Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College

CINEC CAMPUS
Department of English
EDUCATION & TRAINING COURSE : BACHELOR OF ARTS (ENGLISH) DEGREE
COURSE CODE : LC – 0845
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END SEMESTER EXAMINATION QUESTION PAPER
YEAR I – SEMESTER I
READING COMPREHENSION - ELAN 1102
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Date: 2017.04.01 Time allocated: 03 hours
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INDEX NUMBER: …………………………………………………………………………………

For Office Use Only
Total
Question No: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 % Signature
Marks
For Scrutinizer’s
Use Only (marks)
For Moderator’s
Use Only (marks)

❖ This paper consists of four questions. Answer ALL Questions. Answers should be
written on this paper itself.

VERY IMPORTANT:
Marks will be deducted for spelling & grammatical errors.

Question 01
Read the following poem and answer the questions given below.

Carl Hamblin
The press of the Spoon River Clarion was wrecked,
And I was tarred and feathered,
For publishing this on the day the
Anarchists* were hanged in Chicago:
"I saw a beautiful woman with bandaged eyes
Standing on the steps of a marble temple.
Great multitudes passed in front of her,
Lifting their faces to her imploringly.
In her left hand she held a sword.
She was brandishing the sword,

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 Sometimes striking a child, again a laborer,
Again a slinking woman, again a lunatic.
In her right hand she held a scale;
Into the scale pieces of gold were tossed
By those who dodged the strokes of the sword.
A man in a black gown read from a manuscript:
"She is no respecter of persons."
Then a youth wearing a red cap
Leaped to her side and snatched away the bandage.
And lo, the lashes had been eaten away
From the oozy eye-lids;
The eye-balls were seared with a milky mucus;
The madness of a dying soul
Was written on her face --
But the multitude saw why she wore the bandage."
(Edgar Lee Masters)

(* Note: In the city of Chicago on the evening of May 4th 1886, a protest meeting was organized
by the Anarchist community to protest the murder and wounding of several workers by the
Chicago police the day before. Afterwards, eight anarchists, were arrested, tried and convicted
of murder.)

(a) Comment on the phrase ‘a beautiful woman with bandaged eyes’. (02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………

(b) Why does the poet say that the woman ‘stands on the steps of a marble temple’?
(02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………

(c) What does the poet mean by the phrase ‘Into the scale pieces of gold were tossed’?
(03 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………

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(d) Who could be referred to as ‘A man in a black gown read from a manuscript’?
(02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………

(e) What is implied in the following two lines? (02 marks)

Sometimes striking a child, again a laborer,
Again a slinking woman, again a lunatic
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………

(f) What is the main intention of the poet? Justify your answer with evidence.
(04 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………

(g) Write the meaning of the underlined words. (10 marks)

i) multitudes - …………………………
ii) imploringly - …………………………
iii) brandishing - …………………………
iv) dodged - …………………………
v) snatched - …………………………

Question 02
Read the following extract from the internet and answer the questions given below.

2 days until the Novella Award 2016 submission deadline

Interview with our judge - Lucy English.
Wednesday 27 April, 2016
With only a few days to go until we reach the deadline Novella Award 2016 entries,
we wanted to share an interview with our judge - Lucy English.
Interviewer: You were born in Sri Lanka, and continue to bring workshops and
performances there. Do you think that relationship influences your writing?
Lucy: I ran a series of performances and workshops in Sri Lanka for the British
Council. My connection with Sri Lanka continues through social media sites, for
writers and poets. It is good to remember that English is an international language

