CXC past paper type reading comprehension questions
These questions do not have any suggested answers. You should attempt to answer them to give yourself practice on CXC type reading comprehension questions. These are the types of questions that will appear in section 2, paper 2 of the English A exam.
Pita panicked. There was nothing he could do. He was trapped. Trapped with hundreds of others. The monster had come and was slowly, surely dragging them from the deep. He swam through the excited crowd to try the bottom. Then he tried the top again. The great monster had encircled them completely. There were millions of holes in its great hands, but none large enough. If only they were a little larger. Pita tried to push himself through one of the holes again. He squeezed and squeezed. Great tails lashed around him. Not only he but against his eyes. If only his head could get through. He pushed again, hard, and the pain quivered through his body.
There was nothing he could do. He heard the breakers roaring above now. That meant they were nearing the shore. Pita whipped his tail in fury. The monster was gradually closing its hands. There were cries now above the surface. Below, the monster grated on sand. The shore! They had reached the shore! Frantically, Pita flung himself against one of the tiny holes. He gave a cry as the scales tore from his back – then a cry of joy. He was free! Free!
He lunged forward below the surface. Down he sped, rejoicing in his tinyness. If he was only a little bigger, he would have been dying on the shore now. The fateful shore! There had been those who had actually come back from that world. This was one of the great mysteries. But some said they had been there, and had talked of that awesome place.
There was no more blood now. Down he swam. Deep, deep until the sound of the breakers was only a bitter memory, and the sea was not sandy but blue and clear, and until, far, far away in the distance, green with fern and the tender moss, he saw the rocks of home.
Questions
- To whom or what does ‘he’ refer? (1 mark)
- What effect is the author trying to create by using short sentences in the passage? (2 marks)
- State ONE word which could describe Pita’s feelings when he realised, There were millions of holes … but none large enough. (2 marks)
- Why does the author repeat ‘squeezed’ in line 6? (3 marks)
- Who or what does the ‘monster’ refer to? (2 marks)
- Why does the writer use ‘fateful’ to describe the shore? (2 marks)
- Why does Pita utter a cry of joy? (1 mark)
- Why was ‘the sound of the breakers’ a bitter memory? (2 marks)
Answers
- ‘He’ refers to a fish
- The writer is trying to create suspense, tension &fast-moving action.
- Words that describe pita feelings are Alarm, anxiety, frustration, desperation.
- The word ‘’squeezed inline 6’’ is repeated to emphasize the tremendous effort the fish is making to escape.
- The word ‘monster’ refers to the fishing net
- The word is used because that is where the fate of the fish was decided/where the death took place.
- Pita utters a cry of joy as he was now free.
- The sound of the breaker will always remind him of the place where he almost died.
Paper 2 sample poem
Read the following poem carefully and answer the questions which follow it.
Growing pains
My child-eyes cried for chocolate treats
And sticky sweets
‘Twill rot yu’ teet’!
5 Tinkly silver wrapper hides Germs
Worms
Decay
How can a child-eye see?
This child-heart cried for mid-teen
10 A blow, a shove
Study yuh’ book!
Leather jacket
Football boots
Are not the most sought-after truths
15 How can a child-heart know?
So watch the young-girl-heart take wing!
Watch her groove
And watch her swing
She’s old enough
20 She’s strong and tough
She’ll see beneath the silver wrapper
Beneath the flashy football boots
She’ll find the great sought-after truth
That child-eye tears are not as sad
25 And child-heart pain is not as bad
As grown-up tears and grown-up pain
Oh Christ, what do we have to gain From
growing up
For throwing up
30 Our childlike ways
For dim
Disastrous
Grown-up days.
Anita
Question
(a)(i)Who is likely to have said the following lines: ‘Twill rot yu’ teet’! (line 3) and Study yu’ book! (line 11)
(ii)What effect is the writer trying to create by using them? (3 marks)
(b) In what ways is the content of the first two stanzas (lines 1 – 15) similar?
(3 marks)
Question
(c) Why does the poet refer to leather jacket (line 12) and; football boots (line 13)? (2 marks)
(d) Comment on the poet’s choice of the following words:
(i)Tinkly (line 4)
(ii)dim (line 31) (2 marks)
(e) What do the following lines, She’ll see beneath the silver wrapper
Beneath the flashy football boots … (lines 21 – 22) tell us about the young girl?
(2 marks)
(f)What is suggested by the poet in the last seven lines (lines 27 – 33) of the poem? (2 marks)
Answer
- The words would have been spoken by an adult, possibly a parent.
- The content of the first two stanzas is similar in that they show the views/concerns of the adult with regard to the child. Also, both stanzas offer guidance from the adult.
