Grade 9
Paper 1 – Reading
Part 1
Read the text below. For questions 1-7 choose the correct answer A, B, C or D.
During the baking hot months of the summer holidays my mother and I used to escape to one of the scattered lakes north of Prince Albert. In its magic surroundings we used to spend the long summer days in the open air, swimming and canoeing or just lying dreaming in the sun. In the evening the lake was always a bright, luminous grey after the unbelievable sunset colours had faded.
The last summer before we returned to England was particularly enchanted. For one thing, I was in love for the first time. No one will ever convince me that one cannot be in love at fifteen. I loved then as never since, with all my heart and without doubts or reservations or pretence.
My boyfriend Don worked in Saskatoon, but the lake was "his place" — the strange and beautiful wilderness drew him with an obsessive urgency, so I suspected it was not to see me that he got on his motorcycle as many Fridays as he possibly could, and drove three hundred-odd miles along the pitted prairie roads to spend the weekends at our place.
Sometimes he couldn't come, and the joy would go out of everything until Monday, when I could start looking forward to Friday again. He could never let us know in advance, as we were too far from civilization to have a phone or even a telegraph service. Three hundred miles in those conditions is quite a journey. Besides, Don was hard up, and sometimes worked overtime at weekends.
One Friday night a storm broke out. I lay in bed and listened to the thunder and the rain beating on the roof. Once I got up and stood looking out over the treetops, shivering. I tried not to expect Don that night hoping he would have enough sense to wait until the storm ended. Yet in my frightened thoughts I couldn't help imagining Don fighting the storm. His motorbike, which had always looked to me so heavy and solid, seemed in my thoughts frail enough to be blown onto its side by the first gust that struck it. I thought of Don pinned under it, skidding, his face pressed into the mud.
I crawled back into bed, trying to close my throat against the tears. But when my mother, prompted by the deep sympathy and understanding between us, came in to me, she kissed my cheek and found it wet.
"Don't get upset, Jane," she said softly. "He may still come."
When she had tucked me in and gone, I lay thinking about Don, about the danger of the roads — you couldn't ride or walk along them safely after heavy rain; your feet would slip from under you. The roads in Northern Canada are not like the friendly well-populated English ones, where there are always farmhouses within walking distance and cars driving along them day and night.
It was hours later, that I suddenly realized the sound of the roaring engine was real. The storm was dying. I lay absolutely still, relief and pain fighting for ascendancy within me, each in itself overwhelming enough to freeze the breath in my lungs as I heard Don's heavy tired footsteps on the wooden stairs.
1.The last summer was particularly fascinating for Jane because she
A spent it in the magic surroundings.
B had a lot of fun in the open air.
C enjoyed unbelievable sunset by the lake.
D fell in love for the first time.
2.Jane believes love at fifteen is
A a sincere deep feeling.
B associated with doubts.
C. full of reservations.
D connected with pretence.
3.Don travelled three hundred-odd miles every weekend because he was
A desperate to see the author before she left.
B fond of riding his motorcycle.
C attracted by the beauty of the lake.
D fond of spending weekends with his friends.
4.Sometimes Don didn’t come to see Jane and her mother because he
A thought that they were too far from civilization
B had given up hope of seeing the author.
C worked to make some extra money.
D hated travelling in exhausting conditions.
5.Mother came into Jane’s room during the storm because she
A felt Jane was afraid of the thunder.
B felt Jane was worried about Don.
C heard Jane walking in the room.
D heard Jane crying in her bed.
6.According to the author the roads in Northern Canada were
A slippery.
B muddy.
C lonely.
D busy.
7. “…relief and pain fighting for ascendancy within me” means that the author felt
A overwhelming pain.
B relief and pain alternately.
C relief as a prevailing emotion.
D neither relief nor pain
Part 2
Look at the statements below about an English city.
Read the text and decide if each statement is correct or incorrect. If it is correct, mark T. If it is not correct, mark F
___ 1 The River Wensum flows through East Anglia.
___2 People have lived by the River Wensum for at least 2000 years.
___3 In the 11th century, Norwich was a small village.
___4 Norwich has been a city since its first cathedral was built.
___5 Norwich has always been one of the smallest English cities.
___6 There are more than 50 churches in Norwich.
___7 The number of students in Norwich is increasing.
___8 The Norwich City football team is called 'The Canaries' because of the colours the players wear.
___9 'The Castle Mall' took more than two years to build.
___10 Norwich people still like using the old market as well as shopping in 'The Castle Mall'.
Norwich
Norwich, the capital of the part of Britainknown as East Anglia, has existed as a place to live for more than two thousand years. It began as a small village beside the River Wensum. At the time of the Norman invasion in 1066 it had grown to become one of the largest towns in England.
