Sitting reading a newspaper might not

seem like working!

In fact, it is one of the best ways to
improve your understanding of written
English.
You should train yourself to be able to
identify these language features:

1 | Page
 Section A: Non-Fiction
There’s S-no Xscape (TOTAL MARKS: 30)
In this article, Edd McCracken describes how
Glasgow’s Sno Zone offers young people the
chance to improve their snowboarding skills all
year round.

1 It’s the hottest day of the year. Like over-excited

footballers, the good people of Glasgow are celebrating
by shedding their clothes. Builders work on their lobster-
red tans, while young men walk down Buchanan Street
dazzling passers-by with their porcelain torsos. The Clyde
looks almost swimmable – it’s that hot. 5

2 | Page
 Considering these extraordinary circumstances,
spending today inside a giant fridge where the
temperature never creeps above -5∞ is rather perverse.
But that’s where I find myself, snowboarding inside
Xscape’s Sno Zone in Braehead. On real snow.

10 My guide through this faux-winter wonderland is ten-

year-old championship skier and snowboarder Nicole
Ritchie. Nicole is already a regular at Sno Zone. Within
five minutes of meeting, she’s throwing snowballs at me
while we are on the lift.

‘The snow is really good here – it tastes exactly the same

as real snow too, 15 very nice,’ she says, this time
sucking on a snowball, as opposed to throwing it. Nicole
should know: she’s trained at the British Ski Team camp
in the Alps and has a room full of trophies and awards. In
some ways, the Sno Zone is better than the mountains,
she says.

‘The snow here is like real snow, but if the snow wears
away, there’s
20 artificial surface underneath, so you can still keep
going whereas, on the mountain, if the snow wears away,
you can’t keep going. It’s just rocks. The Austrians can’t

3 | Page
train at the moment because there’s no snow there, but
we’ve got an indoor place.’

It snows every night at Braehead. A total of sixteen snow

guns fire cooled 25 water into air chilled to –2∞making
1700 tonnes of real snow to cover the 200m slope and
the 50m nursery slope, the biggest in the UK.
Sadly, you can’t just launch yourself onto the piste. For
safety reasons you need to be able to control your speed,
link a turn and use the Poma lift before the staff will let
you run riot. But fret not, lessons are available on 30 the
smaller 50m slope to bring you up to scratch.

Nicole doesn’t need any lessons. She whizzes up and

down the slope, over the rails and table tops, doing jumps
and putting people three times her age to shame.
Pete Kelly has nothing to fear from Nicole yet. He grinds
down one of the 35 rails, creating enough heat in this ice
box to send sparks flying, before doing a 360 over a
jump. He is in awe of the younger kids whizzing about the
slope. ‘It’s the same with any sport – start young, grow up
to be a genius,’ he says. ‘Some of the kids can bounce
and flex, unlike older people. Young people bounce, old
people break.’

40 As ever, the continuous sound track to the frosty

festivities is rib-shuddering hip-hop, its relaxed bass thud
the perfect accompaniment to a sport that is devilishly
hard to make look laid-back and easy. There’s a healthy
4 | Page
mix of daredevils busting extreme moves, with plenty of
people taking baby steps (more like stumbles) off the
table tops.

45 Families look in from behind the glass, their faces a

mixture of wonder and bemusement as they gaze at a
mini-Narnia scene, hidden in the corner of a retail park
just outside Glasgow. From the slopes, it’s like being a
performing dolphin on the inside of an aquarium.

The session draws to a close. The boarders make their

way outside into 50 the balmy air. Snowboard boots are
swapped for sandals and baggy trousers for baggy shorts.
Amongst them all the excited chatter is the same – it’s
going to be a long, cold summer.

Vocabulary Definition Examples

Shedding to get rid of  Psychotherapy
something you helped him to
do not need or shed some of his
want insecurity/inhibit
ions.
 I'm going on a
diet to see if I
can shed a few
pounds.
Dazzling If you are I was dazzled by his

5 | Page
 dazzled by charm and good
someone or looks.
something, you
think they are
extremely good
and exciting
Torsos the main part The airbag will
of the human protect the head and
body without torso.
the head, arms,
or legs
Perverse strange and not Jack was being
what most perverse and
people would refusing to agree
expect or enjoy with anything we
said.
Faux not real, but I finished the outfit
made to look or with a string of faux
seem real pearls.
Wear away to become thin In some diseases,
and disappear the protective layer
after repeated in a joint wears
use or rubbing, away.
or to cause
something to
become thin
and disappear
in this way:
Piste a snow-covered He skidded off a
area or track piste and crashed
that is suitable into a tree.
for skiing
Run riot behave in a I dread them coming
violent and here because they

6 | Page
 unrestrained let their kids run riot.
way.
Fret to be nervous Don't fret - I'm sure
or worried he's OK.
Fret about She spent
the day fretting
about what she'd
said to Nicky.
Whizzes to move or do A police car whizzed
something very by, on its way to the
fast accident.
We whizzed through
the rehearsal, so
that we'd be finished
by lunchtime.
flex to bend an arm, First, straighten your
leg, etc. or legs, then flex your
tighten a feet.
muscle: He tried to impress
me by flexing his
huge muscles.
Frosty very cold, with The frosty air stung
a thin layer of my cheeks.
white ice It was a cold and
covering frosty morning.
everything OR
unfriendly / not
welcoming

Festivities the parties, We took the

meals, and decorations down
other social once the festivities
activities with were over.
which people She flew up to

7 | Page
 celebrate a Boston to take part
special in the festivities.
occasion: I usually absent
myself from the New
Year's festivities.
Shuddering When I heard a massive
something explosion and the
shudders, it ground shuddered
shakes beneath me.
violently and
quickly.

accompanime music that is

nt played with
someone who
is singing or
playing the
main tune
devilishly extremely That's a devilishly
difficult question.
laid-back relaxed in I've never seen her
manner and worried or anxious in
character; not any way - she's so
usually worried laid-back.
about other
people's
behaviour or
things that
need to be
done:
Daredevils a person who
does dangerous
things and
takes risks

8 | Page
Busting Dancing He was busting some
energetically cool moves at the
party last night.
Stumbles to step Running along the
awkwardly beach, she stumbled
while walking on a log and fell on
or running and the sand.
fall or begin to
fall
Bemusement the state of He scratched his
being bemused head in bemusement
(= slightly as the figures were
confused): read out.
Retail the activity of The job is open to
selling goods to applicants with over
the public, two years'
usually in shops experience in retail.
The clothing
company has six
retail outlets (=
shops) in Perth.
Balmy air pleasantly a balmy summer
warm evening

For practice
(1) Quote a word or expression from the passage which
corresponds to each of the following definitions. The lines
where the answer is to be found are given in brackets.
1 pale, like fine china (lines 1–5)
………………………………………..
2 contrary (lines 6–9) ………………………………………..

9 | Page
3 fake (lines 10–13) ………………………………………..
4 specially prepared slope (lines 27–30)
………………………………………..
5 worry (lines 27–30) ………………………………………..
6 respect (lines 34–36) ………………………………………..
7 bend (lines 37–39) ………………………………………..
8 puzzlement (lines 45–48)
………………………………………..
9 shopping centre (lines 45–48)
………………………………………..
10 warm and still (lines 49–52)
………………………………………..

Questions
1 The writer creates various contrasts between
paragraphs one and two. In your own words, explain one
example of these contrasts.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

10 | P a g e
2 In paragraph one (lines 1–5) the author uses imagery
(similes and metaphors) to suggest that Glasgow people
are not used to hot weather. Choose any two of these
images and explain how effective you find them. E
Image
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Effect
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Image
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Effect
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

3 What structure technique has the author used in

paragraph two? What effect does it have on the reader?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

4 Copy one word from paragraph two (lines 6–9) which

describes the writer’s feelings about the idea of
snowboarding on a hot day. U
__________________________________________________________

11 | P a g e
5 In your own words, explain two pieces of evidence from
paragraph 4 (lines 14–18) which show that ten-year-old
Nicole Ritchie is an expert skier and snowboarder. U
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

6 In your own words, explain why Nicole Ritchie believes

that ‘In some ways, the Sno Zone is better than the
mountains’ (lines 17–18). U
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

7 ‘It snows every night at Braehead’ (line 24). Show how

the sentence that follows (lines 24–26) expands on this
statement.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

8 ‘Nicole doesn’t need any lessons’ (line 31). Show how

this sentence forms a link between the previous
paragraph and the one that follows.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

12 | P a g e
9 In your own words, explain one way in which Pete Kelly
considers young people to have an advantage when it
comes to ski-ing and snowboarding. U
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

10 a) In paragraph 11 (lines 40–44) the writer describes

the different types of people who take part in
snowboarding at the Sno Zone. Show how his word choice
is effective in conveying
(i) the risks taken by the more experienced
(ii) the beginners’ lack of skill.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

b) Quote the expression that conveys the writer’s attitude

to the fact that both skilled and unskilled snowboarders
are taking part. U
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

11 Read paragraph 12 (lines 45–48). Comment on any

aspects of the word choice and imagery that you find
helpful in conveying to the reader (a) what the scene
looks like to the spectators behind the glass and
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

13 | P a g e
(b) how those on the slopes feel about the spectators.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
12 In what ways might the last sentence be considered
an appropriate conclusion to this article? E
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
TIP 1: U
Showing ‘Understanding’ Questions marked ‘U’ for
Understanding are simply testing whether you know what
a writer means. Sometimes these questions will test your
knowledge of single words or expressions
TIP 2: E
Finding evidence: Other questions test your
understanding by asking for ‘evidence’. You will almost
always be told which lines of the passage contain the
‘evidence’. What you must do is find the information in
these lines which shows that you understand what the
writer means. You should then express this, using your
own words as far as possible.
Remember to look carefully at the number of marks in
the question. Sometimes the questions will tell you how
many pieces of ‘evidence’ you must give. If not, try to
write down one piece of evidence for each available
mark.

14 | P a g e
For practice
Answer the following additional ‘Understanding’
questions, making sure that you present the ‘evidence’ in
your own words.
1 Explain two pieces of evidence from lines 10–23 which
show that Nicole Ritchie was confident and relaxed with
the writer.
2 Explain two pieces of evidence from the first half of the
passage (lines 1–26) that tell the reader Sno Zone is
extremely large.
3 Explain two pieces of evidence from lines 27–30 that
tell the reader the staff at Sno Zone are very safety-
conscious.
4 Explain two pieces of evidence from lines 34–36 that
tell the reader Pete Kelly is a top-class snowboarder.
5 Explain two pieces of evidence from lines 40–44 that
tell the reader the background music at Sno Zone is very
loud.

