin.
Well, that did it for Mr T.
"Sit there." He pointed at a desk set by itself at the side of the room. "That's the seat reserved for anti-social louts with
no concern for the rest of us."
Colin was grinning his face in half. I just shrugged and sat down. Mr Taylor looked slightly surprised. Maybe he
expected me to argue. He kept glancing at me every few minutes during the lesson. A couple of times I caught a look of
complete bafflement. I was being such a good anti-social lout.
Colin was still spitting with laughter when we left. "He's going to be mad as a wasp when he finds out."
"You're such a pal. He'll hate me forever now. You too."
The next day we had Science straight after interval. Colin and his girlfriend Ginnie headed for the back row, while I
went to the lout desk. Mr T didn't comment. He put the rolled-up chart he was carrying down on the bench in front of him
and blasted off with the lesson.
"Today will be a brief departure from yesterday's topic. We're going to examine the workings of the internal
combustion engine."
Interesting. Very interesting.
He unrolled the chart and stuck it to the whiteboard. I started to laugh. The rest of the class guffawed and I could hear
Colin shouting, "Good one, sir!"
It was a diagram of a kart engine, with a panel of photos of the make of kart I drove down the side. Mr T didn't crack
even the glimmer of a smile. He just got on with explaining the parts of the engine and how it all worked. Then he finished
by saying, "It takes a great deal of skill to drive these things. Sometimes people get things wrong and get injured. I guess it's
like other people jumping to the wrong conclusion based on insufficient evidence." Then without even a pause, he went on.
"Archie, you can move seats, although I'd advise you not to sit next to Colin MacPherson."
I gave him a grin and went and sat next to Colin.

Source (adapted): Fleur Beale, Speed Freak (Auckland: Random House, 2013), pp 7-8, 12-13.

a. Identify one language feature used in lines 1-9 that develops the attitude of the teacher towards the writer.
Quote the words that reveal this technique.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping the reader understand
the teacher’s attitude. You may support your answer with further evidence from the text.

c. Explain how the writer uses language to develop the tone and atmosphere of the classroom. Give examples of
techniques and words used.

Text One: The Pot Plant Tree (written text – poetry)

This poem explores the idea of friendship between two individuals.

The Pot Plant* Tree

I haven’t seen you in a while,

I heard you’d cut all your hair off.
Tonight I remembered how we,
5 While we were walking home
On a dark, real, Grey Lynn night,
Stole three pot plants from down the road.
For some reason I kept two –
Called one Henry and the other one Loosenut.
10 I swapped the names later on.
And you called yours Theodore.
I’m sorry I didn’t ask you about the matter,
You know the one I mean.
It’s too bad. We used to make sure
We both watered those plants.
15
When you moved out, Theodore died.
 He was never really my responsibility
And I disregarded** Loosenut eventually.
Now Henry sits in my new lounge room
20 With a red stake in his soil.
It’s been ages since I last saw you.
I hardly remember to water Henry.
I probably won’t even now I’m
Writing about how I haven’t.
25 Sometimes I just forget my priorities.
Mind you – he’s a hardy*** plant, old Henry.

Glossed words:
* pot plant: a household plant, growing in a pot
** disregarded: ignored, didn’t look after
*** hardy: live even without being looked after

Source (text used with the permission of the author): Gareth Simpson, “The Pot Plant Tree”, from
With Love, Tira: Journal of Secondary Students’ Writing 1992 (Wellington: Learning Media), p. 5

a. Identify ONE language feature the writer employs in Stanza 1 to help you understand the closeness
between the writer and his friend. Provide a quotation from the text to support your answer.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping you
understand the relationship. You may support your answer with further evidence from the text.

c. Explain how the poet uses language techniques to create and develop the a sense of mood and tone.

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Text Two: “Time for parents to step up” - a piece of Non-fiction by Andrew Austin

Is it just me or do the youngsters arrested for crimes these days seem to get younger and younger? Call me old fashioned,
but I was shocked to hear about the case last week of a 13-year-old boy picked up with other youngsters in a stolen car that
had been driven from Auckland overnight. Then this week we have the tale of an 11-year-old boy and his 12-year-old
brother who are allegedly involved in a burglary ring.

