English Paper 2 Questions and Answers - Catholic Diocese of Kakamega Mock Exams 2023

1. COMPREHENSION
   Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow.
   Technology is basically the way we execute the discoveries of science and blend it with our own needs. Technology is a general term used to refer to the different tools, machines, and equipment we use in everyday life. These tools and equipment have been invented by man to make the tasks faster, easier and more comfortable.
   
   Since the invention of the wheel and the use of microchips in computers and mobiles, technology has come a long way. Man has reached the moon and explored the outer space just because of the advancement in the aeronautics field. Even in primitive occupations such as agriculture, there have been so many technological advancements with modern tools such as traction engine and steam tractor technology which has helped us make progress.
   
   Although there have been countless examples where technology has changed our lives, there are some which are considered as revolution for mankind. The technology used in the field of robotics is one such fine example. Nowadays robots are being used by people and industries all over the world for various purposes. They are also used in places which are otherwise considered harmful for humans thereby protecting us. One such area is the cleaning and managing of radioactive waste.
   Artificial Intelligence (AI) is another field which is a classic example of the technological advancement man has achieved. Who could have imagined that a machine would be capable of thinking like us? That is what AI has been successful in doing. It is an intelligent machine capable of behaving like us. It can do activities such as problem-solving, planning, learning and even reasoning. Today AI is used in all major areas such as warfare, security, healthcare and communication. On top of this, it is far more efficient than us and has a lower rate of error.
   
   Technology has its own importance in our lives. Without technological advancement, our lives would not be simpler and faster. The modernization that the world is witnessing today has all been possible because of the technological developments in different fields. Moreover, it has helped in reducing the risks people had to undertake in many sectors such as mining. With new tools available, the tasks are less risky and are more efficient as well.
   Although technological advancements are important for us, it is also true that we seem to be over -dependent on them nowadays. The use of mobiles was meant to be able to keep in touch in difficult times. But now we see kids too much involved in the
   
   different applications on mobiles and killing their valuable time. In addition, many crimes have been reported through the misuse of digital technology. Also, it has been seen that many people lack the basic education required to ensure the proper use of the technology available today. In fact, most of them use it for the sake of fashion and hence end up misusing it. People have been so dependent on technology that they no longer want to do any kind of manual activity. Even for small works that can be done manually, people prefer to do it through technology. This has resulted in making humans mentally as well as physically dormant.
   Technology is surely a boon for mankind. It is all the more important for the economic growth of a country. Modern technologies have in fact succeeded in reducing the human effort and the risk in doing a lot many things. But, still, it is for us to see how best we make use of the technology available to us.
   
   While on one hand we can make use of technological advancements of nuclear energy to generate electricity and help many villages lighten us, on the other hand the same nuclear energy can be used to create bombs which can cause mammoth destruction. Similarly, robots and other technological advancements have served as a good servant to us but the moment it becomes the master it can wipe all humanity from the earth.
   
   Questions
   
   1. What is technology according to the passage                                                                                             (2marks)
   2. State two prominent ways in which technology has changed lives according to the passage.                   (2marks)
   3. How has technology been important to human beings according to the passage?                                     (3marks)
   4. How has advancements in the field of aeronautics changed this field?                                                      (2marks)
   5. Make notes on the drawbacks of technology.                                                                                             (4marks)
   6. Technology is surely a boon for mankind.                                                                                                     (1mark)
      Begin: Surely...........
   7. Discuss the writer's mixed thought on technology?                                                                                     (3 marks)
   8. Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases as used in the passage.
      
      1. Blend
      2. Mammoth
      3. Boon                                                                                                                                                     (3marks)
         
         
2. EXCERPT
   AN EXCERPT FROM A DOLL'S HOUSE BY HENRIK IBSEN. (25MKS) READ THE EXCERPT BELOW AND ANSER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOWS
   