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and many writers in other countries choose to write in English. Sharing ideas and
work in progress with writers from across the globe is a heartening and an uplifting
experience. I had a wonderful time in Sri Lanka and I would love to go back there. It's
a beautiful country.
Interviewer: People might recognize you from the world of performance poetry,
how do you view the relationship between being a performance poet and a
novelist?
Lucy:For me, both forms are about storytelling. Most performance poems are
essentially narrative, but obviously the 'stories' are shorter than those in a novel!!! For
a live performance a poem has to be immediate, vivid and emotional. If the audience
doesn’t 'get it' straight away, then the moment is lost. I have learned a great deal about
how to connect with an audience through performance poetry and this can be
translated into novel writing. Novel writing is a long, slow slog of dedication and
commitment, but it can be a lonely craft and spoken word creates a contrast to this.
Performance poetry/spoken word is lively, friendly and noisy. I love having these
two sides to my writing life.
Interviewer: “Prayers to Imperfection” came out in 2014 - and this title certainly
feels apt considering elements of “Selfish People” and “Children of Light”. Do you
think it's important for writers to challenge the status quo, and if so, how?
Lucy: Yes, I do think that writers have some sort of responsibility to shed light on
neglected areas of life. Popular media tries to dominate our way of thinking about the
world and writers show us that there is more than celebrity culture, perfect bodies,
and stupid stunts. I love it when I read a novel which reveals something new to me,
whether that's a different culture, or a piece of history or an aspect of human
behaviour.
Interviewer: You're studying a PhD in Digital Writing, are you able to tell us more
about this?
Lucy: I am creating a re-imagining of a medieval book of hours, in a digital form.
Books of Hours can be seen as the first interactive texts. The reader choose what
passages to read, rather than reading them in a linear fashion. My version is secular. I
am creating forty eight poetry films which will represent four times of day for each
month of the year. I am writing the poems and film makers are making the films. It's
an ambitious project with plenty of challenges! I want to explore how our electronic
devices can be used for reflection rather than distraction.
Interviewer: You co-run Wordsmiths alongside Rachel Bentham, hosting writing
breaks for women. There’s been increasing conversations about gender disparity in

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the arts, what advice would you give to an emerging female writer? How do you
think the UK can best support gender equality in the arts?
Lucy:What we discovered is that women writers can lack confidence and can be over
critical of their work. This holds them back from completing manuscripts and sending
out their novels or poetry to agents and publishers. My advice to an emerging female
writer is to get quality feedback, either through a writers’ group or a course such as
Arvon, and to believe more in their own work. I would love to see more writing
courses targeted specifically at women to help them overcome their anxieties. We all
know it is harder for women to get to the top in many professions as 'the top' tends to
be run by men. This shouldn’t stop women from trying.
Interviewer: As our 2016 Novella Award judge, what will you be looking out for in
the submissions?
Lucy: I want to find a piece of writing that will grab me and stun me!!! I love to be
absorbed in a piece of writing. If I am reading something and time runs right past me
then I know I have found a great piece of writing.
Interviewer: What is important for you to be present in a short form like novella?
E.g. what can novella do / not do that other forms can?
Lucy: There are more opportunities to be experimental in a novella, either in terms of
language or with the form itself. Experimental writing does not feature much in
mainstream fiction as the publishers are trying to shift as many books as possible. A
novella can be very different from a mainstream novel as it is not constrained by the
demands of large audiences.
Interviewer: Do you have any writing pet peeves?
Too many adverbs? I want to read clean uncluttered prose.

(a) What is the obvious advantage a writer of English has in comparison to writers of
other languages? (02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
(b) Why does she say that a poem should be emotional for a live performance?
(02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………..

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(c) What does she mean by ‘celebrity culture’? (02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...

(d) What can be inferred about the work, ‘Prayers to Imperfection’? (03 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...

(e) What is her opinion of the present status of gender equality in society? (04 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...

(f) What hinders more women getting involved in literary work? (02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...

(g) What will be the main criteria that she will use in the judgment of a good piece of
writing presented in novella? (02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...

(h) According to her, what is the main advantage those involved in novella will
have? (02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...

(i) On the basis of the information in the interview, why do you think Lucy is a good
novelist? Support your answer with evidence. (04 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...

(j) What is meant by ‘uncluttered prose’? (02 marks)

……………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...

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Question 03
Read the following two texts (Text A and Text B) and answer the questions given
below.

Text A
Free Education in Sri Lanka grants opportunities for over 350,000 children annually,
to enter schools. The government facilitates these children with educational premises,
equipment, clothes, books, and subsidized bus fare. Accordingly, the government
spends about two percent of our national revenue on providing free education for
children

For maintaining the country’s free educational system, Sri Lanka has over 10,000
schools (Year 2015 statistics). However, most of the rural schools do not receive proper
educational facilities. Due to this reason, during school entrance period of every year,
parents engage in a fierce competition to secure places for their children in a popular
school.

This severe competition results in changing the true meaning of having a free
educational system at the very beginning of children’s education. Parents are willing
to offer as much as money they can to intermediaries in order to secure a place in a
good school for their children. Starting from the popular, top schools in the Western
Province of Sri Lanka, to popular schools in suburbs and rural areas, all become
lucrative money-earning sources for stakeholders during this period.

