1. COMPREHENSION
Read the following passage and then answer the questions that follow
At the head of the court is a high seat where the judge sits. Down below it is a table for officers of the court and o the left and to the right of the table are other seats. Some of these seats form a block that is enclosed, and they are for the jury if there is a jury. In front of the table are other seats arranged in arcs of circles, with curved tables in front of the seats, and it is there that the lawyers sit. And behind them is the dock, with a passage leading to some place that is underground, and from this place that is underground will be brought the men that are judged. At the back of the court there are seats rising in tiers, those on the right for Europeans, those on the left for non-Europeans, according to the custom.
You may not smoke in this court, you may not whisper or speak or laugh. You must dress decently and if you are a man, you may not wear your hat unless such is your religion. This is in honour of the judge and in honour of the king whose officer he is; and in honour of the law behind the judge and in honour of the people behind the law. When the judge enters you will stand and you will not sit till he is seated. When the judges leaves you will stand and you will not move till he has left you. This is in honour of the judge and of the things behind the judge.
The judge is entrusted a great duty and pronounce sentence even sentence of death. Because of their high office, judges are called honourable and precede most other men on great occasions. And they are held in great honour by men both white and black. Because the land is a land of fear, a judge must be without fear, so that justice may be done according to the law; therefore a judge must be incorruptible.
The judge does not make the law. It is the people that make the law. Therefore, if a law is unjust, and if the judge judges according to the law, that is justice, even if it is not just. It is the duty of a judge to do justice, but it is only that the people that can be just. Therefore, if justice be not just, that is not to be laid at the door of the judge but at the door of the people, which means at the door of the white people for it is the white people that make the law.
In South Africa men are proud of their judges because they are incorruptible. Even the black men are proud of their judges because they believe they are incorruptible. Even the black men have faith in them, though they do not always have faith in the law. In a land of fear this incorruptibility is like a lamp set upon a stand giving light to that are in the house.
QUESTIONS
1. What factors determine where you may sit near the front of the court? (2mks)
2. What does the seating arrangement at the back of the court reveal about the society? (2mks)
3. Certain rules must be strictly observed inside the court. What would non-observance of the rules imply? (2mks)
4. Why must a judge be fearless? (2mks)
5. How have judges in South Africa earned respect and admiration? (2mks)
6. Although the judge has great responsibilities and power, he has limitations. What are his limitations? (4mks)
7. What does the second last paragraph reveal about the status of the black people? (2mks)
8. Explain the meaning of each of the following expressions as used in the passage: (3mks)
i. Unless such is your religion
ii. and precede most other men
iii. Laid at the door of the judge
iv. a lamp set upon a stand
2. Read the following excerpt and then answer the questions that follow (25 mks)
The door to the bathroom opened. Fiona emerged and started walking but stopped. Her eyes had not adjusted to the darkness in the living room. “Where are you?” she asked.
“Over here,” he said. “I have taken a couch in the living room. Go take the bed in the bedroom.”
“You’re acting as if you might have a wife,” she said. “Do you?”
“No, she divorced me last year.” “Did she?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s see now. You studied in America at a marriageable age.”
“So?”
“So let me guess.” Go ahead.
“She is American.”
“Who? Pamela?”
“That’s her name? Pamela?”
“Yes, it is. And, yes, she is American. Enough about me now. Let’s turn to you. Shouldn’t your name still be Fiona McKenzie?”
“Who told you it might have changed?” She started walking to the bedroom. Her eyes had adjusted to the only light.
“Why was Liberian Mauler calling you Joy instead?”
“It’s local slang for streetwalker?”
He was calling you a streetwalker?”
“Yes. Do you want me to draw a picture for you? Where are you from anyway? Mars?”
“No: Nigeria. Married?” “Me?”
The phone rang.
He rose and answered the landline by the couch. When he ended the call, his mood had darkened.
“What’s the matter?” she asked him. You seem upset all of a sudden. Who was on the phone?”
“One Chineke Chiamaka,” he said. The man was claiming that I chided him for being drunk, when all he had had was a Pepsi.” He wriggled in his improvised bed to protest his innocence against that claim. “It beats me how he got my suite phone number in the first place,” he added. “Anyway, I did not chide him. Why do people like to tell lies?”
QUESTIONS
1. What happens immediately before this excerpt? (4mks)
2. Discuss two character traits of Abiola and one of Ms Fiona McKenzie as brought out in the excerpt. (6mks)
3. Why do people like to tell lies? Rewrite in reported speech. (1mk)
4. The phone rang. Add a question tag. (1mk)
5. No, she divorced me last year. Rewrite in the passive voice. (1mk)
6. Discuss two themes raised in this excerpt. (4mks)
7. Identify and illustrate any two aspects of styles used in this excerpt. (4mks)
8. Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the excerpt. (3mks)
a. streetwalker
b. wriggled
c. chided
3. Read the following poem and then answer the questions that follow (20mks)
Poem for my sister (Liz Lochhead)
My little sister likes to try on my shoes,
to strut in them,
admire her spindle-thin twelve-year-old legs
In this season’s styles.
She says they fit perfectly,
but wobbles
on their high heels, they’re
hard to balance.
I like to watch my
little sister playing
hopscotch, admire the
neat hops-and skips
of her, their quick
peck.
Never miss their
mark, not over-
stepping the line.
She is competent at peever.
I try to warn my little sister
about unsuitable shoes
point out my own distorted feet, the
callouses, odd patches of hard skin.
I should not like to see her
in my shoes.
I wish she would stay
sure footed,
sensibly shod.
QUESTIONS
1. Why does the little sister try the persona’s shoes? (3mks)
2. How do we know from the first stanza that the shoes don’t fit? (1mk)
3. Why does the persona like watching her young sister play hopscotch? (4mks)
4. In the third stanza, the persona gives us new reasons why her little sister should not wear her shoes. What are these reasons? (2mks)
5. What is the message of this poem? (5mks)
6. Describe the tone of the poem. (3mks)
7. Explain the meaning of the following lines: (2mks)
I should not like to see her
in my shoes
4. GRAMMAR (15MKS)
1. Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Do not change the meaning.
I. my brother turned forty four yesterday (Punctuate correctly)
ii. They were unaware that the children were playing behind the house. (Begin: Little…)
Iii. Mwita served the food because he had finished cooking. (Begin with a participle phrase.)
iv. Nobody did the work. (Change into the passive voice)
v. I have some duties. I must perform them. (Combine into one sentence with an infinitive)
vi. We are hosted by ___________________________ (tall, nigerian, charming, three) gentlemen. (Arrange the adjectives in order)
2. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the word in brackets
i. His punishment will be a ____________________to the others. (deter)
ii. Miriam is an ________________________ girl. (adventure)
3. Combine each of the following pairs of sentences into one sentence by making one of them a relative clause.
i. Martin joined our school this term. He is very good at grammar.
ii. The elephant is a very big animal. It is also very strong.
iii. The generator has not been on the whole night. It broke down in the morning.
4. Complete the following sentences with a phrasal verb starting with the word in brackets.
i. She looked carefully at the documents but could not _________________ what it meant. (make)
ii. I could not ________________________ the situation much longer. (put)
5. Fill in the gaps with the most appropriate collective nouns
i. A ____________________ of soldiers received medals from the president.
ii. A ____________________ of islands were submerged in the ocean recently.