15 | P a g e
Answer Key:
For practice (1)
1 porcelain
2 perverse
3 faux
4 piste
5 fret
6 awe
7 flex
8 bemusement
9 retail park
10 balmy

1. Contrast either between outdoors / indoors or

between heat / cold. (2 marks)

16 | P a g e
 2. Any two of the following (1 mark for quotation and 1
for comment): • ‘Like over-excited footballers’: this
simile compares the way footballers, ecstatic at their
victory, take off their football strips and suggests
that the public are just as excited when hot weather
comes. • ‘lobster-red tans’: metaphor, stressing how
over-exposure to the sun produces an unnatural and
uncomfortable sunburn.
• ‘porcelain torsos’: metaphor; porcelain is a very
light-coloured material; the comparison stresses how
the men are not used to exposure to the sun
3. Short ‘sentence’, lacking a verb, is a contrast to the
longer ones that precede it, thus throwing emphasis
on the statement (1 mark). In particular, these words
stress how surprising it is that the snow is real, in
view of the hot weather (1 mark).
4. Perverse (1 mark).
5. Any two of the following for 1 mark each:
• ‘championship’
• ‘she’s trained at the British Ski Team camp in the
Alps’ 111 Answers
• ‘a room full of trophies and awards’. (2 marks)
6. When real snow becomes worn, it reveals a stony
surface underneath (1 mark) whereas the man-made
surface underneath the snow in the Sno Zone means
that the skier can continue (1 mark).
7. The next sentence gives details of how the artificial
snow is created (1 mark); this is conveyed by the use
of numerous statistics (1 mark).
8. ‘Lessons’ refers back to the reference to lessons in
the previous paragraph (1 mark); ‘Nicole doesn’t

17 | P a g e
 need’ is expanded by the description of her expertise
(1 mark).
9. Younger people are more supple / flexible (‘some of
the kids can bounce and flex’) whereas older people
are less agile (2 marks).
10. a) (i) ‘dare-devils’ suggests that the more
experienced are not frightened of taking risks;
‘extreme’ similarly shows they will tackle
adventurous and demanding moves; ‘busting’
suggests the ease with which they perform these
actions (2 marks).
(ii) ‘baby steps’ suggests timidity, lack of experience
and skill; ‘more like stumbles’ shows how the beginners
can barely perform even these simple moves (2
marks).
b) ‘a healthy mix’ (1 mark)
11. 1 a) Any two of the following for 1 mark each:
• ‘mini-Narnia’ scene suggests a picturesque view
which seems more like an unreal fantasy world
• juxtaposition / contrast with ‘hidden in the corner of
a retail park just outside Glasgow’ further stresses
the unexpectedness of the scene
• ‘wonder and bemusement’ reveals the spectators’
state of amazement and disbelief.
b) A simile ‘like a performing dolphin on the inside of
an aquarium’ shows how keenly participants feel
they are being watched; they feel they are a source
of entertainment to the spectators (2 marks).
12. Passage began with a reference to the contrast
between the hot summer weather and the cold of the
Sno Zone; last sentence picks up on this contrast
18 | P a g e
 again (1 mark): provides a surprising and effective
twist on the common phrase ‘long, hot summer’ (1
mark).

Solved: Why Women Obsess about their Food more

than Men
Jo Macfarlane describes new research which sheds
some light on why men and women react to food in
different ways. (TOTAL MARKS: 30)

19 | P a g e
1 If a woman is tempted into having an extra slice of
cake, don’t blame it on greed, blame it on her brain.

Scientists have found that women’s brains react to food

very differently – and much more strongly – than men’s.
Academics found that decades of 5 dieting pressure on
women and advertising have programmed certain parts
of the female brain to go into stimulation when faced with
any kind of food. Chocolate is a guilty pleasure and
counting calories a feature of daily life for many women.

Men, on the other hand, are not usually as obsessive

about what they eat. 10 Women may even be biologically
conditioned to react differently to food. The research also

20 | P a g e
explains why they are more likely to diet – because they
are constantly trying to justify whatever they eat.
Dr Rudolf Uher and his colleagues at King’s College
London Institute of Psychiatry used brain scanning
technology, known as functional magnetic 15 resonance
imaging (fMRI), to look at the brains of eighteen men and
women.

Some of the people in the sample had eaten normally and

others had been asked to fast for the previous twenty-
four hours. The volunteers were given images of food to
look at, as well as food to taste. Their brain reactions
were monitored by the scientists.

20 They found that the occipitotemporal cortex – the area

of the brain that monitors and reflects how other parts of
the brain react to the food – registered the strongest
activity. And the female brains reacted much more
strongly than their male counterparts.
The same reaction did not happen when they were shown
non-food
25 images. The team believe this means women think
more about food than men tend to do. They also make
more decisions about whether they should eat it.

Dr Uher told New Scientist magazine: ‘This could be

related to biological differences between men and
women. But the more likely explanation is that women

21 | P a g e
have a more complicated reaction to food because of
social pressure.’

30 Dr Uher’s research group is now extending its study to

look at patients with eating disorders and obesity.
Professor Carey Cooper, psychology and health professor
at Lancaster University, said: ‘I think they’re really on to
something with this. For centuries women have had a
providing role – preparing and cooking food for their
families. And it’s part of that role 35 to make sure the
food is safe. They will therefore be much more sensitive
to food than men are, and I would not be surprised if that
was now built into their DNA. If the female brain reacts to
food because it historically has developed neural
pathways to do this, then food will be the way they
express their stress. Food is a neurological stimulant for
women, and a comfort.’
40 But other experts have warned that more research
must be done before the results can be confirmed.
American scientist Angelo del Parigi of the John B. Pierce
Laboratory in New Haven, Connecticut, said: ‘Looking at
an fMRI alone cannot confirm whether the stronger
reaction in women is due to innate differences or a
learned process.’
Questions
1 Explain clearly one way in which the title of the article
is appropriate.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

22 | P a g e
2 Quote the words from paragraph one which best sum
up the main point the writer is making in this article.
__________________________________________________________
3 Comment on the effectiveness of the expression
‘decades of dieting pressure’ (lines 4–5).
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

4 Look again at lines 6–9. In your own words, explain the

main difference between men’s and women’s attitudes to
food.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

5 Explain the function of the dash in line 11.

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

6 In your own words, state the main findings of the

experiments carried out by Dr Rudolf Uher using brain
scanning technology.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

23 | P a g e
7 a) The writer employs technical jargon at some points
in the passage. Quote two examples of this kind of
language.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) Comment on the effectiveness of the author’s use of
such expressions.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

8 Look again at lines 27–29.

a) In your own words, state the two alternative
explanations of why men and women react to food
differently.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) Which of these explanations does Dr Uher find more
convincing?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
c) Quote an expression that tells you this.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

24 | P a g e
9 a) Quote an expression from lines 30–39 that shows
Professor Carey Cooper’s view of the research findings.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) Explain how the author establishes a conversational
tone here.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
10 Show how the sentence ‘But other experts . . . can be
confirmed’ (lines 40–41) provides a link between the
previous paragraph and the one that follows.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

11 To what extent does American scientist Angelo del

Parigi support the research findings of Dr Uher?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
12 Give the meaning of the word ‘innate’ (line 43) and
explain how the rest of the sentence helps you to work
this out.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
13 By referring to any two techniques used in the
passage, comment on how convincing you find the
author’s argument.

25 | P a g e
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

Vocabulary Definition Examples

Tempted to make The offer of free
someone want credit tempted
to have or do her into buying a
something, new car.
especially They tempted
something that him to join the
is unnecessary company by
or wrong offering him a
huge salary and
a company car.
Obsessive thinking about He's obsessive
26 | P a g e
 something or about
someone, or punctuality.
doing
something, too
much or all the
time
Monitored to watch and The new findings
check a situation suggest that
carefully for a women ought to
period of time in monitor their
order to discover cholesterol
something about levels.
it The CIA were
monitoring (=
secretly listening
to) his phone
calls.
Registered to put Within two
information, weeks of arrival
especially your all foreigners
name, into an had to register
official list or with the local
record police.
Students have to
register for the
new course by
the end of April.
Counterparts a person or thing The president
that has the will meet with
same purpose as his Brazilian
another one in a counterpart
different place tomorrow.
or organization
Neural involving a Some people

27 | P a g e
 nerve or the suffered severe
system of neural damage
nerves that as a result of the
includes the disease.
brain
Stimulant something that Tourism has
makes or causes acted as a
something else stimulant to the
to grow or country's
develop economy.
Innate An innate quality Cyril's most
or ability is one impressive
that you were quality was his
born with, not innate goodness.
one you have
learned

28 | P a g e
Answer Key:
1. Suggests that passage is going to provide an
explanation of this issue and makes reader want to read
on (2 marks) ‘Solved’ followed by colon suggests that
there has been a mystery and that the mystery has now
been explained (2 marks)
2. ‘Blame it on her brain’ (1 mark)
3. Use of alliteration (1 mark) stresses the length of time
that women have been told that they must diet (1 mark).
or Word choice: ‘pressure’ suggests how intense and
constant the attempt has been to make them diet (2
marks).
4. Women are very conscious that eating certain foods
will increase their weight (1 mark); men do not generally
show as much concern about their diet (1 mark).
5. The dash introduces an explanation of the previous
statement (1 mark), i.e. the sentence goes on to explain
that the reason why women diet is that they feel a need
to give reasons / excuses for what they are eating (1
mark).
6. The females showed a stronger response than males to
images of food than to other images (1 mark). This
suggests that the female brain is programmed to focus
on food to a greater extent than the male brain (1 mark).

29 | P a g e
7. a) occipitotemporal cortex / functional magnetic
resonance imaging / neurological stimulant / neural
pathways, etc. ( 1 2⁄ mark for each)
b) The use of such expressions suggests that experts in
this field have been consulted, and thus makes the
author’s argument more convincing (2 marks).
8. a) Paraphrase of ‘biological differences’ and ‘social
pressure’, e.g. women react differently to food either
because they are genetically different from males or
because they are subjected to more powerful social
influences (2 marks).
b) the second of these (social pressure) (1 mark)
c) ‘the more likely explanation’ (1 mark)
9. a) ‘I think they’re really on to something with this.’ (1
mark).
b) Reference to such features as: use of the first person;
use of abbreviation; use of colloquial ‘really’ (1 mark).

10 Any two of the following points: ‘But’ signals a change

in the direction of the argument (1 mark); ‘results’ refers
back to the studies of the experts previously mentioned
(1 mark); ‘more research’ points forward to the
comments of Angelo del Parigi (1 mark).
11 He accepts that the findings are valid to some extent
(1 mark) but feels that other methods in addition to brain
scans (fMRI) should be used to prove the validity of Dr
Uher’s conclusions (1 mark).

30 | P a g e
12. ‘Innate’ means instinctive, inborn, inherent (1 mark).
The sentence structure makes it clear that innate must
mean the opposite of ‘learned process’, i.e. something a
person is born with rather than taught later on (1 mark).
13. Possibilities include:
• Use of quotations from expert witnesses gives weight to
the conclusions. • Detailed account of experiments shows
that the issue has been thoroughly investigated.
• Author takes a balanced approach, giving consideration
to experts who do not entirely agree with the findings.
• Use of a conversational tone in the opening paragraph
makes the point of the article easier to grasp.
Quotation as well as comment required for the full 4
marks. Marks may be gained by four brief points or by
two developed more fully (with back-up evidence).

31 | P a g e
 Teenagers (TOTAL MARKS: 30)
What is it like to be a teenager? Journalist Penny
Wark contacted 500 young people to find out. The
results of her experiment surprised her . . .

32 | P a g e
1 It occurred to us one day that we didn’t know what
teenagers are like. We know what we think they are like,
we know all the clichés, and we know what we were like
at that age. But however amusing it is to propagate the
notion that teenagers grunt and slouch and get cross and
go 5 red and qualify as little more than a subspecies that
might one day grow into humans, we suspected that
there was more to them than that, and that we ought to
try to understand them better.
So we invited teenagers to write to us, explaining what it
feels like to be them. We received more than 500
responses, some angry, some sad, many raw and all
fiercely articulate about the complex condition of being
10 stuck in the hinterland between childhood and fully
fledged adulthood.

33 | P a g e
At the same time I travelled around Britain, talking to
dozens of teenagers I had never met before. Not one was
remotely like Harry Enfield’s Kevin the teenager and –
shock, horror – many were pleasant, well-adjusted young
people feeling their way sensibly, and sometimes a little
stupidly,
15 through adolescence. As one should.
But there were others who were clearly troubled. Some I
found myself mentoring, telling them that things would
get better. Some moved me profoundly, making me want
to protect them even though I knew that I couldn’t, and
that it would be dishonest to pretend that I could. It
struck 20 me that their most immediate need was a good
hug, and that was the problem: there was no one in their
family who cared for them enough to notice.

What did I discover? That a teenager who has loving,

caring, supportive and unselfish parents will, eventually in
some cases, cope. That a teenager who has one loving,
caring, supportive and unselfish parent will also cope. 25
And that there are a significant number of teenagers
whose parents are either physically or emotionally absent
from their children, or both, and these teenagers will
struggle and may fail.

