English Paper 2 Questions and Answers - Kassu Jet Joint Exams 2020/2021

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INSTRUCTION TO STUDENTS

  • Answer all the questions in the spaces provided.
  • Candidates must answer all the questions in English
  1. COMPREHENSION PASSAGE

    Read the following passage and then answer the questions that follow. (20mks)

    There are those individuals who when stressed out either grind their teeth or pick at their nails. I pick at my face, scouring it for a pimple or in their absence, anything else to exfoliate.

    And so you see, it is during one such tour that I unearthed the horrific - a discovery I best articulated in a panicked email to a friend: "Help me". I said: “It's official... I’m growing a beard!'

    A topic of my laughter amongst my friends, facial hair, always just that - something to laugh about. But now, having discovered a few strands of my own, it suddenly didn't seem too funny. I was in a hairy situation and I didn't like it.

    Indulge me for a moment and understand where I am coming from-I am not referring to a microscopic fuzz. This here was a very bold and aggressively developing mane, which I could either pluck, shave, tweeze, have electrolysis performed on, or darn it, just grow and groom.

    I would not have been the only one. The problem of unwanted facial hair extends to approximately 41 million women in the United States and more than a few I have bumped into at Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi.

    And some of these bearded ladies have been smart, leaving their mark in history. There was Lady Olga, born in 1874 as Jane Barnell, who had a 65-year long career as a sideshow attraction, traveling with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey. And remember Vivian Wheeler, the Illinois woman who for her 11-inch beard, made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for having the "longest Female Beard Hair?" Having shaved since the age of seven, Vivian endured four marriages before letting "Rapunzel" grow.

    But be as it is, beard and all, nature is still kinder to women than men. Despite challenges such as comparatively lower access to wealth, employment, healthcare, and education, women are still on top when it comes to living it out…Life that is. Not only are women ahead in numbers but they also have a greater life expectancy than men. In the US, for instance, where the life expectancy averages 79 years for women, it is about 72 for men, and women over the age of 65 outnumber men by a ratio of three to two.

    This is particularly interesting when one considers the numerous physical and cultural advantages men have over women. We are shorter and hence more prone to weight gain and poorer hence less likely to get medical care. Even in the US, older women are the single poorest group with 35 percent living alone and 52 percent widowed as compared to men, where only 14 percent live alone and 23 percent are widowers.

    So how does this happen? Men it seems are doomed well from the start. Not only do they die more frequently than girls in infancy but in each subsequent year of life. Come puberty many speed it up. Succumbing to what has been termed "testosterone toxicity"-the increase in testosterone that prompts boys to thump their chests and take greater risks than girls-nothing like knitting when you can jump off a wall!

    In their 40s, many begin to see symptoms of heart disease such that by the time they are aged 55 to 64, they are twice as likely to die from heart disease and accidents as women of the same age. And in developing countries, they are also four times as likely to commit suicide.

    If women are, indeed, the weaker sex, little evidence proves it. While their husbands puff on a Kiraiku (unfiltered tobacco roll), our Kamba women fetch firewood, water, cultivate, and cook meals. And in our cities, others work long hours for peanuts- hand washing clothes and scrubbing floors to feed families they only see in the evening as their second job-that of parenting begins.

    Despite all this, women have been conditioned to rely on men and to paradoxically believe that they are lifeless - crippled, without the support and companionship of a man. While our longer lives don't necessarily translate into healthier lives (we have our share of osteoporosis, diabetes, hypertension, and HIV/AIDS) our worth amounts to more than we hear. It is exhibited in our inner strength and in our ability to grow stronger when weakened.

    Isn't it time we learned from Madame Jeanne Calvert who died at the age of 122? Her life teaches us one thing - it is that women shouldn't count on marriage to finance their old age – ladies, you may try it but he'll be long gone when you are old. You may have a companion, a loving dog. Perhaps, but you'll otherwise be alone in your rocking chair, stroking your beard.

    QUESTIONS
    1. Why does a topic that makes the writer laugh cause her misery? (2marks)
    2. Punctuate the following sentence correctly.
      Women face challenges such as lower access to wealth employment healthcare and education (2marks)
    3. Women are indeed, the weaker sex, little evidence proves it. (Rewrite this sentence starting with: Little evidence (1mark)
    4. Specify two areas the passage singles out when women outperform men. (2marks)
    5. Explain the irony behind men's shorter lifespan (2marks)
    6. Why should women not celebrate (1mk)
    7. Not only are women ahead in numbers but they also have a greater life expectancy(Write two sentences from the sentence given without using conjunctions) (2 marks)
    8. Describe the tone in the last paragraph of the passage. (2mks)
    9. In not more than 50 words, summarise the ways in which men’s lives are doomed? (4marks)
      Rough copy
      ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
      Fair copy
      ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    10. Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage (2marks)
      1. microscopic fuzz……………………………………………………………………
      2. succumbing………………………………………………………………………..
  2. EXCERPT: BLOSSOMS OF THE SAVANNAH BY H. OLE KULET (25 MARKS)

    Read the following excerpt and answer the questions that follow.

