Piliyandala Education Zone

General English Paper II 13 E II

Practice Paper 2022 Three hours
Instructions
Answer all questions on this paper itself.
Marks will be deducted for bad punctuation ( omission of full stops,
capital letters, etc.) and for mistakes in basic grammar.

PART A
READING SKILLS [50marks]
Question 1
Read the passage given below in which some words are given in bold type. Then
underline the meaning that is most appropriate to the context for words given in bold
type from 1-10. (10 marks)

When the doctor's four guests heard him talk of his proposed experiment, they
anticipated nothing more wonderful than the murder of a mouse in an air pump, or the
examination of a cobweb by the microscope, or some similar nonsense, with which he
was constantly in the habit of pestering his associates. But without waiting for a reply,
Dr. Heidegger walked across the chamber, and returned with the same heavy sheets of
paper, bound in black leather, which commonly affirmed to be a book of magic.
Undoing the silver fastener he opened the volume, and took from among its black-letter
pages , a rose or what was once a rose, though now the green leaves and crimson petals
had assumed one brownish hue, and the ancient flower seemed ready to crumble to dust
in the doctor's hands.
"This rose," said Dr. Heidegger, with a sigh, "this same withered and crumbling flower,
blossomed five and fifty years ago. It was given me by Sylvia Ward, whose portrait
hangs yonder; and I meant to wear it in my bosom at our wedding. Five and fifty years
it has been treasured between the leaves of this old volume. Now, would you deem it
possible that this rose of half a century could ever bloom again?"
"Nonsense!" said the Widow Wycherley, with a peevish toss of her head. "You might
as well ask whether an old woman's wrinkled face could ever bloom again.

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 "See!" answered Dr. Heidegger. He uncovered the vase, and threw the faded rose into
the water which it contained. At first, it lay lightly on the surface of the fluid, appearing
to imbibe none of its moisture. Soon, however, a singular change began to be visible.
The crushed and dried petals stirred, and assumed a deepening tinge of crimson, as if
the flower were reviving from a deathlike sleep; the slender stalk and twigs of greenery
became green; and there was the rose of half a century, looking as fresh as when Sylvia
Ward had first given it to her lover. It was scarcely full blown; for some of its delicate
red leaves curled modestly around its moist bosom, within which two or three dewdrops
were sparkling.
"That is certainly a very pretty deception,"

1) anticipated - wished required expected thought

2) constantly - usually always rarely often
3) affirmed - certain surely confirmed assumed
4) crimson - red orange magenta purple
5) ancient - elderly old previously recent
6) blossomed - bloomed withered perished smiled
7) portrait - frame form figure picture
8) fluid - water substance liquid sticky
9) delicate - gentle softer faint light
10) deception - charm attraction freak trickery

Question 2
Read the following letter and answer the questions given below from 1-3.
(10 marks)
4/182,
Station Road,
Mt. Lavinia.

20th November 2022.

My Dear Sister Roshani,

Thank you very much for the book vouchers you sent me. I received it in the nick of
time on the day of the book fair. It was indeed very thoughtful of you to have
remembered that I love reading books. How are studies going on? Hope everything
runs smoothly at the university.

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I am planning to apply for a scholarship after my Advanced Level examination. I like
to study at a Japanese university. I had long wished to visit Japan as well. There are
numerous places I would love to see there.
Thanks again for your thoughtful present, which shall always remind me of you. Please
give my love to Nathali and aunty Suhara.

Yours affectionately,
sister Anupama
(1) Do the following statements agree with the information given in the above text?
write True or False in the boxes (a) - (f)
True – If the statement is correct
False – If the statement is wrong

Statements
a) Anupama received the present from her sister

b) Anupama is at present employed in a firm.

c) Roshani is working abroad.

d) At present, Anupama is planning to visit Japan.

e) Roshani sent her sister perfume for her birthday.

f) Roshani is not in touch with Nathali and Suhara.

(2) Which of the following is not given in the text? Underline the most appropriate
response.
(i) What Roshani gave her sister as a present.
(ii) What Anupama’s mother gave her on her birthday.
(iii) What Anupama plans to do after the Advanced Level Examination.
(iv) What Roshani is doing abroad.
3) Underline the option which best expresses the meanings of the words/phrases given
in bold print in the text.

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(a) in the nick of time
(i) all the time
(ii) just in time
(iii) possible time
(iv) every time
(b) numerous
(i) all
(ii) limited
(iii) numbers
(iv) countless
(c) smoothly
(i) considerately
(ii) possibly
(iii) effortlessly
(iv) gratefully
Question 3
Read the following poem and answer the questions from 1-5. (05 marks)

In the Night
I rustle the sheets and jump into bed .
I lie there, eyes closed, and listen.
I hear the wind howling at the window,
And the creaking of the door as it sways to and fro.
I hear the rumbling of cars outside.
And the trapping of the cat trying to draw my
attention to the window.
Soon the night train will pass making a clattering sound,
While down in the street people are chattering as
they pass by.
Then my ears start to tingle as the church bells
begin to ring.
And car doors bang as neighbours come home from
a party.
Just at that moment the stairs start to creak-
My parents are coming to bed.
And I know I should be asleep.