So while it is obvious that parenting matters, it’s clear

that just as there are some disadvantaged mothers who
have children with little thought for 30their welfare, and
who neglect their children from the day they are born,

34 | P a g e
there are also plenty of middle-class parents who are too
self-absorbed to put in place the barriers that make
children feel safe. Asian families tend not to be among
them: six of the 36 teenagers I interviewed are Asian and
each was remarkably calm – sorted, they would say. Their
35 families are strong and structured, they live in a
defined community and their religious faith means that
many of the complications teenagers feel they need to
address – …, drinking, drug taking – are not options, so
they don’t have to worry about them. And they don’t.

Looking at the written and verbal accounts of

teenagerdom together, one more thing emerged.
Teenagers hate being stereotyped. They hate adults 40
who tell them what they are like and how they feel: they
want to have their say without adult filtering or analysis.

Vocabula Definition Examples

ry
Clichés a phrase, remark, My wedding day -
or opinion that has and I know it's a
very often been cliché - was just the
said or expressed happiest day of my
before and is life.
therefore not
original and not
interesting
Hinterland a part of the He worked as a
country that is far missionary for many
away from the big years in the
city areas hinterlands of Africa.
fledged able to fly

35 | P a g e
Stereotyped a set idea that The characters in the
people have about book are just
what someone or stereotypes.
something is like,
especially an idea
that is wrong

Questions
1 In paragraph one the author describes what many
people think of teenagers.
a) In your own words, state what this opinion is.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

b) Justify your answer by giving two close references to

the passage.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

2 Quote an expression that shows the writer does not

share this view.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

3 Look at lines 7–10. The writer talks of teenagers as

‘being stuck in the hinterland between childhood and fully
fledged adulthood.’

36 | P a g e
a) Explain what she means by this.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) Choose one example of the author’s word choice in
this sentence and explain how it helps you to understand
the point she is making.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

4 Find a word from paragraph two (lines 7–10) that

means ‘able to express your opinion in a fluent way.’
__________________________________________________________

5 a) What conclusion did the author come to after

travelling round Britain talking to teenagers? (lines 11–
15).
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

b) How does her use of punctuation show that she was

surprised by what she found?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
6 Read lines 16–21.

37 | P a g e
a) What does the writer identify as the main thing lacking
in many teenagers’ lives?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) Explain the function of the colon in line 20.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
7 ‘What did I discover?’ (Line 22).
Comment on the importance of this sentence in the
development of the argument of the whole passage.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

8 The phrase ‘physically or emotionally absent’ (lines 25–

26) means:
a) the parents are never at home
b) the parents are at home but do not show much
affection to their son or daughter
c) both of the above.

9 Read lines 28–37. In your own words, explain the ways

in which the author considers

38 | P a g e
(a) ‘some disadvantaged mothers’ and
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

(b) ‘plenty of middle-class parents’ contribute to the

problems experienced by their children.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
10 In your own words, explain two reasons why the
author thinks that teenagers from Asian families feel
more secure.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
11 ‘Teenagers hate being stereotyped’ (line 39).
Give the meaning of ‘stereotyped’ and explain how the
rest of the sentence helps you to work it out.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

12 The author states that her aim in this passage was ‘to
try to understand [teenagers] better’.
Comment on how successful you feel she has been in
achieving this purpose.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

39 | P a g e
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

Answer Key
1 a) Answer should be based on ideas in lines 1–6: many
people think that teenagers are rude / inarticulate /
slovenly / bad-tempered / moody / are less than human (1
mark).

40 | P a g e
b) Any two of the following for 1 mark each: grunt,
slouch, get cross, go red, qualify as little more than a sub-
species (2 marks).

2 ‘we suspected that there was more to them than that’

or ‘we ought to try to understand them better’ (1 mark).
3 a) Teenagers are at an in-between stage – neither
children nor grown-ups (1 mark).
b) ‘Hinterland’ is appropriate as it suggests
metaphorically that teenagers are not part of mainstream
life; that they are isolated / not fully involved / distant,
etc. This stresses the gulf between teenagers and adults.
‘Fully fledged’ is appropriate as it refers to a stage in life
when the person has matured. Teenagers have
progressed beyond the stage of childhood but are not yet
fully developed and independent. (1 or 2 marks,
depending on how well expressed)

4 articulate (1 mark)
5 a) Gloss on ‘pleasant, well-adjusted young people’, e.g.
many youngsters are in fact likeable / agreeable / friendly
and normal / stable (1 mark); gloss on ‘feeling their way,
sensibly, and sometimes a little stupidly, through
adolescence’, e.g. they are finding their way through their
teenage years in a level-headed, reasonable manner /
inevitably making mistakes sometimes (1 mark).
b) Reference to parenthesis – use of dashes before and
after ‘shock, horror’ (1 mark); explanation of how this

41 | P a g e
allows the author to insert a comment stressing her
surprise (1 mark).
6 a) Someone who loves them / is concerned for them /
takes an interest in them (1 mark).
b) The colon introduces an explanation (1 mark) of what
the problem is (that no-one in their families cares for
them) (1 mark).
7 The sentence provides a link as it refers back to the
author’s conversations with teenagers (1 mark) and
points forward to the next paragraph which summarises
what she found out in the course of her investigations (1
mark).
8 c) both of the above (1 mark).
9 a) Some less well-off mothers have children but have no
interest in their wellbeing and pay little attention to them
from birth onwards (2 marks).
b) Many better-off parents are too interested in
themselves to take time to lay down ground rules for
their children / set standards for their behaviour (2
marks).
10 Paraphrase of two of the following: ‘their families are
strongly structured’; ‘they live in a defined community’;
‘religious faith’ (2 marks). Example of a 2 mark answer:
They feel more secure as they are brought up with strong
moral values based on their religious beliefs and they
receive support and encouragement from their relatives.
11 ‘Stereotyped’ means being labelled as having certain
characteristics, rather than being treated as an individual
(1 mark). The sentence, ‘They hate adults who tell them
42 | P a g e
what they are like and how they feel’ develops the idea of
stereotyping (1 mark).
12 Various possibilities. For 2 marks, specific references
are required
• Author bases her conclusions on responses from
teenagers themselves. This shows her desire to see the
problems from the teenagers’ point of view.
• She challenges the usual stereotypes of teenage
behaviour.
• Statements like ‘many were pleasant, well-adjusted
young people’ show her willingness to take a positive
attitude to teenagers.
• She is critical of parents: ‘There are plenty of middle-
class parents who are too self-absorbed’. This again
shows her attempt to identify with younger people.
• She draws out general points from her investigations:
‘teenagers hate being stereotyped’. (2 marks)

43 | P a g e
TIP 3:
Formal and informal language
The spoken English used in everyday conversation can be
described as informal language. We use
• Shortened forms of words (abbreviations) like don’t,
can’t, isn’t, etc.
• Slang expressions
• Personal pronouns like I and you. I think he’s really cool,
don’t you?
Written language tends to be more formal.
• Shortened forms are written in full (do not, cannot, is
not).
• The word choice will be more precise, correct and
perhaps more complicated.
• The tone will not be chatty or personal.
• There will be more emphasis on information and ideas
rather than on feelings.
For practice (1)
The passage on Teenagers makes use of both formal
and informal language (sometimes referred to as

44 | P a g e
register). In the table below write out the following
phrases under the heading you think describes each one
best.
Even though I knew that I couldn’t
What did I discover?
Propagate the notion
Physically or emotionally absent
They don’t have to worry about them
They live in a defined community
Sorted
Adult filtering or analysis
Their families are strong and structured
Shock, horror
And they don’t
Formal Informal

45 | P a g e
Answer Key
For practice (1)
Formal: Propagate the notion; Physically or emotionally
absent; They live in a defined community; Adult filtering
or analysis; Their families are strong and structured
Informal: Even though I knew that I couldn’t; What did I
discover?; They don’t have to worry about them; Sorted;
Shock, horror; And they don’t
For practice (2)
In pairs or groups, discuss the style of the following
extracts. Decide which ones are formal and which ones
are informal, and identify the language features that help
you to decide. (Note that an extract is not necessarily
completely formal or completely informal. Writers often
use a combination of registers.)

a) Picture this: you’re aboard a luxurious cruise ship

somewhere in the north Atlantic, it’s New Year’s Eve,
46 | P a g e
you’re happy and the vibe is good. Then a huge wave
crashes into the ship. It jolts, turns upside down and
you’re thrown from the floor to the ceiling! That’s what
happens to the tonnes of rich folk and crew aboard the
Poseidon. We’re talking total disaster as bodies are flung
out to sea, crushed and burned. The captain wants the
survivors to stay put and wait to be rescued but a small
group think that’s nuts and the only way to survive is to
find a way off the ship before it sinks.

b) Tetrodotoxin is one of the strongest poisons on the

planet – 10,000 times more deadly than cyanide. It’s
found in poison arrow frogs, puffer fish, and the beautiful
but deadly blue ringed octopus. It kills by stopping the
lungs working. Consequently, victims suffocate and their
lips and tongue turn blue. Weight for weight it is 100
times more lethal than black widow spider venom. The
amount of poison in one puffer fish alone could kill thirty
people and there is no antidote.

c) So, just how personal is your personal computer? Does

the background pic show your fave celeb, or just the big
green field that Microsoft put there?
Personalising your PC is easy. You can ditch the bland
background and get a proper pic in place.
In fact, it’s so easy on Windows XP, you’ll wonder why
you didn’t do it before. The hard part is actually choosing
a pic in the first place. Some sites have tons of pics you
can use. There are plenty of fan sites for celebs and

47 | P a g e
bands where you can download screen-sized pics. And for
all-round personalisation, why not download a wallpaper
to your phone while you’re at it?

d) People only bother to learn to calculate stuff like

forces, impact speeds and momentum to pass their
science exams at school, right? Wrong. If you’re strapped
into a Formula One car hurtling round a circuit at over
200 mph, you’ll want to know the engineers and
designers have worked out exactly how it will respond if it
suddenly comes off the track or smashes into one of its
competitors.
However, motor racing isn’t the only sport in which
collisions of one sort or another are likely. Some of these
impacts are accidental, while others are essential to the
sport. After all, it would be a boring game of football if
there was no tackling.

Answer Key
For practice (2)
a) Informal. Use of second person ‘you’; expressions like
‘picture this’, ‘you’re happy’, etc. establish a
conversational tone. Slang is used (‘that’s nuts’).
b) Formal tone. Emphasis is on factual information. Use of
statistics and jargon. Other than perhaps ‘beautiful but
deadly’, there is little in the way of personal opinion.
48 | P a g e
c) Very informal, conversational style; frequent use of the
question form, slang and abbreviations.
d) Predominantly informal: use of second person and
question form. However, there are some more formal,
technical references (‘forces, impact speeds and
momentum’) and the use of linking words like ‘however’
is characteristic of discursive writing.

TIP 4:
Effective word choice Often you will be asked to comment
on why a particular choice of word or phrase is effective.
To answer this type of question, you should consider:
• why the writer has chosen that word and not another
one with a similar meaning

49 | P a g e
• what extra associations the chosen word brings to
mind, over and above its basic ‘dictionary’ meaning – i.e.
what are the connotations of the word?

For example If we say ‘I hammered at the door’ rather

than ‘I knocked at the door’, the choice of the word
‘hammered’ suggests that the knocking was done in a
forceful, angry, impatient manner.
On the other hand, the connotations of ‘knocking’ are
more neutral. The word doesn’t reveal anything of the
manner in which the action was carried out.

For practice
For written work or group discussion Comment on the
effectiveness of the underlined words in each of the
following examples:

50 | P a g e
1 There’s been the occasional, glorious spark in football,
such as Celtic winning the European Cup in 1967. (The
writer might have chosen to say ‘bright’.)
2 100m Olympic champion Alan Wells won that title over
a quarter of a century ago. (The writer might have
chosen to say ‘25 years ago’.)
3 Scotland ruled the pool at the Commonwealth Games.
4 Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust bellows from the
speakers every time a Scottish age record is broken.
5 Staying up until 9 pm is seen as extravagant.

