ENGLISH

Name:

Class: Date:

Year 5, Term 3
n-fic tion
End-of-year Test – No

TEXT A

Saving the woodpeckers

“Mr Waters, have you heard of the woodpeckers behind the

school?” William asked. Mr Waters looked a bit confused. It
was the middle of a maths lesson and he had just asked his
students if they had questions about their multiplication work.
He was expecting questions about numbers, not birds.

But William wasn’t thinking about the lesson. He was thinking

about the forest behind his school. Some of the trees were
being cut down to make space for a new school building. The
town William lived in was growing and, so it needed more
space for all of the extra children.

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Woodpeckers are birds that live inside trees. They use their
beaks to make holes to lay their eggs in. Their habitats were
being destroyed in England, where William lived. Just this
morning, he heard the tapping sound they made coming from
a tall birch tree.

Right now, though, he could hear a different tapping… Mr

Waters was tapping a pencil against his desk thoughtfully.
“I don’t know about the woodpeckers,” he admitted, “but
that does sound interesting. We are snowed under right now,
though. You all have twenty more questions to do! Come and
talk to me about it after the lesson.”

When the bell rang, William rushed over to Mr Waters’s desk.

William told his teacher all about the woodpeckers, how they
were a special species, and how their habitat was about to
be destroyed for a new school building. As William talked, Mr
Waters’s eyes widened. When William stopped, Mr Waters let
out a long, deep breath. “You’re right, William, we need to do
something about this.”

The pair shared ideas and made a plan. They worked together
on a presentation at lunchtime, then took it to the headteacher
at the end of the day. They learned about the woodpeckers,
why they were important to the food chain, and why they
should be protected.

When school finished for the day, William and Mr Waters met
at Ms Gray’s office. She was the headteacher so she was in
charge of the new school building.

They gave their presentation. William was very nervous, but Mr

Waters helped him to feel more confident. When they finished,
Ms Gray looked worried. “Thank you for telling me about this,
William and Mr Waters,” she said, “of course we need to stop
the building right now. We will have to find another place to
put it.”

William and Mr Waters both grinned widely. “I have one

more idea, Ms Gray,” smiled Mr Waters. “I would like to have
a school assembly tomorrow about William, our school’s
wildlife hero!”

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1 Look at the first sentence of the text. Which one of
these does not describe the sentence?

A a question

B direct speech

C a relative clause 

D a full sentence 1

2 Who is Mr Waters?

A William’s maths teacher

B William’s friend

C William’s dad 

D William’s doctor 1

3 What is a woodpecker?

A a cat

B a squirrel

C an insect 

D a bird 1

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4 Look at these sentences:

“We are snowed under right now, though. You all

have twenty more questions to do!”

What does snowed under mean?

A They were busy.

B They were tired.

C He did not care.

D They had lots of time. 1

5 How did Mr Waters feel when William told him about

the woodpeckers’ habitat being destroyed? Explain
one way that you know.

6 Did William and Mr Waters use facts or opinions in

their presentation, or both facts and opinions?

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7 Add two powerful adjectives to finish this sentence:

William was feeling

about the woodpeckers, so he made a

presentation with Mr Waters. 2

8 Copy the best adverb from the box to finish

each sentence.

happily   carefully   quickly

Mr Waters listened to William.

They worked to make a

presentation. William smiled

when Ms Gray said she would stop the building. 2

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9 Number the boxes 1–4 to show the order they
happened in the story.

Mr Waters and William made a presentation.

William asked Mr Waters if he knew

about woodpeckers.
Mr Waters told William to come back after
the lesson.
Ms Gray said she would put the new building
somewhere else.  2

10 Circle the fronted adverbial in this sentence:

Slowly, Mr Waters’s eyes widened as he listened to

William speak. 1

11 Add inverted commas to finish this sentence:

I’m not sure about woodpeckers, said Mr Waters, but

come back after class and we will talk about them. 2

Total for section = 16 marks

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TEXT B 62 Westland Drive

Sydney

Australia

15th April 2024

Dear Josh,

How are you, little brother? It’s your loving sister Anna again.
I’m sorry it has been two weeks since I last wrote to you, but
I have spent all my time preparing for my next pangolin-
finding trip. It will be the most important one I have done
since I started working in science. I have included a photo of
a pangolin (not one that I have taken, sadly) just in case you
have forgotten what I’m looking for!