   Nora: No, no, not in the least. It is only something-it is my new dress-
   Rank: What? Your dress is lying there.
   Nora: Oh, yes, that one; but this is another. I ordered it. Torvald mustn't know about it-
   Rank: Oho! Then that was great secret.
   Nora: Of course. Just go in to him; he is sitting in the inner room. Keep him as long
   as-
   Rank: Make your mind easy; I won't let him escape. (goes into HELMERS room) Nora: (to the MAID) And he is standing waiting in the kitchen?
   Maid: yes; he came up the back stairs.
   Nora: But didn't you tell him no one was in?
   Maid: Yes, but it was no good.
   Nora: He won't go away?
   Maid:No; he says he won't until he has seen you, ma'am.
   Nora: well, let him come in-but quietly. Helen, you mustn't say anything about it to anyone. It's a surprise for my husband
   Maid: Yes, ma'am, I quite understand. (Exit)
   Nora: This dreadful thing is going to happen! It will happen in spite of me! No, no,
   no,
   it can't happen- it shan't happen! (She bolts the door of HELMER'S room. The MAID opens the hall door for KROGSTAD and shuts it after him. He is wearing a fur coat, high boots and a fur cap.)
   
   Questions
   
   1. What happens immediately before the excerpt?            (3mks)
   2. Explain any two stylistic devices evident in the extract.            (4mks)
   3. Who is the person said to be waiting in the kitchen, and why has the person come?           (3mks)
   4. "Then that was the great secret." From elsewhere in the text, identify any three secrets that Nora has kept.           (3mks)
   5. He came up the back stairs. (Begin: Up.....)
   6. Explain a major social issue of concern addressed in this excerpt.           (2mks)
   7. What dreadful thing does Nora fear might happen? Explain.           (3mks)
   8. What do we learn about Nora's character from the excerpt?           (4mks)
   9. What is the meaning of the following expressions as used in the excerpt?           (2mks)
      
      1. Make your mind easy...
      2. It was no good....
3. ORAL NARRATIVE
   There was a great famine in the land where Obunde and his wife, Oswera, lived with their nine children. The only creatures who had some food were the ogres and before they would part with their food, they demanded a lot of things.
   One day, Oswera went to one Ogre's home and asked him for some food, for by then her children were almost dying of hunger.
   'I have no more food except sweet potatoes, the ogre told her.
   'I shall be happy to have the potatoes. We have nothing, not a grain of food at my house and the children are starving. Please let me have some and I shall repay you after the harvest.
   'No, if you want food you must exchange with something right now. Will you give me one of your children in exchange for my potatoes? Oswera hesitated, her children were dear to her, but then they would die without food.
   'Yes, I shall let you have one of them for his meal, if only you could let us have some potatoes,' Oswera answered. Then she took a big basket full of potatoes and told the ogre the exact time he could go to her home to collect one of her children for a meal. Oswera thought hard and she decided she would not give a single one of her children to the ogre for a meal. She therefore cut young banana stalks and cooked them nicely. When the ogre came, she gave them to him and the beast greedily went away satisfied. Soon the
   
   potatoes were finished and she had to go to the ogre again. Oswera and Obunde, her husband kept on cooking banana stalks for the ogre each time he came for one of their children, until one day, she had no more banana stalks to cook for the animal..
   "You have now eaten all my children, yet we still need the potatoes. What shall we give your now?" Oswera asked in despair.
   Then I shall come for you and your husband,' the ogre replied angrily as he helped Oswera to load her basket of potatoes on her head.
   'Yes come tomorrow at the usual time in the afternoon and get me. I shall have cooked myself for you," Oswera said calmly. The following day the ogre went promptly as Oswera had told him and he found the home almost deserted. He looked everywhere but a part from Obunde there was no trace of anybody. Then he looked at the usual place and found a huge bowl of a big meal Oswera had cooked for him. The ogre did not realize they had prepared a dog instead of Oswera. When he had eaten the ogre told Obunde he would come for him the following day. Obunde got very worried and that
   night he could not sleep. The following day he started crying:
   "Ah Oswera my wife, how did you cook yourself and how shall I cook myself for the ogre?" He sat down in the dust of his compound and wept. Oswera became very annoyed with her husband.
   You, you stupid, foolish man! Why sit and cry there all day long? How do you think I cooked myself? Take one of the dogs and quickly prepare it for the ogre!' Very quickly Obunde got up, caught, killed and prepared a dog for the ogre. Then he joined his wife and children in a huge hollow part of a tree in his compound where they had hidden. That day the ogre knew he was going to have his last meal of juicy human flesh. Being a generous and unselfish ogre, he brought many of his fellow ogres. They were going to have a feast. Suddenly as they were eating, they heard a man singing very happily. No they could not believe it! It was Obunde singing! And he was boasting of how he had cheated the ogre.
                                 The greedy ogre ate banana stalks
                                 Not my family;
                                 The greedy ogre ate a dog
                                 Not Obunde Magoro!
                                 The greedy ogre ate banana stalks
                                 Not my family;
                                 Now come and get Obunde,
                                 His children and wife.
   Obunde sang the words and the ogres got very angry. The first ogre rushed into the hollow of the tree, but Oswera had heated a long piece of iron until it was white. She pushed the iron into the ogre's mouth. The beast fell down dead. The next one rushed into the hollow and Oswera killed him in the same way. In this way she killed all the ogres and saved her husband and all their children.
   My story ends there.
   Questions
   
