prehension | om| ead ing ¢ Rain “ix o'clock, when the twilight of the coming night had deep or ‘ght had gathered into a deep burnt-umber sp. The grey had split in the west and long veins of pale gold ran in parallel bands eis) ee sou and ending azily inthe north-west Inthe eas din the north nd overhead the grey had oe ansparet and high, and Ba mottled, rigid like frosted grass, with specks of cobweb clinging to it ne rele and watery. The sun had alread; t ind fading into drab white colour, the colour of cold Sac anmine oe peace seemed cone ain down upon the savannah. Geoffry, looking out of his bedroom window, ‘phire, grown dull-green now in the dim light and rather sombre. : Sa eee pmo nse ape treater he the savannah, all looking grey and misted over. He heard the thin, pitiful crow of a cockerel. It came se gme way off perhaps from the poultry-shed to the leeward of the house, a brief, immature squawk, ending ‘eotet as soon as it began and answered by a long full-throated crow that screwed its way like a spiral of fine wire inugh te bleak air. Another followed, and another ~ all thin, far away ‘wires of sound that, somehow, added to the cone ype early evening. There was something detached about them. yet serene and yearning, like the shepherd's oe tpanksgiving after the storm in the Pastoral Symphony. They soothed his soul. The whole scene soothed i cold, forlorn Way. The umber twilight and the distant mist, the dull-green of the samphire, the still, damp gh stratus mottled with little ragged fragments of cumulus, all contributed to the peace of the evening. with his reflections: calm and sombre, bleak. From Corentyne Thunder by Edgar Mittelholzer Ter the poly aft assy Pars 0 5 song him air and the hi ‘sil soothed him, all blended silowing apply to the description ofthe sky at twilight in the frst paragraph except ed colour formed and the sky darkened. ner colours became garish and vibrant. «hues were lightening and dissolving. 2 colours became more translucent and paler. scription Tong veins of pale gold’ ine 2),is an example of D metaphor. ct the phrase which best replaces ‘hazily mottled! ‘A daubed with spots of colour B vaguely blotched with gold Orsty with grey blotches B transparent with strands of cobweb (line 4), as used in the passage. The description of the savannah in lines 7-8: ‘gated in the rest of the passage. Qrermonises with the atmosphere cr B contrasts sharply with the imagery in the rest of the passage. © conflicts with Geoffry’s mood at the ‘end of the passage. D suggests that the narrator is lonely- of the following details indicate that the rain had just A ‘the sky had ceased to drip’ (lines 12. been falling except: 5 Al B the ar smelt fresh and watery (ine 5). GP the ragged fringe of the ida bush’ (line 9) e 10). I ooking grey and misted over (ins6 The description ‘a long full-throated crow that screwed its way like a spiral of fine wire through the bleak air’ (lines 12-13) tefer5 1, 6 2 Crow flying in a circular motion through the thin air. the rich sound of a rooster’s cry winding through the air, € the crow twisting and turning like a whirlwind in the air, D the echoing cry made by a big bird with an enormous beak. oe soothed his soul’ (line 15) is referring to all the following except: the storm in the symphony. the sounds of the birds. C the still, damp air. D the deep-umber twilight. 8 In lines 14-18 the writer has used rhythm to suggest: A that night was falling slowly, B_ the motion of the fragments of cumulus, C_ the tranquillising effects of the scene. the calm which follows every storm, 9 The style of this passage is best described as; A narrative, descriptive. expository. D lyrical. 10 From your reading of the whole passage, Geoffry’s mood can most accurately be described as: A tender and yearning. B_ tranquil and nostalgic. : } C calm and reflective. ® gloomy and melancholic, .Reading comprehension 2 American Football However exciting American football clearly is to American fans, there seemed little reason to show hours of it to those as ignorant of the game as most of us. Could one really expect to see a full cricket test match, even of the greatest importance, on CBS or any other American TV network? The idea is ridiculous. Then why does DCC TV have to show a Superbowl match performed in Tampa, Florida, between two teams, the Raiders and the Redskins, which meant nothing whatsoever to almost any of us? Incidentally, one gathers that in despite of one record run of 79 yards, the match was, to use racing parlance, a walkover, the easiest victory ever achieved at the Superbowl Task again: ‘Why then was the match shown?” ‘The answer I have received, although admittedly not from the Sports Department, was that it was largely for the benefit of the American tourists, some of whom were hesitating to come to our island, as they might miss the Superbowl match, ONE rumour that a child threatened to commit Suicide is almost certainly an exaggeration, but knowing how spoilt American children are these days, it could actually be true. Tf this was really the reason, it seems to me a Quite shameful one. To me, however, it appears unlikely; but the screening could just be yet another example of the almost complacent over- dominance of the Sports Department on local television today. But this dominance, I have been assured, is due to advertising from most of the big companies, whose board members are cither sports fanatics themselves or suffer from the delusion that most televiewers are. However often itis pointed out that women, who represent 51 per cent of the population, are generally not keen followers of sport — at least on television — and that many men are not all that keen either, 40 _this argument seems to have no response 1 The writer has used the example of the Superbowl! match to: A demonstrate that cricket is a better sport than American football ‘ow how little local football ilustrate his argument about the overabundance of sport on DCC TV, D to suggest that the management of DCC TV is unpatriotic 10 20 25 30 35 viewers know about American c 4 Inthe writers opinion the © sentence in lines 4-7 is an example of, Sy question, an unbiased statement, © aparadox. D a question statement, The statement ‘knowing h these days’ (lines 24-25) is: a fact. B anopinion, € an exaggeration, D’ a generalisation, 1 spol American chien a Superbowl match wa DCCTV because * shown, 6 an American child had threatened to ¢ big advertisers believe all viewers ares © some American tourists had th vacation D forty-nine per cent of the viewers ares 5 The writer objects to he t match for all of the followi A Most viewers are not particularly interested inspons, au ‘match would never be shown on US Wy the gameis almost completely unknown in te country D itproved to be a most unexciting event 6 The tone of this article could best critical persuasive © puzzled. D outraged. ‘OMITIt suicide POTTS enthusias Teatened to cancel thei POTTS enthusas elevising ofthe Supetbout Ng reasons except tha. be described as: 7 Allof the following contain a statement whichis relevane to the writer's main argument except A lines 7-11. B lines 26-31. Dies 31-33. D lines 35-38. 8 This article is aimed at all of the following groups except A the major advertisers on DCC TV, B_ the management of DCC TV, © American visitors to the island, @ the station's viewers, 9 From the passage as a whole tis possible to say thatthe wt ‘opposed to the televising of American sports. someone who has litte interest in sports. © akeen supporter of test match cricket D opposed to any advertising on DCC TV. hat 10 In the last sentence of this article the writer suggests" the management of DCC TV's A only satisfying a foreign audience. B_ also made up of sports fanatics. ‘C_ unaware that most viewers are women. @purively ‘to. change its policy.