Those who have enough money and political connections succeed in finding a good
school while the underprivileged strata of society has to send their children to
neglected schools. These schools do not have enough teachers, desks, chairs, roofs, or
even toilets or drinking water for their students. So they depend on whatever
donations they get from politicos and other organisations as well as from well-off
people who look for something worthwhile to donate their assets for gathering merits
and respect.

In most of the popular schools, the education that children get, is not enough for them
to face the main examinations – Ordinary Level (O/L), and Advance Level (A/L).
Therefore, their parents enroll children to tuition classes which are being run by
popular tuition teachers or institutes. Average fee for each subject is over Rs. 700 at

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present and for covering all O/L subjects, some classes charge as much as Rs. 9000 per
month. When it comes to A/L, the situation is much worse.

Meanwhile, it is alleged that popular schools too charge a high amount of money as
much as Rs. 15,000 annually from each student of O/L and A/L classes now. Schools
have been receiving funds from School Development Societies, which also levy money
from parents. The circular number 5/2015 that Education Ministry sent to every
government school now authorizes principals to obtain a considerable amount of
money from parents.

While the government pays salaries for public school teachers, the parents pay salaries
for tuition teachers. The country has no proper system to teach the students by the
teachers employed, in order to prepare the students for O/L or A/L. Therefore, the
core meaning of the free education system has now no depth. All the government
schools just keep children for six hours and send them home and they are sent back
for tuition classes. Therefore, it is now an accepted norm that the parents bear the
entire cost of preparing their children for the two main examinations.

Against this backdrop, saying that Sri Lanka has a free education system up to
university level, is a myth. At every stage from kindergartens to universities, parents
have to bear the expenditure to educate their children. Therefore, the people of this
country have to protest sooner than later against whatever government in power,
demanding it to abolish this nominal free education system. It is just a mirage that
politicos use to take the citizens for a ride and clinch power by promising to carry out
positive changes in the free educational system which is not in the country in real
terms.

N. Majid
Galle

Text B
For more than a generation, the problem of teaching methodology, where especially
English and mathematics were concerned, drew everyone's attention due to the poor
performance of students in O/L and A/L examinations. When the former President
took over the Ministry of Higher Education in Sri Lanka, two signals were sent out.
One was that higher education was suffering due to a variety of reasons, and the other

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was that a determined attempt would be made at the highest possible level to correct
it and cut through bureaucratic bungling, apathy and lack of foresight.

We are familiar with the "headline making" pronouncements of the deficiencies of our
secondary education and promises that they would be corrected in due course. But
instead of solving these problems, more have arisen, and we still do not have
worthwhile results to show where the quality of students or the quality of their
performance is concerned.

Then there was the "world shaking" introduction of the system of 'student-centered
education'. One has to visit any school in the areas which were selected for
experimentation to see that little or nothing has been achieved so far. If at all, only
some upper classes of a few International Schools have introduced a modicum of the
necessary changes. But the results of these changes have to be realistically evaluated.
Students are no more self-reliant, more intelligent or more imaginative than before.

What is obvious is that the mechanism of private tuition has completely and
effectively swamped orthodox school teaching. The established 'big' schools are the
only ones which have been performing consistently well. In the other schools, if there
is an improvement in student performances it can be attributed only to 'private
tuition'. Students almost from grade 1 flock to tuition classes to enable them to achieve
competitive standards especially in mathematics, English and science subjects.

The real educational thrust in recent years comes from the dedicated teachers of
'private tuition' classes and not from the ministry nor from the government teachers
who seldom cover the syllabus or motivate their children.

There is hardly a student in the Colombo, Kandy or Galle districts who does not attend
private classes. It is still the most devastating indictment of our state educational
system which, year after year, has failed in its duty towards poor parents of the
country.

Tilak A. Gunawardhana
Dehiwela

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(a) Both writers deal with the issue of the education system in Sri Lanka. How do
they differ in terms of the main idea they present? (03 marks)

……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………...

(b) How does the writer in Text A justify his main idea? Write two points he includes.
(02 marks)
i) ……………………………………………………………………………………
ii) ……………………………………………………………………………………

(c) Write two common views shared by both writers about the education system in
Sri Lanka. (02 marks)

i) ……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………

ii) ……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………

(d) Both writers criticize the indifferent attitudes of politicians towards the education
system in Sri Lanka. Do you agree? Support your answer with evidence from the
texts. (02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………..