Answer Key: For practice

51 | P a g e
 1 glorious: connotations of something splendid,
prestigious, honourable, praiseworthy, etc.
2 quarter of a century ago: reference to century makes
the period of time seem longer and more remote.
3 ruled the pool: ‘ruled’ suggests the team’s dominance,
invincibility, etc. 4 bellows: loud, dominating sound,
suggesting the announcer’s excitement, confidence,
pride, etc.
5 extravagant: suggests unreasonable excess; the fact
that it is applied to such an early bedtime as 9 pm
stresses the discipline and commitment demanded of the
swimmers.

52 | P a g e
 Right out of the Blue (TOTAL MARKS: 30)
Awash with talent, young Scots swimmers are
lengths ahead of the rest of the UK.

1 Think of Scottish sporting success and you’ll be thinking

for a long time. There’s been the occasional, glorious
spark in football, such as Celtic winning the European Cup
in 1967, Archie Gemmill’s goal in 1978, or Aberdeen
winning the Cup Winner’s Cup in 1983, but this is ancient
5history. Likewise, Alan Wells, our Olympic champion in
the ultimate athletic discipline, the 100m, won that title
53 | P a g e
over a quarter of a century ago. Rugby grand slams have
been absent from these parts since 1990.

All of which makes what happened in Melbourne in March

2006 even more startling. Put simply, Scotland ruled the
pool at the Commonwealth 10 Games. Australia may
have won the most medals as expected, but the big story
was Scotland walking away with twelve medals, six of
which were gold.
‘The Australians’ reaction was of immediate shock, and
then disbelief,’ says Gary Peterson, one of the assistant
coaches with the Scottish team. ‘They knew Scotland
existed, but only as a beautiful country. So there was 15
shock at the huge impact the Scots had in the pool.’
Gary and I are talking at the Scottish National Open Age
Group Championships in Glasgow’s Tollcross Park Leisure
Centre. It’s the first major under-18 competition since the
Commonwealth Games, and Gary has come back to
Scotland with a splash. He hasn’t even been home to
20Aberdeen yet from Melbourne, but he’s here coaching
South Aberdeenshire swimming.
Screaming, laughing and cheers echo around the packed
arena. ‘Go Rachel! Go!’ yells one parent in the stands,
waving like a punter at the horse races. Coaches, trainers
and judges, dressed in surgical white, stalk the poolside,
clipboards and stopwatches attached. Team mates stand
at 25 the top of each lane, encouraging their friends
towards their personal best and away from a humiliating
last place. Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust bellows

54 | P a g e
from the speakers every time a Scottish age record is
broken. It is played a lot today.
Trying to make out what someone is saying in
conversation amid the hubbub is tough – like an aural
kaleidoscope. But the smiles on faces, and 30
enthusiastic gestures tell their own story about the state
of Scottish swimming.
But what does it cost to become a member of this new
generation of swimmers? Speaking to aspiring Olympian
Adrian O’Neill, quite a lot.
‘It’s a really hard sport,’ says the fifteen-year old. ‘You
have to be really focused on it if you want to achieve
anything. All your friends are having 35 parties and you
just have to say “No, I’ve got to train”. That’s hard. But
it’s worthwhile, and it’s fun.’
Like most swimmers Adrian gets up at 5 am to train for
two hours in the pool before heading to school. Then it’s a
few more hours of swimming before hitting the sack.
Staying up until 9 pm is seen as extravagant.
40 As if on cue, the commentator starts bellowing.
Swimmers from Manchester and Middlesbrough who had
been leading throughout the 400m individual medley
start to tire. ‘And it’s Blaine Small from Glenrothes out in
front!’ screams the announcer. Seconds later Scotland
has another victor in the pool. We could get used to this.

Vocabulary Definition Examples

55 | P a g e
grand important and She has all kinds of
large in degree: grand ideas.
His job has a grand
title, but he's little
more than a clerk.
slams a sudden loud The door shut with a
noise slam.
splash the noise of We heard a splash
something hitting and then saw that
or moving in Toni had fallen in the
water: river.

punter a person who Bookmakers are

gambles (= risks offering punters odds
money guessing of 6–1 on the horse
the result of Red Devil winning
something): the race.

hubbub a loud noise, I could hardly hear

especially caused myself speak above
by a lot of people all the hubbub in the
all talking at the bar.
same time:

hitting the to go to bed in I’ve got a busy day

sack order to sleep: tomorrow, so I think
I’ll hit the sack.
extravagan extreme and The product does not
t unreasonable: live up to the
extravagant claims
of the advertisers.
on cue If something I was just wondering
56 | P a g e
 happens on cue, it where Sarah was,
happens just after when, right on cue,
someone has said she came in.
or thought it would I was talking to Betty
happen about our first aid
course when, as if on
cue, a man in front of
us fainted.
medley a mixture of The menu described
different things, the dessert as "a
especially tunes medley of exotic
put together to fruits".
form a longer
piece of music

Questions
1 How does the author’s word choice in the headline and
sub-heading entertain the reader?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

2 Explain how the examples given in paragraph one

reinforce the points made in the opening sentence of the
passage.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
3 Comment on the effectiveness of any aspect of the
structure of the first sentence in paragraph one.

57 | P a g e
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
4 How suitable do you find the author’s choice of the
word ‘spark’ in line 2?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
5 Comment on the tone of ‘but this is ancient history’
(line 4).
__________________________________________________________
6 Explain how the first sentence in paragraph two (lines
8–11) forms an effective link.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
7 What is the effect of ‘walking away with’ rather than,
say, ‘winning’ in line 11?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
8 Explain how the Australians reacted to the success of
Scotland’s swimmers.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

9 Comment on the effectiveness of ‘Gary has come back

to Scotland with a splash’ (lines 18–19).
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

58 | P a g e
10 Re-read lines 21–22. Explain how the author uses word
choice and imagery here to convey the atmosphere
inside the leisure centre.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
11 a) What impression does the writer give of the
‘coaches, trainers and judges’ (lines 23–24)?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

b) By referring to two examples, show how he uses word

choice to create this effect.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
12 What evidence is given to support the comment that
swimming is ‘a really hard sport’ (line 33)?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
13 The writer’s main purpose in this passage is to
convince the reader of the success of Scottish swimmers.
Identify any two techniques he uses and comment on
how well you believe he has achieved his purpose.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Answer Key

59 | P a g e
1 Use of puns: ‘out of the blue’, ‘awash’ and ‘lengths
ahead’ are all terms that can be applied literally to
swimming but are used here metaphorically, e.g. ‘out of
the blue’ refers to the unexpected success of the Scottish
swimmers (2 marks)
2 First sentence suggests that Scottish sporting
successes are rare and that they took place some time
ago (1 mark); examples given confirm this, as they are all
drawn from the past, e.g. Archie Gemmill’s goal, etc. (1
mark).
3 Possible answers: • Command structure: ‘Think of . . .’ •
Alliteration: ‘Scottish sporting success’ (2 marks).
4 ‘Spark’ is a brief flaring-up of light (1 mark); similarly,
there have been occasional, one-off successes in football
rather than any sustained improvement (1 mark).
5 Sarcastic tone (1 mark); suggests it happened a long
time ago and is no longer relevant (1 mark).

6 ‘All of which’ points back to the previous discussion of

Scotland’s poor sporting record (1 mark); ‘What
happened in Melbourne’ points forward to surprise
success of swimmers in 2006 (1 mark).

7 ‘Winning’ is more factual / neutral. ‘Walking away with’

suggests confidence / effortless success / superiority etc.
(2 marks).

60 | P a g e
8 ‘Immediate shock’ – initially stunned / very surprised (1
mark); ‘disbelief’ – could hardly believe the Scottish
swimmers were so good (1 mark)
9 ‘Splash’ is an appropriate word to use in an article
about swimming as it suggests jumping into the water
suddenly (1 mark); in the same way, Gary did not even
stop to visit his family but immediately started coaching
swimmers (1 mark).
10 1 mark for each of the following points:
• ‘Screaming, laughing and cheers’ – sounds denote
excitement, enthusiasm, joy.
• ‘Echo’ – stresses how the noises filled the building.
• Simile ‘like a punter at the horse races’ – families are
desperate to cheer on their children, like a gambler
desperate to win. (3 marks)
11 a) Very serious / official / officious / precise /
methodical / impersonal, etc. (1 mark)
b) Two of the following for 1 mark each:
• ‘stalk’ suggests they are prowling as if to show how
closely they are observing
• ‘surgical white’ stresses their clinical, impersonal
manner
• ‘stopwatches, clipboards’ emphasises how carefully
and precisely they are recording results. (2 marks)
12 Possibilities include: • swimmers need to be able to
resist peer pressure • many hours of training are involved
• it is necessary to go to bed early. (2 marks)

61 | P a g e
13 Possibilities include: • paragraph one puts the subject
in historical context – few sporting successes in the past
•quotations from parents (paragraph 5) and swimmers
(paragraph 9) demonstrate commitment and enthusiastic
support • word choice: bellowing / screams (paragraph
11) shows excitement of commentator • sentence
structure: short sentence ‘it is played a lot today’ (line
26) emphasises success; use of rhetorical question (lines
30–31); final short sentence ‘we could get used to this’
(line 43) sums up the writer’s feeing of satisfaction with
the swimmers’ achievements. (4 marks)
‘I’m Not Scared!’ (TOTAL MARKS: 30)
In this passage, the novelist Julie Myerson thinks
about why she enjoys horror films, while other
people hate them.
1 Sunday lunch at my sister-in-law’s. We’re discussing a
new horror film in which our 13-year-old, acting-mad,
nephew Caspar landed a small role. Though everyone
wants to see him in his first feature film, his mum won’t
see the film (too scary) and neither will his granny nor his
uncle (my scaredy-cat husband).

5 Caspar’s dad has seen it and says it’s pretty frightening

but ‘not in a disturbing way’. My children and I are keen
to see it – especially my 14-year-old, who is magnetically
attracted to any 15 certificate. In his defence, he points
out that this hasn’t stopped Caspar himself seeing it.

62 | P a g e
For years now, my husband and I have slugged it out on
whether or not 10 it’s good to be scared by art. I’m still
cross that I never got to see The Blair Witch Project
because he wouldn’t come and I didn’t (quite) dare go
alone. So it’s interesting to discover that, despite being
the mother of a horror movie star, my husband’s sister
feels exactly the same. ‘These things just stay with me,’
she says, with a shudder. ‘They haunt me.’

15 My husband’s angle is that he gets nothing

whatsoever from it, so why put himself through it? But
that’s the whole point, I say, to put yourself through it! I
don’t like watching violence, but I find it both fun and
useful to be frightened – spooked, terrified, scared
witless! – by movies. And the reason they don’t haunt me
afterwards (not for long anyway) is that 20nothing that I
encounter is ever much worse than the dark material that
already exists in my own head.

But then what does this say about me and my head? Do

my husband and his sister have much sunnier minds than
I do? Or is their dark stuff just as dark, except they won’t
go there? As a novelist, I know I write about the 25 things
that frighten me – loss, fear, the raw black edges of life.
Being allowed to do this makes me feel safe. Writing lets
me peer over into that dark abyss of fear while knowing I
can pull back at any time.

63 | P a g e
Speaking of fear, I remember a rare time when I was truly
frightened and not in a harmless way. Researching a
novel a few years ago, I thought I 30should visit a
Victorian prison. It did not look especially worrying when I
arrived there one sunny weekday morning – even though
I seemed to be the only visitor.

I paid my money and went in, obediently following the

yellow-arrowed trail that led into a maze of dark tunnels
and dungeons. After two minutes, I realised that a) I was
utterly alone, b) it was abysmally dark, c) I 35 could hear
someone crying, and d) I had no idea how much more
there was. Yet e) if I turned back now, I could easily lose
my way and no one would hear me screaming down
there.
There was literally no going back. My heart was thumping
and I could hear the pounding of my own blood as I made
my way deeper and deeper 40 into the dank stone maze.
When I finally emerged into the sunlight, I was shaking
and sweaty.
I haven’t thought about it in a long time, but, while
writing this, I just googled it, only to discover that it’s one
of the most haunted sites in Britain. Now they tell me!

