TEST CODE 000192

FORM TP 9667

MAY/JUNE 1996
CARIBBEAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL
SECONDARY EDUCATION CERTIFICATE
EXAMINATION
ENGLISH A
Paper 02 - General Proficiency
2 hours

Candidates are allowed 10 minutes to read through the paper

before starting to write. This IO-minute period is in addition to
the 2 hours allowed for the examination.
Writing MAY be done during the time allowed for reading
through the paper.

DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO

Copyright 1995 Caribbean Examinations Council.
All rights reserved.
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Candidates MUST answer questions from ALL FOUR sections of this paper: Section ONE; ALL
Of section TWO; ONE from Section THREE; and ONE from Section FOUR.
SECTION ONE
(Suggested time: 35 minutes)
1.

Read the Following outline carefully and then answer the question set on it.
Mrs. Mary Briggs, an elderly woman, is your neighbour in Hoggs Ville. Residents of that
village travel to the neighbouring town by bus. The buses are operated by Trinjam Bus Company
with headquarters in High Street, Crab Tree and the Dovind Bus Company with headquarters in
Thomas Lane, Crab Tree.
On January 15,1994 Mrs. Briggs took the Trinjam Bus No. 2 to the neighbouring town to see
her doctor. On the return trip, she travelled by Dovind Bus No. 5 which arrived in Hoggs Ville
about 4:30 p.m. that same day. As she waited for the bus to leave so that she could cross the street
to go home, she realised that she had left the book of stories by John E. Wheeler that she had been
reading on the bus. She was anxious to recover the book so that she could finish a story that she
had found very interesting. She thought it important to make contact with the bus company before
it was too late.
Mrs Briggs has told you of her problem and has asked you to write to the bus company on
her behalf so as to ensure that she recovers her book. Write the letter in NOT MORE THAN
150 WORDS.
Marks will be given for content, organisation and expression.

(25 marks)

SECTION TWO
(Suggested time: 40 minutes)
Answer BOTH questions in this section.
2.

Read the following extract carefully and then answer the questions set on it.
The Truant
One morning, unable to face the prospect of roaming the streets, .1 presented myself at
their door. I cannot imagine what I said to them, how I explained myself. However it was, they
took me in without murmur. I had stumbled on as perfect a refuge as I could ever hope to find.
One lunch time there arrived a young woman - daughter-in-law as I later found ou~
5 wearing a dress of orange satin frilled with lace. A baby was propped on her hip. Sitting on the
brass bed, she nursed the child. Later, her husband - dark-skinned, oiled hair and gold watch
brass's bed, she nursed the child. Later, her husband - dark-skinned, oiled hair and gold watch
gleaming richly in the room's poor light - arrived. To my dismay, he seemed surprised when he
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-3-

10

15

20

25

saw me curled under the table and stared at me with protracted curiosity. He muttered something
to the old woman who, turning briefly away from the coal-pot, glanced in my direction and
shrugged. I was relieved when son and daughter-in-law went away.
The rhythm disturbed by this intrusion was restored. Another week or so went by. I If
under the table, reading and re-reading the few books I carried with me in my schoolbag. My
favourite was Homes Far Away, one of the prescribed texts for General Knowledge. It describe
the lives (today we would say 'lifestyles') of exotic peoples-the Norwegians who farmed on the
edges of vertiginous fjords; the Japanese who lived in fear of earthquakes and built houses from
the flimsiest materials; the Swiss who rolled cheeses down steep mountain-sides; the Eskimos
who lived in houses made from blocks of snow and fished through holes in the ice; and. mo
alluring of all, the Kirghiz who roamed the wide grasslands of Central Asia with their flocks and
pitched tents of hide on plains rimmed by saw-toothed mountain ranges. Few other books have
so enthralled me, penetrated so deeply into my fantasies. In that cave of a room I lay under my
table, reading, dozing, staring at the window, following the subtle changes in the twilight flowing
through the uncleaned glass, drifting off into reveries about the Kirghiz.
It could not last forever. One morning the young man returned. Once again he subjected
me to a prolonged scrunity. Once again he murmured agitatedly at the old woman as she crouched
in front of the coal-pot, fanning the glowing charcoal with a square of cardboard. Once again she
turned and glanced at me, nodding at her son. When I returned home later that afternoon my
mother was waiting for me. My truancy had ended.

(a)
(b)

Why was the visitor surprised lo see the child under the table (lines 7-8)?
What do you think happened between the time of the young man's return (line 23) and
the child's return home later that afternoon?
(c) Why does the writer repeat 'once again' in lines 23 - 25?
(d)
(i) Explain what the writer means by "The rhythm disturbed by this intrusion was
restored'' (line 11).
(ii)

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Tell in your own words what that rhythm was.

(3 marks)
(2 marks)
(3 marks)
(2 marks)
(2 marks)

5.

Read the following extract carefully and then answer the questions set on it.
Dear Sir,
The fact that all my recent conversations with young people about world affairs have been
onc-sided, producing only the odd grunt, should have aroused my suspicions. I should certainly
have become worried when several students had difficulty identifying countries on a world map.
The signs were there but I kept hoping I was wrong.

10

(a)
(b)

Now, thanks to your recent survey, Mr. Editor, the truth is out. Young people, complacent
about their lack of knowledge, do not have the slightest interest in acquiring information. Only
ten percent of our high school students read the newspaper. School books arc the only written
material that the majority of our students read, apart from the "supermarket tabloids", of course.
An entire generation prefers to wallow ignorance!
If books are not a way of life for young people, what is? Idle chatter? Outrageous
fashions? Mindless music? Surely this cannot be all that they find interesting. Surely they cannot
expect to be obsessed with trivia forever!
The abhorrence of books would perhaps be understandable if reading were a difficult,
laborious chore. But everyone knows that it is exactly the opposite. Everyone?
What does the writer mean by saying that his recent conversations with young people
were one-sided?

(2 marks)

In line 2 the writer says that his suspicions should have been aroused. What should he
have suspected?

(1 mark)

(c)

Why did the writer keep hoping that he was wrong?

(2 marks)

(d)

What does the repetition of the word 'surely' in paragraph 3 suggest?

(e)

What docs the writer imply by "Everyone?" at the very end of the passage?

(f)

Write down TWO possible meanings of the word 'odd' in the first sentence.

(g)

What is the MAIN purpose of the passage?

(2 marks)

(1 mark)

(2 marks)
(2 marks)
Total 12 marks

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5
SECTION THREE
(Suggested time: 45 minutes)
Answer ONE question.
Your answer in this section should be approximately 400 to 450 words in length,
You must write in Standard English. However, dialect may be used in conversation
4.

5.

Imagine that a spaceship lands in the field where you are playing with friends, and whisks you
off to an alien planet. EITHER write a story about your adventure in space OR describe life on
the alien planet.
(25 marks)
The pensioner looked at the young visitor, smiled and said
"I grew up expecting a world of surprises but "
Continue the story that the pensioner tells the visitor.

(25 marks)

SECTION FOUR
(Suggested time: 30 minutes)
Answer ONE question.
Your answer in this section should be approximately 250 to 300 words in length.
You must write in Standard English.
6.

Pete and Flavia, students in the CXC examination class in your school, have been discussing
problems which students experience. Pete declares. "Many of these rules exist because of us. We
are our own worst enemies."
Write your own response EITHER agreeing OR disagreeing with Pete.

7.

(25 marks)

Some time ago a short letter lo the editor was printed in a newspaper. The letter suggest that
the use of plastics should be banned. Write your own letter to the editor in which you EITHER
support the view of the writer of the earlier letter OR argue against that view.
(25 marks)
END OF TEST