- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
BUILDING THE NATION
Today I did my share
In building the nation
I drove a permanent Secretary
To an important urgent function
In fact a luncheon at the Vic.
The menu reflected its importance
Cold Bell beer with small talk,
Then friend chicken with niceties
Wine to fill the hollowness of the laughs
Ice-cream to cover the stereotype jokes
Coffee to keep the PS awake on return journey.
I drove the Permanent Sectretary back.
He yawned many times in the back of the car
Did you have any lunch friend?
I replied looking straight ahead
And secretly smiling at his belated concern
That I had not, but was smiling!
Upon which he said with a seriousness
That amused more than annoyed me,
Mwananchi, I too had none!
I attended to matters of state
Highly delicate diplomatic duties you know,
And friend, it goes against my grain,
Causes me stomach ulcers and wind.
Ah, he continued, yawning again,
The pains we suffer in buiding the nation!
So the PS had ulcers too!
My ulcers I think are equally painful
Only they are caused by hunger,
Not sumptuous lunches!
So two nation builders
Arrived home this evening
With terrible stomach pains
The result of building the nation -
- Different ways.
Henry Barlow
1. Identify two voices in the poem
2. Explain what the poem addresses
3. Identify and illustrate the use of any two poetic devices uses in the poem and explain their effectiveness
4. Describe the tone in the poem
5. How would you describe the attitude of the permanent secretary towards the persona?
6. Describe the rhyme scheme in stanza one
7. i) 'He yawned many times in the back of the car.' Add a question tag
ii) ' I drove the permanent secretary back.' Write in passive voice
Date posted: June 10, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the following passage and then answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the following passage and then answer the questions that follow.
Good soil is of no use to man unles he cultivates it. Iron, gold, oil, and copper beneath the soil are not wealth unless man digs them up and uses them. To cultivate and to dig means work. The continent of North America has always had good soils and rich minerals underneath but the Red Indians’ lived there in poverty for hundreds of years because they did not know how to use this wealth. There has always been copper in Zambia, Uganda and Congo, and diamonds in Tanzania, but they were not wealth to the inhabitants of these countries until recently when people who knew how to use them came.
In order to produce wealth men have to work and the harder they work and the better they work the more wealth they will produce. It is mainly a matter of better work. By working harder the farmer may be able to grow more food, but unless he uses better methods he may in the long run, do more harm than good. To have more wealth then, the farmer needs not so much more land (although that is needed in some places), but mainly more knowldge of how to usehis land, the energy and the will to use it. Here we see the need for knowledge and health.
The same applies to those who work in factories offices and schools. The better they work the more they earn. That is why the most highly paid jobs go to those whose knowledge is greatest and who are reliable workers.
Before we leave this question of work (or labour as it is sometimes called) there is an interesting point we should notice. Men have found by experience, from the time of the acient Egyptians that more wealth can be produced if different kinds of work are divided up amongst the workers, instead of everyman doing all his own work. The advantage of this system, which is called the ‘Division of Labour’ is that each worker can become an expert of his own job or trade, and so the total wealth produced is greater. In earlier days in Africa there was very little division of labour today there is much more. Most people are still farmers, but there are also, carpenters, builders, tailors, mechanics, miners, clerks, teachers and many others.
Land on which to grow his crops and the work of cutting and hoeing and planting were all the peasant of earlier days needed to produce his very small amount of wealth to keep him and his family alive, sometimes it was not enough. Today the people want more, not only necessities but also other things like sugar, slat, tea, clothes, books, radio, bicycles and so on. These things often come from other lands and have to be paid for. They can only be paid for if more wealth is produced so that there is something left over.
Comprehension questions
(a) According to the passage, can iron, gold, oil and copper be worthless?
(b) What is ironical about the Red Indians who lived in the continent of North America?
(c) Explain when copper became useful to the people of Zambia, Uganda and the Congo?