   1. Giving a reason, classify the above narrative.                             (2 mks)
   2. Identify and illustrate any two features of oral narratives from the narrative above.                             (4mks)
   3. Whom do you consider to be the hero in this story and why?                             (2mks)
   4. In your own words, give the setting of this story.                             (1mk)
   5. What is the role of the song in this story?                             (2mks)
   6. What do we learn about the character of Oswera, the wife as seen in this story? (2mks)
   7. In what way has the narrator used language to deliver the above story?                             (3mks)
   8. What do we learn about greed from this story?                             (2mks)
   9. Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each.                             (2 marks)
      
      1. Take one of the dogs and quickly prepare it for the ogre. (add a question tag)
      2. You have now eaten all my children, yet we still need the potatoes.
         (Begin: We...)
4. GRAMMAR. (15 MARKS)
   1. Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Do not change the meaning. (4 marks)
      1. Lilian Gilbreth invented the step-on garbage can. Her children wrote about her life. (Join into one sentence using a relative pronoun)
      2. I was so happy that I could not keep quiet. (Use 'too' in place of 'so')
      3. My father told me that the next day would be a national holiday. (Rewrite in direct speech.)
      4. The old ways are changing. This should be clear to everybody. (Rewrite as one sentence beginning: That...)
   2. Complete each of the following sentences with the correct form of the words in brackets.           (3 marks)
      
      1. Jane ...............................................................................Martha from committing suicide. (persuade)
      2. He took the painkillers to.................................................the pain. (dead)
      3. Ogweyo is my ............................................................uncle. (mother)
   3. Replace each of the phrasal verbs in bold with a single word that means the same as the UNDERLINED phrasal verb.           (3 marks)
      
      1. I cannot make out what they are saying.
      2. He said he would bring up the issue again.
      3. Have you gone over your work?
   4. Fill in the blank spaces in the following sentences with words to complete the idiomatic expressions used.                     (3 marks)
      1. Maria .......caution to the wind after she became pregnant.
      2. Candidates were told to clear the ..........in relation to the exam leakage.
      3. George pulled........... on his parents.
   5. Explain the difference in meaning between the following pair of sentences.      (2 marks)
      My brother who is a banker was retrenched last year.
      My brother, who is a banker, was retrenched last year.

MARKING SCHEME

1. COMPREHENSION (20 marks)
   
   1. Technology is the way we execute the discoveries of science and blend it with our
      own needs (2mks)
   2.      (3 marks)     
      
      • The technology used in the field of robotics Artificial intelligence
      • How has technology been important to human beings according to the passage?
   3.      (2marks)
      • Life has been simpler and faster
      • The modernization in the world has been witnessed.
      • It has helped in reducing the risks people had to undertake in many sectors such as mining
   4. Man has reached the moon and explored the outer space    (2mk)
      • the use of mobiles was meant to be able to keep in touch in difficult times
      • many crimes have been reported through the misuse of digital technology
      • it has been seen that many people lack the basic education required to ensure the proper of technology available today.
      • People have been so dependent on technology that they no more want to do any kind of manual activity.
        NB - Deduct 50% of the total marks if the answer of the question is in continuous prose.
   5. Surely, technology is a boon for mankind (1mk)
   6. He gives the importance of technology. He also talks about its drawbacks. He concludes that it should be used with moderation.(3mk)
      1. Blend - mix
      2. Mammoth - huge/immense/massive
      3. Boon-advantage  (3marks)
2. EXCERPT (25 marks)
   