(e) The writer in Text A says ‘parents bear the entire cost of preparing their children
for the two main examinations’. Does he justify this point? Explain in not more
than two sentences. (02 marks)

……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………..

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(f) The writer in Text B says ‘Students are no more self-reliant, more intelligent or
more imaginative than before’. Does he justify this point? Explain in not more
than two sentences. (02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………..

(g) In Text B, the writer refers to ‘headline making pronouncements’. What does he
mean by this phrase? (02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………..

(h) Both writers provide direct suggestions to improve the quality of education in Sri
Lanka. Do you agree? Explain your response in not more than two sentences.
(02 marks)
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………..

(i) Give the meaning of the following words in Text A. (04 marks)
i) Lucrative - ………………………………..
ii) Enroll - ………………………………..
iii) Levy - ………………………………..
iv) Abolish - ………………………………..

(j) Give the meaning of the following words in Text B. (04 marks)
i) Foresight - ………………………………..
ii) Modicum - ………………………………..
iii) Devastating - ………………………………..
iv) Consistently - ………………………………..

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Question 04
Read the following text and answer the questions given below.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good

fortune must be in want of a wife.

However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering
a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families,
that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

``My dear Mr. Bennet,'' said his lady to him one day, ``have you heard that Netherfield
Park is let at last?''

Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.

``But it is,'' returned she; ``for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about
it.''

Mr. Bennet made no answer.

``Do not you want to know who has taken it?'' cried his wife impatiently.

``You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.''

This was invitation enough.

``Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young
man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a
chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed
with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and
some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.''

``What is his name?''

``Bingley.''

``Is he married or single?''

``Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand
a year. What a fine thing for our girls!''

``How so? how can it affect them?''

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``My dear Mr. Bennet,'' replied his wife, ``how can you be so tiresome! You must know
that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.''

``Is that his design in settling here?''

``Design! nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love
with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes.''

``I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by
themselves, which perhaps will be still better; for, as you are as handsome as any of
them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party.''

``My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have had my share of beauty, but I do not pretend
to be any thing extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown up daughters, she
ought to give over thinking of her own beauty.''

``In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of.''

``But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Mr. Bingley when he comes into the
neighbourhood.''

``It is more than I engage for, I assure you.''

``But consider your daughters. Only think what an establishment it would be for one
of them. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account, for
in general, you know they visit no new comers. Indeed you must go, for it will be
impossible for us to visit him, if you do not.''

``You are over-scrupulous, surely. I dare say Mr. Bingley will be very glad to see you;
and I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying
which ever he chooses of the girls; though I must throw in a good word for my little
Lizzy.''

``I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am
sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good humoured as Lydia. But
you are always giving her the preference.''

``They have none of them much to recommend them,'' replied he; ``they are all silly
and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her
sisters.''

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``Mr. Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such way? You take delight in
vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.''

``You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old
friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at
least.''

``Ah! you do not know what I suffer.''

``But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a
year come into the neighbourhood.''

``It will be no use to us if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them.''

``Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty I will visit them all.''

(a) Comment on the opening sentence, paying attention to how appropriate it is to

the dialogue that follows. (03 marks)

………………………………………………………………………………………….…..
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..

(b) What do the statements “Mr. Bennet replied that he had not” and “Mr. Bennet
made no answer” suggest about him and his attitude towards his wife’s gossip?
(03 marks)
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..

(c) What is implied in the sentence, ‘This was invitation enough.’? What does it tell
about Mrs Bennet? (03 marks)

………………………………………………………………………………………….…..
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..

(d) What can you deduce about Mrs Bennet’s views on marriage? (03 marks)

………………………………………………………………………………………….…..
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..

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(e) Write two examples of irony in Mr. Bennet’s comments to his wife. (04 marks)

i) ……………………………………………………………………………………...
ii) ……………………………………………………………………………………...

(f) Describe the character of Mrs. Bennet as revealed by her speech and attitudes.
(04 marks)
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..
………………………………………………………………………………………….…..

(g) Give the meaning of the words in bold print as they appear in the text.
(05 marks)
i) delighted
……………………………………………………………………….......................
ii) flatter
……………………………………………………………………….......................
iii) extraordinary
……………………………………………………………………….......................
iv) consent
……………………………………………………………………….......................
v) compassion
……………………………………………………………………….......................

--------------------END OF THE QUESTION PAPER-----------------

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