Figures on our front page today show alarming numbers of kids between the ages of 10 and 13 apprehended for acts
intended to cause injury, burglaries, abduction, harassment and other related offences.

What is going on here? It may be easy to dismiss these cases as youngsters who come from the "wrong side of the tracks"
or children from "bad families". But is that just an easy way out and is there some truth to the theory that children and
teenagers - across all spectrums and to varying degrees - are being allowed to create their own standards?

It has been said thousands of times before, but children of my generation and the generations before me certainly were
generally better behaved than today's children. This is, of course, a broad generalisation and quite a sweeping statement,
but in essence it is true. How many times have you walked into a house where there are children and they have not even
looked up at you, but simply carried on texting or playing their computer games? Not so long ago, children were forced by
their parents to stand up and greet an adult who walked through the front door. Nowadays most parents could not be
bothered and the kids would probably refuse anyway.

It may even be broader than just parents because, let's face it, there will always be some parents who let their children run
amok. Maybe it is time for adults in communities to feel confident enough to stop children behaving badly in public places
without the fear of being bashed or accused of doing something wrong themselves.

They are children after all and it is up to us adults to set the standards.

a. Identify one technique employed in paragraph 1 that develops the confusion or lack of understanding of the writer.
Provide a quotation from the text.

b. Explain why/ how the language feature/ technique you identified in (a) above develops the writer’s lack of
understanding.
c. Explain how the writer uses language to suggest that parents should take responsibility for the behaviour of their
teenage children. Give examples of techniques and words used.

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Text Three: The Twilight Tales of Oamaru (written text – prose)

In the concrete darkness of Smith’s Grain Store three candles flicker. The shadow of Annette Knowler’s tiny frame morphs*
into a wavering monster as she passes them. Outside, wind thunders against the limestone walls and rain scratches on the
ancient windows.

The weather is perfect for setting an eerie scene, but not so for the Oamaru Twilight Tales Tour my friend and I have
booked in for. “I can’t promise you a walking tour, because of the weather,” says our host and professional storyteller,
Annette, dressed in a black woollen hat, scarf and gloves with sprightly rainbow trim. “But I can promise you some great
stories.” She bundles us up in blankets and we perch on the room’s only chairs in bated anticipation.

Annette starts with the tale of Eloise. A tale that, like her others, is set in Victorian-era Oamaru and is based - “to some
degree” - on fact. Through Annette’s vivid vocal imagery we learn of the exploits of Eloise - a mischievous young woman
who attended a ball on the top floor of this very building and fell to her death on the staircase behind us. “She’s still here,”
says Annette, matter-of-factly. Dancing orange shadows illuminate one side of her petite face. We grip our blankets tighter.

In the vast shadowy emptiness of this century-old building, Annette continually morphs before our eyes: one moment she’s
‘Word Weaver’, master storyteller, whose intensely dark eyes dart between our fright-stricken faces as she resurrects
history with her unique recipe of fact and fiction. Then, she becomes Annette Knowler, chatty, gentle, practical retiree, and
fount of local knowledge.
Sometimes the two merge: “Where are you staying tonight?” asks Annette, between tales.
“The Criterion Hotel,” I reply.
Her eyes widen enthusiastically: “There are a lot of good stories about that place!”
We beg her not to tell us. She agrees but wants to know which room we’re in.
“16,” we peep in unison, expecting the worst.
“Ah, good. As long as you’re not in room 22. There’s a cold patch in there... But I won’t tell you about that.”

Glossed word
*morphs: changes

Source: http://www.amelianorman.co.nz/Twilight-Tales-of/ © Amelia Norman

a. Identify one language feature used in paragraph 1 to develop the setting of the store. Quote the words that reveal
this technique.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping the reader understand
the mood. You may support your answer with further evidence from the text.

c. Explain how the writer uses language to develop the character of Annette, the guide. Give examples of techniques and
words used.

