F.

1 First Term Exam 2020-2021 Eng Lang Paper 1: General English Page 1 of 8

Sing Yin Secondary School

First Term Examination (2020-2021)
English Language
Paper 1: General English

Form 1 Time allowed: 1 hour

Full marks: 100

Instructions:
1. Write your name, class and class number on page 1 and page 5 of the Answer Sheets.
2. Put all the answers on the Answer Sheets.
3. Hand in the Answer Sheets only.

Do not turn over this Question Paper until you are told to do so.
F.1 First Term Exam 2020-2021 Eng Lang Paper 1: General English Page 2 of 8

Part 1: Comprehension (20%)

Read the passage carefully and answer the questions in Sections A, B and C.

I Am Tea……Soothing and Full of Ancient Flavour

[1] Whether it’s a steaming cup of Earl Grey, a chawan of matcha, a mug of spicy chai
or an ice-cold bubble tea, today many people around the world wake each morning to a
cup of me, thanks to a discovery 4000 years ago.

[2] According to legend, Chinese Emperor Nun Shen was out with his servants when
5 they stopped to boil water by one of my trees. A gentle breeze blew a leaf into their pot,
which released a pleasing aroma. The Emperor tasted the water and immediately fell in
love with my flavour. From that day on, my popularity spread and before long I became
China’s national drink.

[3] For centuries, China enjoyed the grand position of being the world’s sole
10 manufacturer of me. By the mid-1700’s, England was purchasing millions of pounds of
me every year from China. I was also imported in large amounts by the Dutch, and by
1770, they were importing two-thirds as much as England. By the 1880’s, I was thriving
in India which soon overtook Chinese me as the number one tea sold in Britain. Today,
I am the world’s most popular drink and am still grown in China and India, as well as
15 Kenya, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

[4] Me-Time! My name is synonymous with the best time of the day, tea……or dinner,
as it’s now more widely called. The idea of afternoon tea served around 5pm was
introduced to wealthy English households by Anna Maria Russell, the Seventh Duchess
of Bedford, in the mid-1840’s because she became peckish before dinner.

20 [5] This practice trickled down to the working class who worked long hours and found
a snack between their mid-day and evening meal helped boost their energy. This
eventually evolved with the lower classes calling their evening meal ‘tea’, while the
upper classes referred to the evening meal as ‘dinner’.

[6] Today, I’m worth my weight in gold, with a global market to be worth around
25 US$52.1 billion. But perhaps my true worth lies in my special charm of bringing people
together. Whether it’s to catch up with a friend, to welcome a guest, or to provide comfort
to someone in distress, every day people from around the world delight in me-drinking
rituals (cup of tea and a biscuit?) for a social get-together.
F.1 First Term Exam 2020-2021 Eng Lang Paper 1: General English Page 3 of 8

Section A: (10%)
Answer the following questions in COMPLETE sentences.
1. What discovery was made around 4000 years ago? (1 mark)
2. Why did the Chinese emperor taste the water in the pot? (1 mark)
3. How do we know that tea is still a popular drink around the world? (2 marks)
4. According to paragraph 4, how did the practice of ‘afternoon tea’ grow? (2 marks)
5. What are the three situations where people like to drink tea? Why? (4 marks)

Section B: (5%)
For each question, find a word with a similar meaning in the paragraph stated in brackets.
1. (paragraph 1) hot
2. (paragraph 2) a nice smell
3. (paragraph 3) to bring goods into a country from abroad
4. (paragraph 4) to feel hungry
5. (paragraph 6) habits

Section C: (5%)
Write down what each of the underlined words refers to in the text.
1. me (line 3)
2. I (line 7)
3. they (line 12)
4. she (line 19)
5. their (line 21)
F.1 First Term Exam 2020-2021 Eng Lang Paper 1: General English Page 4 of 8

Part 2: Vocabulary and Usage (70%)

Section A: Vocabulary (15%)
Complete the following passage using the appropriate vocabulary items from Units 3 and 4 of
Longman English Edge Vocabulary Booster 1A. The first letter of each item is given. You may
need to change the form of the words. Spell the whole word/phrase.

