Section A: Reading

Read this passage from Dragon Racer by Margaret Bateson-Hill and then answer the questions in the
question paper.

‘Come on, Aaron!’ Joanna Morris complained impatiently to herself as she looked up the busy
high street for her older brother. ‘Five o’clock on the steps of the town hall, you said, so where
are you?’ She threw her school bag onto the bottom step and leaned against the wall. Aaron
was always later than they had agreed. It was alright for him; he enjoyed his after-school
football club, AND he was always chosen to play in the team. Joanna wished she could find 5
something she really liked too. She’d recently started going to basketball but the only times
she ever got chosen for the team were when they were short of players. ‘And I’m as good as
half the girls there!’ she’d told her mum.

‘Don’t worry, next September, when you start secondary school, there’ll be loads of new clubs
for you to try,’ had been her mother’s rather unhelpful reply. 10

Joanna looked up at the clock on the town hall to check the time. Ten past five. If Aaron didn’t
come in five minutes she’d go home without him. She stood staring up at the clock as if by
staring she could make the giant hands move. Suddenly, a movement caught her eye;
something on one of the statues near the clock.

‘There’s a large pigeon,’ thought Joanna. She looked again, more carefully this time. It was 15
far too big for a pigeon – what was it? And then all she could do was stare up at the clock-
tower in utter amazement. Crawling down the wall straight towards her was a small silver
dragon!

The dragon stopped and looked at her intently with its bright eyes shining like two small
bonfires. Joanna stared back. She could see herself reflected in the dark pupils, only instead 20
of her school uniform, she seemed to be wearing a fitted leather jacket, the sort motorbike
riders wear. The dragon’s face was now so close she could feel its hot breath on her cheeks.
She reached up to touch it. Suddenly, thoughts like small silver sparks were flickering across
her mind. ‘Dragon Flyer’ they cried, and were gone, only to return brighter and faster. Now her
head was spinning and she had to lean against the wall of the town hall to stop herself falling. 25
She looked up just in time to see a woman scoop the dragon up into the thick folds of a
blanket. It happened so quickly that it took Joanna a couple of seconds to realise that the
woman with the blanket was already disappearing through a side door. Joanna ran after her,
but at the same moment she heard her brother calling her.

‘Jo! Wait,’ and Aaron came running up. ‘Mr Wentworth wanted to sort out the details for the 30
match tomorrow. Guess who’s captain? And then Matt and I needed to discuss tactics... Hey,
Joanna, you’re not listening. Are you alright, you look a bit funny?’

‘I don’t know, I feel a bit strange,’ replied Joanna, adding silently, ‘you might too if you’d just
discovered a dragon waiting for you!’ Because she was sure it had been waiting for her...

As they walked home all Joanna could think about was the dragon’s face and its round fiery 35
eyes. But, however amazing, there was no way she was going to tell Aaron what she had
seen. If she said she’d seen a dragon crawling down the wall of the town hall he would either
laugh at her, or worse, want to hang around and see for himself! And she certainly didn’t want
that. This was her secret and one she needed to think about before she told anyone. Luckily,
Aaron was still wrapped up in all the details of his football match so he wasn’t paying much 40
attention. They walked slowly up the road together...
 Section A: Reading For
Teacher's
Use
Read the passage in the INSERT and then answer these questions.
1 From whose point of view does the writer tell the story?

[1]

Give a reason to support your answer.

[1]

2 Where is Joanna at the beginning of the passage?

Underline the correct answer.

walking along the high street at a football stadium

in front of the town hall outside school [1]

3 Here are some events from the story.

Number the events from 1 to 5 to show the order in which they happen.

Joanna sees the dragon.

Aaron arrives.

Joanna looks at the clock.

They walk up the road together.

A woman takes the dragon away.

[1]

4 How does Joanna feel when she first sees the dragon?

[1]
5 ‘The dragon looked at her intently with its bright eyes…’ (Line 19) For
Teacher's
What does the word intently tell us about the dragon? Use

[1]

6 Give a quotation from the passage which shows Joanna was not frightened by the dragon
during the meeting.

[1]

7 Read these two sentences from the passage.

Suddenly, thoughts like small silver sparks were flickering across her mind. ‘Dragon Flyer’
they cried, and were gone, only to return brighter and faster. (Lines 23-24)

Which two things are compared in these sentences?

[1]

8 Which verb in the fifth paragraph shows that the woman took the dragon quickly?

[1]

9 When Aaron arrives to meet Joanna, she is leaving. Why?

Tick (✓) one box.

She doesn’t feel very well.

She has decided to go home without him.

She wants to give the blanket to the woman.

She wants to follow the dragon.

[1]
10 There is a word in paragraph six and another word in paragraph seven which can mean the
same. Write the two words.

1
2 [1]
11 What sort of boy is Aaron? For
Write one phrase in your own words. Teacher's
Use

Give a quotation from the passage to support your answer.

[2]

12 Give one reason why Joanna does not want to tell Aaron about the dragon.

[1]

13 What do the words ‘still wrapped up’ suggest about Aaron? (Line 40)

[1]

14 The writer uses italics on words throughout the passage. e.g. ‘Aaron was always later than
they had agreed’. (Line 4) Why does the writer use italics?

[1]

15 Find two examples of imagery in the passage.

1

2 [2]

16 Joanna’s feelings change from the beginning to the end of the passage.
(a) How does she feel at the beginning of the passage? Write a word or a short phrase.
[1]

(b) Using your own words, write a sentence to describe how her feelings have changed at
the end of the passage.

[1]