Text One: ‘Queen of Aotearoa’, a poem by a Year 13 student

Queen of Aotearoa

It is an old woman’s hand

gnarled and twisted
reaching up
out of the rich earth
Blood-red protrusions
spot her aged skin
brown and wrinkled
from the sun’s fierce glare
The wind whispers her name
Jade bejewels her
 tortured hand
concealing herself
behind this beautiful green
façade
Her jewellery attracts birds
who sit
and wonder
at the red pokers
burning through the green
Crowned with golden bees
she is the Queen
of our land
The ever-watchful Grandmother
We can play among
her fingers
and she lets us
rejoicing in her people’s touch
Ancient and majestic
Pohutukawa

a. Identify the theme or main idea of this piece of writing.

b. Discuss the intention/ purpose of the writer here.
c. Identify ONE language feature that helps the reader to better picture the tree. Provide a
quotation from the text to support your answer.
d. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (c) was effective in creating
an impression of the tree. You may support your answer with further evidence from the ext.
e. Explain how the poet uses language techniques in throughout the poem to develop the
queenly nature of the tree. Support your answer with quotes.

Text Two: ‘Clean and Green-or Poisoned Paradise?’ a newspaper editorial.

New Zealand is not clean and green: that’s just an advertising slogan. New Zealanders already know this,
and now the world is catching on. The article in last week’s Guardian points out the gap between the
promise and the product, and paints us as eco-hypocrites. There’s plenty of truth in the charge. After all,
it’s only a few decades since we were telling the world we were pure and lovely. But our history up to that
point was dirty and brown, like the history of most other countries. Even if we’re green in everything we
do now – and we are not – we would still live in a country polluted by its past.

Russel Norman talks about the country’s “dirty little secret”, how we trade off our green image when our
environmental record has been anything but. He is right in an obvious sense. Rotorua is one of the gems
in the tiara of the country’s tourism industry, with its lovely lakes and hills, its geothermal miracles, its
vibrant Maori culture. Yet its main lake is a pond of eutrophication and weed, a sump of pollution. The
“Garden City” of Christchurch is for much of winter submerged in a filthy brown soup. It is only a few
years ago that Wellington was still pouring raw sewage into its harbour. Dirty dairying remains a stubborn
fact, no matter what progress has been made in recent times: our premier export industry continues to
pollute the waterways at home. New Zealand farming, for most of its history, was careless of the
landscape and addicted to chemicals. The pioneer farmers cut and burnt the bush nearly everywhere.
Vast swathes of land should never have been cleared, and have left great running sores of erosion. Our
native jungles are now tourist magnets, but it was only a generation ago that we were still felling them.
The kauri forests are world treasures but they are the scant survivors of ecological genocide.

a. Identify the theme or main idea of this piece of writing.

b. Discuss the intention/ purpose of the writer here.
c. Identify one technique employed in by the writer in paragraph 1. Provide a quotation from
the text.
d. Explain why/ how the language feature/ technique you identified in (c) above develops the
writer’s idea.
e. Explain how the writer uses language in paragraph 2 to suggest that the image given of New
Zealand is a false one.
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Text Three: ‘A Critical Look at Violence’, an article by Jayran Mansori

In my English class, we were watching a film. There was a scene when a man hit his wife. My class was
almost unanimously horrified and disgusted. This reaction was something I found intriguing. I realized
that this was one of the few times I’ve seen people react with shock and horror at seeing violence on
screen. Why aren’t we nearly as upset when we are presented with other violence? With the
exception of violence from men towards women, our culture has been desensitised to violence. A man
hitting a man is no big deal, a man hitting a woman provokes a strong negative reaction. We really,
really don’t like seeing men beating up women. Fair enough. That is quite as it should be. But we don’t
seem to mind any other form of violence. There’s no outrage, no horror, no disgust, no OMG!!!

Last year I studied Gandhi for history class, and something about him that stuck out to me was how
deeply horrified he was at violence. I realised that violence doesn’t upset me nearly as much. I have
accepted it as part of my life, something I will see daily in the media. The violence I see in the media is
not all presented in a negative light, and I am rarely shocked or horrified. As New Zealanders in the
21st century, we are exposed to a lot more popular media than Gandhi was. Too often, we focus
on whitewashing violence, rather than thinking more deeply about it and the violent messages we get
through the media.

a. Identify the theme or main idea of this piece of writing.

b. Discuss the intention/ purpose of the writer here.
c. Identify one language feature used in the paragraph one. Provide a quotation from the text.
d. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (c) was effective in helping
the reader understand the writer’s feelings. You may support your answer with further
evidence from the text.
e. Explain how the writer uses language to connect to his readers and get their attention. Give
examples of techniques and words used.