(d) Highlight four (4) things that a farmer must do in order to produce more food
(e) State one advantage of division of labour
(f) Identify and illustrate the use of parenthesis from the passage, give two examples
(g) The Red Indians lived there in poverty four hundreds of years. Add a question tag?
(h) Give one word that best explain the meaning of the following statements as used in the passage
i) ‘ something left over’
ii) ‘Things from other lands’
(i) Good soil is of no use to man unless he cultivates it. Use ‘only’
Date posted: June 10, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the conversation below between two students from Masomo Mazuri High School and then answer the question that follows(Solved)
Read the conversation below between two students from Masomo Mazuri High School and then answer the question that follows.
WAKONYO: (Shortly after attending an English symposium)
Good morning, Kebu. How are you fairing on with your academic work?
KEBU : Good morning. I don’t even wish to talk about my performance. I didn’t get the score I had promised.
WAKONYO: Come on, Kebu, you are taking your failure too much to heat. I know it is a great disapointment to score a grade below what you expected in the pre-mocks and I sympathise with you but you must not allow it to make you so unhappy.
KEBU: (Looks sullen) It is all very well for a lucky lass like you, Wakonyo. You have passed and you would not feel cheerful if you were in my place.
WAKONYO: (Leaning forward) I know, but you must pull yourself together, and wake your mind up. You will pass next time. Remember the old saying, “If you dont suceed, try, try, try
again!
KEBU: I think the other version of the saying has more sense to it. “ If at first you don’t succeed, quit,
quit, quit at once!
WAKONYO: (Nodding her head encouragingly) Mm...................
KEBU: I should just give up
WAKONYO: Oh nonsense! You’ll never do anything if you don’t persevere. Now why do you think you
failed?
KEBU: Last term had been very challenging for me. I was down with malaria for three weeks and I
could not prepare properly.
WAKONYO: Well, you did have bad luck, I am sorry. But I am sure you will do well in the mocks and
National Exams, so you must make your mind to win through
KEBU: I wish I had your will power. Still, I will take your advice and put more effort.
WAKONYO: That’s the way forward! And Iam sure you will register a better grade next time.
(i) Identify and explain three strengths in Wakonyo’s speaking and listening skills
Date posted: June 10, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in each of the blank spaces in the passage below with the most appropriate word.(Solved)
Fill in each of the blank spaces in the passage below with the most appropriate word.
Samuel Wanjiru, the (1) ________________ olympic champion, could not have died from falling (2) _____________ the balcony, a pathologist has (3) ________________.
(4) ________________ in a court inquest into the (5) ________________ of the former athlete, former chief pathologist Dr. Moses Njue said he was told that the (6) ________________ Wanjiru would occasionally jump off the same (7) ______________, and that he could not have died from the same.
Dr. Njue told the court that Wanjiru died from an 'Independent' hit at the back (8) _______________ his head.
Njue referred to a postmortern he conducted on May 27, 2011 (9) _________________ with Government Pathologist Dr. Johannesen Oduor, Dr. Emily Rogena for Wanjiru’s mother and Dr. Peter Ndegwa who was representing Wanjiru’s (10) ________________ Trizah Njeri.
He told the court that Wanjiru, being an athlete, fell over the balcony 'like a cat' facing foward.
Date posted: June 10, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow(Solved)
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
Populism is a cancer that has eaten right into the very fabric or our education sector. Decision - making on
education matter are no longer based on in-depth research but on political mileage to set strategies for educational
developments. The political class, purporting to represent the interests of the ordinary, use the education of our
children as their flags in their quest for power. The entry of these self-seekers into the education sector has
disorganised structures and systems, tampered with educational contents, teaching methods, assessment and
evaluation of institutions. The politically engineered 8-4-4 system thrust on the Kenyan education system, burden
the children and teachers with book materials to be mastered through rote learning. Though the curriculum
subjects and material are condensed, there is still so much irrelevance in the contents. In a number of schools the
curriculum is not fully covered. The situation has been made worse by teachers shortages.