Last year was an 1. u__________ year for many people and one which we will remember
for a long time. One student whom I met recently told me about his experiences in 2019. He
described the study tour to Cairns in Australia during the Easter break which his school had
organized. He described how beautiful the beaches were in Cairns and how the group had the
chance to travel by boat out to the 2. c_______ r_______ to see all the amazing underwater sea
life there. They even had the chance to try 3. s _________ which allowed them to see all the
brightly coloured fish up close and personal! Some students even tried 4. d_______ which
meant they could swim a little deeper underwater. For those students who couldn’t swim, they
enjoyed themselves on board the boat and lay down on the upper deck and were 5. s________ .
They enjoyed the sun a little too much as some became sunburnt!

Another fun activity was going to the Daintree 6. r__________ north of Cairns where you
can find 30% of Australia’s frog population as well as 12,000 different species of insects. The
group spent the night there 7. c________ outdoors and even learnt how to 8. p_____ a tent. To
see the night sky was incredible with the thousands of stars clearly visible.

The study tour came to an end and the students made their way back to Hong Kong.
Unfortunately, when one arrived home, he discovered that his home had been 9. b_____ i____
by 10. b_______ who had stolen some cash and jewellery. His family had gone to Japan on
holiday and no one was at home. As he lives in a village house, there are no 11. s______
g_______ who can keep watch on the building and no 12. s______ c______ to record anyone
coming and going. The police were told by witnesses that two men had been seen 13. c_____
o______ the fence in the village and then running towards the 14. p________ s_______
underground, and then dashing up the stairs over the 15. f_______ towards the MTR.

It certainly was a memorable Easter holiday!

F.1 First Term Exam 2020-2021 Eng Lang Paper 1: General English Page 5 of 8

Section B: Tenses (12%)

Complete the story by filling in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs given in the
brackets. An example has been given.

Last weekend, my friends and I (eg.) decided (decide) to go on a hike along the Dragon’s
Back trail on Hong Kong island. We 1. ______(meet) at Shau Kei Wan MTR and walked to the
bus stop. There 2. ___(be) so many people waiting in line so we thought about taking a taxi.
While we 3._________(wait), we 4.______(see) another group of friends coming towards us.
We all decided to travel together to the start of the trail to save time.

It was such a beautiful, sunny day. The first part of the hike was challenging. Even though
a cool wind 5._______(blow), we still felt hot. At 11am, we 6.______(find) a small area where
we could sit and have a rest. While we 7._________(rest), one of our friends realized he did
not have his phone with him.

“Oh, I must have left it in the taxi when we 8._________(get out). I 9.______(be) so
careless! he said.

“Don’t worry,” another friend said. “I 10.__________(call) your number now to see
whether your phone is still in the taxi.

All’s well that ends well, as the taxi driver 11.________(answer) the call and told us he
would take the phone to the nearest police station.

An hour later, as we 12._________(enjoy) our lunch, another friend discovered he had lost
his hat somewhere on the trail. It certainly was a memorable day on this hike!

Section C: Adverbs of Manner (5%)

Complete the following passage by filling in the blanks with the appropriate words given in the
box. Change them into adverbs of manner. Use each of them once only. An example has been
given.

gentle careful slow tight

hard loud

Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Five years ago, I had an amazing experience with my two nephews. We climbed the
Sydney Harbour Bridge! As it is 134m above sea level, we needed to have some training before
F.1 First Term Exam 2020-2021 Eng Lang Paper 1: General English Page 6 of 8

we started our climb. We listened 1. carefully (careful) to the instructors in class as they told us
what rules we had to follow to stay safe. Once we had put on our climbing suit and our harness
belt, we set off. First, we had to climb some stairs 2._______ to reach the metal grated paths.
We could see cars underneath our feet! One of the group members felt scared here, but our
guide, Max, spoke to her 3._______ to make her feel more relaxed. As we climbed up the
staircase, Max shared some interesting facts about the history of the bridge and he had to speak
4.______ as there was so much noise. We had to hold on more 5._________ as the path became
more narrow. Finally, we reached the top of the arch and the views of the harbour were
incredible! We could see forever! We took some photos and then started to walk down. We
thanked Max for giving us one of the best days of our lives! He told us that he does three bridge
climbs every day with visitors to Sydney. I think he works very 6._____!