- The poet refers to leather jackets and football boots, items which we associate with the male, to indicate that these attract teenage girls.
- (i) Tinkly is an example of the figurative device, onomatopoeia; hence it appeals to the sense of hearing. Children will be attracted to the sound of the paper
(ii) Through the use of dim, the poet maintains the contrast between childhood and adulthood, innocence and experience.
- The lines tell us that the young girl realizes later on in life that things are not what they seem to be. She would arrive at this position because of her maturity and experience.
(f) The poet is saying that it is difficult for anyone to see why adulthood, with all its problems, should be preferred to childhood.
paper 1 sample of a poem
Leisure
What is life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the bough
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
5 No time to see, in broad daylight,
Stream full of stars, like skies at night
No time to turn at beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they dance.
No time to wait till their mouth can
10 Enrich that smiles her eyes began
A poor life this is, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare
Questions
- When the poet says ‘’full of care’’ (line1) he means a life full of.
Anger
Duties
Boredom
Happiness
- The poet uses the idea ‘’stare as long as sheep or cows’’ (line4) because he thinks we should
Stop being busy and relax
Relax and boughs
Gaze at the beauty of the skies
Stand and observe our surroundings
- The poet implies that we need leisure in our life for it to be
Meaningful
Vital
Relaxing
Important
- ‘’streams full of stars, like skies at night ‘’ ( line6) is an example of
Onomatopoeia
Simile
Rhyme
Personification
- ‘’no time to turn….her eyes began’’ (line7-10) is an example of
Simile
Pun
Personification
Onomatopoeia
- In which of the following lines does the poet answer the question asked in lines 1 and 2 ?
Line 3
Line 4
Line 9
Line 11
Answer
- Anger
- Stop being busy and relax
- Meaningful
- Simile
- Personification
- Line 11
The School Teacher
Miss Lambert sat at a table in the centre of the room picking
Her ear with a pencil, with her head cocked to one side.
The pupils cuffed each other, pinched and Tommy was scratching a piece of chalk underneath the desk with as innocent a face
5 as he could hold, so that the boy sat next to him would soil
his serge trousers later on. His hand, the white chalk in it,
moved slowly, curving round and round with the same motion
that the yellow pencil made, as Miss Lambert twisted it round
and round her face pained, grimaced and from time to time
10 bore and expression of ecstatic pleasure. But the pupils knew
her sudden glances, the instant stare of her large and flared
out eyes caught them. One second she was looking out into
space, and they dared to yawn, or whisper; then there were
Miss Lambert’s eyes. As if by instinct they knew that when she
15 picked her ears with a sharpened pencil they were free from the
quick and sudden jerks of her head that let her eyes catch them
in some smoke kind of mischief.
From The Jumbie Bird by Ismith Khan
Questions
The students misbehaved because they knew Miss Lambert
Had flared-out eyes that caught them
Could not catch them at that moment.
Was sitting at a table in the centre of the room
Was feeling pain at the time
- Miss Lambert cocked her head to one side to
Hear what they were saying
Pick her ears
Look out into space
Twist it round and round
- Tommy had ‘as innocent a face as he could hold’ (line4-5) because he
Was pretending he was doing nothing
Had been given a piece of chalk
Liked Miss Lambert quite a lot
Never misbehaved in class
- The white chalk was being used to
Write on the board
Mark another boy’s desk
Practice his writing
Twist around with the yellow pencil
- Miss Lambert face bore an occasional expression of ecstatic pleasure
When she saw that Tommy was innocent
As she thought the pupils were leaving
Whenever she taught her class
At times when the scratching satisfied her
- The passage suggests that Miss Lambert was Mostly
Very strict
A dreamer
Quite easygoing
Old and tired
- On most occasions when they misbehaved Miss Lambert
Let them get away with it
Would stare into space
Discovered them immediately
Felt ecstatic pleasure
- The passage suggests that Miss Lambert’s pupils
Knew her quite well
Were very small in her eyes
Were always fighting in one another
Could not understand her
- One of the main techniques the writer employs in this passage is
Onomatopoeia
Visual imagery
Alliteration
Sound imagery
In this passage the author writes in the way he does in order to get the reader to
Understand the problems children give
Visualize the scene from the children’s point of view
See the scene through the teacher’s eyes
Develop a dislike for Miss Lambert
Answers
Could not catch them at that moment.
Pick her ears
Was pretending he was doing nothing
Mark another boy’s desk
At times when the scratching satisfied her
Very strict
Discovered them immediately
Knew her quite well
Visual imagery
Visualize the scene from the children’s point of view