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 1) According to the poem, this night is
a) Peaceful
b) less quiet and windy
c) pleasant and joyful
d) quite ordinary

2) Which of the following is true about the speaker?

a) is a student
b) enjoying the things in nature while in a sleep
c) While on bed upstairs, describing the events of the night
d) a child who is fast asleep

3) What line suggests a special event of the night.

a) “I lie there, eyes closed, and listen.”
b) “I hear the rumbling of cars outside.”
c) “night train will pass making a clattering sound,”
d) “car doors bang as neighbours come home from a party.”

4) According to the poem, which events mentioned below may happen

regularly?
a) The speaker lies on the bed, the cat tapping the window
b) Wind howling and the door creaking in the wind
c) The speaker lies on the bed, wind howling and the church bells ringing,
d) The speaker lies on the bed, the night train passing, the church bells ringing,
and the stairs creaking.

5) Which of these is not true?

a) The door is not locked.
b) The town is still busy.
c) The people passing by are not speaking.
d) Many are still awake.

Question 4
Read the following passage and fill in the blanks of the text given below based on it.
Use only one word in each blank. (5 marks)

In the Nazca desert of Southern Peru, you can find the largest picture gallery in the
world. But this is not an ordinary display of art: the drawings, a whole zoo of animals
and birds, are of monster size, laid out on the desert floor.
A giant condor has a wing span of more than 120 meters, a lurking spider is nearly 50
meters long. There is a hummingbird with a vast bill, a curly-tailed monkey, a splashing
whale, and many more birds, fishes and strange plant forms.
Because of their size, you can’t really see the magnificent pictures at ground level. Only
when airborne can you appreciate the whole wriggling, flying menagerie. They are
highly stylized outlines, resembling the shapes which decorate the pottery of Indians

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who lived around Nazca long ago. They were made by the simple method of removing
the dark stone layer which covers the desert, or pampa, and revealing the light-coloured
sand beneath, The accuracy of the designs was probably achieved by skilful scaling of
much smaller versions.
The largest (1) ……………………… gallery is found in the Nazca desert of
Southern Peru. These drawings are found on the (2) …………………… floor and
the magnificent (3) ……………………….of the creatures drawn make it not easy
to identify the pictures at (4) ………………… level. The shapes can be identified
well once by viewing them up in the air and these highly stylized drawings 5)
..….…………………. the decorations in the pottery of the Indians in bygone eras.

Question 5
Read the following text and answer the questions a-d. The second sentence in the final
paragraph has been left out. (20 marks)

Many men make their living from what they can win from the sea. The life of a
fisherman must be as hazardous as that of a miner, each trying to earn a living from
nature itself. Compare the two. What dangers do they undergo?
It is not only fish that man gains from the sea. Here is an account of diving for pearls.
Manta Diablo is a sea monster that people believed kept guard over the cave where the
pearls were found.
Near the mouth of the cave, the water was very clear. I picked up my basket and sink
stone, took a deep breath and slipped over the side of the canoe, remembering all that
the old man had taught me.
I reached the bottom after about a fathom and a half. I looped my foot in the rope tied
to the sink stone and waited until the bubbles that had risen behind me disappeared so
that I could find the bed of shells I had noticed from above. The bed was five steps away
from the mouth of the cave and it was necessary to walk carefully in the sand.
The shells were the largest I had ever seen. They were half the length of my arm and
thick as through my body and were covered with weed that looked like woman’s hair.
I reached the nearest which seemed to be easier than the others and started working with
my knife quite hard. A school of fish that began to swim across the way disturbed my
view and I failed to pry the shell loose before my lungs began to hurt and I had to go
up.
In my second dive, I had no sooner reached the bottom than a shadow fell across the
bed, where I was working. It was the shadow of a grey shark one of the friendly ones.
But by the time he had drifted my breath was gone.
I dived six times more and worked quickly each time I went down, hacking away with
my sharp knife at the base of the big shell where it was anchored to the rock. But it had

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been growing there for many years since long before I was born I suppose and it would
not come out of its home.
By this time it was late in the afternoon and the light was poor. I was in terrible pain
with my hands bleeding and my eyes half-blind with salt from the sea. I sat in the canoe
and thought of all the hours I had wasted for nothing. I thought of Sevillano and the
great pearl he had found or said to have found, in the Gulf of Persia.

(a) Do the following statements agree with the information given in the above text?
In boxes (i) – (vi) write True, False or Not Given.
True If the statement is correct
False If the statement is wrong
Not Given If there is no sufficient information on this

Statement
a) The life of a fisherman is as unsafe as a miner.
b) A fisherman, a miner try to earn a living from nature itself.
c) The diver trying to get pearls was disturbed in his other six dives.
d) The big shell was as old as the diver as he thinks.
e) The diver’s day ended empty handed.
f) According to “I” here, Sevillano is said to have found a great pearl.
(b) Underline the correct response in each of the following from (i) – (vi).
i) The sea gives man not only ……….but other forms of earning a living.
a) peals b) gems c) weeds d) fish
ii) Which of these made the diver failed in his first dive before he lost his breath?
a) could not find his knife
b) got his leg in the loop
c) a shadow of a shark disturbed his view
d) a school of fish swam across disturbed his view
iii) Which of these does not tell about the risk of the diver?
a) holding the breath for sometime in sea water
b) working out with the knife to cut open shells
c) disturbances from other sea creatures
d) shells stuck hard to the rocks.