Text One: ‘Winter Round’, a poem by Emma Neale

The red jandals paper boy

two months on the run
is still three sizes short
of these tugboat shoes

he slaps from house to house,

ghost dog to ghost dog,
the baying from the dark side
of corridors and teeth
swift needles at his soles

His brittle blonde

tumbleweed hair
winter skin
scarecrow ankles and
the puddle-soaked cuffs
of his thin grey cords

float above giant cherry paddles

bought for him
to grow into –
 if he doesn’t wrench the straps
from the soles first,
tripping the tricky corner
every day,
over the adult lengths
someone has taken
to balance growth
with debt.

a. Identify ONE language feature the writer employs in Stanza 1. Provide a quotation from the
text to support your answer.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping
you understand the appearance of the boy. You may support your answer with further
evidence from the text.

c. Explain how the poet uses language techniques in Stanzas 2-4 to create and develop the
physical appearance of the boy.

Text Two: ‘‘A summer’s day in Wellington’’, a piece of fiction by Witi Ihimaera

The day was white hot. It was a day without wind, holding its breath as if afraid to inhale that searing heat. Far
below the university, a visible haze distorted the cityscape into the shimmering shapes of glass towers and tall
office buildings being melted together by the sharp soldering point of the sun.
From that shimmering form, like a huge glistening lung curved round the ring of harbour, pulsated the heat-
muted sounds of the city’s labouring breathing. The dip and roar of endless traffic traversing streets and
highways. The jarring clatter of pneumatic drills and earth-juddering thumping of demolition machinery on sites
where derelict buildings stood like broken teeth. Now and then, the solitary clanging and rumbling of the cable
car winching its way up into Kelburn. And underlying it all, the soft sighing of a thousand people breathing in and
breathing out, breathing in and breathing out. Above, a huge jet punctured the dazzling skin of sky. Beyond, tugs
tracked across the silver harbour.
A crowd was milling again at the intersection, waiting for the signal to cross. Breathing in and breathing out.
Waiting. The signal to cross buzzed and the crowd surged across the intersection in an unthinking response,
triggered to shove and push through to the other side before the buzzing stopped. We threaded across with
them, among the drawn and listless faces of people pale with the heat. The sun slashed into Sturdee Street, and,
for a short while, there was respite from the sounds of the central city. But as we approached the Cuba Mall the
jangling fanfare of noise trumpeted again.
a. Identify one technique employed in paragraph 1 that helps you understand the nature of the heat. Provide
a quotation from the text.
b. Explain why/ how the language feature/ technique you identified in (a) above develops your idea about the
heat.
c. Explain how the writer uses language to create a sense of the sounds of the city. Give examples of
techniques and words used.
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Text Three: ‘Meeting a challenge’, a column by Paul Thomas
The All Blacks’ pre-game haka before the final in last year’s Rugby World Cup signalled the start of the last scene
of a successful sequence of international games in our tiny country. But the haka remains under suspicion
because no team on earth knows how to react to it. The French rugby team’s V-formation advance on the All
Blacks before the haka exemplified what has become an important problem for the International Rugby Board.
The challenge is how to meet the challenge?
It seems absurd and unfair that the other team should have to stand motionless exuding respect, or at worst,
feigning boredom while the All Blacks thunder out their challenge. Deciding what constitutes an appropriate
response, however, is more difficult than the IRB critics would have us believe.
The Guardian’s Barney Ronay argues it should be treated as ‘a challenge that is there to be met in whatever way
its opponents can muster.’ The problem with this, and the reason for the IRB directive that neither team should
advance beyond its 10m line during the haka, is that it introduces an unpredictable if not combustible element
to proceedings.
In Dublin in 1989 the Irish team linked arms and marched forward until they were almost rubbing noses with the
All Blacks. All Blacks prop Steve McDowell later confessed if he’d had to put up with wild Irishmen in his face for
much longer he would have belted one of them. Eight years later in Manchester Norm Hewitt and English
hooker Richard Cockerill had to be prised apart by the referee. Then there was the farcical situation in Cardiff in
2008 when the post-haka stare-off dragged on for minutes while referee Jonathan Kaplan pleaded with the
players to start the game.
a. Identify one language feature used in paragraph 1. Quote the words that reveal this technique.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping the reader
understand the writer’s intention. You may support your answer with further evidence from the text.
c. Explain how the writer uses language to reveal his attitude to the haka. Give examples of techniques and
words used.

