English Questions and Answers - Form 2 End Term 1 Exams 2023

Share via Whatsapp

1.COMPREHENSION   
Read the passage and then answer the questions that follow;
(20 marks)

Two weeks before the fateful examination began; I was indiscreet enough to fight the principal’s son. He was a fellow fifth former with whom ,up till then ,I had no quarrel at all .He was inclined to be a little overbearing at times ;but then a flint needs contact with another flint in order to spark, and I had been forced to develop from the start an easy-going and tolerant disposition .I suppose as the examination drew nearer, our nerves became tauter and our tempers shorter .When, during a discussion in our classroom about careers Samuel declared unnecessarily loudly that he believed all persons who came from North should return to it to find employment ,I suddenly felt my anger rising like a column of mercury. I asked him why, in as calm a voice as I could assume. He replied with a sneer by quoting a Sagroson proverb whose meaning was roughly that even a man who does not know where he is going to ought, at least, to know where he has come from: and the gentle laughter, which greeted it brought my temper to boiling point. I was tall and well built, but so was he. Three strides took me beside him and by the time the class prefect succeeded in separating us, Sagrosan blood and Lokko blood had mingled on the floor. Moreover, as is the custom with us, the fight was as much verbal as physical and a torrent of abuse directed mainly against the other’s antecedents was flowing out of each battered mouth.

We were bloody, sweaty, and dusty when it was over but still only partly through our respective stocks of abuse. Nothing more than a heighted respect each for the other might have come out of the fight, had Samuel been a boarder. Unfortunately for both of us, however, he lived very much under his august father’s eye and the marks I had succeeded in leaving on his face were too distinctive to be hidden by any sort of artifice. I prepared for the worst (prepared in spirit that is, for physical preparations were known to be unavailing at such times.)The summons to the principal’s office duly came after lunch the same day.

He was quite impartial, I’ll say that for him. We were both arched over his desk and inscribed across our rumps with two dozen strokes of a bamboo four-footer .Then we were made to shake hands with each other and sent off for walk together along the beach and back (this was the principal’s usual way of dealing with a pair of fighters, and one which usually made bosom friends of them.)That thrashing and the walk which followed ,gave me the moments of deepest mortification I have experienced ,and drove home to me the utter futility and wastefulness of making issue of tribal divisions, in a land where much else required our attentions and our energies. Having heard from us how the fight started ,the principal might so early have wasted our time and his reading us along patriotic sermon on the essential brotherhood of all the people of Songhai .

Such a theme would have made him appear to me hypocrite and to Samuel a traitor –for we both knew only too well that the difference between us were real, if not deep .Instead, we were made to share a fellowship of misery and humiliation which linked us together more effectively than any half-believed fiction about cultural or ethnic affinities could have succeeded in doing.

QUESTIONS:

    1.  What was the cause of the fight? (2 marks)
    2. Show how the statement “A flint needs contact with another flint in order to spark” is applicable to this story? (2marks)
    3. With illustrations show the difference in character between the narrator and his classmates? (4marks)
    4. What is the narrator’s attitude towards the head teacher? (3marks)
    5. Identify three phrases in the passage to describe the fierce nature of the fight? (3marks)
    6. Identify two styles that are used to show the extent of the narrator’s anger? (2marks)
    7. Get a quotation from the passage that shows the fight did not end the tribal differences between the two groups? (2 mark)
      1. Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in passage:(2marks)
        1. bosom friends
        2. Patriotic sermon
  1. ORAL LITERATURE

The Man, His Son and The Squirrel

There was a certain town whose only occupation was catching squirrels (ground squirrels). There was a man in this town who excelled at catching squirrels. One squirrel was so smart that it eluded everyone in town. It was said that only this man said to his son, “Come, let’s go to catch the squirrel.” They took an axe; they found the squirrel near its hole. Then the squirrel ran and entered its hole. They searched out all the holes, then they stopped them up. Then the man said to his son, “Don’t let the quirrel get out of its hole.” He answered, “Okay.” But one hole wasn’t stopped up, and the squirrel escaped. When it escaped, the father came to his son and said to him, “Why did you let it escape? If I go home now, I will be ashmed.” He grabbed the axe and struck his son. Then he went on his way and left his son unconscious. Ants began to fill his eyeballs an his ears; vultures were circling above him.

In the afternnon, the headman of a rich caravan arrived at the spot. When he arrived, he setp up camp. Then he got up and went for a stroll and saw the boy. He called his slaves to take him and have him washed and shaved. The boy recovered. The headman had no offspring.When he took the boy, he decided that he would make him his son. He sent a message to the chief of the town, telling him that he had an offspring, that he was happy he had become a complete man, and that he would now receive the gifts due to him.

The chief said, “This is a lie. He is not his son. If he is his son, then let him come that I can see.” Then the headman arrived in town. The chief gave his sons horses worth ten pounds. He said, “Go and join the son of the headman. Have a race. When you finish give these horses away” (forcing him to do the same). They did it and they returned. the next day, the chief again gave them horses worth ten pounds. They did as the day before. They did it five times. They ran out of horses. Then the chief said, “Indeed, it is his son I have run out of horses. If it weren’t his son, he wouldn’t agree to let him give his own horses away to match the presents.” Then the chief summoned his daughter. The Gralladima brought his to help.The Madaki also gave, and the Makama gave. Altogether, four wives. The chief gave a big house. The headman came and brought twenty concubines and gave to his son. There was continuous feasting.

