2022 English Cedar Girls Sec MYE with ans

Section B Text 2 In the text below, a botanist saves a young girl from a snake in the Amazon. Read it carefully and answer Questions 5-15 in the Question Booklet. 1 Nathan Rand was on his way back to the village after an early morning of gathering medicinal plants when he heard her screams. He dropped his specimen bag and ran to her aid. As he sprinted, he shrugged his short -barreled shotgun from his shoulder. When alone in the jungle, one always carried a weapon. Before him, a boundless s ea of green spread to the horizon in all directions. It was as if the entire world were just forest. The only breaks in the featureless expanse of the continuous canopy were the occasional giant trees that poked their leafy crowns above their brethren, gre at monsters of the forest that served as nesting sites for birds. Otherwise, the jungle remained supreme, impenetrable, endless. 5 2 He pushed through a fringe of dense foliage and finally spotted the snake and the girl. Its black scales shone wetly. It must have been lurking under the surface when the girl had come to collect water from the river. Biting his lip, he searched through his weapon’s sight. He had no clean shot, not with the child wrapped in the muscular coils of the predator. 10 3 He tossed his shotgun aside and reached for the machete at his belt. Unhitching the weapon, Nathan lunged forward but as he neared, the snake rolled and pulled the girl under the black waters of the river. Her screams ended and bubbles followed her course. Without thinking Nathan dove in after her. Holding his breath, he searched through the muddy waters and spotted the surge of coils ahead. A pale limb waved. With a kick of his legs, he reached out to the small hand, snatching it up in his large grip. Small fingers clutched his in desperation. 15 20 4 Then the dark waters swirled, and he found himself staring into the red eyes of the giant snake. It had sensed the challenge to its meal. Its black maw opened and struck at him, jaws snapped like a vice onto his arm. Tough its bite was non -poisonous, the pressure threatened to crush Nathan’s wrist. Ignoring the pain and his own mounting panic, he brought his other arm around, aiming for the snake’s eyes with his machete. The giant anaconda rolled in the water, throwing Nathan to the silty bottom and pinning him. Nathan felt the air squeezed from his lungs as four hundred pounds of scaled muscle trapped him. He struggled and fought but he found no purchase in the slick river mud. The girl’s fingers were torn from his grip as the coils churned her away from him. 25 30 5 His abandoned his machete and pushed with his hands against the weight of the snake’s bulk. His shoulders sank into the soft muck of the riverbed, but still he pushed. For every coil he shoved aside, another would take its place. His arms weakened and his lungs screamed for air. Nathan Rank knew in this moment th