Section A: Comprehenslon (40 marks)

Read the followingpassagecarefullyand then answer all the questions.You are recomrnended
to answer them in the order set. Mistakesin spelling, punctuation and grammar may be
penalizedin any part of your answers.
Note:When a questionasks you to answerin your own words,YOU MUSTNOT COpy THE
WORDSlN THE PASSAGEin youranswer.

1 Therewas a smalf incidenton the way homefrom school. I was stonedby four boys and I
handledthe situationbadly. lt wasn'ta mugglngbecausetheydidn'twant to takeanythingof
value. lt wasn'tan ambusheitherbecauseI alreadyknewtheywereafter me. lt wasn'trevenge
becauseI'd neverseenthembefore.

2 lt was a straightforward
case, I couldseeafterwards,of bullying. Four largerboyscame for s
a smallerone who wason his own.

3 | took the short-cutwhich runs downa narrowpath betweentwo fruit orchards. There are
hedges on each si{e,-"tallenoughto protectthe trees from wind, thick to preVenttrespassers
from stealingfruit. The:sunseldomreachesdownbetweentheiedges. lt's gloomyand damp,
and the weedsunderihb neOgesgrowyellowand stragglyas theystrlggle upiowardsthe light. 1o

4 | don'tfikewalkingthere,but it'sten minutesquickerthanif I go roundby the ring-road.

q The fpur youthswerebehind,jostlingand shovingeach otheragainstthe spikyhawthornas

they walked- They had shavenheads,highlacedDM's, blackblazersand mean,narroweyes.
They were from RosehillSchool. Theywereheadingbac* to RosehillEstate.

6 When the firststonespunpast my ear I didn'tturn,thoughI did put on a bit of speed. The as
secoqdstone hit rne on the backof the neckandthey were closerthan I'd realised.ni tnat point,
there were three thingsI c'outddo. I couldrun like hell, or I coutdtake no notice,or t couldstop
and confront them. I favouredthe last. I was good at diplomacy- | gave a talk on it at the
dinner hour debatingcfub : "Britain'sdiplomaticrole in the east-westcommunication".Four
people came, and two morejeeredthroughthe window,but Mr Fowlercame in for the tastbit of zO
my talk and said it was wellprepared.

7 Besides,if I ran like hell, I'd be admittingto myselfthat I was afraid. Fear shows. The/d
know. Even if I managedto evade themthiJtime,ihey'dbe waitinganotherday. And another
day, it might be worse.

8 But when I lookedblck for the confronlation,

they had gone. The long path was empty. Zs
I Then, I heard stifled gigglesand runningfeet from insidethe orchard. They must have
pushed throughthe densehedge. Suddenlytheywere way ahead,dartingthrougha gap in the
hawthorn.

10 | looked behind.Therewas nobody. Evena first-yearwould have been a help. Bullies

don't attack when there'sa witness. Or a teacher.But teachersdon'twalk alongpublicrights-of- 30
way-- They go home in batteredcarsr or on new ten-speedracers. Or a dear littleo1dlady
coming home from the shops. But dear littleold ladiesdon'twalkdownthis path. In casethey're
mugged.

11 A'hail of sharp ftintsflew down froma tree overhead,and I knew l'd madethe wrong
decision. lt was too latefor confrontation
or escape. I just had to keep walkingalongthe dam[ 3s
path towards where they were lurking. PerhapsI should have negotiated,I shoutd have
apologizedto them for beingme- But you can'tapologizeto half-seenfaces flittingbehindthe
green leaves-
/ to
 12 | reachedthe endof thepath withoutmakingcontact. I wasout on to the cul-de-sac
which
leads downto the estate. I was safe, surrounded
by humanity,livingpeoplebehindwindows, 40
who couldsee me.

13 That'sexactlywhenthey pounced,frombehinda fuchsiabush. And they draggedme

down to the pavement. Theytook off my glasses. I grovelledin the dirt for my spectaclesbut
two grabbedme from behindand pulled downthe sleeves of my blazer,imprisoningmy arms.
Maybeit was a mugging?Theydid want something.The thirdthrewmy school-bagoveia bush
into a garden,while the fourthtook a knife,and touched my breastpocket with the shiningtrp.
Quick as a flash, he slit through the stitchingof the yellow, embioideredcrest, and ri[ped
throughthe school badgeso that it hung tatteredlike a scab. Curiously,one of them pickedup
my glassesfrom the gutterand handedthembackto me. Then theywere off, they weregone.

14 I was ashamedto tindmyselftremblingfor the rest of the walkhome. Humiliated,

I had 50
rnisrnanagedit. I shouldhaveapologizedrightfromthe beginning.