With two cathedrals and a mosque, Norwichhas long been a popular centre for various religions. The first cathedral was built in 1095 and has recently celebrated its 900th anniversary, while Norwich itself had a year of celebration in 1994 to mark the 800th anniversary of the city receiving a Royal Charter. This allowed it to be called a city and to govern itself independently.
Today, in comparison with places like London or Manchester, Norwich is quite small, with a population of around 150,000, but in the 16th century Norwich was the second city of England. It continued to grow for the next 300 years and got richer and richer, becoming famous for having as many churches as there are weeks in the year and as many pubs as there are days in the year.
Nowadays, there are far fewer churches and pubs, but in 1964 the University of East Angliawas built in Norwich. With its fast-growing student population and its success as a modern commercial centre (Norwich is the biggest centre for insurance services outside London), the city now has a wide choice of entertainment: theatres, cinemas, nightclubs, busy cafes, excellent restaurants, and a number of arts and leisure centres. There is also a football team, whose colours are green and yellow. The team is known as 'The Canaries', though nobody can be sure why.
Now the city's attractions include another important development, a modern shopping centre called 'The Castle Mall'. The people of Norwich lived with a very large hole in the middle of their city for over two years, as builders dug up the main car park. Lorries moved nearly a million tons of earth so that the roof of the Mall could become a city centre park, with attractive water pools and hundreds of trees. But the local people are really pleased that the old open market remains, right in the heart of the city and next to the new development. Both areas continue to do good business, proving that Norwich has managed to mix the best of the old and the new.
Paper II – Use of English
Part 1
Choose the correct form for each sentence. Underline the necessary word.
1. You would rather/had better be on time, or they will leave without you.
2. I have been sitting by myself/on my own.
3. She lay/laid on the bed reading a book.
4. The cost of life/living increased by 80% last year.
5. We have had to postpone/cancel the meeting until Wednesday.
6. Before coming here, I studied economics/economy at university.
7. He applied for a job/work as a personnel officer.
8. We expect prices to raise/rise by at least fifty per cent next month.
9. The next episode/serial of "Dallas" will be shown on BBC 1 next Friday.
10. Although someone had seen him take the watch, he still denied/refused it.
11. We expected/waited our guests to come at 6 p.m.
12. I wonder if you could do/make me a favour.
13. I asked two persons how to get to the post office, but none/neither of them, knew.
14. He is extremely sensible/sensitive to any criticism.
15. Will the department's policy be affected/effected by the appointment of a
new chairwoman
Part 2
Read the text below and choose the correct word for each space.
Cartoon films have very (0) …A.. limits. If you can draw something, you can (1) ….it
move on the cinema screen. The use (2) …..new ideas and advanced computer programs means that cartoons are becoming exciting again for
people of (3)….ages.
By the (4)….of the 1970s, the cinema world had decided that cartoons were only for children.
But soon (5) …., one or two directors had some original new ideas. They proved that
it was possible to make films in which both adults and children could
(6)….the fun.
However, not (7)….. cartoon film was successful. The Black Cauldron, for example, failed, mainly because it was too (8)…..for children and too childish for adults. Directors learnt from this (9)….., and the film companies began to make large (10)…… of money again.
0 / A / few / В / any / С / little / D / much1
2 / A / get / В / cause / С / wish / D / make
2 / A / for / В / of / С / with / D / by
3 / A / more / B / other / C / all / D / these
4 / A / end / B / finish / C / departure / D / back
5 / A / afterwards / B / later / C / next / D / then
6 / A / divide / B / add / C / mix / D / share
7 / A / every / B / both / C / any / D / each
8 / A / nervous / B / fearful / C / afraid / D / frightening
9 / A / damage / B / crime / C / mistake / D / fault
10 / A / amounts / B / accounts / C / numbers / D / totals
Part 3
Read the text. Use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits the space in the same line. Fill in the words in the table below.
Learning can be fun
Games are for (1)______as well as for learning; and we should PLEASE
not assume that children only learn from (2)___toys. A cuddly EDUCATION
toy such as a teddy bear can help the child's (3)___growth; EMOTION
a skateboard will be (4)____in learning how to balance. Of course, USE
some toys involve a great deal of (5)___. Rubik's cube, which THINK
made its first (6)___in the 1970s and was hardly noticed, APPEAR
went on to make its (7)___a millionaire. It also made millions INVENT
of people spend hours desperately trying to find a 8)__-to the puzzle. SOLVE
Monopoly is a board game in which (9)___buy, rent and sell PLAY
squares on the board using (10)__money; the aim is to try IMITATE
and get more money than your (11)__.The cost of the property OPPOSE
depends on how (12)___ the place would be in real life. VALUE
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12