Questions

64 | P a g e
1 According to the writer, what was the main topic of
conversation at Sunday lunch?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
2 The author uses a chatty, informal style in the first
paragraph. Pick out two expressions which are examples
of this.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
3 ‘Pretty frightening, but not in a disturbing way’ (lines 5–
6). In your own words, explain exactly what you think
Caspar’s father meant by this.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
4 The writer says her 14-year-old is ‘magnetically
attracted’ to any 15-certificate film (line 7). Explain how
the writer’s use of metaphor helps make her meaning
clear in this statement.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
5 Read lines 11–14 ‘So it’s interesting ... haunt me.’ In
your own words, explain exactly why the writer’s sister-
in-law does not enjoy horror films.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
6 Read lines 15–16 ‘My husband’s angle ... through it!’
Explain in your own words why the writer’s husband does
not go to horror films.
65 | P a g e
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

7 Explain what you think the writer means in line 16 when

she says ‘the whole point [is] to put yourself through it’.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
8 Read lines 17–21 ‘I don’t like ... own head.’
a) Using quotation to support your answer, show how the
writer uses word choice, sentence structure and
punctuation to develop her idea of being frightened in the
cinema.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) How does the phrase in parenthesis ‘not for long
anyway’ (line 19) affect both the meaning and tone of the
sentence in which it is used?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
9 Read lines 38–41 ‘There was ... sweaty’. Explain how
the writer’s word choice effectively conveys her feelings
of fear in the Victorian prison.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

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10 When the writer looks up the Victorian prison on the
Internet she discovers it is ‘one of the most haunted sites
in Britain’ (line 43). Is there any evidence in the passage
that she might agree with this view?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
11 Explain how the writer’s style effectively captures the
reader’s interest in the passage as a whole. Refer to at
least two of: word choice; tone; use of parenthesis;
colloquial language; sentence structure.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

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Answer Key
1 A horror film in which the writer’s young nephew had a
part (1 mark).
2 Any two from: we’re; acting-mad; mum; won’t; scary;
granny; scaredy-cat; dad; it’s; pretty frightening; hasn’t
(2 marks).
3 It is quite shocking (1 mark) but it does not upset the
audience in any deep or lasting way (1 mark).
4 A magnet automatically moves towards metal and
attaches itself firmly (1 mark). In the same inevitable
way, the boy always wants to see a film with a 15
certificate which is too old for him (1 mark).
5 She finds it impossible to get them out of her mind (1
mark) and they continue to upset her (1 mark).
6 He does not enjoy them or feel he gets any benefit (1
mark) and so he does not feel the strain of being scared
is worth it (1 mark).
7 The value of horror films is to test yourself / prove
something to yourself (1 mark) by being able to cope with
the fear / learning to cope with the fear (1 mark). (Mark

68 | P a g e
on merit: answers should show sense of deriving strength
through suffering.)
8 a) Word choice: the expressions ‘spooked’, ‘terrified’
and ‘scared witless’ explore precisely degrees of ‘being
frightened’ – ‘spooked’ being mildly afraid; ‘terrified’,
extremely afraid; and ‘scared witless’ meaning absolutely
petrified. (1 mark) Sentence structure: the words are put
in parenthesis to develop clearly her previous idea of
‘being frightened’ / the list of words describing degrees of
fear are in increasing order of intensity, which creates a
climax. (1 mark) Punctuation: the dashes mark out the
parenthesis; the exclamation mark emphasises the
climax, and creates a humorous tone. (1 mark) (One point
for each topic to be made reasonably clearly with a
quotation, for 3 marks.)
b) Meaning: it contradicts (to some extent) her previous
statement that she isn’t permanently affected. (1 mark)
Tone : it has a humorous tone ( as she mocks herself
gently for being afraid). (1 mark)
9 Possible answers include: ‘thumping’ and ‘pounding’
are effective examples of onomatopoeia which express
her physical sensations; the repetition of ‘deeper and
deeper’ has an ominous effect; ‘dank’ appeals to sense of
touch, suggesting damp and cold; ‘maze’ has
connotations of getting lost and being trapped; ‘shaking
and sweaty’ are extreme physical sensations; ‘finally
emerged into the sunlight’ emphasises her fear by the
sense of contrast and relief when she leaves. (Three
quotations with brief explanation for 3 marks)

69 | P a g e
10 She might agree since she referred to ‘hearing
someone crying’ (lines 34–35) when she entered the
prison, which suggests a ghost since she was the only
visitor. (1 mark)
11 Mark on merit; material used in earlier answers is
acceptable. Comments must be accompanied by a
quotation or direct reference by way of illustration.
Example: the author’s personal tone captures the
reader’s interest. She frequently mentions members of
her family – her nephew, husband, children, sister-in-law
– and their thoughts and actions (1 mark) which gives the
impression of bringing the reader into the family circle
and raises interest (1 mark). (Two clearly developed
comments + quotations must be made for 4 marks)

For practice
Try the following examples. Even if you already know the
meaning, think about how the context helps make it
clear.
If you have no idea of the meaning, refer to a dictionary,
and then attempt the second part of the question.

70 | P a g e
1 a) Explain what the writer means by ‘sunnier’ in line 23.
(1)
b) Explain how the context helps you arrive at this
meaning. (1)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
2 a) Explain what the writer means by ‘abyss’ in line 26.
(1)
b) Explain how the context helps you arrive at this
meaning. (1)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
3 a) Explain what the writer means by ‘researching’ in
line 29. (1)
b) Explain how the context helps you arrive at this
meaning. (1)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
4 a) Explain what the writer means by ‘maze’ in line 33.
(1)
b) Explain how the context helps you arrive at this
meaning. (1)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

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For practice
1 a) ‘sunnier’ means happier / more cheerful. b) The
author describes her own mind as ‘dark’ since she enjoys
confronting fear and horror; they are the opposite of this
as they avoid or deny the dark side of life.
2 a) ‘abyss’ means a deep, dark pit. b) ‘peer over into’
suggests the author looking down into a hole, but being
unable to see clearly as it is dark and deep; ‘pull back’
suggests the danger of the ‘abyss’ which she shrinks
away from.
3 a) ‘researching’ means investigating something in
depth. b) In the rest of the paragraph she describes
actually visiting a Victorian prison to discover what it is
like.
4 a) ‘maze’ is a confusing labyrinth of paths or a puzzle
made up like this. b) The dark tunnels of the prison are
confusing, and she feels she could ‘lose her way’ in them.
The use of the plural in ‘tunnels and dungeons’ suggests
a layout like a labyrinth.

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Section B: Fiction
The Kingdom by the Sea
This novel by Robert Westall was published in 1990
but is set in the North of England in the 1940s at
the time of the Second World War.
1 He was an old hand at air raids now.
As the yell of the siren climbed the sky, he came
smoothly out of his dreams. Not scared. Only his stomach
clamped down tight for action, as 5his hands found his
clothes laid ready in the dark. Hauled one jumper, then
another, over his pyjamas. Thrust both stockinged feet
together through his trousers and into his shoes. Then
bent to tie his laces thoroughly. A loose lace had tripped
him once, in the race to the shelter. He remembered the
smashing blow as the ground hit his chin; the painful 10
week after, not able to eat with a bitten tongue.
He grabbed his school raincoat off the door, pulling the
door wide at the same time. All done by feel; no need to
put the light on. Lights were dangerous.
He passed Dulcie’s door, heard Mam and Dulcie
muttering to each 15other, Dulcie sleepy and cross, Mam
sharp and urgent. Then he thundered downstairs, the

73 | P a g e
crack of light from the kitchen door lighting up the edge
of each stair-tread. Dad was sitting in his warden’s
uniform, hauling on his big black boots, his grey hair
standing up vertically in a bunch.

20 There was a strong smell of Dad’s sweaty feet, and

the fag he had burning in the ashtray. That was all Harry
had time to notice; he had his own job – the two objects
laid ready in the chair by the door. The big roll of
blankets, wrapped in a groundsheet because the shelter
was damp, 25done up with a big leather strap of Dad’s.
And Mam’s precious attache case with the flask of hot
coffee and insurance policies and other important things,
and the little bottle of brandy for emergencies. He heaved
the blankets on to his back, picked up the case with one
hand and reached to unlock the back door with the other.
30 ‘Mind that light,’ said Dad automatically. But Harry’s
hand was already reaching for the switch. He’d done it all
a hundred times before. He slammed the door behind
him, held his breath and listened. A single 35aircraft’s
engines, far out to sea. Vroomah, vroomah, vroomah. A
Jerry. But nothing to worry about yet. Two guns fired, one
after another. Two brilliant points of white, lighting up a
black landscape of greenhouse, sweet-pea trellises and
cucumber-frames. A rolling carpet of echoes. Still out to
sea. Safe, then.
40 He ran down the long back garden, with his neck
prickling and the blankets bouncing against his back
comfortingly. As he passed the greenhouse the rabbits
thumped their heels in alarm. There was a nice cold smell

74 | P a g e
of dew and cabbages. Then he was in through the shelter
door, 45 shoving the damp mould-stinking curtain aside.
He tossed the things on to Mam’s bunk, found the tiny
oillamp on the back girder, and lit it and watched the
flame grow. Then he lit the candle under the pottery milk-
cooler that kept the shelter warm. Then he undid 50 the
bundle and laid out the blankets on the right bunks and
turned back to the shelter door, ready to take Dulcie from
Mam. He should be hearing their footsteps any second
now, the patter of Mam’s shoes and the crunch of Dad’s
hobnailed boots. Dad always saw them safe in the
shelter, before he went on duty. Mam would be nagging
Dad – had he locked the 55 back door against burglars?
They always teased Mam about that; she must think
burglars were bloody brave, burgling in the middle of air
raids.
God, Mam and Dad were taking their time tonight. What
was keeping 60them? That Jerry was getting closer. More
guns were firing now. The garden, every detail of it, the
bird-bath and the concrete rabbit, flashed black, white,
black, white, black. There was a whispering in the air.
Gun-shrapnel falling like rain . . . they shouldn’t be out in
that. Where were they? Where were they? Why weren’t
they tumbling through the shelter 65 door, panting and
laughing to be safe?
That Jerry was right overhead. Vroomah. Vroomah.
Vroomah. And then the other whistling. Rising to a
scream. Bombs. Harry began to count. If you were still
counting at ten, the bombs had missed you.
70 The last thing he remembered was saying ‘seven’.

75 | P a g e
Vocabulary Definition Examples
Clamped If you clamp He clamped his hand
down something in a over her mouth.
particular place, A heavy iron chain
you hold it there was clamped around
tightly: his wrists.