Text One: ‘ROAD TRIPPING’, a poem by Ruth Arnison

The farmer on the quad bike nods as we inch past

his sheep, dogs metronoming behind him.

We smile and wave, laughing at our country selves.

In our city suits, delays herald horns, windscreen
shaking fists, angry wound down window words.

After the 45k bend the road’s clear, we pass empty

school bus shelters, open mouthed letterboxes.

Toitois sway like drunken sentries at roadside’s edge.

Sacks flap across faded summer signs, fresh plums,
strawberries, ears.*

Driveways curtsey past washing lines pegged across

paddocks before arriving at tucked away farmhouses.

We spy an astronaut-like beekeeper, feet firmly

grounded, smoking his hives.

Ivy cottages, blinded by corrugated iron, slumber

in the winter weary sunlight. Hay bales in green
plastic pipelines stretch towards the sheep pebbled hills.

We hear a rumbling like our neighbour’s wheelybin

being Monday trundled down her concrete driveway.
It’s Jim Hickey’s thunder*, which someone has stolen.

It was forecast for the north only. He didn’t mention

clouds dawdling across the sky as though
on their reluctant way to school.

In the distance snowflakes freckle the mountains.

Our city flash drives are being erased country clean.

a. Identify ONE language feature the writer employs in Stanza 1 to develop the scene. Provide a quotation from
the text to support your answer.
b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping you picture the
scene. You may support your answer with further evidence from the text.

c. Explain how the poet uses language techniques to create and develop the differences between the city and
countryside.

Text Two: ‘‘A WINTER WEEKEND ON MOUNT RUAPEHU”, a piece of Non-fiction

I spot the first scraggy patch of snow beside the road from Turangi, and pull over to stomp in it, childlike and gleeful.
Around the bend, National Park unfurls in a spread of auburn tussock, dark burbling streams and increasing patches of
snow, with the hulking foothills of the mountain dominating the periphery. My old friend Ruapehu winks at me in the
sunshine – a white mantle of fluffy cloud draped around her shoulders. The true scale of the landscape is revealed as I spot
the Chateau. Its grandness is dwarfed by the mountain behind, looking like a singular tricolour Lego brick.

The next morning, Ruapehu has swapped her stole for a jaunty cap of white cloud – curved over the summit by high winds.
Droves of snowboarders clomp up the Bruce Road, and skiers swagger alongside like robotic cowboys in their unforgiving
boots, juggling awkward bundles of metal. The wind flicks sprays of snow across the crowd and sinks sharp teeth into
patches of exposed flesh. Despite the winter sun, the wind wins out this morning. Cloud and tall eddies of snow whistle
around the top of the mountain, and the upper chairlifts hang empty, rocking on their cables.

On Sunday, Ruapehu stands with her shoulders flung proudly back, naked and resplendent against a periwinkle-blue sky – a
sight that sends a surge of anticipation through me. I get goosebumps of delight on my first run, as I turn through the dry,
packed powder snow in the wide open terrain at the west of the mountain – whooping and grinning until my cheeks hurt.
On each trundling ride back up the mountain, every lift companion marvels in rapture at just how spectacular the day is.
Ruapehu has smiled on us, enveloping everyone in her benevolent, snowy bosom.

Source (adapted): Jo Percival, in “AA Directions, Summer 2013” http://www.aa.co.nz/membership/aa directions/jo-

versus-the-volcano/mount-ruapehu (accessed 24 November 2013).

a. Identify one technique employed in paragraph 1 that helps you appreciate the physical nature of the mountain.
Provide a quotation from the text.

b. Explain why/ how the language feature/ technique you identified in (a) above develops your idea about the
appearance of the mountain.

c. Explain how the writer uses language to characterise the mountain. Give examples of techniques and words used.

