2022 EL St Margs Prelims

ST. MARGARET'S SECONDARY SCHOOL PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2022 CANDIDATE NAME CLASS REGISTER NUMBER __________________________________________________________________________________ ENGLISH LANGUAGE 1128/02 Paper 2 Comprehension INSERT 15 August 2022 Secondary 4 Express / 5 Normal (Academic) 1 hour 50 minutes Additional Materials: Question Booklet __________________________________________________________________________________ READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST This insert contains Text 1, Text 2 and Text 3. __________________________________________________________________________________ This document consists of 6 printed pages.

Section A Text 1 Study the webpage below and answer Questions 1-4 in the Question Booklet.

Section B Text 2 The text below is about an elderly woman who embarks on a journey and the experiences she goes through. Read the text carefully and answer Questions 5-16 in the Question Booklet. 1. Mrs Taylor swiftly arose very early that morning, an hour ahead of her usual time. She moved around her attic room with the stealth of a burglar as she did not want to disturb her landlady on the floor below. She washed up, got changed and made herself her morning cup of tea. When she was ready to go, she saw that she still had nearly two hours before the train time. She then decided to unclasp her suitcase and in an unhurried manner, checked its contents once again. Subsequently, she sat down on the edge of the bed and let the wonderful events of the day take over her thoughts. 5 2. The idea for the trip had come to her a week before, on the day she had received her old-age pension cheque. Seeing all the holiday crowds hurrying into the station had prompted her to go in and inquire about the train times. The excitement of the place had brought back memories of those happier times when she, Bert and Johnnie - yes, young Bert too who was killed in Italy during the war - had gone away sometimes in the summer. There had been the warm feeling of going on a picnic and the awareness that she was part of the crowds around her. That was what she had missed the most during the past few years. 10 15 3. Her striving to live on her old-age pension made mere existence a hardship. She could have gone to live with Johnnie and his wife in Montreal. "Come and live with us, Ma," he had said but she had sensed the reluctance behind his words. She did not want to be a babysitter for her grandchildren. She was an independent woman but sometimes her independence melted under her silent tears and she wished that just once, somebody would need her again. 20 4. She cast aside all thoughts and hurried down the street. When she reached the streetcar stop, she put the suitcase down and searched in her purse for a car ticket. There was very little money left from the pension but by doing without a few things to eat over the past week, she had managed to save the expenses for the trip. When the streetcar came along, she climbed aboard and sat near the front. There was something friendly in the glances she received from the other commuters. There was a camaraderie of sorts among them as she once again saw herself as a young woman going to work as they were. As they neared a station, several people carrying pieces of luggage boarded the car. Mrs Taylor smiled at them as if they were partners in a conspiracy. 25 30 5. When the streetcar reached the train station, she alighted and a young man in army uniform took the suitcase from her. Holding her by the arm, he led her across the street. He told her that he was on a forty-eight hour pass from camp and should have been back the previous night. "I hope you don't get into trouble," she said. She felt sorry for the young man. She wanted to tell him about how young Bert had been killed in the war overseas. As they entered the station concourse, she thanked the young soldier and said she would be taking the Montreal train. He wished her a good holiday and as he walked away, she felt a dread for what might be before him 35 40

6. The crowd at the station was a good-natured one and she spent several minutes taking stock of the other travellers. The knowledge that they all shared a sense of immediacy seemed to bring them closer together and they were united in their impatience to be going. Suddenly, there was the sound of a scuffle behind her and a young woman's tired voice said, "Gary, stop that right now!" Mrs Taylor turned and saw a young woman trying vainly to manage a baby in her arms and a little boy who was trying to swing at the end of a harness and break away. Mrs Taylor took it upon herself to help the young woman whom she learnt was Mrs Rawlinson. The young woman was more than happy with the additional help from Mrs Taylor who felt important and needed. 45 50 7. As the train left the platform, Mrs Taylor moved close to the window and pointed out to the little boy the buildings and streets they passed as well as all the inconsequential people they saw. Soon the industrial areas were left behind and they began rushing through the residential districts. Mrs Taylor was enthralled with the sight of the rows of houses and the strangers who belonged to these houses. They were a race apart; an earth-bound race separated from those on the train by movement. She only recognised some of the familiar streets after the train had passed them. They looked so different when seen from her hurtling point of vantage. 55 60 8. Soon the train reached an outlying station. When the conductor came along, Mrs Taylor handed him her ticket. "Are you getting off here, madam? " he asked. She replied that she was. "Have you any luggage?" She pointed to the suitcase at her feet, ashamed to face the stares of those who were facing her. The conductor helped her with her luggage. As she stood up, she said goodbye to Mrs Rawlinson and explained how she had wanted to take a trip for so long and this was sort of pretending to. And it was wonderful! While all the others in the train would get bored and tired after a few hours of travel, she could go back to her room and rest, remembering only the excitement and thrill of going away on her day trip. 65 70 Adapted from 'A Trip for Mrs Taylor' by Hugh Garner

Section C Text 3 The article below is about the cormorant, a bird native to North America. Read it carefully and answer Questions 17-25 in the Question Booklet. 1. Popping up in mythical tales, cormorants are medium to large-sized predominantly dark seabirds. Many cultures consider cormorants a symbol of nobility. Scandinavian seafarers considered them good omens. But in John Milton's 'Paradise Lost', the bird was associated with greed and deception. In China and Japan, a snare was tied to the bird's throat before being sent to sea. The snare prevented the bird from swallowing fish, ensuring that it would be humans who ate the catch 5 2. The cormorant is comfortably at home in both town and country: a metal handrail works as well as a branch for a perch, a pylon does as a tree, fish in a reservoir are just as desirable as those from a river. Cormorants seem to be nature's posers. Studies show that members of the cormorant family spend up to 90% of their time roosting for hours. Some can even be seen loitering on a sandbank, indifferent to their surroundings. However, most of us probably do not understand the essential duality of the bird - the periods of inactivity while the bird rests and recuperates interspersed with short bouts of intense exhausting effort looking for food. 10 15 3. The cormorant is a fish hunter without equal. The bird makes two to three hunting trips a day. It can eat a quarter of its own weight in fish a day! This has got it into deep trouble with humans. Historically cormorants were endangered in much of North America. Now, they are so abundant and destructive that wildlife managers have blasted tens of thousands with shotguns and destroyed nests. Jack Davoile, a fisheries management advisor, was employed by the Angling Trust to f