Hauled to pull something They hauled the boat

heavy slowly and out of the water.
with difficulty:
Thrust to push suddenly
She thrust the
and strongly money into his hand.
They thrust a
microphone in front
of me and fired
questions at me.
She thrust the
papers at me (=
towards me).
Stockinged wearing only socks Jerome stands 1 m
or stockings and 75 in his stocking
in your
not shoes: feet.
stocking(e
d) feet
idiom
Thundered to move, making a The train thundered
lot of noise: past, shaking the
whole house.
Crack so that there is a She opened the door
very small space: just a crack to listen
to the conversation.
Stair-tread A stair tread is the She's the warden of

76 | P a g e
 horizontal part of a a home for mentally
staircase where handicapped people.
you place your foot
when ascending or
descending
Warden a person who is in She's the warden of
charge of (the a home for mentally
people in) a handicapped people.
particular building:

Fag a cigarette
Ashtray a small dish or
container,
sometimes
decorative, in
which people can
leave cigarette ash
and cigarette butts
Brandy a strong alcoholic
drink, usually
made from wine
and sometimes
flavored with fruit
Heaved to pull, push, lift, He leaned his weight
or throw against the door and
something heavy: heaved it open.
[ T always +
adv/prep ]
Trellises a light frame made
of bars of wood or
metal crossed over
each other,
attached to a wall

77 | P a g e
 for plants to grow
up
Prickling If part of your body Turner started to be
prickles, it feels as worried and felt the
if a lot of sharp back of his neck
points are touching prickle.
it because you are
frightened or
excited:

Thumped to hit something Someone was

and cause a noise: thumping on the
thump on door.
mould- a soft, green or There was mould on
stinking grey growth that the cheese.
develops on old
food or on objects
that have been left
for too long in
warm, wet air:

Bunk one of two beds

attached together,
one on top of the
other:
Girder a long, thick piece
of metal or
concrete, etc. that
supports a roof,
floor, bridge, or
other large
structure
Patter the sound of quick, Now that she’s older,
light hits or steps: we have the patter of

78 | P a g e
 little feet in our
hallways.
Gun- small pieces of
shrapnel metal that fly
through the air
when a bomb or
similar weapon
explodes and are
intended to injure
people
Tumbling to fall quickly andI lost my footing and
without control: tumbled down the
stairs.
Panting to breathe quickly Matteo arrived at the
and loudly through top of the hill,
your mouth, panting and covered
usually because in sweat.
you have been
doing something
very energetic:

Questions

1 ‘He was an old hand at air raids now.’ (line 1)

a) What does this mean? (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) What shows he was well prepared for another raid? (2
marks)

79 | P a g e
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
2 ‘Lights were dangerous’. (line 13) Why? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
3 ‘[Harry] had his own job – the two objects laid ready in
the chair by the door.’ (lines 22–23)
a) Describe in detail what these objects were. (4 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) What did Harry have to do with them? (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
c) Suggest a reason for taking any one of these items out
of the house. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
4 ‘But nothing to worry about yet.’ (line 35)
a) Why did Harry think this way? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) Quote a single word from anywhere between line 33
and line 45 which suggests that Harry feels quite at ease.
(1 mark)
__________________________________________________________

80 | P a g e
5 Name three things that Harry did as soon as he reached
the air raid shelter. (3 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
6 Quote the words which are the first hint that something
is going to go wrong. (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
7 Why did Harry think it was amusing that his Mum was
worried about burglars? (2 mark)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

8 Suggest a reason why the author repeats the words

‘where were they?’ (line 63) (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
9 What is the reader left thinking at the end of the
passage? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

81 | P a g e
 A Dog so Small TOTAL MARKS: 25
Just about every girl and boy goes through the
phase of wanting a dog! In her novel A Dog so
Small, Phillipa Pearce tells the story of a boy called
Ben who is very disappointed when he doesn’t
receive a dog for his birthday. All he gets is a
picture of one. At the time he has no idea what
strange adventures this picture will lead to. . .

1 The post had come, and it was all for Ben. His father
had piled it by his place for breakfast. There were also
presents from May and Dilys, Paul and Frankie; and his
mother and father had given him a sweater of the 5kind
deep-sea fishermen wear (from his mother, really) and a
Sheffield steel jack-knife (from his father). They all

82 | P a g e
watched while, politely, he opened their presents first of
all, and thanked them.
He was not worrying that there had been no dog standing
by his place at the breakfast-table. He was not so green
as to think that postmen 10delivered dogs.
But there would be a letter – from his grandfather, he
supposed – saying when the dog would be brought, by a
proper carrier, or where it could be collected from. Ben
turned eagerly from his family’s presents to his post.
15 He turned over the letters first, looking for his
grandfather’s handwriting; but there was nothing. Then
he looked at the writing on the two picture-postcards that
had come for him – although you would hardly expect
anything so important to be left to a postcard. There was
nothing. 20 Then he began to have the feeling that
something might have gone wrong after all. He
remembered, almost against his will, that his
grandfather’s promise had been only a whisper and a
nod, and that not all promises are kept, anyway.

He turned to the parcels, and at once saw his

grandfather’s handwriting on 25 a small flat one. Then he
knew for certain that something was wrong. They would
hardly send him an ordinary birthday present as well as
one so special as a dog. There was only one explanation:
they were sending him an ordinary present instead of the
dog.
30 ‘Open it, Ben,’ said his mother; and his father
reminded him, ‘Use your new knife on the string, boy.’

83 | P a g e
Ben never noticed the sharpness of the Sheffield steel as
he cut the string round the parcel and then unfolded the
wrapping paper. They had sent him a picture instead of a
dog.

35 And then he realised that they had sent him a dog,

after all. He almost 40 hated them for it. His dog was
worked in woollen crossstitch, and framed, and glazed as
a little picture. There was a letter which explained: ‘Dear
Ben, Your grandpa and I send you hearty good wishes for
your 45birthday. We know you would like a dog, so here
is one . . .’
There was more in the letter, but, with a sweep of his
hand, Ben pushed aside letter, packing-paper, string, and
picture. They fell to the floor, the 50 picture with a sharp
sound of breakage. His mother picked it up. ‘You’ve
cracked the glass, Ben, and it’s a nice little picture – a
little old picture that I remember well.’

84 | P a g e
‘I think it’s a funny birthday present for Ben, don’t you,
Paul?’ said Frankie; and Paul agreed. May and Dilys both
thought it was rather pretty. Mr Blewitt glanced at it and
then back to the newspaper he had opened.
55 Ben said nothing, because he could not. His mother
looked at him, and he knew that she knew that, if he
hadn’t been so old, and a boy, he would be crying. ‘Your
granny treasured this because it was a present from your
Uncle Willy,’ said Mrs Blewitt. ‘He brought it home as a
curio, from 60 his last voyage – the last voyage before he
was drowned. So you see, Granny’s given you something
that was precious to her.’
But what was dead Uncle Willy or a woolwork dog to Ben?
He still could not trust himself to speak; and now they
were all looking at him, 65wondering at the silence. Even
his father had put the paper down.
‘Did you expect a real dog?’ Frankie asked suddenly.
Everyone else answered for Ben, anyway.
His mother said, ‘Of course not. Ben knows perfectly well
that Granny and Grandpa could never afford to buy him a
real dog.’
70 His father said, ‘And, anyway, you can’t expect to
keep a dog in London nowadays – the traffic’s too
dangerous.’ Ben remembered the cat scuttering from
under the wheels of the car that morning, and he hated
his father for being in the right. ‘It isn’t as if we had any
garden to let a dog 75loose in,’ went on Mr Blewitt; ‘and
we’re not even near an open space where you could
exercise it properly.’

85 | P a g e
 Questions
1 What had Ben expected the postman to bring him on
his birthday? (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________

2 Re-read lines 19 to 23.

a) Why was Ben sure he was going to receive this
present? (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) Give two reasons which suggest he should have been a
little less sure. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

3 Why do you think the writer uses the phrase ‘there was
nothing’ twice? (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
4 What was it that finally convinced him that he was not
going to receive the dog for his birthday? (2 marks)

86 | P a g e
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
5 a) How did Ben react when he saw what his
grandparents’ gift was? (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________

b) Give the reaction of any other family member. (1

mark)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
6 ‘He almost hated them for it’ (lines 37–38).
Why do you think he disliked this particular present more
than ‘an ordinary birthday present’? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
7 Do you think Ben was right to react in this way? (2
marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
8 In your own words, summarise Ben’s mother’s
explanation of why his grandparents had given him this
gift. (3 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

87 | P a g e
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
9 Why was it unlikely that the grandparents would have
given him a real dog? (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
10 What TWO practical reasons against having a dog
does Mr Blewitt suggest? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
11 Explain fully Ben’s TWO different feelings about what
his father says. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
12 Explain how in the course of the passage, Ben’s
feelings go through various stages, from hope and
expectation to disappointment and anger. In your answer
you should:
Identify the various emotions Ben experiences
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Refer to words or phrases from the passage to support
your ideas. (4 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

88 | P a g e
Support Tip
Verbs
A verb is a doing word. It refers to an action, such as eat,
drink, walk, sit, jump. To find the verb in a sentence, ask
yourself: what did the person who is the subject of the
sentence do? For example, look at this sentence from the
passage:
They all watched while Ben opened their presents.
What did they do? What did Ben do? ‘Watched’ and
‘opened’ are the verbs.

Four things to remember about verbs

1 A verb is a ‘doing’ word.
For practice
a) Write out the verb (doing word) from each of the
following sentences: 1 Ben expected a real dog.
2 Ben pushed aside letter, packing-paper, string and
picture.
3 Mr Blewitt glanced at the present.
4 Uncle Willy brought the picture home from his last
voyage.
5 Ben said nothing.
b) From the list below, choose a suitable verb to fill each
gap.
1 The shop ______ all the CDs in the charts.

89 | P a g e
2 Over the holidays I ______ one of the ‘Harry Potter’
books.
3 The postman ______ the birthday cards through the
letter box.
4 Tracy _______ the most fashionable pair of jeans in the
sale.
5 Kathleen _________ the shelving unit by herself.
read picked assembled pushed sold

2 Words like ‘be’ and ‘have’ are also verbs.

To be: I am To have: I/you/we/they have you are he/she
has he/she is we are you (plural) are they are
For Practice
Pick out the verbs from each of the following sentences:
1 The builder climbed to the top of the ladder.
2 I usually eat a bowl of cereal at breakfast time.
3 I slept till nearly eleven o’clock on Saturday morning.
4 He had ten minutes before the train arrived.
5 ‘Hurry up!’ shouted my dad.
6 Alan has far more money than I have.
7 The ghost frightened the visitors to the lonely castle.
8 You are an only child but I have three brothers.
9 Craig scored two goals at last week’s match.
10 Cabbage is not my favourite food.

90 | P a g e
DID YOU NOTICE that some of these sentences contain
more than one verb? Go back and check again!

3 A verb can be made up of more than a single

word.
The plane will be landing at about six o’clock. Is the verb
in this sentence will? Or is it be? Or landing?

Remember that the verb describes the action taken. The

action here is that the plane will be landing. These three
words are therefore the verb in this sentence.
For practice
a) Pick out the verbs in the following sentences. Again,
there may be more than one verb in each sentence, and
often the verb will be made up of more than a single
word.
1 I am going out whether you like it or not!
2 They have been trying for weeks without success.
3 You have seen that film four times already.
4 I will be fourteen on my next birthday.
5 I wonder if Partick Thistle will beat Rangers this
weekend?
b)
Fromthelistbelow,chooseasuitableverbphrasetofillthegap.
1 We ___________________ on a world cruise next summer,
but my parents haven’t made up their minds yet.

91 | P a g e
2 Barry _________________ by John.
3 I _____________ home soon.
4 The detectives __________ for the bank robber.
5 My sister ___________ since 8 o’clock this morning.
has been working will be going was being
bullied are looking might be going

4 Verbs can be in different tenses.

Can you think why the extra words were added to the
verb in the examples in the last exercise?
The job that the extra words like ‘have been’, ‘might be’,
‘will be’ and so on do is to tell you when the action takes
place. This is called the tense of the verb.
In exercise 3b), decide whether the action
is taking place now (i.e. present tense)
has already taken place (i.e. past tense)
hasn’t taken place yet (i.e. future tense).

For practice
a) Copy out this table and fill in each box.

92 | P a g e
Check that you have found a total of nine verbs in these
sentences.

b) Pick out the ten verbs in the present tense in this

paragraph.
Then rewrite the passage, changing all these verbs from
the present tense to the past tense.
I wake up in a hot, dry wilderness. I remember that we
desperately need water. I sit up and rub my grimy face
with my hands and it feels like my eyelids and lips are
stuck together. It is not far from dawn but there is none

93 | P a g e
of the bright feel of sunrise in the air. The others are still
fast asleep.