As teachers grappled to put the 1984 KANU government-designed curriculum, NARC (National Rainbow
Coalition) government that come into power after resoundingly defeating KANU threw in a new challenge to the
education sector. In the fashion of its predecessor, NARC shoved free schooling on ad hoc into Kenyans
education - devoid of the benefit of research.
The result was an instant shortage learning resources and teachers. Schools run in shortage of 60,000 teachers
in the 18,000 primary schools and 5,000 secondary schools in this country. The scarcity of teachers adversely
affects normal teaching / learning processes that are sometimes disrupted by students’ riots.
In some schools inadequate teaching resources and facilities makes teachers skip some lessons and therefore a
student become idle, bored and highly irritable. As IPAR Report (2008) puts it. “In such state, they can become
violent at the slightest provocation.” The reports adds, “From observation, violence in schools coincides with the
times when teachers are agitating for action on issues affecting them such as higher salaries and hence they have
no time for students. “The morale of the teaching fraternity has reached rock-bottom. Remuneration is believed
to be the most demoralizing factor. Teachers’ salaries compare unfavourably with their salaries of their peers in
the public service. Although, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is the employer of teachers in public
schools, the government controls the remuneration of teachers and ‘may often see no urgency in encouraging
seamless implementation of a progressive reward system’ (IPAR 2008, Report).
Teachers express apathy because of lack of employer motivation and poor administration, among other
negative factors. Their work environment has discouraged them from making efforts to improve performance,
which affects students who may vent anger by destroying school property to attract attention.
Adaptation from 'Education Insight'
Questions
1. How does populism affect education sector according to the passage?
2. What are the shortcomings of the politically engineered 8 - 4- 4 system? Give your answer in note form.
3. Identify and explain the figure of speech in the first paragraph.
4. Explain the added challenge that arose when the NARC government soon took over power.
5. According to the passage how can inadequate teaching resources translate to students’ riots.
6. The situation has been made worse by teachers’s shortage. Add a tag question.
7. 'The morale of the teaching fraternity has reached rock-bottom,' the report stated. Rewrite in the reported speech.
8. What has killed teachers’ morale according to the passage?
9. Explain the meanings of the following words and phrases as used in the passage.
(i) rock-bottom.
(ii) apathy
(iii) devoid
(iv) populism
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- The following conversation is between you and the manager of the company to which you have applied for
employment. Fill the missing blanks with the appropriate...(Solved)
The following conversation is between you and the manager of the company to which you have applied for
employment. Fill the missing blanks with the appropriate responses.
MANAGER: Ah good morning, Mrs. Matiang’i.
YOU: __________________________________________________________
MANAGER: Of course you’ve applied for a position in the company. Do sit down and please tell me about
your education.
YOU: ___________________________________________________________
MANAGER: How did you perform in college in academic and extra curricular activities?
YOU: ___________________________________________________________
MANAGER: I see. Why did you not advance your academic further?
YOU: ___________________________________________________________
MANAGER: Did you have any particular reason for applying to us?
YOU: ___________________________________________________________
MANAGER: Okey, that will be enough for now. We will contact you.
Thank you.
YOU: ____________________________________________________________
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- 'Therefore i lie with her, and she with me. And in our faults by lies we flattered be.' Identify and explain the
pun(Solved)
'Therefore i lie with her, and she with me. And in our faults by lies we flattered be.' Identify and explain the
pun
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the following passage and fill in each blank space with the most appropriate word.(Solved)
Read the following passage and fill in each blank space with the most appropriate word.
Moi High School Kabarak produced a superhuman performance with close to half their students getting As in
KCSE 2014. More (1) __________________ 90 per cent of their 274 students got either an A or A-, a
performance which ought to be (2) ___________________ by all.
It is easy to hothouse a small group of students, but to (3) ________________ top performance across board
for such a large and diverse group is beyond excellence.