Text Three: ‘Meeting a challenge’, a column by Paul Thomas

That year I got my first real crush on a girl. Her name was Bronwyn James. She was fifteen. She caught the bus with the
older kids every day to the high school in town.

It was an innocent crush on my part, and utterly hopeless of course. Bronwyn was as unachievable as a star, five years older
than me, and she had the gangly charm of a girl who looked unnervingly grown up, with a body seemed to be one step
ahead of the rest of her. She had long sandy hair and so many freckles they merged with her skin, making her look tanned,
like she was a resident of a tropical island.

She took a liking to me in a maternal, abstracted sort of way.

I would see Bronwyn whenever all us kids went down to the swimming hole on Grange Road, usually on Sundays. She
would be there too, often with a book, sitting on the rough clay of the bank with her knees up. She had a pale-blue
swimsuit with a slight silver sheen. When she rose up out of the water, the water would fall off her in a way that seemed to
me it didn’t do with any of the rest of us. It was as if, for a moment, she was liquid, too, slippery as a seal. There was
something exhilarating-something I was yet to really understand- about being in the company of someone who moved
their limbs so slowly, with so much deft control. She would roll her damp towel into a turban on the top of her head, her
wet hair curled in its middle, and my chest would do a little hiccup inside.

“Come sit next to me, Harry,” she would say sometimes when I was standing, shivering in the wind, on the bank. She would
share an apple with me out of her canvas bag. She felt sorry for me, I realise now, me having no mother and all.

As I grew older, I saw Bronwyn James less and less. She was above playing bull-rush or tag with us, and the swimming hole
no longer provided a meeting place, the murky water’s edge often being laced with ice in the mornings.
I came across her one afternoon riding her horse down the road. I was on my way home, and heard the clipping of its
hooves behind. She drew up beside me and tilted her chin. “Haven’t seen you around,” she said, looking down at me from a
great height. The horse snorted and stamped one foot. I agreed with her; we hadn’t seen each other for ages.

Bronwyn smiled, and bowed her head down towards me. “You know, Harry,” she said, the corner of her mouth twisting
into a smile, “I kinda miss you when you’re not around.” The world seemed to go deathly quiet at that moment, as if all the
air had been sucked out of it. Bronwyn laughed, and then she kicked her heel and took off at a gallop.

I stood on the middle watching her bounce away, my chest thumping in time with her long ropey plait. I don’t know if she
was teasing, or serious, but for days afterwards I carried the knowledge of those words, believing that when I was old
enough Bronwyn and I could get married, that we could ride off together into the sunset.

Source: (adapted), Anna Taylor, from ‘Birds, “Relief”, 2009,Victoria University Press, winner of the 2010 NZSA Hubert
Church Best First Book Award for Fiction.

a. Identify one language feature used in paragraph 2 to develop an idea of Bronwyn. Quote the words that reveal this
technique.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping the reader understand
Bronwyn. You may support your answer with further evidence from the text.

c. Explain how the writer uses language to develop the relationship between himself and Bronwyn. Give examples of
techniques and words used.

Text One: ‘Wake Up Call’, a poem by Tania Brady.

The leaves from the vine that covers

our shed in Summer have fallen, leaving
a layer of giant crunchy Cornflakes
the colour of fire coating the surface
of our soggy back lawn.

Tears drip through the filter of the swing seat

and slide, percolating in the sun, yearning
for the playful to return.

Gutters, chock full of decomposing

litter, leak expresso stains down the walls
of the workshop, through interlaced woody
stems as grey and dry as Weetbix.

Steam rises from my cup, where I

sit on the threshold, hearing the
house groan under the shifting weight
of morning, which beckons me inside
to make breakfast.

a. Identify ONE language feature the writer employs in Stanza 1 to help the reader visualize the
scene. Provide a quotation from the text to support your answer.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in creating
an impression of the winter landscape. You may support your answer with further evidence
from the text.

c. Explain how the poet uses language techniques in Stanzas 2-4 to create and develop the
mood and tone of the poem.
Text Two: ‘Face It’, a piece of fiction by Denis Martin

I waited for an eternity. Like a possum caught in a high-beam headlight, willing myself to flee but
unable to move. Waiting for a challenge, a shout, a bullet. But nothing happened. After about three-
million light years I heard a bird-call, a whistling, croaking one I didn’t recognize, and the figure
above me moved again, tilting his head as if listening. I could see now he had his back to me. The call
came again, and suddenly he was gone, disappearing soundlessly over the outcrop towards the
beach on the far side. The bird-call was repeated a couple more times and then there was silence.