94 | P a g e
 A Series of Unfortunate Events
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
sold over a million copies in the UK in 2002. There
are now seven books in the series, telling the story
of the problems faced by the three Baudelaire
orphans – Violet, Klaus and Sunny. This extract
comes from the first book, ‘The Bad Beginning’,
and describes the three children’s experience of
meeting their unpleasant relative, Count Olaf.
1 I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but first
impressions are often entirely wrong. You can look at a
painting for the first time, for example, and not like it at
all, but after looking at it a little longer you may find it
very pleasing. The first time you try Gorgonzola cheese
you may find it too strong, but when you are older you
may want to eat nothing but 5Gorgonzola cheese. Klaus,
when Sunny was born, did not like her at all, but by the
time she was six weeks old the two of them were as thick
as thieves. Your initial opinion on just about everything
may change over time.
10 I wish I could tell you that the Baudelaires’ first
impressions of Count Olaf and his house were incorrect,
as first impressions so often are. But 15 these
impressions – that Count Olaf was a horrible person, and
his house a depressing pigsty – were absolutely correct.
During the first few 20 days after the orphans’ arrival at
Count Olaf’s, Violet, Klaus and Sunny attempted to make
themselves feel at home, but it was really no use. Even
25 though Count Olaf’s house was quite large, the three

95 | P a g e
children were placed together in one filthy bedroom that
had only one small bed in it. Violet and Klaus took turns
sleeping in it, so that every other night one of them was
in the bed and the other was sleeping on the hard
wooden floor, 30 and the bed’s mattress was so lumpy it
was difficult to say who was more uncomfortable. To
make a bed for Sunny, Violet removed the dusty curtains
from the curtain rod that hung over the bedroom’s one
window and bunched them together to form a sort of
cushion, just big 35enough for her sister. However,
without curtains over the cracked glass, the sun streamed
through the window every morning, so the children woke
up early and sore each day. Instead of a closet, there was
a large cardboard box that had once held a refrigerator
and would now hold the three children’s clothes, all piled
in a heap. Instead of toys, books, or 40other things to
amuse the youngsters, Count Olaf had provided a small
pile of rocks. And the only decoration on the peeling walls
was a large and ugly painting of an eye, matching the
one on Count Olaf’s ankle and all over the house.
But the children knew, as I’m sure you know, that the
worst surroundings 45 in the world can be tolerated if the
people in them are interesting and kind. Count Olaf was
neither interesting nor kind; he was demanding, short-
tempered and bad-smelling. The only good thing to be
said for Count Olaf is that he wasn’t around very often.
When the children woke 50 up and chose their clothing
out of the refrigerator box, they would walk into the
kitchen and find a list of instructions left for them by
Count Olaf, who would often not appear until nighttime.
Most of the day he spent out of the house, or up in the

96 | P a g e
high tower, where the children were 55 forbidden to go.
The instructions he left for them were usually difficult
chores, such as repainting the back porch or repairing the
windows, and instead of a signature Count Olaf would
draw an eye at the bottom of the note.
Questions

1 From the first paragraph, find another expression which

means the same as ‘first impressions’. (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

2 Quote the words which describe the Baudelaire

children’s first impressions of
(a) Count Olaf and
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

(b) his house. (2 marks)

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

3 Look at the punctuation used in the sentence in lines 13

to 17. What is the purpose of the dash after the word
‘impressions’? (2 marks)

97 | P a g e
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

4 What two things mentioned in lines 26 to 27 made the

bedroom unpleasant? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
5 How did the children try to make the best of what was
in the bedroom? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

6 a) Which of the Baudelaire children do you think was

the oldest or most responsible: Violet, Klaus or Sunny? (1
mark)
__________________________________________________________

b) Suggest a reason for your choice. (1 mark)

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
7 Find THREE more things mentioned in lines 34 to 43
that would make the bedroom an unpleasant place to
stay in. (3 marks)

98 | P a g e
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

8 Find a word from the passage which means ‘able to be

put up with’. (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
9 In the words of the passage, give the THREE aspects of
Count Olaf that the children disliked. (3 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

10 From your answer to question 9, choose ONE of these

features and explain in your own words what it means. (1
mark)
__________________________________________________________

11 What was the only thing about Count Olaf that the
children did not mind? (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
12 Name TWO of the tasks he expected the children to
perform. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

99 | P a g e
13 How suitable do you think these tasks are for children?
(1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
14 Pictures of an eye are mentioned several times. What
do you think this tells the reader about Count Olaf’s
attitude to the children? (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________

15 In chapter one we looked at similes and metaphors.

Find an example of a simile from the passage above. (1
mark)
__________________________________________________________

15 In chapter one we looked at similes and metaphors.

Find an example of a simile from the passage above. (1
mark)
__________________________________________________________

Support Tip
Writing in sentences (1)
What is it that makes a group of words a sentence?

100 | P a g e
 it is a complete statement that makes sense standing on
its own
it begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop
it contains a verb (a doing word)
For practice
(1) Imagine that a group of words was written on each of
the rocks that Count Olaf left the children to play with.
Sort out which ones are complete sentences and which
ones are not. How can you tell?
1 Count Olaf’s house was quite large.
2 Violet and Klaus took turns sleeping on the bed.
3 Instead of toys, books or other things.
4 The sun streamed through the window.
5 Violet removed the curtains.
6 If the people are interesting and kind.
7 Your initial opinion on just about anything.
8 The house was a depressing pigsty.
9 Without curtains over the cracked glass. 10 All over the
house.

101 | P a g e
Creating more complex sentences
A story would make very dull reading if all the sentences
were short and simple. Writers usually join short
statements into longer ones. There are many ways of
doing this, but one of the most useful ways is to use
conjunctions (joining words).

In the Lemony Snicket extract, many sentences are

joined by using conjunctions.
Here, for instance, the writer might have used two short
sentences:
The children woke up and chose their clothing out of the
refrigerator box. They would walk into the kitchen and
find a list of instructions left for them by Count Olaf.
Instead, she puts the conjunction ‘when’ at the beginning
of the first sentence and joins the two sentences into a
longer one:
When the children woke up and chose their clothing out
of the refrigerator box, they would walk into the kitchen
and find a list of instructions left for them by Count Olaf.

102 | P a g e
For practice
(2) Join these short sentences into longer ones by:
selecting a conjunction from the list on page 50
putting it in between the two sentences
changing the punctuation.
1 The orphans tried to get used to the house. They could
not.
2 The early morning sunlight disturbed the children. They
were still trying to sleep.
3 Violet made the curtains into a kind of cushion. The
bed was very hard.
4 Klaus and Sunny soon became friends. They did not
like each other at first.
5 The children felt very unhappy. Count Olaf came back
home.

103 | P a g e
For practice
(3) Join these short sentences into longer ones by
selecting a conjunction from the list on page 50
putting it at the beginning of the first sentence
changing the punctuation.
1 The children lost their parents. They had to stay with
Count Olaf.
2 The children met Count Olaf. They took an instant
dislike to him.
3 Count Olaf’s house was quite large. The three children
had to share one room.
4 Count Olaf did not want to do them himself. He left the
children unpleasant jobs to do.
5 Count Olaf had written a note to the children. He drew
a picture of an eye on it.

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 Shoes were for Sunday (2) TOTAL MARKS: 25
‘Entertaining Angels unaware’ In the second
extract from her autobiography Shoes Were for
Sunday, Molly Weir recalls her schooldays.
1 We always had Bible teaching first thing in the morning
at school and one of the phrases which greatly puzzled
me was ‘entertaining angels unaware’. How could
anybody be unaware of entertaining an angel, I
5thought? Surely they would be instantly recognisable by
their beautiful white wings and the clouds of glory round
their heads? It never occurred to me that angelic qualities
could be found in the most unlikely guises, hiding under
very ordinary voices and in bustling everyday bodies.
My angel, as it turned out, hid inside the little figure of my
school-teacher, 10 Miss McKenzie. To me she was always
a little old lady, with her roly-poly plumpness, her slightly
bowed legs, grey hair framing a round rosy face and
caught up in an old-fashioned bun on top of her head.
She seemed so ancient that I was astounded to hear her
say one morning, 15 in quiet explanation when she was a
few minutes late, that she had been delayed waiting for
the doctor to call to attend to her mother. Her mother!
Surely she must be about a hundred!

105 | P a g e
20 Although I basked in Miss McKenzie’s approval, I never
really felt very close to her. We all held our teachers in
some awe, and it never dawned on me to ask her advice
as to what I should do when I left school. Surely there was
only one thing to do? Get a job and earn money to add to
the household purse as quickly as possible. But Miss
McKenzie had other ideas. We in our house knew nothing
of scholarships for fatherless children. The idea of a child
from a working-class household going to college was the
very stuff of story-books, and had nothing to do with the
30 business of living as we knew it.
Unknown to us, she bullied the headmaster into putting
my name forward for a special scholarship open to
children who showed some promise, and who would
benefit from further education. As I was the school dux,
he 35agreed, although he was a bit worried about the
expense of keeping me at college for a whole year from
my mother’s point of view. No earnings from me, and
fares and clothes to be covered, for, of course, only the
fees would be paid if I won.

106 | P a g e
Miss McKenzie brushed all argument aside. She came
herself with me to 40 the interview with the scholarship
board. To this day I can remember my utter astonishment
when, on being asked if she felt I had any particular
qualities, and would benefit from such a scholarship, this
wee old-fashioned elderly teacher banged the desk with
her clenched fist, 45sending the glasses rattling, and
declared in an American idiom I never suspected she
knew, ‘I’d stake my bottom dollar on this girl!’
I trembled at the passion in her voice, and at her faith in
me. ‘What if I fail her?’ I gasped to myself. ‘What if she
has to pay all the money back if 50 I let her down?’ I
knew we hadn’t a spare farthing to repay anybody, and I
was sick with a sense of responsibility in case I ruined this
new, violent Miss McKenzie. As I’ve said, I was a natural
swot, but even if I hadn’t been, the memory of that
indomitable little figure would have spurred me on when I
felt like faltering.

55 At the end of my year at college I was able to lay

before her the college gold medal as the year’s top
student, a bronze medal as a special prize in another
subject, twenty pounds in prize money, and a whole sheaf
of certificates.
And suddenly as I gazed at her, and saw her eyes
sparkling with pride 60behind the gold-rimmed glasses, I
realised how widely she had thrown open the door of
opportunity for me. And I knew for the first time what the
phrase ‘entertaining angels unaware’ meant. For there,

107 | P a g e
standing before me in class, was my very own angel, Miss
McKenzie.

Vocabulary Definition Examples

instantly immediately: Both drivers were
killed instantly.
recognisabl easy to recognize: The Eiffel Tower in
e Paris is an instantly
recognizable
landmark.
guises the appearance of The men who arrived
someone or in the guise of
something, criminals were
especially when actually undercover
intended to police officers.
deceive
bustling If a place is This used to be a
bustling, it is full of bustling town but a
busy activity: lot of people have
moved away over
recent years.
The house, usually
bustling with activity,
was strangely silent.
roly-poly (of a person) short He was a roly-poly
and round: little man.
Plumpness the quality of Her plumpness never
being slightly fat: restricted her
movements.