15 Listenboys, I knowit's not your fault you'rewho you are and l'm me. You want my school
badge? Certainly,pleasehaveit.
16 Logically,rationally,I knewthat I was theirsuperior. And if I knewit, they knew it too. That
was why they wanted to attack. They recggnised my grey. wooj blazer. lt wasn't theirfault. lt's 55
nobody'sfaultthat they mustlive on the councilestateand go to Rosehill,any morethan it's my
fault that my parentsare well-educated,
well-paid,
and want me to be the sarne. No doubt,those
boys vrerejust as intelligentas me, but with all the wrong motivationsfor life. So, it was
nobody'sfault. Even so, I couldn'tblame anybodybut myselffor makingthe first wrongdecision.

(From The War Orphan by RachelAnderson)

From paragraphs1 to 3:

1a Usingcluestakenfromparagraphone,explainthe meaningof
(i) stoned(line 1), [1m ]
(ii) an ambush(lineS). [1m]
1b why were pedestriansunableto take the fruitfrom the orchard? [1m)
1c Why were the weedson the path leltow andstraggl/ (line 10)? [2m]

From paragraphs4to 7:

2a What was it about thefour boys' appearance

that might havealarmedthe writer? [2m]
2b Why did the writerchoosenot to run awaf [2m)

From paragraphs8 to 10:

3a "They go home in batteredcars, or on newten-speedracers"(line31). What does

this commentteli youaboutthe type.ofteachersat the write/s school? [2m]
3b what is ironic aboutthewriter'sobservationon "littleotd ladies"(line32)? [2m]
,
From paragraphs 11to 13:
(i) Suggestone reasonwhy the gang tookotfthe writer'sspectacles [1mJ
(ii) Suggestone reasonwhy a gang membergavethe spec'tacles backto him. [1m]
 Frornparagraphs14to16:

5 To whatexactlydo the followingwordsrefer?

(i) it (line5a)
[1m]
{ii)Rosehill (line56) it.i
(iii)thesame(line57) lz1nj

Fromthe whole passage:

6 what was'the firstwrongdecision"(line5g)thatthe writermade? [1mJ

PleaseanswerQuestions7 and 8 on a fresh sheetof writing paper.

7 For each of the followingwords,give one word or short phraseof not more than
sevenrvordsthat hasthe samemeaningas the word in the passage. [sm]
(i) small(line1)., (iv) evade(tine23)
(iil mugging(liqte2) (v) stifted(line!6)
(iii) confront(line18)

B Summary [15m]
lmagineyou were one of the gang members. Write an accountof how you first
tormentedand then attackedthe writer. Draw your facts from anywherLin the
passage.

Your aecountshouldbe in continuouswritingand shouldnot exceed120 words,

includingthe 6 wordsgivenbelowto hetpyoubegin.

Beginyour accountas follows:

We followed him down the path...

Section B: Cloze Passage(10 marks)

Continuewritingthe answdrfor this sectionon the samewritingpaperas Questions1-6 of SectionA.

As I sat (1)-_in soundof trafficwasjust a (z)-hum in the background.My

TX,ryorr
concentrationwas (3)- oy"thea persistenthorn(4)- by the screechingof tyres, and thena loud bang
I knew at once that an accidenthad (5)_

I tried to see what had happenedbut my viewwas blocked. Beingreally(6) ', I wentto the kitchen
to see if I couldget a betterview. All I couldseefromabovethe tree (T)_was a taxi nextto the
road divider. The taxi driverwastalkingon the mobitephone.

At the oppositeblockof flats, peoplewere (8)- streamingout of theirflats and (9)- at the endof
the corridorsnearestthe road. I couldsee them chattingamongstthemsetves.
,
Since my view was (10)- blocked,I gave up tryingto look and returnedto my work.

*** .IheEnd***
4 /ta
 School

ofroCks

rnadefrom a concealed

e, thus

and they
S:

DMls,black

3a)
The teachersbelong to the middle or upper classandthey are rathermodem.

3b)
Little refersmainly to youngpeoplebut the writer usedthe phrase"little old ladies",
indicatingthat the old ladiesareyoung as well, bringing out the irony.

4(i)
The gang did not want the writer to recognizethem.

4(ii)
The gangmembermight feel bad having attackedhim and felt that the leastthev could do
was to return the spectaclesback to the writer.

s(i)
The word "it" refersto the factthat the writer is superioras comparedto them.

zJt
5(ii)
The word "Rosehill" refersto the schoolthat the gangof boys went to.

Thewords'the,,iamell,refers
to the,expeaation5thatthewriterli far"t",ttavf onifi"
writer;to'have,lhe,+me
upbnnging,titestyte,
a"d educationtnai tir;11
weni,-thpu$
:..
.. ...:..:: .
:t::..

o) ' .. :::;i i... ' ,.:',

,:::

Tiii) to assaultwi
wi thtth.e,jrir{gr'rll
on of robbery
7(iii) to fqceih

7(v)soft/fgin?:+;i

l) About
2) Soft
3) disrupted/disturbed
4) Caused
5) Happened
6) Curious/nosy
7) Top
8) Slowly
9) Lingering
l0) partially/almost

/)*