English

Group D (10+)

SPECIMEN PAPER 2015

English - Reading

25 minutes

Instructions
 Answer ALL the questions; spend at least ten minutes on question eight
 Match your response to the marks available
 If you get stuck, move on to the next question

Surname: .................................................................

First name: .................................................................

 Read the following passage then answer the questions that follow.

Only Yusuf, who’s goalkeeper and referee, to beat. Yusuf crouches between two piles of
rubble, not taking his eyes off the ball at my toes.
‘Over here, Jamal,’ screams Zoltan, who’s Manchester United with me. ‘Pass.’
Normally I would. I’m known for it. Ask any of the seven kids in my school. ‘Jamal’s a
5 good dribbler,’ they’ll say, ‘and a very brilliant passer.’ If I had an unexploded shell for every
goal I’ve set up for other people, I could go into the scrap metal business.
But this time I want to score myself. I want to give a desert warrior whoop and
smack the ball with all my strength and watch it whiz past Yusuf like a Scud missile.
Just once.
10 ‘Jamal,’ screams Zoltan, flapping his arms like a buzzard1 with belly-ache. ‘Over here.’
I ignore him. I decide to shoot low and try for a curve. You have to with Yusuf. He’s
really good at diving saves, especially for a kid with only one leg.
I can hear Aziz and Mussa thudding towards me. I steady myself and shoot.
Hopeless.
15 I’ve sliced it. Just like last time. And all the times before that.
The ball trickles towards Yusuf. He doesn’t even pretend it’s a good shot. Doesn’t
dive on it or anything. Just picks it up and chucks it back over my head.
‘Weak,’ laughs Aziz behind me.
Zoltan is looking at me as though an American air strike has hit me in the head and
20 scrambled my brains.
‘Jamal,’ he says. ‘I was unmarked.’
‘Sorry,’ I say, waiting for him and Aziz and Mussa to make unkind comments about
midfield players who think they’re strikers but aren’t.
They don’t.
25 Nobody says a word.
I realise they’re not even looking at me. They’re staring at something behind me.
Their faces are frozen. Their mouths are open. They’re in shock.
For a horrible moment I think it’s the government. Football isn’t officially banned,
but the government doesn’t like people playing it. I think they’re embarrassed that we
30 don’t have any international stars here in Afghanistan.
I turn and look fearfully at the figure behind us.
It’s not what I thought. It’s not an angry man in black robes with a long beard and an
even longer swishing cane. It’s something even scarier. A kid in a very familiar dress and
headcloth.
35 ‘Bibi,’ I gasp.
‘Eeek,’ croaks Aziz, face slack with amazement. ‘It’s your sister.’

1
buzzard: wild bird
Questions

1. What is the name of the boy who is telling the story?

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(1 mark)

2. Where does the story take place?

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(1 mark)

3. How many children are at Jamal’s school?

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(1 mark)

4. Explain the meaning of the following words in bold, as used in the passage:

(a) ‘desert warrior whoop’ (line 8)

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(b) ‘Football isn’t officially banned’ (line 28)

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(c) ‘face slack with amazement’ (line 37)

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(3 marks)

5. The narrator wants the ball to be ‘like a Scud missile’ (line 8).
What does this simile tell you about the kind of shot at goal he wants?

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(2 marks)

TURN OVER
6. (a) ‘They don’t’ (line 24) and ‘Nobody says a word’ (line 25) are on separate lines.
Can you suggest why?

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(1 mark)

(b) The story is written in the present tense. Why do you think the writer chose
to write in this way?

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(1 mark)

7. What do you think will happen next? Explain your answer with reference to the
passage as a whole.

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(4 marks)

Q8 requires a longer, more detailed answer.

8. The writer of this story often writes about serious issues in a humorous way.

In what ways is this passage both light-hearted (funny) and serious?

Refer to details in the text to back up your ideas.

You might write about:

 how the boys are described
 what you learn of the place
 how the passage ends
 any other ideas of your own
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(6 marks)

Total: 20 marks