108 | P a g e
 Some plumpness in
young children as
they grow is quite
normal.
Framing the way that the He uses framing,
parts of something composition, and
such as a lighting to create
photograph or unforgettable
scene in a film are images.
arranged so that The camerawork is
good, and the
the objects,
framing shows real
colours, etc.
imagination.
around the edges I like to film what is
draw attention to in front of me, rather
the main feature of than go into
the image elaborate framings
or effects.
basked in to lie or sit and On top of the wall, a
enjoy warmth cat basked happily in
the sun.
fig. Marina basked in
the crowd’s
admiration (=
enjoyed it).
awe a feeling of great I've always held
respect sometimes musicians in awe.
mixed with fear or As children we were
surprise: rather in awe of our
grandfather.
You can't help but
stand in awe of (=
109 | P a g e
 respect greatly and
fear slightly)
powerful people.
dawned on If a fact dawns on I was about to pay
you, you for the shopping
understand it after when it suddenly
a period of not dawned on me that
understanding it: I'd left my wallet at
home.
dux the best student in My son Arjun was
a school or class: dux at the school.
The dux of the High
School had somehow
failed his Higher
geography.
wee small; little: You were just a wee
lad the last time I
saw you.
Would you care for a
wee bit more to eat?
banged to hit a part of the She fell and banged
body against her head.
something by I banged my head on
accident the shelf as I stood
up.
She was unsteady
and banged against
the furniture.
rattling making a series of The machine was
knocking sounds: making a rattling
noise.
110 | P a g e
 He arrived in a
pickup truck with a
rattling exhaust.
stake If you have a stake Employers have a
in something, it is stake in the training
important to you of their staff.
because you have
a personal interest
or involvement in
it:

gasped to to take a short, gasp in When she

quick breath saw the money
through the hidden in the box
mouth, especially she gasped in
because of surprise.
surprise, pain, or [ + speech ] "Help
shock: me!" he gasped.

farthing a coin worth a

quarter of a penny
in old British
money
Swot someone, usually a
child, who studies
very hard
indomitabl used to say that The indomitable Mrs
e someone is strong, Furlong said she
brave, determined, would continue to
and difficult to fight for justice.
defeat or frighten:

111 | P a g e
spurred to encourage an Spurred (on) by her
activity or early success, she
development or went on to write four
make it happen more novels in rapid
faster: succession.
faltering losing strength or She spoke in a
purpose and faltering voice that
stopping, or almost eventually gave way
stopping: to sobs.

sheaf a number of things A sheaf of papers lay

held or tied on her desk.
together: Sheaves of dry corn
stalks leaned against
the fence.

Questions
The answers to questions 1–3 can be found in paragraph
one.
1 What puzzled Molly about the phrase ‘entertaining
angels unaware’? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
2 Quote TWO features that she thought would make it
easy to recognise an angel. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

112 | P a g e
3 Quote the words which explain the meaning of
‘entertaining angels unaware’. (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
4 In your own words, describe the appearance of Miss
McKenzie, basing your answer on information in
paragraph two. (3 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
5 What did Molly expect to do when she left school? (1
mark)
__________________________________________________________
6 What did Miss McKenzie think Molly should do? (1
mark)
__________________________________________________________

7 Why did Miss McKenzie’s idea not seem a very practical

one to Molly? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
8 Explain in your own words: ‘the very stuff of story-
books’ (line 29). (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

113 | P a g e
9 State two things that surprised the author about what
Miss McKenzie did and said at the scholarship interview.
(2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
10 a) What worried Molly most about going to college? (2
marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) Quote a phrase which backs up your answer. (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________
11 Find a word in the passage that means ‘stubborn,
unyielding, not giving up’. (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________

12 ‘I realised how widely she had thrown open the door of

opportunity for me.’ (lines 60–61)
a) Explain in your own words what this sentence means.
(2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
b) Comment on the use of the word ‘door’ here. [Hint:
look back at page 10] (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

114 | P a g e
13 This passage is written by an adult looking back on her
childhood. Find one example (from anywhere in the
passage) where the author is explaining what she
thought or felt as a child.
You can either quote or use your own words. (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________

Support Tip
Writing in sentences (2)

115 | P a g e
 a) We saw previously that a sentence was a completed
statement. But sentences can take different forms. In the
previous extracts, Molly Weir uses at least four different
types of sentence:
Statement: The bath broke into a dozen pieces.
Command: Don’t stop till you get to the Royal Infirmary.
Question: Wasn’t that what the cow-catcher was there
for?
Exclamation: I’d stake my bottom dollar on this girl!
For practice
a) Decide whether each of the following sentences is
a statement a command a question an exclamation
1 Surely there was only one thing to do?
2 She was a little old lady with slightly bowed legs.
3 We in our house knew nothing of scholarships for
fatherless children.
4 What if she has to pay all the money back?
5 He was a bit worried about the expense of keeping me
at college for a whole year.
6 Come here this minute!
7 I went out to the cinema last night.
8 Give that back to her.
9 Are you feeling any better now?
10 She is the most incredible person I’ve ever met in my
life!

116 | P a g e
b) In writing which tells a story (narrative writing)
sentences generally use either the first person or the
third person.
First person (‘I’) is when the writer is telling the story
from his or her own point of view
Third person (he/she/it) is when the writer is narrating
what happened to other characters in the story.
For example:
first person narrative
When I was a little girl I only had the penny for the
homeward tram journey.

third person narrative

The driver was so impressed with his urgency that he did
exactly that, and all the passengers were carried willy-
nilly to the doors of the infirmary.

For practice
1 From the extract above, copy out TWO sentences that
are in the first person and one sentence that is in the
third person.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
2 Why is the use of the first person particularly suited to
the genre to which Molly Weir’s book belongs?

117 | P a g e
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

Ash Road TOTAL MARKS: 25

Ash Road by Ivan Southall, is set in Australia. At
the beginning of the story three careless teenagers
start a bush fire while they are camping.
The novel was voted ‘Book of the Year’ by the
Children’s Book Council of Australia in its first year
of publication.
Extract
1 It was early for Grandpa Tanner to be out of bed. He
was up early because the heat was stifling, and the sun
was already glaring, and the north-west wind that had
blown all night was still searing1 the leaves off the trees
as it had seared them the day before.
5 Grandpa hated the north wind. He had hated it all his
life. It was an evil wind, a wind that angered men and
dismayed women and frightened small children. The long
grass growing up to the house was as dry as straw, and
dust was in the air, and the smell of smoke. It was the
smell of smoke 10more than anything that had got
Grandpa out of bed and out of doors in his pyjamas.
He could see no smoke in the sky, but it was in his
nostrils, teasing them, and in his mind, in a way,
prompting his memory back down the years to that one
desperate hour when he had faced an inferno on his own

118 | P a g e
and 15fought it on his own and beaten it on his own. He
had prayed hard at the time, prayed for a windchange,
for rain, for an army of men with beaters; but none of
these had come, and he had done it on his own, and had
stood blackened and burnt and bare-headed in the
paddock, in the prime of his strength, shaking his fist at
the heavens.

20 An old bushman like Grandpa could smell eucalyptus

smoke on the wind from a fire burning fifteen or twenty
miles away; he could smell it and feel it and see it with
his eyes shut, with tingling senses, with an awareness
that was electric. He stood almost motionless, every part
of him 25 tuned to that faint signal of smoke.
Not in years had Grandpa seen real smoke – the savage,
boiling, black-red smoke of a forest fire on the rampage.
He had seen the smoke of scrub fires that had got a little
out of hand for an hour or two; the smoke when 30
farmers burnt off new ground, or when shire-workers
burnt off the roadsides; and the smoke when fire brigades
were cleaning up hazardous pockets of bush before the
full heat of summer (the boys of the fire brigades enjoyed
a good blaze now and then). But he hadn’t seen real
smoke close to home since 1913. He had read of bad fires
and seen far-35 off glows in the sky by night, particularly
in 1939, but those days seemed to have gone; there were
too many people now.

Though the presence of fire always frightened him,

Grandpa had never been unduly afraid of it. He knew that
119 | P a g e
fires, unlike earthquakes or 40avalanches or erupting
volcanoes, could be stopped or turned. Men who knew
what they were doing could even fight fire with fire. That
was what Grandpa had done in 1913, and he had saved
his farm though others not so far away had been wiped
out. Even the township of Prescott had gone that day,
13th January. It had been there in the morning, and in 45
the afternoon it was a heap of charred rubbish and the
Gibson family had been burnt to death.
That dreadful day had started like this one, even to the
date of the month – the same searing northerly, the same
faint smell of smoke, the same sort 50 of temperature
that had climbed and climbed to over 112 degrees in the
shade. And when the fire had come over the top of the
range and thundered into the valley like a thousand
locomotives steaming abreast, it had become still hotter
and hotter – so hot that birds on the wing fell dead and
grass started burning almost of its own accord and locked
up houses 55 exploded and creeks boiled.
But that had been a long time ago. It couldn’t happen
now.

Vocabulary Definition Example

Sentence
Stifling extremely hot I can't bear this
and unpleasant: stifling humidity.
Several hundred
people were
crammed into the
stifling room.
Glaring shining too
120 | P a g e
 brightly:
glaring light
glaring colours
Seared to burn the The heat from the
surface of explosion seared
something with their hands and
sudden very faces.
strong heat:

Searing Burning
Inferno a very large The building was
uncontrolled fire: an inferno by the
a raging inferno time the fire
service arrived.
Beaters a person paid by
people hunting to
force birds and
animals into a
place where they
can be seen and
therefore shot
Paddock a small field
where animals,
especially horses,
are kept
Eucalyptus any of several
types of tree,
found especially
in Australia, that
produce an oil
with a strong
smell. Eucalyptus
oil is used in
medicine and

121 | P a g e
 industry
Tingling producing a Sometimes, early
feeling as if a lot stroke symptoms
of sharp points can be painless
are being put and mild - such
lightly into your as a numb, weak,
body: or tingling body
part.
Electric Something might
be described as
electric if it is
very exciting
Rampage violent and Rioters went on
usually wild a/the rampage
behaviour through the city.

scrub fires (an area of land

covered with)
short trees and
bushes, growing
on dry ground of
low quality
shire-workers a county, now
used in
combination in
the names of
many British
counties:
Yorkshire
Oxfordshire
brigades a large group of
soldiers in an
army
blaze a large, strong Firefighters took

122 | P a g e
 fire: two hours to
control the blaze.
Far-off A far-off place is a far-off land
a great distance
away:

Glows continuous light The room was

and/or heat that dark except for
is produced by the glow of the
something: fire.
Unduly more than is There's no need
necessary, to be unduly
acceptable, or pessimistic about
reasonable: the situation.
He believes this
approach would
unduly harm the
nation's
economy.
Avalanches a large amount of
ice, snow, and
rock falling
quickly down the
side of a
mountain
Heap an untidy pile or a heap of
mass of things: clothes/rubbish

Charred burned and The charred body

black: of a man was
charred meat found by police in
a burned-out car
last night.
Locomotives the engine of a

123 | P a g e
 train
Steaming to move by The ship steamed
steam power: out of the harbor.
Abreast used to say that We were
two or more running/swimmin
people are next g two abreast.
to each other and The motorcyclist
moving in the came abreast of
same direction her car and
shouted abuse at
her.

Questions
1 a) What is the main reason given in the first paragraph
for Grandpa Tanner being up and out so early? (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________

b) Quote the expression that shows this was the main

reason, although there were other reasons. (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________

2 Read lines 5–7. In your own words, explain the different

feelings people had about the north wind. (3 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

124 | P a g e
3 What piece of information given in paragraph one
suggests that this would be a very dangerous time for a
fire to start? Explain your answer. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
4 Explain clearly, using quotations, how the writer has
used repetition in the second paragraph to make the
story of the earlier fire dramatic. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

5 What figure of speech is used in the phrase ‘blackened

and burnt and bare-headed’? (line 18) (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________

6 Read lines 27–33. Explain in your own words TWO

reasons why fires were sometimes started deliberately. (2
marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

7 ‘There were too many people now.’ (line 36) Why do

you think this fact would make large bush fires less likely
to happen? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
125 | P a g e
8 Looking carefully at all the evidence given in lines 37–
46, explain to what extent Grandpa Tanner was afraid of
fire. (3 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
9 The author’s choice of language in the first sentence of
paragraph six (lines 47–55) builds up suspense. Choose
TWO words or phrases as examples and comment on
each. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

10 ‘Like a thousand locomotives steaming abreast.’ (lines

51–52)
a) What figure of speech does the writer use here? (1
mark)
__________________________________________________________
b) Explain why it is effective in describing the fire. (1
mark)
__________________________________________________________

126 | P a g e
11 In paragraph six, the writer describes some of the
dramatic effects of a bush fire. Which one of these do you
find most amazing? Explain why. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

12 Explain how the last two sentences make an effective

ending to this extract. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

127 | P a g e