I was shocked by Alliance’s performance last year, even (4) _______________ I still thought it could be
equaled. Well Kabarak, bettered the result, and they (5) ____________________ so with a large group.
Congratulations to the school, the students and the management.
It also has not (6) _____________________ my eye that Kabarak is co-educational.
How serendipitous (7) ______________________ so soon after my article on why we need co-educational
schools one such institution tops the nation!
The logic (8) ______________________ the decision to segregate schools has always been spurious. It
always claims that single-sex schools perform better than co-educational facilities. This (9) _____________ is not
only wholly wrong, but also ends up hurting girls (10) _____________________ there are more national schools
reserved for boys.
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Explain the meanings of the idiomatic expressions this sentence.(Solved)
Explain the meanings of the idiomatic expressions this sentence.
(i) Out of the blue, Shikuku decided to dig his own grave.
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- The following sentences has two possible meanings. Explain them.(Solved)
The following sentences has two possible meanings. Explain them.
Akinyi loves dancing more than Otieno
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in each blank space with the correct form of the word in brackets.(Solved)
Fill in each blank space with the correct form of the word in brackets.
i) It is not possible to spell a word from her ……………………….. (pronounce)
ii) Do not wait for the bus, it comes to this town very ………………… (Regular)
iii) The hunt for the murderers has been …………………………. (intense)
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- For each of the following sentences, replace the underlined phrasal verb with one word which has the same
meaning(Solved)
For each of the following sentences, replace the underlined phrasal verb with one word which has the same
meaning.
i) His performance did not measure up to the expected standards.
ii) It’s not good to walk out on one’s family.
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in the blanks with suitable preposition.(Solved)
Fill in the blanks with suitable preposition.
i) His breath smelt ………………………. alcohol.
ii) She was living ………………………… her means.
iii) She sang her heart …………………….
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the following narrative and answer the questions which follow.(Solved)
Read the following narrative and answer the questions which follow.
There was a great famine in the land where Obunde and his wife, Oswera, lived with their nine children. The
only creatures who had some food were the ogres and before they would part with their food, they demanded a lot
of things.
One day, Oswera went to one Ogre’s home and asked him for some food, for by then her children were almost
dying of hunger.
‘I have no more food except sweet potatoes, the ogre told her.
‘I shall be happy to have the potatoes. We have nothing, not a grain of food at my house and the children are
starving. Please let me have some and I shall repay you after the harvest.
‘No, if you want food you must exchange with something right now. Will you give me one of your children
in exchange for my potatoes? Oswera hesitated, her children were dear to her, but then they would die without
food.
‘Yes, I shall let you have one of them for his meal, if only you could let us have some potatoes,’ Oswera
answered. Then she took a big basket full of potatoes and told the ogre the exact time he could go to her home to
collect one of her children for a meal.
Oswera thought hard and she decided she would not give a single one of her children to the ogre for a meal.
She therefore cut young banana stalks and cooked them nicely.
When the ogre came, she gave them to him and the beast greedily went away satisfied. Soon the potatoes
were finished and she had to go to the ogre again.
Oswera and Obunde, her husband kept on cooking banana stalks for the ogre each time he came for one of
their children, until one day, she had no more banana stalks to cook for the animal.
“You have now eaten all my children, yet we still need the potatoes. What shall we give your now?” Oswera
asked in despair.
‘Then I shall come for you and your husband,’ the ogre replied angrily as he helped Oswera to load her basket
of potatoes on her head.
‘Yes come tomorrow at the usual time in the afternoon and get me. I shall have cooked myself for you,”
Oswera said calmly.
The following day the ogre went promptly as Oswera had told him and he found the home almost deserted.
He looked everywhere but a part from Obunde there was no trace of anybody.