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iv) The line that suggests about the fortune that he could have got is,
a) “I reached the nearest which seemed to be easier than the others.”
b) “lungs began to hurt and I had to go up.”
c) “it had been growing there for many years”
d) “The shells were the largest I had ever seen.”
v) According the diver, he follows the instructions of
a) his father b) a miner c) a fisherman d) the old man
vi) At the end of the day, the diver was
a) not very much worried
b) in great pain and very worried.
c) able to get pearls from shells
d) thinking of the sea monster
(c) Who or what do the words in bold print in the text refer to?
1) ‘they’ - (paragraph 1 )
2) ‘They’ - (paragraph 4)
3) ‘its’ - (paragraph 6)
d) Write one word for each of the given blanks, selecting from the passage, which
means the same as the following.
1) risky or dangerous - ……………………………..
2) a person who keeps watch - ……………………………..
3) thinking of - …….. ……………………. ..
4) be lost or go missing - ……………………………..
5) extremely bad or serious - ……………………………..

PART B Dialogue [ 25 marks]

Question 6
How do you respond in each of the following situations? Write only one sentence or
question for each, beginning with the word/ words given. (5 marks)

1. You see your friends lifting a heavy rack to the classroom. Offer them help.
" Can ………………………………………………………………………………."

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2. It's raining. You want to go to the bookshop. Request the umbrella of your friend,
Nisal.
" Please, ……………………………………………………………………………..."
3. Your cousin has sent you some past papers and short notes. What would you say
to your cousin?
" Thank you …………………………………………………………………………..”
4. You were down with fever and were unable to attend your friend’s Birthday party.
How would you apologize to him/ her?
"I'm ……………………..………………………………………………………….."
5. Your class monitor has written a list of names of those who bring exhibits to the
science project. You inform the teacher that some names are missing there.
“ Excuse me,………………………………………………………………………”

Question 7
You are going to join a Leisure Club at the private University you are currently
studying. Complete the missing parts of the dialogue between you and the girl at the
reception desk, Julia . Do not use more than two questions or utterances in each
blank. (5 marks)

Julia : Good morning. How can I help you?

You: Yes, good morning. I am a new student, who got my registration for the
Higher Diploma of Mechatronics.
I want to join the Leisure Club here. 1)How ……………………………….?
Julia : Oh, it is very simple. 2) Can ………………………………………… and the
academic year?
You : Yes, certainly. 3) My student’s number is …………………… and I was
selected to the new batch from 2023 January.
Julia : That is fine. 4) Have …………………………………………. ?
You : Yes, it is with me. One second, please.
Julia: Thank you. You can get the registration for the Club.
All right. Here is your book. You can pay the Registration fee of Rs.1000 /=
and the Annual fee is Rs. 2500 / =
You: Oh, No issue. I will make the payments.
6) ……………………………………………… ?
Julia: Of course. Card payment is much better.
You : Here you are.
Julia : Here are your card and the receipt. You are entitled to use the play area and
attend all internal recreational activities organized by the club.
You : That’s great. Than you so much.
Julia: You’re welcome.

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Question 8

You are going to open a savings account in a Private Bank after your A L
Examination. You have planned to start your own self–employment.
Your mother and elder sister will assist you in the business.
You decide to open a joint account after your discussion with the Personal Banking
Officer at the bank.
Write out the dialogue between you and the banking officer. Each person should speak
at least five times. (15 marks)

PART C - Writing skills [ 65 marks]

Question 9

Select any five words from the list of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs given
below and use each one of them in a meaningful sentence. You may use the verbs in
any tense. Do not change the form of the other words. (5 marks)

Nouns arrangement opportunity

Verbs take prepare decorate
Adjective rare convenient invaluable
Adverbs frequently soon

Question 10
The bar chart below shows information about the availability of
computers for students’ academic purposes in the provinces of Sri Lanka in the year
2017. Describe the information by reporting the main features and making comparisons
where relevant. Use about 75 words. (10 Marks)

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 The Availability of Computers for the
students' Academic purposes
provincialwise - 2017
1600
1400
COMPUTERS

1500

1200
1000
975
800
NUMBER OF

600 675 650

400 485
400
350 350
200 250
0

PROVINCES

Question 11
The English Literary Association of your school organized one day “English
Camp” for the students from Grades 9-11. Write a letter to your friend telling
him/her about it. (Use about 100-125 words. Do not exceed the word limit
(15 marks)
Include the following:
• When it was held
• Activities conducted
• How you contributed

Question 12
Imagine that you experience frequent power failures in your area. Write a letter
to the area manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board asking them to look into this
matter. Explain the difficulties you have resulted in. Use 75-100 words.
(15 marks)
Question 13
“Learning foreign languages is extremely useful to live in the future world.”
Write your views on this idea. Your answer should be about 200 words.
(20 marks)

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