ALLEYN’S SCHOOL SAMPLE PAPER ENTRANCE & SCHOLARSHIP EXAMINATION For 11+ candidates ENGLISH Time allowed: 14 hoursSECTION 1: COMPREHENSION PASSAGE The shyest and most self-effacing of the wall community were the most dangerous; you hardly ever saw one unless you looked for it, and yet there must have been several hundred living in the cracks of the wall. Slide a knife-blade carefully under a piece of loose plaster and lever it gently away from the brick, and there, crouching beneath it, would be a little black scorpion an inch long, looking as though he were made out of polished chocolate. They were weird-looking things, with their flattened, oval bodies, their neat, crooked legs, the enormous crab-like claws, bulbous and neatly jointed as armour, and the tail like a string of brown beads ending in a sting like a rose-thorn. The scorpion would lie there quite quietly as you examined him, only raising his tail in an almost apologetic gesture of warning if you breathed too hard on him. Ifyou kept him in the sun too long he would simply tum his back on you and walk away, and then slide slowly but firmly under another section of plaster. T grew very fond of these scorpions. 1 found them to be pleasant, unassuming creatures with, on the whole, the most charming habits. Provided you did nothing silly or clumsy (like putting your hand on one) the scorpions treated you with respect, their one desire being to get away and hide as quickly as possible. They must have found me rather a trial, for I was always ripping sections of the plaster away so that I could watch them, or capturing them and making. them walk about in jam-jars so that I could see the way their feet moved, By means of my sudden and unexpected assaults on the wall I discovered quite a bit about the scorpions. I found that they would eat bluebottles (though how they caught them was a mystery I never solved), grasshoppers, moths and lacewing flies. Several times I found them eating each other, a habit T found most distressing in a creature otherwise so impeccable. One day I found a fat female scorpion in the wall, wearing what at first glance appeared to be a pale fawn fur coat, Closer inspection proved that this strange garment was made up of a mass of tiny babies clinging to the mother’s back. I was enraptured by this family, and I made ‘up my mind to smuggle them into the house and up to my bedroom so that { might keep them and watch them grow up. With infinite care I manoeuvred the mother and family into a matchbox, and then hurried to the villa, It was rather unfortunate that just as I entered the door lunch should be served; however, I placed the matchbox carefully on the mantelpiece in the drawing-room, so that the scorpions should get plenty of air, and made my way to the dining- room and joined the family for the meal. Dawdling over my food, feeding Roger surreptitiously under the table and listening to the family arguing, I completely forgot about my exciting new captures, At last Larry, having finished, fetched the cigarettes from the drawing-room, and lying back in his chair he put one in his mouth and picked up the matchbox he had brought. Oblivious of my impending doom I watched him interestedly as, still talking glibly, he opened the matchbox. From My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell ‘This section is based on the Comprehension Passage above. After you have read this passage, circle the right letter on this answer booklet for each of the following questions: 1. Why does Gerald Durrell start looking for the scorpions? a) Because they are difficult to find b) Because he wants to examine their behaviour ©) Because he can’t find anything better to do d) Because he loves insects c) Because he wants to keep one as a pet 2. How does he manage to look at the scorpions? a) He keeps them in the sun too long b) He waits for them to crawl out from behind the plaster ©) He makes a loud noise to send them scuttling out 4) He surprises them by peeling back the plaster ©) He lays a trap made of a jam-jar for them10, Several things make him forget about the scorpion mother and her babies. Which one of the following does not? a) Eating lunch b) Feeding the dog c) Listening to the family arguing d) Larry lighting a cigarette Which word is closest in meaning to ‘charming’ (line 13)? a) Intriguing b) Shy ©) Delightful 4) Peculiar ©) Interesting Which word is closest in meaning to ‘impeccable’ (line 21)? a) Perfect b) Barbaric c) Fascinating 4) Fussy ©) Dangerous Look again at the third paragraph, Choose a word which means the same as each of the following: directed absolute secretly observation __ unaware ‘The writer tells us that the scorpions are dangerous. Which fact tells us that this is true? ‘What colour are the scorpions? List two facts from the passage which show this to be true: a) - b) Put the sequence of events in the right order, beginning by numbering the first thing that happens with