Then he looked at the usual place and found a huge bowl of a big meal Oswera had cooked for him. The ogre
did not realize they had prepared a dog instead of Oswera. When he had eaten the ogre told Obunde he would
come for him the following day. Obunde got very worried and that night he could not sleep. The following day
he started crying:
Ah Oswera my wife, how did you cook yourself and how shall I cook myself for the ogre?” He sat down in
the dust of his compound and wept. Oswera became very annoyed with her husband.
You, you stupid, foolish man! Why sit and cry there all day long? How do you think I cooked myself? Take
one of the dogs and quickly prepare it for the ogre!’
Very quickly Obunde got up, caught, killed and prepared a dog for the ogre. Then he joined his wife and
children in a huge hollow part of a tree in his compound where they had hidden.
That day the ogre knew he was going to have his last meal of juicy human flesh. Being a generous and
unselfish ogre, he brought many of his fellow ogres. They were going to have a feat.
Suddenly as they were eating, they heard a man singing very happily. No they could not believe it! It was
Obunde singing! And he was boasting of how he had cheated the ogre.
The greedy ogre ate banana stalks
Not my family;
The greedy ogre ate a dog
Not Obunde Magoro!
The greedy ogre ate banana stalks
Not my family;
Now come and get Obunde,
His children and wife.
Obunde sang the words and the ogres got very angry. The first ogre rushed into the hollow of the tree, but
Oswera had heated a long piece of iron until it was white. She pushed the iron into the ogre’s mouth. The beast
fell down dead. The next one rushed into the hollow and Oswera killed him in the same way. In this way she
killed all the ogres and saved her husband and all their children.
My story ends there.
Questions
(a) Whom do you consider to be the hero in this story and why?
(b) In your own words, describe the setting of this story.
(c) Compare Obunde and the ogre as they are presented in this story.
(d) What is the role of the song in this story?
(e) Describe the character of Oswera, the wife as seen in this story.
(f) Other than the song, identify and illustrate one other feature of style used in the story.
(g) (a) Explain the moral teaching of this story.
(b) Use an appropriate proverb to summarize this lesson.
(h) List down three characteristics of the above genre.
(i) If you were to collect the above, what methods of data collection would you use?
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow.
Playing with her grandpa during her recent birthday, little Chhay, Ishan’s daughter, probably had no way of
comprehending that the older Kapila had just received the greatest honour a lawyer might expect from his
colleagues.
But not long before the unassuming Acchroo Ram Kapila had been awarded the Law Society of Kenya
Honours Award in an inaugural ceremony that saw him heading the Roll of Honour that will , in years to come,
bear the names of lawyers whose careers will have been adjudged exemplary in many ways.
“As I listened to the Chairman’s speech, reciting the highlights of my life, they seemed to belong to another
age, events so remote that, to the present generation, I must seem like a fossil or a dinosaur, of curious interest
only to students of archeology or prehistory,” Mr. Kapila had quipped in his acceptance speech.
“Now my life is complete,” he said in his perennially hilarious manner.
“Now would be the perfect moment to announce my retirement. But I know that I would change my mind the
moment the next challenging brief comes along. Besides, I am enjoying practicing with my two sons, Sheetal and
Ishan, far too much to even think of retirement!”
Teasing his audience about the possibility of being able to read his memoirs soon, he said: “You can leave
your deposits at the desk outside the door, as you leave, to secure your advance autographed copies. All I want to
say (now) is that I have wonderful memories (of times) full of excitement, hope and exhilaration, although I am
sure at the time these were brief interludes during long days, months and years of frustration, exhaustion,
trepidation and frequently depression.
Neither given to bragging nor moaning, Mr. Kapila was making the understatement of the year, and the highs
and lows of his lengthy and distinguished career will probably only become salient when he eventually writes his
memoirs.
It was a carrier that saw him rise to prominence by sheer accident, driven on by unusual courage that found
him rolling in a car in the course of duty, facing terrible racial discrimination and even doing time at the Kamiti
Maximum Security Prison. It also saw those close to him suffering because of his works, especially in the so
called political cases, which resulted in subtle police harassment.