Then one day the son saw his father, the one who had knocked him down with the axe because of the squirrels. The father came to the house of his son and said, “Throw away your gown and start catching squirrels.” The slaves of the headman said, “This is a crazy man, let us all strike him.” The boy said to him, “This is my father, the one who sired me.” The headman said, “I have already lied to the chief. Let us keep that secret. I will give your father wealth. Let him go home. Should he want to see you, let him come to visit you. If you want to see him, then you can go and visit him.” The real father said he did not agree. Then the headman said, “Well then, let us go out in the countryside.” They went. The headman unsheathed his sword. He handed it to the son, and said, “Kill one of the two of us.” Here ends the story.

Questions

  1.  
    1. Classify the above narrative. (1 mk)
    2. What are the characteristics of the above classification?(2 mks)
    3. What is the function of this narrative? (1 mk)
  2. Identify and illustrate any three features of oral narrative evident in the story.(6 mks)
  3. Give one economic activity that is undertaken by the community referred to in this narrative. (2 mks)
  4. Describe the character of the following:
    1. The young man(2 mks)
    2. his father (2 mks)
  5. Whom do your think would be the most appropriate audience of this story.(2 mks)
  6. What is the moral lesson of this narrative? (2 mks)

.GRAMMAR

  1. Fill in the blank spaces with the correct order of adjectives
    1.  Mine is the………………….........................................…..handbag(blue,leather,small)
      ii. Have you seen this………..............…….....................car?(fantastic,german,new)
      iii. She gave me a……………........................…………jewellery box(small,metal,square)
      iv. There is a ……………………......………….rug in the room(soft,wonderful,wollen)
  2. Fill in the gaps using the verb in bracket in the present progressive aspect
    1. The guests…………….......................................………dinner now (eat)
    2. She………...............................................…..very fast (run)
    3. I …...........................……………very tired today (feel)
  3. Fill in the blank spaces with the correct preposition
    1. The two girls are fond…………..each other
    2. Mary swam………….the river
    3. The bridge will be built………….the water.


MARKING SCHEME

  1. The cause of the fight was tribalism/ ethnic intolerance √ 2 /A student had accused another of
    not knowing where he was going simply because he was from the northern part of the
    country .
  2. Although the narrator is usually tolerant, when he was provoked he became annoyed and a
    fight broke out (2mks) NB/The contrast must be brought out.
    1.  The narrator is tolerant √1 /cool –tempered –ha had had no quarrel with the classmate until
      then √1
    2. The classmate is proud √1 /over bearing –he considers himself better √1 than those from the north (He implies they do not know where they are going) NB/The character traits should be contrasted.
  3. He appreciates √2 /respects the head teacher. (Appreciative /respectful)
    1. He believes he was impartial. √1 NB/ Identification 2marks, illusration one mark .No marks without identification
  4. Battered mouths √1
    • Sagrosan blood /Lokko blood √1 had mingled
    • Sweaty, dusty, bloody √1
  5. Simile √1/2 – felt my anger rising like a column of mercury √1/2 Metaphor √1/2 - brought my anger to boiling point √1/2
  6. .......... a man who does not know where he is going to ought √1 at least, to know where he has come from. ...........with whom up till then, I had no quarrel at all.
  7. For we both know only too well that the differences between us were real, if not deep.√1
    1.  Close /true /dear companion √1
    2. Nationalistic speech /speech that appeals to nationalistic feelings√1


ORAL LITERATURE

    1.  Dilemma narrative – The young man was asked to kill his father or the headman. Identification + illustration = 1 mk
      •  It presents the audience with a dilemma.
      • It involves situations that require passing judgment on ethical or moral grounds.
      • The story ends with the narrator posing a question to be debated by the listeners. Any 2 x 1 = 2
    2. Educates / cultivates critical and sound judgement among listeners.
    •  Opening formular – “There was a certain town…"
    • Closing formular – ‘Here ends the story’
    • Dialogue – ‘This man said to his son, ‘Come let us go and catch the squirrel’
    • fantasy
    • timelessness
    • Repetition
    • Hunting    3 features + illus = 6 mks
    •  Livestock keeping – The chief gave his sons horses worth ten pounds
    • Slavery – He called his slaves to take him and have him washed and shaved. Identify + illust = 2 mks
    • Blacksmithing – axe
    1.  Loving / Caring – He did not want the slaves of the headman to strike his father. Obedient Identify + illust = 2 mks
    2. Hot tempered – When the squirrel escaped, he became angry and struck his son with an axe.
    3. Ruthless – inhumane
    4. Selfish – irresponsible / youth Identification + illust -= 2 mks
  1. The most appropriate audience of this story is children. This is because, as they grow up, they will know how to handle difficult situations in life.
  2. We should learn to forgive.


GRAMMAR

  1.  Small,blue ,leather
  2. Fantastic,new german
  3. Small,square,metal
  4.  Wonderful,soft,wollen
  5. Are eating
  6. Is running
  7. Am feeling
  8. Of
  9. Across
  10. over
Join our whatsapp group for latest updates

Download English Questions and Answers - Form 2 End Term 1 Exams 2023.


Tap Here to Download for 50/-




Why download?

  • ✔ To read offline at any time.
  • ✔ To Print at your convenience
  • ✔ Share Easily with Friends / Students


Get on WhatsApp Download as PDF
.
Subscribe now

access all the content at an affordable rate
or
Buy any individual paper or notes as a pdf via MPESA
and get it sent to you via WhatsApp

 

What does our community say about us?

Join our community on:

  • easyelimu app
  • Telegram
  • facebook page
  • twitter page
  • Pinterest