Allowing myself the luxury of a deep breath I felt my body stir itself back into motion, struggling in
the wake of a racing pulse. I knew I had to keep the searcher in sight or else risk blundering into him
again so I crept cautiously towards the skyline, using a crevice for cover. At first I thought I’d lost
him. The beach was as brightly moonlit and deserted as when I’d seen it earlier. Where had he
gone?

And then the darkness above the high-water mark rearranged itself and I saw him again, a stealthy
movement from shadow to shadow along the foreshore. Like me, he was following a path that
would leave no tracks behind. I heard the birdcall once more, and then he melted into the bush
where the stream had cut an opening across the berm. Still intent on keeping him in view, I followed,
stealing from cover to cover, clutching my mussel-laden bush-shirt to my chest. It was amazing I
hadn’t dropped them in fright-that would really have set the cat among the pigeons.

a. Identify one technique employed in paragraph 1 to stress the sense of fear and tension
experienced by the writer? Provide a quotation from the text.

b. Explain why/ how the language feature/ technique you identified in (a) above develops the
writer’s anxiety.

c. Explain how the writer uses language to create a sense of tension and rising action in
Stanzas 2 and 3. Give examples of techniques and words used.

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Text Three: ‘A Smoke-free Aotearoa/ New Zealand”, a speech by Tariana Turia.

“I heard it said once that ‘cigarettes are killers that travel in packs’.

An estimated 650,000 New Zealanders, almost one in every five people over the age of 15, continue
to put their health and lives at significant risk by smoking. This figure includes approximately 155,000
current smokers who are Maori, which is about 45% of the Maori population aged between 15 and
64. In March 2011 the Government adopted the goal, both aspirational and inspirational, of an
essentially smoke-free New Zeal and by 2025, because no matter how we dress it up, the reality of
tobacco consumption is dire, and needs a wide gameplan to counter.

So then, the challenge to lift our game is upon us – how can we do more? There is a Chinese proverb
that says – ‘a person who removes a mountain can do it, one stone at a time.’ Lifting the game
means we go to bat from many different angles. Firstly, the Government increased the tobacco tax.
The increases to date have contributed to manufactured cigarette sales falling by almost 9 per cent
and sales of roll-your-own tobacco falling by over 21 per cent between 2009 and 2011. Secondly we
removed tobacco displays from retail outlets. Thirdly, we are working on plain packaging. These
changes have helped. The most recent ASH Year 10 survey was very encouraging with smoking
prevalence among 14 and 15 year olds at its lowest ever and tobacco consumption has fallen
dramatically.

I come to you today with one message, however, – and that is we as individuals must also do all
we can do to make the difference, to support our loved ones to lead strong, healthy lives.

a. Identify one language feature used in the italicized sentence. Quote ONE word that points to
this technique.
 b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping
the reader understand the nature of cigarettes. You may support your answer with further
evidence from the text.

c. Explain how the writer uses language to persuade the reader of the dangers of cigarette
smoking. Give examples of techniques and words used.

Text One: ‘WANAKA HOLIDAY’, a poem by Ruth Arnison

We cycled to Glendhu Bay and further, watching the

clouds jealously shadowing the mountains as they
threaded across the biro blue sky.

We rang home, spoke of golden willows lamp lighting

the night path along the shore, skeleton mountaintops
piercing the sky allowing studded stars to shine through.

They replied with yeh, not much, not a lot, interspersed

with weather reports, grunts, and a request for
coloured washing instructions.

We said we’d spent early mornings musing by the lake,

watching the mountains knitting together, getting a rise
out of the wind.

They wondered if the skate park had been extended,

was Llew’s Hand* still there and had we been
to Paradiso? *

We were surprised. They hadn’t loaned us so many

words for months. These nightly calls were almost
conversations.

