Stage 8 Progression test 2 – Paper 2: fiction

2
Stage 8 Progression test 2 – Paper 2: fiction
The Child’s Elephant
Read this extract from The Child’s Elephant by Rachel Campbell-Johnston and
answer the questions that follow.
Bat, a young herd’s boy, finds a baby elephant alone on the African savannah after
its mother has been killed by poachers. Kila is Bat’s favourite cow.

A tiny elephant lay at his feet. Bat stared in astonishment. It couldn’t 1

have been much more than a couple of weeks in age. Its ears were still
folded about it like the leaves of a cabbage; its back was still sprinkled
with russet-coloured hairs; and it was thin, he now noticed … far too
thin. Its spine stuck out in knobbles and its skin looked all crumpled. 5
The dust filled its loose folds.
Bending, Bat reached out one slow gentle hand. The little creature tried
to stand, pushing up with its forelegs, its trunk waving about; but it
failed and flopped back bewildered, its eyelids opening and closing as
its flanks rose and sank. It nuzzled at Bat with its long fumbling nose. 10
He backed away slowly, and the baby elephant tried again to rise,
managing to follow him for a few staggering steps before once more
collapsing. Bat knelt down beside it. Its trunk fiddled weakly in the
palm of his hand. Where was its mother? It would die without her, he
thought. He could already see the blue mist in its wide baby stare. 15
And then with a sickening thump, he remembered the dead elephant.
Was that how the poachers had managed to single out so mighty a
creature? Had she been lagging behind to protect her newborn?
Bat would have known what to do with the orphaned calf of one of
his cattle. He could coax even the sickliest to suck milk from a bucket 20
by letting them latch on to two of his fingers. But they had little blunt
muzzles that could reach into a pail. A creature with a trunk would
not learn to drink that way; and this tiny creature must be thirsty, he
thought. He was parched himself. It must be so terribly thirsty. It had
probably been wandering all night alone on the savannah*. It was a 25
miracle that it wasn’t already dead. Bat ran to fetch his calabash* and
filling it with water, he held it out tentatively. The elephant ignored it.
Bat tried opening its mouth, curling its trunk back over its head so that
the damp, pink triangle of its under-lip was exposed. He poured the
water in; but most of it dribbled straight back out again. 30
Kila wandered over. She snuffled at the baby with her damp, breathy
nose; shunting it gently with the tips of her horns. The little animal
shifted, its trunk drifting uncertainly in the direction of her udder. It
could smell her sweet milk but still it couldn’t drink.
Bat emptied the last of his water over the little animal’s ears. At least 35
that would cool it. Then hunkering down by the cow, he filled his
calabash with milk. He tried to pour that down the baby’s throat next.
The pink tongue wriggled as it tasted the warmth. Bat tried again: it
wasn’t very successful, but the boy kept on going, tiny bit by tiny bit,
until all of the milk had either been swallowed or spilled. 40

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 Stage 8 Progression test 2 – Paper 2: fiction

He didn’t notice how quickly the afternoon was passing and the sun
was already very low in the sky when, hearing a faint cry in the distance,
he looked up and saw his new friend Amuka. So she had kept her
promise! He had hoped so much she would; and now, scrambling to his
feet, he bounded towards her. 45
‘Come! Come and see! Come quickly!’ he shouted.
He grabbed her by the wrist, gabbling out his story of the poachers as
he pulled her into a run. ‘And they killed the mother … And there’s a
baby … I’ve found a baby,’ he gasped, the tale tumbling out in broken
snatches between big puffs of breath. She would know what to do, he 50
was hoping. Between them they might be able to come up with a plan.
He watched Muka’s eyes widening in wonderment as, dropping to her
knees, she stretched out one hesitant hand for the creature as though
to check for herself that his story had really been true. No, she was
not imagining it. Pity for the tiny animal welled up in her heart. They 55
couldn’t just leave it. They had to find a way to help.
‘If we don’t take it home, the hyenas will be back for it,’ she murmured.
‘Somehow, between us, we have to help it to walk.’ She glanced about
for a moment as if searching for the answer. ‘Perhaps it will follow the
cows,’ she suggested. Bat nodded, and leaping to his feet he ran swiftly 60
through the grasses, sounding the low whistles that would set his herd
trotting, bunching closer together as they started for the track.

GLOSSARY
savannah – prairie
calabash – a container made from the hollow fruit of the tree of the
same name

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 Stage 8 Progression test 2 – Paper 2: fiction
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Section A: Reading
Spend 30 minutes on this section.
1. Look at lines 1–6.
Give two different things Bat notices about the elephant.

●● 

●● [1]

2. ‘like the leaves of a cabbage’ [line 3].

(a) What is this phrase an example of?

 [1]

(b) What does this phrase suggest about the elephant’s ears?

 [1]

3. In the sentence that begins, ‘The little creature…’ [line 7] what does the
writer mostly use to convey an impression of the elephant?
Tick (✓) one.
verbs
nouns
adverbs
adjectives [1]

4. Explain in your own words how the poachers might have been able to kill
the elephant’s mother.

[1]

5. What does the word ‘coax’ [line 20] mean, as it is used in the text?
Tick (✓) one.
persuade
make
enable
help [1]

6. Why does Bat think the elephant must be very thirsty?

Give two reasons.

●● 

●● [2]

7. Explain in your own words what the word ‘tentatively’ [line 27] means, as it is
used in the text.

[1]

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 Stage 8 Progression test 2 – Paper 2: fiction

8. How can you tell that Bat is completely engrossed in looking after the
elephant?

[1]

9. In lines 1–40, explain two ways the writer tries to make you feel sorry for
the elephant.
Support each answer with an example from the text.

●● 

 [1]

●● 

 [1]

10. This story is told from the point of view of Bat.

How does the writer do this?

[1]

11. ‘the tale tumbling out in broken snatches’ [line 49/50]

Explain in your own words two things this phrase suggests about the way
Bat speaks.

●● 

●● 

 [1]

12. Look at lines 52–56.

Explain in your own words two ways Amuka reacts to the elephant.

●● 

●● [2]

13. ‘Look at the sentence that begins: ‘He watched Muka’s eyes….’[line 52]
(a) What kind of a sentence is this?
Tick (✓) one.
simple sentence
compound sentence
complex sentence [1]

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 Stage 8 Progression test 2 – Paper 2: fiction
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(b) Explain how this sentence contrasts with the sentences in the rest of
the paragraph.

 [1]

14. Explain what you learn about the character of Bat from the whole text.
Support your answer with examples from the text.

[3]

15. Explain in your own words two ways the writer suggests that Amuka is not
sure how to get the elephant home.

●● 

●● 

 [2]

16. What do you think will happen next in the story?

Use evidence from the text to support your ideas.

[1]

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 Stage 8 Progression test 2 – Paper 2: fiction

Section B: Writing
Spend 30 minutes on this section.

17. Write a story about two people who find something unexpected while out
walking.
In your story, you should consider:
●● who the characters are
●● the setting for your story
●● what they find
●● what happens next.
Plan your story in the box below. [25]

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