    After they got to their bedroom, Taiyo poured tea from a flask she had carried from the kitchen, into two cups. She handed one to Resian who took it without raising her eyes. Taiyo was already aware of the tension between them. In all their lives, only twice had they had a serious quarrel. On each of those occasions, Taiyo recalled, the hurt had been exacerbated by the breaking of a bond that had always been so firm as to be unquestioned. But the two had a resilient character and no sooner had they quarreled than they were reconciled. The problem that time round was that they did not see things in the same light. Whereas she was also happy that they now had Joseph Joseph Parmuat as a brother who they would interact with and discuss some of the perplexing questions that bedeviled them, Resian suspected that Taiyo would use her newly acquired acquaintance with him to marginalize her. And she was not ready to be abandoned by her sister.

    Resian lay, much later in the night, fully clothed except for shoes and a jacket, listening to her sister’s slight and delicate snores next to her underneath the blankets. She turned and took her by the shoulder and rocked her slightly.
    1. Place this excerpt in its immediate context. (4marks).
    2. How is Joseph Parmuat related to Resian and Taiyo and what role does he play in their lives. (3marks).
    3. Describe that character of Resian as brought out in this excerpt. (2 marks).
    4. Discuss what “things” the sisters did not see in the same light. ( 2marks).
    5. From your knowledge of the rest of the text, give a brief account of Taiyo and Joseph Parmuat’s relationship. ( 4 marks).
    6. Taiyo was already aware of the tension between them. ( Rewrite the sentence adding a question tag). ( 1mark).
    7. Explain two issues highlighted in the excerpt. (4 marks).
    8. Identify and explain a stylistic device that has been used in the excerpt. (2 marks).
    9. Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases as used in the excerpt. (3 marks).
      1. Resilient character ………………………………………………………………………
      2. Perplexing ………………………………………………………………………
      3. Marginalized ………………………………………………………………………
  3. POETRY

    Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. (20MKS)

    Monday morning –
    School-
    And spilling out ghetto alley
    Like a flower spit forth
    From
    A mouth unbrushed,
    Little Chiku,
    Trotting and tripping along
    In final minute hurry hurry

    Now dashing onto highway
    (Her bus is waiting)
    Looking and not looking
    Then a-a-a!!
    No time to jump across
    Too late to retreat
    In decision
    Face of fear-
    Trapped

    Desperate forward drive

    Frantic feet pressing pedals
    Wrestling of wheels
    Squealing tyres
    Jesusing
    Tightly shut eyes
    Screams
    Dull thud sound
    Muffled cry of pain

    Driver stepping out-
    Be late for that production meeting now
    Damn!
    Little curled up body
    Twitching once
    Then lying still
    In its already pool of blood.

    Rapidly a mob forms
    Shock
    Anger
    Helplessness
    Then in ghetto rage
    They turn on the sleek
    Metallic grey Mercedes
    280 SLE
    Automatic and smash it

    Later the cops will come
    Will record elaborately
    (Not forgetting the commas)
    And the small body, now cold, will lie covered
    For a while
    The court - file will gather dust
    After a while
    And the driver will be guilty
    For a while.

    QUESTIONS
    1. Paraphrase the events that unfold in the poem. (4marks)
    2. What is the character of the driver as depicted in the poem? (2marks)
    3. Explain two major issues highlighted in the poem? (4marks)
    4. Comment on any two poetic devices used in the poem. (4marks).
    5.  Give the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem. (2marks)
      1. Jesusing …………………………………………………………………............
      2. And the driver will be guilty
        For a while. ……………………………………………………………………………….................
    6. What is the tone of the poem? (2marks).
    7. Comment on the use of short lines in the poem. (2marks).
  4. GRAMMAR (15marks)
    1. Use the correct form of the verb in brackets to fill the blanks. [3 marks]
      1. The couple ……………...……….. not well informed [be]
      2. Last year we ……………...……………. all the maize into flour. [grind]
      3. Munyankei …………………………….. the bat and smashed the ball. [swing]
    2. Rewrite the following sentences replacing the underlined words with appropriate phrasal verbs [2 marks]
      1. Low quality universities produce incompetent graduates.
      2. Some managers do not tolerate lateness among workers.
    3. Choose the correct word from the choices to fill the blanks. [3marks]
      1. She wore a ………………...…….[stripped/striped] shirt, a tie and gumboots.
      2. This teacher's ………………………[remuneration / renumeration] is scandalously low.
      3. Parents should not park their vehicles ………………………..[anyhow / anyhowly].
    4. Use the correct form of the words in brackets to fill the blanks. [4 marks]
      1. The ……………………. between them is as interesting as it is sickening [enemy]
      2. She was sacked due to chronic ……………………………. [absent]
      3. Adoyo works in the ………………………… department. [maintain}
      4. Laziness is a ……………………………. to success. [hinder]
    5. Rewrite the following sentences according to instructions after each [3 marks]
      1. Peter is successful even though he did not pass exams. [Begin: In spite of.…]
      2. Is there life after death or not? This is a question which humans have been grappling with for a very long time. [Begin: The question of ……]
        Do not use the word ‘question’ twice
      3. After a new manager was appointed, profits began to improve.
        [Begin: Subsequent……]
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