We arrived home to empty tins, closed doors, limited

language. Before unpacking I googled wotif* searching
for another holiday to break the silence.

a. Identify ONE language feature the writer employs in Stanza 1 to help you understand the scene. Provide a
quotation from the text to support your answer.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping you understand
the scene. You may support your answer with further evidence from the text.

c. Explain how the poet uses language techniques to create and develop the differences between the
parents and their children.

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Text Two: ‘TESTS MUST BE DRIVEN BY FAIRNESS, NOT FEAR’ a piece of Non-fiction

There will never be much sympathy for teen drivers. Running up too many speeding tickets, incurring too many careless
driving convictions, it is easy to see them as monsters let loose on our roads. Seven hundred Kiwi teens died in road crashes
in the past 10 years - the highest rate among developed nations.

Successive governments have won votes by cracking down on young drivers. Minister of Justice Judith “Crusher” Collins
revelled in the nickname given her for legislating to confiscate and destroy the souped-up cars of boy racers whose antics
struck the fear of God into their law-abiding elders. And parents dread the day when their sweetfaced children get a driving
licence and behind the wheel of their first car.

The Automobile Association seems to agree. AA’s motoring affairs manager Mike Noon said it was better to have people
not driving than driving badly. “We are not doing kids any favours by putting them out on the road before they are ready.”
If teenagers learn the Road Code, do the hard yards with a driving instructor or parent and learn to drive, shouldn’t they
have a fair chance at passing their test and being granted the privilege of taking their place among New Zealand’s licensed
drivers?

Not according to New Zealand Driver Licensing, the company that runs the tests. A memo leaked to the Herald on Sunday
reveals testers have been told to pass around 40 per cent of candidates, or face the consequences. The arithmetic isn’t
hard: that means failing 60 per cent.

Now, there are clear, legal guidelines around what qualifies as a pass or a fail. Do the indicators and brake lights work? Can
the candidate turn right at a T-junction, giving way to one lane of oncoming traffic? Do they maintain a safe following
distance? There are dozens of boxes they must tick.

Is it a coincidence that each time New Zealand Driver Licensing fails a young driver, the company can charge them $88 to
resit the test - and that the 7397 resits forced on candidates since tough new standards were introduced in February 2013
have gained the company more than $650,000?

a. Identify one technique employed in paragraph 1 that develops the character of teenager drivers. Provide a
quotation from the text.

b. Explain why/ how the language feature/ technique you identified in (a) above develops the character of teenage
drivers.

c. Explain how the writer uses language to suggest that teenage drivers have not been treated fairly. Give examples of
techniques and words used.

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Text Three: ‘The Big Green Armchair’ By Marley Aitken

She stands at the draughty kitchen window finishing her cup of tea. She takes one last sip of the warm, bitter liquid, and her
eyes wander outside. Staring into the grim winter, she sees no flowering plants. There are no colours, only slate-grey skies
and bare, brown trunks. There are no buzzing cicadas or cheeky kookaburras singing and darting between the trees. All she
can hear is the hush of the wind.

She struggles to the lounge and lowers herself into her big green armchair. Familiar faces of family and friends smile down
at her. Memories comfort her; they are the only things that keep her sane. She closes her eyes and the past floods back to
where everything was different, before it all changed.

Summer was bright and lively; vivid colours surrounded her. Ruby red gerberas burst through green gardens, and purple
flowers blanketed the huge jacaranda tree that arched over the road. Lizards lay basking in the sun, the birds and chirping
crickets created a chorus, and the smell of meat sizzling on the barbeque lingered in the air.

Her grandchildren ran and leaped into the refreshing water of the swimming pool, escaping the sun’s rays. They laughed
and joked as they splashed one another. Her children sat in the shelter of the pergola eating mouth-watering prawns,
watching and reminiscing about when they too were young.

These are the days she cherishes, the days she misses, when all the family was together. It is where she wants to be. She
takes one final breath, then drifts back to the joyful summer. All that remains in winter is her lifeless body, which lies in the
big green armchair.

a. Identify one language feature used in paragraph 2 to develop the mood of the passage. Quote the words that reveal
this technique.

b. Explain why/ how the technique you identified in your answer to (a) was effective in helping the reader understand
the mood. You may support your answer with further evidence from the text.

c. Explain how the writer uses language to develop the situation of the old lady. Give examples of techniques and words
used.