Ross:

Susan Charles, a Iine secretary you are! Don't you know that the students Irom Guadeloupe
arrive on September 15th?
Susan:
Both the boys and the girls. So what else is new? Ross: None oI your wisecracks. That's only
a month away and we haven't Iound accommodation Ior them as yet. The hotel says there won't
be any room at that time. As secretary oI the club, it's your responsibility... Susan: I know, I
know. I'll arrange Ior them to stay in private homes. I'm sure the villagers won't mind taking
them in Ior a small charge. It's only Ior two weeks. Our visitors are booked to leave on the 30th.
Ross: Not a bad idea. Why don't you write to all the villagers asking them to write to us iI they
are interested in putting up these students? I wonder how much they'll charge. Susan: I'll ask
them to give their rates. We'll have to insist, though, that the villagers who are interested must be
able to speak French. The Guadeloupans speak no English. Ross: At least not the six who are
coming. Should the villagers provide meals? Susan: BreakIast and dinner, except on Sundays
when they must include lunch as well. Ross: I think we should let the villagers know that two
club members will want to inspect homes and chat with the applicants beIore making the
selection. Susan: Agreed. Letters Irom those who are interested should reach us by August
26th. Then our members can visit on the 28th. Ross: AIter six p.m., I suppose? Should the
villagers write to you as secretary? Susan:
Right on both counts; I'll tell them to write to:
The Secretary
Denby Sports Club
P.O. Box 63
Arroyo Village.
Ross: But suppose a villager can put up more than one student? Susan: All the better, my
Iriend, all the better.
Imagine that you are Susan. In not more than 150 words, write the letter to the villagers.
Marks will be given Ior (1) content, (2) organisation and (3) expression

ere are CXC past paper type
reading comprehension questions

These questions do not have any suggested answers. You should attempt to
answer them to give yourselI practice on CXC type reading comprension
questions. These are the types oI questions that will appear in section 2,
paper 2 oI the English A exam.
1. Read the following extract carefully and then answer all the questions set on it.
Pita panicked. There was nothing he could do. He was trapped. Trapped with hundreds oI others.
The monster had come and was slowly, surely dragging them Irom 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 oI holes in its great hands, but none large enough. II only
they were a little larger. Pita tried to push himselI through one oI the holes again. He squeezed
and squeezed. Great tails lashed around him. Not only he but against his eyes. II 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 Iury. The monster was gradually closing its hands.
There were cries now above the surIace. Below, the monster grated on sand. The shore! They
had reached the shore! Frantically, Pita Ilung himselI against one oI the tiny holes. He gave a cry
as the scales tore Irom his back - then a cry oI joy. He was Iree! Free!
He lunged Iorward below the surIace. Down he sped, rejoicing in his tinyness. II he was only a
little bigger, he would have been dying on the shore now. The IateIul shore! There had been
those who had actually come back Irom that world. This was one oI the great mysteries. But
some said they had been there, and had talked oI that awesome place.
There was no more blood now. Down he swam. Deep, deep until the sound oI the breakers was
only a bitter memory, and the sea was not sandy but blue and clear, and until, Iar, Iar away in the
distance, green with Iern and the tender moss, he saw the rocks oI home.
Question
a) To whom or what does 'he' reIer? (1 mark)
Suggested answer
a) 'He' reIers to the Iish or Pita
Question
b) What eIIect is the author trying to create by using short sentences in the passage? (2 marks)
Suggested answer
b) The writer is trying to create suspense/tension/Iast-moving action.
Question
c) State ONE word which could describe Pita's Ieelings when he realised, There were millions oI
holes ... but none large enough. (2 marks)
c) Alarm/anxiety/Irustration/desperation.
Question
d) Why does the author repeat 'squeezed' in line 6? (3 marks)
Suggested answer
d) The word is repeated to show the tremendous eIIort the Iish is making in its bid to escape.
Question
e) Who or what does the 'monster' reIer to? (2 marks)
Suggested answer
e) The 'monster' is the net
Question
I) Why does the writer use 'IateIul' to describe the shore? (2 marks)
Suggested answer
I) The word is used because that is where the Iate oI the Iish was decided/where death took
place.
Question
g) Why does Pita utter a cry oI joy? (1 mark)
Suggested answer
g) Pita utters a cry oI joy as he was now Iree.
Question
h) Why was 'the sound oI the breakers' a bitter memory? (2 marks)
Suggested answer
h) It was the sound oI the place where he would have died.
You can Iind the original question here.

. Read the following poem carefully and and answer the questions which follow it.

Growing pains

My child-eyes cried Ior chocolate treats
And sticky sweets
'Twill rot yu' teet'!


Tinkly silver wrapper hides
5 Germs
Worms
Decay
How can a child-eye see?



This child-heart cried Ior mid-teen love
10 A blow, a shove
Study yuh' book!
Leather jacket
Football boots
Are not the most sought-aIter 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 Ilashy Iootball boots
She'll Iind the great sought-aIter 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.
IT

Question
(a)(i)Who is likely to have said the Iollowing lines:
'Twill rot yu' teet'! (line 3) and Study yu' book! (line 11) (ii)What eIIect is the writer trying to
create by using them? (3 marks)
Suggested answer
(a) The words would have been spoken by an adult, possibly a parent.
Question
(b) In what ways is the content oI the Iirst two stanzas (lines 1 - 15) similar?
(3 marks)
Suggested answer
(b) The content oI the Iirst two stanzas is similar in that they show the views/concerns oI the
adult with regard to the child. Also, both stanzas oIIer guidance Irom the adult.
Question
(c) Why does the poet reIer to leather jacket (line 12) and ;Iootball boots (line 13)? (2 marks)