the number 1, and so on: Number: + The boy puts the matchbox on the mantelpiece The boy forgets about the scorpion mother and babies ‘The boy puts the scorpion mother and babies into a matchbox Larry opens the matchbox The boy finds the scorpion mother and babies ‘The boy sits down to have lunchSECTION 2: USE OF LANGUAGE 1. Write either a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark in the bracketed spaces below: a) Help(_) Can’tanyone hear me (_ ) b) I wonder what he’s doing ( c) Tell my why you did it() 4) Who he was nobody seemed to know (_ ) e) Why are youso puzzled () 2. Choose the most appropriate verb from the list in the boxes for each of the situations below. Use each of the words only once. sidle_[amble | totter trudge | [stagger | strut march lurch a) A baby just learning to walk _ b) A drunk man walking down the street c) A weary farmer returning home through the mud __ ee d) Two teenagers guiltily approaching someone @) Someone who has just been shot A lazy walk in the country ae 2) Amodel walking down the catwalk __ ___ h) Someone going to the manager of a hotel to make a strong complaint __ 3. Choose the most appropriate word for each space from the bracketed words: There seemed to be a loud (sound, bang, thud) and a blinding (beam, ray, flash) of light all (round, beside, behind) me and I felt a tremendous shock — no pain, only a violent _____ (shock, agony, feeling), such as you get from an electric terminal; with it a sense of, _ (perfect, utter, entire) weakness, a feeling of being stricken and _ (reduced, shrivelled, squeezed) up to nothing.‘The sand-bags in front ofme_____ (sank, dropped, receded) into the _ (huge, gigantic, immense) distance. I fancy you would feel much the same if you were _ (zapped, attacked, struck) by lightning. George Orwell Either a comma or a full stop is missing from the following sentences. Insert the correct punctuation clearly in the right place. a) As the boys watched a flash of fire appeared at the root of one of the trees. b) She looked at her watch it was five o’elock. ©) Climbing the mountain he lost all idea of time. 4) All boats using the estuary must pay harbour fees boat parking on the beach is available. e) Ashe stood on the deck the boy saw his shipmates waving. 1) The rain dripped from the trees water stood in pools on the gravel path, Put the correct preposition in each sentence. Use each of the following words only once. of | on | in | from | about | by | at | to | for | with | a) Youcannot rely the British weather. b) Please refrain _ __ putting your feet on the tables. ©) Young people are always complaining __ __ life. 4) Lam not encouraged _ __ your progress. ©) Zed’s latest album is very similar ____ his last one. £) Weare all very proud ____ your achievements. g) Don was not satisfied __Jenny’s explanation. h) Do not interfere __ other people's affairs. i) France has a reputation ____good food. jj) John cannot help being slow so please do not laugh __ __him,6. Underline one word in each bracket which correctly completes each sentence. a) The building (sight, site) which we (passed, past) each morning was a (sight, site). b) My tooth is so (loose, lose) that I don’t know (whether, weather) it will fall out. ©) (Practice, practise) makes perfect. 4) We had to (accept, except) that the waiters were (t00, to) busy (100, to) attend to us immediately. ©) I should (of, have, off) known better than to (of, have, off) knocked the cup over. £) (There’s theres, theirs) the girl to (which, who, whom) I gave my (knew, new) coat. SECTION 3: POEM Read this poem: Pigeons by Richard Kell They paddle with staccato feet In powder-pools of sunlight. Small blue busybodies Strutting like fat gentlemen ‘With hands clasped Under their swallowtail coats; ‘And, as they stump about, Their heads like tiny hammers Tap at imaginary nails Innon-existent walls. Elusive ghosts of sunshine Slither down the green gloss Of their necks an instant, and are gone. Summer hangs drugged from sky to earth In limpid fathoms of silence: Only warm dark dimples of sound Slide like slow bubbles From the contented throats. Raise a casual hand — With one quick gust They fountain into air.down the two kinds of people that the pigeons are compared to. 2. In what way are their heads like tiny hammers? 3 Write down two words that describe the way the pigeons move. ‘What is the poet trying to describe in lines 11-13 when he writes ‘Elusive ghosts of sunshine/Slither down the green gloss/Of their necks an instant, and are gone’? SECTION 4: COMPOSITION This section tests your written English. Write a few paragraphs of your own DESCRIBING an unpleasant person. Only write on the ruled lines overleaf — do not go onto extra paper. Your writing should be concise, crafted and urate, ‘The blank space overleaf is to be used for planning only.End of paper. Remember to check through your work carefully. Tse the space below to plan your writing June 2006