I know I said that the last trip would be the time I finally found
a pangolin in the wild. I really thought the information I found
was correct, but obviously I was wrong. I spent a bit of time
crying after that trip.

This time, I’m definitely going to find it. I can feel it. I will
return to the camp happy… no, I will be overjoyed! I have
found some better maps showing the area of Thailand that I
am searching in. They show an area of forest that I had not
noticed before. The Javan pangolin (the kind I’m looking for)
loves forests.

If I can find the pangolins,

I can learn more about them.
There is so much that humans
do not know about them.
They are so endangered.
Anything we can learn about
them might help to save
them. We don’t even know
how many are left! What we do know is that they
are nocturnal, so I will be sleeping during the day and looking
for them at night. I never liked the sunshine anyway!

I do like animals, though. But you know that. When we were

kids, you always wanted to be a teacher, and I wanted to be a
scientist. We both got what we wanted. I’m so proud of you,

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Josh. You are an amazing teacher and I know your class loves
you. I just wish I could bring back a pangolin to show your
students! Maybe they would grow up to be scientists too, to
help me save them.

Anyway, I need to get ready for tonight’s big pangolin-finding

mission. I am excited, but nervous. What if tonight is when we
finally find them? I want it so much.

Lots of love,

Anna

P.S. I wrote this letter at 5 pm. It’s 4 am the next morning now,
but I can’t wait until later. I have news. Big news. I have never
been so happy! No, I’m overjoyed. I have to call you
this afternoon!

12 What kind of text is this?

A a newspaper article

B a poem

C a fact file
D a letter 1

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13 Look at this sentence:

I’m sorry it has been two weeks since I last wrote to

you, but I have spent all my time preparing for my
next pangolin-finding trip.

What does preparing mean?

A looking

B getting ready

C leaving

D running 1

14 Who is the letter writer?

A a teacher

B a footballer

C a scientist

D a nurse 1

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15 Look at the sentence beginning:

I have included a photo of a pangolin…

Which word could be used instead of included?

A added

B taken

C waited

D needed 1

16 How did Anna feel after her last trip to find a

pangolin? Explain how you know.

17 Circle the two adjectives in this sentence:

I will return to the camp happy… no, I will

be overjoyed! 2

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18 Do you think Anna found the pangolins? Explain why.

19 Tick the columns to show whether the sentences are

fact or opinion.

Sentence Fact Opinion

Anna is looking for Javan

pangolins.

Pangolins are the most

interesting animals.

Josh wanted to be a teacher

when he was a child. 2

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20 Anna included a picture of a pangolin with her letter.
Give two reasons why she might have done this.

a)

b)

21 Circle the correct relative pronoun in bold to finish

each sentence.

a) 
The letter is from Anna, which / who is
Josh’s sister.

b) 
Scientists do not know much about the Javan
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pangolin, whom / which is the kind Anna is
looking for.

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22 Copy the correct verb from the box to finish
each sentence.

are   will   is

a) 
Anna a scientist looking

for pangolins in Thailand.

b) 
angolins rare animals

that are hard to find.

c) 
When she finds the pangolins, Anna

learn more about them. 2

23 Write the past tense for each verb in the table.

Present tense Past tense

give

see

think

want 4

Total for section = 22 marks

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EXTENDED WRITING

24 Write a letter to a friend or family member about a

subject you are interested in. It could be a lesson at
school, a hobby, or a habitat or animal that you enjoy
learning about.

In your writing, use:

• persuasive language about why you find the

subject interesting

• powerful verbs and adjectives to describe the

interesting subject

• paragraphs to organise your ideas

• neat handwriting.

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 10

Total for section = 10 marks

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 Total for test = 48 marks

I got out of 48 marks

What went well

How to improve

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organisations for permission to reproduce photographs, illustrations, and text:

KEY (t – top, c – center, b – bottom, l – left, r - right)

Pg7: 2630ben/Shutterstock
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