Section D: Articles (8%)

James recently wrote an article about Kobe Bryant. Complete part of his article below using
either ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’. Write an ‘X’ if no article is needed.

Kobe Bryant was 1._____ top professional basketball player. He was born on August 23,
1978 in 2.______ Philadelphia, USA and his parents named him after 3._____ famous beef
from Japan, which they had seen on a restaurant menu.
Bryant began playing 4._____ basketball at just three years old. His father was a
professional player too who retired from 5. ____ NBA when Bryant was six. The family
moved to Rieti in 6. ____ Italy, where Bryant learned to speak 7. _____ Italian and he played
football as well as basketball.

Standing 1.98 metres tall, Bryant played mainly as 8. _____ shooting guard and was
widely known as one the best scorers. He spent his entire 20-year career with 9. ____ Los
Angeles Lakers, leading 10. ____ team to win five NBA championships. He was also 11.
____ member of the gold medal-winning U.S. men’s basketball teams at 12. _____ 2008
Beijing Olympic Games and 13. _____ 2012 London Olympic Games.

Away from the basketball court, Bryant did a lot of charitable work. He was 14. ____
ambassador for After-School All-Stars, 15. ____ non-profit organization that runs after
school-programmes for children in 16. ___ U.S.
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Section E: Wh-questions (15%)

Complete the following conversation using the wh-questions and the words in brackets. You
may need to change the form of the words given. The first one has been done for you as an
example.

Alex: Hi Mark! What did you do on the weekend? (do/weekend)

Mark: I just finished reading ‘Billy Elliot’ for English Literature.

Alex: 1. ____________________________________ (be/favourite character)

Mark: I liked Billy the most as he worked so hard to follow his dream.

Alex: 2. ____________________________________ (be/story/set)

Mark: The story takes place mainly in Durham, a town in northern England.

Alex: 3. ________________________________________ (do/take place)

Mark: The story takes place in the 1980’s in England.

Alex: 4. __________________________________________ (be/scene/favourite)

Mark: I really enjoyed the part of Billy’s audition at the Royal Ballet School in London.

Alex: 5. __________________________________________ (do/story/end)

Mark: The story ends with Jackie and Tony and Michael watching Billy perform in a big
theatre in London.

Section F: Phonetic Symbols (5%)

Match the underlined vowel sound with one of the symbols given. Circle the correct answers.
An example has been given.

e.g. fingerprint /ɪ/ /i:/ 3. zebra crossing /e/ /æ/

1. bank robber /ɔ:/ /ɒ/ 4. camping /e/ /æ/
2. museum /ʊ/ /uː/ 5. ravine /ɪ/ /i:/

Section G: Proofreading (10%)

Please refer to the Answer Sheet.
F.1 First Term Exam 2020-2021 Eng Lang Paper 1: General English Page 8 of 8

Part 3: English Literature (10%)

Write your name, class and class number in the spaces provided on page 5 of the Answer
Sheet.

Section A
Are the following sentences true or false? Write ‘T’ for true or ‘F’ for false. (3 marks)
1. Nan always went to the field under the railway bridge. (Chapter 1)
2. Tony was happy when he saw Gary, a scab, at the supermarket. (Chapter 4)
3. In preparation for the audition, Billy brought the letter from his mum and a diary to Mrs
Wilkinson. (Chapter 7)

Section B
Which character said this? Write the NAME of the character on the Answer Sheet. (3 marks)
1. ‘It’s OK for your nan. For girls, Billy, not for boys.’ (Chapter 5)
2. ‘You’re not trying, Billy! Do it again!’ (Chapter 7)
3. ‘When I dance, my body is full of fire. I forget everything.’ (Chapter 12)

Section C
Answer the following questions in complete sentences. (4 marks)
1. Explain ONE similarity between Billy and Michael in the story. (2 marks)
2. Which scene was the most touching for you in the story? Why? (2 marks)

End of Paper