DIRECTORATE FOR QUALITY AND STANDARDS IN EDUCATION

Department of Curriculum Management

Educational Assessment Unit
Annual Alternative Examinations for Primary Schools - 2015

Level 4 ENGLISH Time: 1 h 15 min

(Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing)

Name: _______________________________ Class: _________________

Total: 60 marks

English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015 Page 1 of 12
A. Reading Comprehension 1 (10 marks)
Read the following text carefully.

The Food Chain

All living things need food in order to live. All plants need air, water, and
sunlight in order to make food. Most plants also need soil.
water sun plant

air

seed soil
roots
All animals need food to live and to grow. Some animals eat plants but others
eat other animals. Plant eaters, like goats and rabbits, have flat teeth. Meat
eaters, like lions and crocodiles, have sharp teeth.

Plant eaters and meat eaters are part of a food chain. Most food chains begin
with plants as in the food chain below.
A Food Chain

plant grasshopper frog snake eagle

First, a grasshopper eats grass and grows bigger. Next a frog eats the
grasshopper. The frog grows bigger and it is eaten by a snake. The snake grows
longer. Finally, an eagle eats the snake.

1. Tick () to show the correct answer. (2 marks)

Example: What do living things need to live?

i) They need sunlight.
ii) They need wind.
iii) They need food. 
iv) They need a house.
a) What do meat eaters eat?
i) They eat vegetables.
ii) They eat other animals.
iii) They eat insects.
iv) They eat grass.

Page 2 of 12 English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015
b) How do most food chains begin?
i) They begin with an insect.
ii) They begin with a grasshopper.
iii) They begin with a frog.
iv) They begin with a plant.

2. Tick () to show whether each sentence is True or False. (3 marks)

True False
Example: All plants need air. 
a) All plants need food.
b) Plants make their own food.
c) All plants need soil.
d) All animals eat plants.
e) A goat is a plant eater.
f) Meat eaters have sharp teeth.

3. Answer the following questions: (4 marks)

a) Name TWO animals that eat other animals.
i) ______________________ ii) ______________________

b) Is a grasshopper a meat eater or a plant eater?

___________________________________________________________

c) What happens when an animal eats food?

___________________________________________________________

d) What does an eagle eat?

___________________________________________________________

4. Circle TWO more things that a plant needs to make food to eat.
Look at the example. (1 mark)

meat pot sunlight flower

air moon water

English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015 Page 3 of 12
A. Reading Comprehension 2 (10 marks)
Read the following passage carefully.

How I became a Pirate.

One day I was at the beach building a sandcastle when a

pirate ship sailed into view. Its flag had skull and
crossbones on it. I could hear the pirates singing.

I tried to tell dad but he was busy setting up the beach umbrella. So I went back
to my sandcastle but kept an eye on the pirates. By then all the pirates were
rowing to the shore.

When they landed, the head pirate climbed out of the boat. He walked around
my sandcastle. He looked at the moat.

“He’s a digger!” he yelled back at his crew. The other pirates agreed.

“What’s your name mate?” the head pirate asked.

“Jeremy Jacob,” I told him.

(Adapted from How I became a Pirate by M. Long and D. Shannon)

1. Tick () to show the correct answer. (2 marks)

Example: Where was Jeremy?

i) He was on a boat.
ii) He was at home.
iii) He was inside a tent.
iv) He was at the beach. 

a) What was Jeremy doing?

i) He was looking for shells.
ii) He was setting up the beach umbrella.
iii) He was building a sandcastle.
iv) He was eating an ice cream.

Page 4 of 12 English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015
b) What did he see?
i) He saw a plane.
ii) He saw a pirate ship.
iii) He saw a fishing boat.
iv) He saw a helicopter.

2. Tick () to show whether each sentence is True or False. (3 marks)

True False
Example: It was a sandy beach. 
a) The ship had sails.
b) The pirates were singing.
c) Jeremy’s dad was asleep.
d) The head pirate stepped on the sandcastle.
e) The crew remained on the ship.
f) The head pirate liked Jeremy.

