First Year English

Christmas Examination
1 hour
80 MARKS

Instructions

THERE ARE THREE SECTIONS TO THIS EXAM.

YOU MUST ANSWER ALL SECTIONS.

READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE EACH SECTION CAREFULLY.

GIVE 20 MINUTES TO EACH SECTION.

 SECTION A: COMPREHENSION
READ THE FOLLOWING EXTRACT AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW. USE FULL
SENTENCES IN YOUR ANSWERS.

This is an extract from Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee.

Mile after mile we went, fighting against the wind, falling into snowdrifts, and navigating
by the lights of the houses. And yet we never saw our audience. We called at house after
house; we sang in courtyards and porches, outside windows, or in the damp gloom of
hallways; we heard voices from hidden rooms; we smelt rich clothes and strange hot food;
we saw maids bearing in dishes or carrying away coffee cups; we received nuts, cakes, figs,
preserved ginger, dates, cough-drops and money; but
we never once saw our patrons.

Eventually we approached our last house high up on

the hill, the place of Joseph the farmer. For him we
had chosen a special carol, which was about the other
Joseph, so that we always felt that singing it added a
spicy cheek to the night.

We grouped ourselves round the farmhouse porch.

The sky cleared and broad streams of stars ran down
over the valley and away to Wales. On Slad's white
slopes, seen through the black sticks of its woods, some red lamps burned in the windows.

Everything was quiet: everywhere there was the faint crackling silence of the winter night.
We started singing, and we were all moved by the words and the sudden trueness of our
voices. Pure, very clear, and breathless we sang:

'As Joseph was

walking
He heard an angel
sing;
'This night shall be
the birth-time
Of Christ the
Heavenly King......
And two thousand Christmases became real to us then; The houses, the halls, the places of
paradise had all been visited; The stars were bright to guide the Kings through the snow;
and across the farmyard we could hear the beasts in their stalls. We were given roast
apples and hot mince pies, in our nostrils were spices like myrrh, and in our wooden box, as
we headed back for the village, there were golden gifts for all.

1. What do you think the group is doing outside on such a terrible night? (6)
2. How is the group treated by the people they visit in the first paragraph? (8)
3. The writer uses our five senses to create images of Christmas and winter in this
extract. Can you give examples from the first paragraph to show how he does this?
(10)
4. And two thousand Christmases became real to us then. Choose your favourite
Christmas image in this extract and give two reasons why you like it. (10)

SECTION B: POETRY
READ THE POEM BELOW AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.

Nature
We have neither Summer nor Winter
Neither Autumn or Spring.
We have instead the days
When the gold sun shines on the lush green canefields
Magnificently.
The days when the rain beats like bullets on the roofs
And there is no sound but the swish of water in the gullies
And trees struggling in the high Jamaica winds.
Also there are the days when leaves fade from off guango trees
And the reaped canefields lie bare and fallow to the sun.
But best of all there are the days when the mango and the log-wood blossom
When the bushes are full of the sound of bees and the scent of honey,
When the tall grass sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air,
When the buttercups have paved the earth with yellow stars
And beauty comes suddenly and the rains have gone. H. D. Carberry
1. Find one example of each of the following poetic devices in the poem above.
a. Alliteration
b. Simile
c. Personification. (6)
2. Do you think the poet likes the weather in Jamaica? Use examples from the poem to
explain your answer. (10)
3. Choose a poem you have studied this year and write one paragraph about why you liked
or disliked it. You must give two reasons and refer to the poem in your answer. (10)

SECTION C: THE NOVEL OR SHORT STORY

10 MARKS EACH
ANSWER TWO OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.
WRITE HALF A BOOKLET PAGE ON EACH ONE.
USE PQE IN YOUR ANSWERS.

1. A character you liked or disliked in the novel/story.

2. A key moment of change for a character in the novel/story.

3. An important theme in the novel/story.

4. An important relationship in the novel/story.

5. A funny or frightening or sad moment in the novel/story.

6. A moment of conflict in the novel/story and how it was resolved.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!