Class:
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. (21 marks)
Malala – the teenage heroine
[1] Malala Yousafzai is the youngest recipient of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in history. She was only 17 years old when she received the honour in October 2014, alongside Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. Malala is considered a very successful person at her age, for having received numerous awards before the Nobel Prize for her peaceful campaign for child education and women’s rights. Her accolades include National Youth Peace Prize, Mother Teresa Awards for Social Justice, Simone de Beauvoir Prize and International Children’s Peace Prize.
[2] Being globally famous is not the aim of Malala when she first started her campaign. In 2008, Malala worked with the BBC Urdu website as an anonymous blogger to write about her own life experience under Taliban control in her district Swat. Later in 2009, she gained more media exposure in her own nation Pakistan as well as internationally. As more and more attention she received, her blog identity was finally revealed in the end of 2009.
[3] In the following year, Malala became world-famous. Her continued efforts to protect children’s rights to education and women’s rights earned her many international acclaims and supports. This was exactly what the Taliban leaders fear. They did not want any person to outspokenly fight for the rights of anybody. The Taliban militants had already bombed schools, killed policemen and banned all sorts of entertainments such as shopping or watching television. They especially despised the idea of girls’ education and thus noticed Malala as the active campaigner for this.
[4] After many warnings and threats from the Taliban to kill her, Malala still unyieldingly continued her activism. As a result, in 9 October 2012, a Taliban gunman boarded her school bus to look for Malala. He shouted ‘Who is Malala?’ but no one answered. Some girls turned their heads to Malala and the gunman recognized her. He fired his gun which hit Malala in the head, penetrated her neck and ended in her shoulder. Luckily, the other two bullets from the assassin’s guns did not hit Malala as she fell down after the first shot.
[5] Malala was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery to remove the bullet from her brain. The Pakistan government later offered to pay full price for her and her family to go to the UK for further medical treatments. She arrived at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham in late October 2012 and was looked after by doctors there. Malala then had a cochlear implant to help her hear and a titanium plate inserted into her skull. After her full recovery, she has been staying in Britain and attending Edgbaston High School in Birmingham.
[6] The attempted assassination failed to kill Malala and her spirit. She was empowered and became more determined than ever to fight for children and women’s rights. Since her recovery, Malala has been going around the globe to give talks and promote her campaign. She has given speeches in the United Nations, Buckingham Palace and Harvard University. Her words are sharp and moving. She urges leaders of all countries in the world to work harder for human rights in their own territories. Her goal is simple: ‘I want every girl, every child, to be educated.’
[7] On behalf of Malala and her family, ‘The Malala Fund’ was set up by an international organization called Vital Voices. The aim of ‘The Malala Fund’ is to help give women a voice to promote prosperity and peace in their communities. Supporters of the fund include the United Nations Foundation and Girl Up. Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie also donated $200,000 to ‘The Malala Fund’. The first grant of the fund went to an organisation in Malala’s home region of the Swat Valley in Pakistan and it aimed to encourage girls to go to school instead of working straight away. Speaking of this first grant, Malala said: ‘Today I’m going to announce the happiest moment in my life, and that is the first grant of the Malala Fund’. She also invited everyone to support the fund and ‘let us turn the education of 40 girls into 40 million girls’.
[8] Apart from being a political activist, Malala is also a writer. Her first autobiography named ‘I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban’ was co-written with British journalist Christina Lamb and published in 2013. The book tells the story of her family who lived in the Swat area of Pakistan. Her father was a school founder who believes deeply in social justice. Mr Yousafzai is the person to educate and encourage Malala to participate in campaigns for children’s education. Insights from the lives of her family and friends under the Taliban rule, as well as details about her attack and recovery can also be found in the book.
5 / © 2015 ATHENS EDUCATION1. Which of the following is NOT TRUE about paragraph 1?
A. Malala is the youngest ever person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
B. Malala was the sole recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.
C. Her efforts to fight for child education were recognized before she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
D. Malala received the Nobel Peace Prize before she turned 18.
2. Find a word in paragraph 2 that means ‘of unknown name’.
3. Read paragraph 3 and decide if the following statements are True, False or the information is Not Given. Blacken ONE circle only for each statement. (5 marks)
T / F / NGi) / Malala gained international support for her campaign. / ¡ / ¡ / ¡
ii) / Many people donated thousands of dollars to Malala’s fund. / ¡ / ¡ / ¡
iii) / The Taliban is a group of militants who only aim at outlaws in Pakistan. / ¡ / ¡ / ¡
iv) / The Taliban banned entertainments such as watching television and shopping in the region. / ¡ / ¡ / ¡
v) / Malala was noticed by the Taliban because she spoke in a television program about women’s rights. / ¡ / ¡ / ¡
4. What does ‘this’ (line 17) refer to?
5. According to paragraph 3, what about Malala does the Taliban fear of?
6. In line 16, ‘despised’ means…
A. loved.
B. cared.
C. worried.
D. hated.
7. Put the following events in the correct order by writing 1–5 in the boxes provided.
Event / Order (1–5)The Taliban shot Malala in the head.
Malala received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Malala wrote about her experience anonymously in a blog.
The Taliban sent warnings to Malala.
Malala attended Edgbaston High School
8. According to the article, what did the Taliban fail to do to Malala?
9. Find a word in paragraph 6 that means ‘intense’.
10. Complete the following paragraph using the information given in the article. Use ONE word to fill in each blank. (5 marks)
Malala was a (i) ______year-old-girl when she first wrote anonymous blog entries for the BBC Urdu website. She was an ardent believer and activist for (ii) ______’s education and women’s rights. Malala courageously (iii) ______for what she believed even when she received death threats from the Taliban militants. Although she was shot by a (iv) ______in the head, she refused to give up on her belief. Since her recovery, she has been travelling around the world to promote her campaign and call for international support. Malala now resides in (v) ______.
11. This text is…
A. a letter to the editor.
B. a feature article.
C. a blog entry.
D. a news report.
12. What is the writer’s attitude towards Malala? Explain your answer. (2 marks)
13. Which of the following is the best alternative subtitle for this article?
A. A list of prizes and awards received by Malala Yousafzai
B. The generosity of Pakistani government for paying Malala’s medical expenses
C. The story of Malala Yousafzai
D. The power of an anonymous blogger
14. Do you agree with Malala’s beliefs? Answer in detail.
End of paper
Malala – the teenage heroine
Answer Key
1. B
2. anonymous
3. i) T
ii) NG
iii) F
iv) T
v) NG
4. girls’ education
5. She was the active campaigner of girls’ education.
6. D
7. 3, 5, 1, 2, 4
8. They failed to kill Malala and her spirit.
9. sharp
10. i) 11/ Eleven
ii) children
iii) fought
iv) gunman
v) Britain/ England
11. B
12. Suggested answer:
The writer’s attitude towards Malala is positive. The writer described Malala’s speeches as sharp and moving.
13. C
14. Suggested answer:
Yes, I do. I agree with Malala’s beliefs that every child should have a chance to go to school and women should have their rights just like men.
5 / © 2015 ATHENS EDUCATION