3. Answer the following questions: (5 marks)

a) What did the flag have on it?
It had __________________________________________________.

b) i) Did Jeremy’s Dad see the pirate ship? ________________________

ii) Why? _______________________________________________

c) How did Jeremy know that the pirates were rowing ashore?
________________________________________________________

d) What did the head pirate do soon after the rowing boat arrived at the
shore?
i) _________________________________________________
ii) _________________________________________________

e) What did the pirates think about Jeremy?

________________________________________________________
English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015 Page 5 of 12
B. Language (20 marks)

Jeremy the Pirate and Captain Bow

Jeremy is a special eight-year-old boy. He is a pirate! All of his

friends are pirates. Captain Bow is Jeremy’s best friend. He is a
strange pirate because he is funny and kind.

B.1. Look at the picture of Captain Bow and read the sentences.
Use the words in the box to describe Captain Bow.
Look at the example*. (5 marks)

sharp warm curly round black silver

friendly noisy wooden short long

Captain Bow is a *short man with _____________ hair and a _____________

nose. He has a _____________ beard and a _____________ patch on his

eye. His _____________ leg clicks as he walks and his _____________

parrot squawks all the time. One of his hands is a _____________hook that he

uses to open cans of _____________ pea soup. In his other hand he holds a

________ sword that he keeps for good luck. Captain Bow is a ________ man.

Page 6 of 12 English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015
B.2. Read about Jeremy’s present. Then read the sentences below.
Underline the correct word to find out how Jeremy found the treasure.
Look at the example. (3 marks)

A Present for Jeremy

Captain Bow likes to give Jeremy special presents on his

birthday. This year Jeremy got a treasure map. The map
showed Jeremy how to find a chest of gold on Spider Island.

Example:
Jeremy went to Spider Island by boat and he walked (under, along, above) the
beach to the lake.
Spider Island

a) Jeremy went (over, inside, by) the wood

gold
lake and (past, along, between) the
bridge
tall palm tree.

lake
b) He walked (over, above, through) mountain

the mountain and ran (at, on, to) beach palm tree
the wood.
Jeremy’s treasure hunt starts here.

c) Finally, Jeremy walked (across, under, past) a bridge and found the chest
of gold buried (above, under, over) the ground.

English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015 Page 7 of 12
B.3. Read about the twins. Then look carefully at the table below.
Write sentences about the twins using and or but.
Look at the examples. (12 marks)

Meet the Twins

Sam and Betty are twins. They look like each other but
they do not always like to do the same things.

Sam Betty
a) eat bones eat bones

Example a) Sam and Betty like to eat bones.

b) play in play in
Example b) Sam likes to play in the mud but Betty
the mud the grass
likes to play in the grass.

c) sleep in a sleep in a
c) ____________________________________
cot cot
___________________________________

d) chew play fetch

d) ____________________________________
shoes
___________________________________

e) drink drink
e) ____________________________________
milk water
____________________________________

f) ____________________________________
f) have a have a
bath bath ____________________________________

Page 8 of 12 English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015
C. Writing 20 marks

C.1. Sue invites her friend Tom to a short camping trip.

Complete the invitation. (4 marks)

Sue tells her friend:

 where they are going

 who is taking them
 how long they are staying
 what he can bring

Special Invitation

To: Tom

We are going on a camping trip.

We are going to _______________________.

________________ is going to take us there.

We will stay there from _______________ to ________________.

You can bring _________________________________________

______________________ and __________________________.

From: Sue

English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015 Page 9 of 12
C.2. Tommy has a new pet. He talks to his teacher about it. (6 marks)
Fill in the speech bubbles to continue the dialogue.
Look at the example*.

Mrs. Borg, I have a new pet!

That’s great news! What pet did you get?

*I have a cute little kitten.

What colour is the kitten?

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

Where are you keeping it?

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

What food does it eat?

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

Page 10 of 12 English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015
C.3. Composition (10 marks)

In not less than 50 words write a short story or some sentences about this
picture. The words in the box below may help you.

Harry makes new friends

stray dirty

lonely shelter

building site soil

builders pipes

friendly family

together play

Plan your story here:

English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015 Page 11 of 12
Write your story here:

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

End of Paper

Page 12 of 12 English (Level 4) – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Primary – 2015