Suggested answer
(c) The poet reIers to leather jackets and Iootball boots, items which we associate with the male,
to indicate that these attract teenage girls.
Question
(d) Comment on the poet's choice oI the Iollowing words:
(i)Tinkly (line 4)
(ii)dim (line 31) (2 marks)
Suggested answer
d)(i) Tinkly is an example oI the Iigurative device, ono- matopoeia; hence it appeals to the sense
oI hearing. Children will be attracted to the sound oI the paper.
(ii) Through the use oI dim, the poet maintains the contrast between childhood and adulthood,
innocence and experience.
Question
(e) What do the Iollowing lines,
She'll see beneath the silver wrapper
Beneath the Ilashy Iootball boots ... (lines 21 - 22) tell us about the young girl?
(2 marks)
Suggested answer
(e) The lines tell us that the young girl realises later on in liIe that things are not what they seem
to be. She would arrive at this position because oI her maturity and experience.
Question
(I)What is suggested by the poet in the last seven lines (lines 27 - 33) oI the poem? (2 marks)
Suggested answer
(I) The poet is saying that it is diIIicult Ior anyone to see why adulthood, with all its problems,
should be preIerred to childhood.
1otal 14 marks

.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions below it.
Quiet and the night came early and Leonard sat there Ieeling a Ilicker oI restlessness. He
needed his books, a radio perhaps, he wasn't sure why he had been delaying going into Kingston
to Ietch his things. The pattern he had established oI working on the house had completely
absorbed him, but, he thought, stretching lazily, it was time to make the trip into town. He would
go there the next day, get it over with. II he went like that, mid-week, there would be nobody
there. He could simply pick up his two boxes and leave the key with the next-door neighbour. He
would not have to Iace his parents and their angry comments, the small guilt-making jabs, 'aIter
all they had done', giving up his job, 'such good prospects', to hide himselI away 'in the depths oI
beyond', as they put it. And, oI course, he could not explain. He could not say that the prospect
oI working to buy things did not interest him, oI driIting into a marriage, much like theirs, did
not interest him. It was all sound, solid, and it Irightened him, the years stretching ahead, known
even beIore they had happened. He wanted to make something very simple, very diIIerent, Ior
himselI. He could not explain because they were so proud oI having lived out Grandma Miriam's
dream, to be educated, proIessionals, a Iar remove Irom Grandpa Sam, travelling in on the
country bus with his country talk and his bag oI yams.

a) Why was Leonard Ieeling a Ilicker oI restlessness (line 2)? marks)
b) What does the phrase get it over with (line 12) tell us about Leonard's reaction to the idea oI
the trip into town? marks)
c) How did Leonard decide to avoid his parents? marks)
d) How did Leonard's parents Ieel about his chosen liIestyle? marks)
e) What was Grandma Miriam's ambition Ior her children? 1 mark)
I) What does the last sentence suggest about Grandma Miriam's' reaction to the liIestyle oI
Grandpa Sam? marks)
Total: 11 marks
You can Iind the origninal question here

4. Read the following poem carefully and then answer the questions set on it.
The awk
The hawk slipped out oI the pine, and rose in the sunlit air:
Steady and still he poised: his shadow slept on the grass:
And the bird's song sickened and sank: she cowered with Iurtive stare,
Dumb, till the quivering dimness should Ilicker and shiIt and pass.
Suddenly down he dropped: she heard the hiss oI his wing,
Fled with a scream oI terror: oh, would she had dared to rest.
For the hawk at eve was Iull, and there was no bird to sing,
And over the heather driIted the down Irom a bleeding breast.
.C. BESO
(a) BrieIly state what happens in the poem. marks)

(b) What does the Iollowing tell you about the bird? she cowered with Iurtive stare... marks)
(c) Explain what is meant by ;the quivering dimness. marks)
(d) Comment on the poet's use oI each oI the Iollowing:
(i) slipped
(ii) driIted 4 marks)
(e) Name one sense to which this poem appeals and quote a word or phrase in support oI your
choice. marks)
(I) IdentiIy a Iigure oI speech and comment on its eIIectiveness. marks)
Here are CXC past paper type short story questions.
These are the types oI short story questions that have been on
CXC English A past papers

B CXC suggests spending no more than 45 minutes to answer the short story question on
Paper 2 oI the English A exam. They also suggest 400 - 450 words as the short story length
1.
Write a story entitled,"The decision that saved my liIe."
2.
"Jamila turned and walked away. I knew then that I had lost a Iriend."
Write a story in which this sentence plays an important part.
3.
Write either a story OR a description entitled,
"The village where nobody lives anymore".
4.
Write a story which leads up to the Iollowing ending:
"To this day, people passing through Coconut Grove still stop to ask Ior Waspie."
5.
Write a story entitled: "The Dream That Came True."
Here are CXC past paper type persuasive essay questions.
These are the types oI persuasive essay questions that have been on
CXC English A past papers
B: CXC suggests spending no more than 0 minutes to answer the persuasive essay question
on Paper 2 oI the English A exam. They also suggest 50 - 00 words as the length oI the
persuasive essay.
1. Write an article to the local newspaper expressing your concern about the high rate oI traIIic
accidents in your country. Suggest three measures which would help to reduce this high rate oI
accidents. 2.
Write an article Ior your school magazine about three major problems in your school and state
how you would solve
each one.
3. You are on a committee planning the celebrations to mark the anniversary oI your school.
You have heard that some oI your classmates plan to boycott the celebrations, and you have neen
asked to make a speech to persuade them to take part. Write out your speech. 4.
Your school council has asked Ior nominations Ior the "Teacher oI the Year award. Write a letter
to the council in which you suggest someone Irom your school,
giving strong arguments to support your choice.
5.
Write an article Ior a school magazine in which you present strong arguments either Ior or
against the topic:
"School should be abolished."