   1. What happens immediately before the excerpt?      (3 mks)
      ➤ Nora and Dr. Rank are having a conversation
      ➤ Nora tells Dr. Rank that being with Torvald is a little like being with papa
      ➤ The maid comes in and whisper to Nora: she hands her a card.
      ➤ Nora is surprised at the card; puts it in her pockets
      ➤ Dr. Rank, sensing the surprise, asks if there is anything wrong.
      ➤ Nora replies that there's nothing wrong.
   2.        Irony       (3mks) 
      • The audience and Nora knows what the card is and who it is from while Dr. Rank
        does not know about this.
      • Nora (audience) knows that Krogstad is in the kitchen; Rank doesn't
        Monologue 
      • Nora, while alone on stage, talks to herself, expressing the fear of her secret being revealed (by Krogstad) who is in the kitchen wanting to have a conversation with her
   3. Krogstad; he has received his dismissal letter from Torvald; he has come to have a conversation about this (dismissal) with Nora; he wants to blackmail Nora to retain his job; matter of fact, he wants a higher position; because he keeps Nora's reputation anyway.
   4.            (3 mks)
      • Borrowing 250 pounds from Krogstad behind her husband's back
      • Eating macaroons and denying it when asked by Helmer
      • Forging a name/signature
   5. Up the stairs, he came.
   6. Nora blatantly lies to Dr. Rank (about the dress) yet she knows Krogstad has come to ask about his dismissal
   7. Her secret of forgery and borrowing 250 pounds from Krogstad (without her husband's; knowledge) being revealed if it comes out; her marriage to Torvald will be ruined; Helmer will kick her out for this indiscretion.
   8. Nora is secretive; she borrowed money from Krogstad and has kept it a secret from Torvald   (her husband)
      Nora is fearful; she fears the consequences of her secret being revealed (to her husband)
      Nora is deceptive; she lies to Dr. Rank about the dress yet her dress is lying there.
   9. Make your mind easy.......relax
      It was no good.... .it did not help /it was useless
3. ORAL NARRATIVE 20 MARKS.

1. Ogre/ Monster narrative - Presence of ogres/The only creatures who had some food were the ogres.

1. 1. Timelessness 1 - One day, Oswera went to one Ogre's home.
   2. Closing formula1 - My story ends there.
   3. Fantasy 1- Presence of ogres/ Oswera talking to the Ogre.
   4. Moral lesson1-We should think and act promptly when we face challenges like
      Oswera who saved her family from starvation.  (Any 2 well illustrated.)
2. Oswera, the wife. This is because she is able to trick the ogre to get the food from him and finally gets her husband to trick the ogre and the family survives.
3. It is in the rural area (environment) where people grow bananas and potatoes.
4. To pass information among characters.- Informs the ogre about the family/ Where they are, so that he can go to them and then get killed.
5. Cunning / tactful/ scheming (any 1)- She is able to get food for her family, promising to give one of her children every time, but this never came to be.
   • Repetition 1 - You, you stupid, foolish man - Emphasizes on how disappointed Oswera is with Obunde.
   • Dialogue - Dialogue between Oswera and the Ogre 1- To show how cunning Oswera is.✓1 -
   • Use of song "The greedy ogre ate banana stalks
   • Not my family;......"1 - To pass information to the ogre about the whereabouts of the family. 
                                                    (Any 1 well illustrated)
6. Greed can kill -The ogre, because of greed is finally killed.1 (Any other relevant response) Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each.
   1. Take one of the dogs and quickly prepare it for the ogre. (Add a question tag)
      Take one of the dogs and quickly prepare it for the ogre, will you?
   2. You have now caten all my children, yet we still need the potatoes. Begin we....
      We still need the potatoes, yet you have now caten all my children.

4. GRAMMAR-15 MARKS

1.  
   
   1. Lilian Gilbreth, whose children wrote about her life, invented the step on garbage.(Must havecommas)
      The children of Lilian Gilbreth who invented the step-on garbage wrote about her life
   2. I was too happy to keep quiet
   3. "Tomorrow will be a national holiday"  or
      "Tomorrow will be a national holiday, "my father told me❞ 
   4. That the old ways are changing should be clear to everybody. 
2. 1. dissuaded
   2. deaden
   3. maternal
3. 1. hear, understand 
   2. mention
   3. proofread/reviewed 
4. 1. threw
   2. air
   3. a fast one
5. In the first sentence, the speaker has many brothers but reference is made to the one who is a banker.(defining clause). V1
   In the second sentence, the speaker has only one brother who is a banker.(non-defining) √1