But if Mr. Kapila in his 50 years plus of legal work made enemies with the high and mighty and had to bear with
the ensuing persecution, he certainly also had the joy and honour of rubbing shoulders and working with some of
the most memorable figures in the struggle to end oppression everywhere.
Among people he remembers fondly are the late J.M. Kariuki and Tom Mboya, as well as early heroes of
Kenya’s freedom struggle like legendary Jesse Kariuki, and numerous others he represented before and after the
Kapenguria trial.
In a career that saw him working closely with Apa Pant, Julius Nyerere, the late Joseph Murumbi and the
legendary lawyer Dennis Prit; there were probably more highs than lows.
Today, as Mr. Kapila plays either golf or the sitar, some of his greater passions, he should reminisce about tales to
tell his daughters-in-law Naseem and Karan who proudly refer to him as 'papa' – about the long and eventful
journey his whole life has been.
During the recent awards, Mr. Kapila was described thus by LSK Chairman Nzamba Kitonga: 'He is an
example, a visionary, a sage, possessed of dignity, clarity of thought, diligence and the gift of articulation, he has
prime qualities of a lawyer, wit, honesty, integrity, ability and courage.'
Unfortunately people with such qualities are extremely modest and self-effacing, and it was probably only
politeness that stopped Mr. Kapila from using the words of his old friend Dennis Pritt to tell Kitonga: 'I don’t like
too much praise – I find it really as bad as too much alcohol.'
Questions
(a) Name the greatest award that a lawyer can get from his colleagues in this country.
(b) Who was the first lawyer to get this award?
(c) Describe Kapila’s character as depicted in this passage.
(d) Why does the author think that in Kapila’s career there were probably more highs than lows?
(e) Describe the author’s attitude towards Kapila.
(f) Identify one simile in this passage and explain its meaning.
(g) Comment on Kapila’s statement 'Now my life is complete.
(h) Give the meaning of the following words and phrases as used in the passage.
(i) Memoirs:……………………………………
(ii) Salient:……………..……………
(iii) Even doing time at Kamiti prison:
(iv) Prime:………………
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Complete the following sentences by giving another word pronounced in the same way as the word underlined.(Solved)
Complete the following sentences by giving another word pronounced in the same way as the word underlined.
Around this place you are not allowed to play the music (i) _______________. The (ii) ___________ caused
havoc to the house of our aunts. We could not bar the children to touch the bear with (iii) ____ hands. By six
o’clock, the men who (iv) ___________ bread had not said bye to their colleagues. The (v) ___________ is full of nonsensical statements. They dry (vi)_________ was pounded to fine floor.
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in the blank spaces, with the most appropriate word.(Solved)
Fill in the blank spaces, with the most appropriate word.
Sister Stefani (1) _______________ sent to serve with other nuns at Gikondi Parish as a nurse. She (2)
______________herself to caring for the sick. It is said by (3) ___________ of her contemporaries that many
were the (4) _____________ that she spent entire days (5) ________________ eating so as to serve her many
patients. Because of this loving service (6) ____________ dedication, the people of that (7) _____________
nicknamed her as 'Nyaatha' which means 'a merciful person.'
According to the document that missionaries kept in Gikondi Parish, there was an (8) ______________ of
plague and Sister Stefani (9) ________________the disease as she was treating one of her patients. Other nuns
had requested her not to attend to the patient to avoid being (10) ______________.
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Explain the ambiguity in this sentence.(Solved)
Explain the ambiguity in this sentence.
We saw her duck.
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Replace the underlined word with a gender neutral one.(Solved)
Replace the underlined word with a gender neutral one.
The foreman arrived late and delayed the construction
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Choose the best alternative to complete the following sentences.(Solved)
Choose the best alternative to complete the following sentences.
(i) Walter and _______________ (me, I) wrote the article.
(ii) How can you be so sure it was______________? (they, them)
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)