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Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow:

      

Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow:

There was a little hand mirror in the cupboard and she looked at the dark bruises on her checks,
but they were less swollen than her back and shoulders. She had opened the window a crack to
see in the mirror, then closed it again but now there was a tapping on the shutter.
‘Who is it?” she called, fearful that he might be testing her by sending visitors
‘It is Ahoya Don’t be afraid,’ came the welcome voice in Luo.
‘Are you all right, Paulina?'
‘Are you all right, Paulina?’
‘I am all right but not very,’ said Paulina shamefacedly, pushing at the shutter,’ and I cannot
open the door
Yes, I thought so,’ replied the matter-or-fact voice. ‘He has locked you in. Did he beat you
also?’
‘Yes, he beat me also.’
‘And that is the first time?’
‘The first time. He used to love me.’
A hoya laughed gently. ‘Well, he does love you. I could see it in his face as he caught sight of
you. But I thought also he would beat you, for it is a shame to him to have you lost, though you
did not mean it so. Have you anything to eat?’
‘No. I do not need anything, thank you.’
‘Or any medicine?’
‘No, I shall be all right.’
‘Be sensible, child. Every wife who comes to Nairobi from the country has problems. Do not
think it is the end of the world. Every young man has problems too. Probably all his friends and
workmates have been telling him he is too young to marry and now he begins to wonder how he
will manage. Don’t you know that if ou had been married in the old way your husband would
have given you a token beating while the guests were still there? They say that is so that if you
are widowed and inherited you will not be able to say that you new husband was the first person
ever to beat you. So don’t start to wish back wards. You praise God that He has given you a
husband to love you, just as I have been able to do without one.’
‘You too?’ asked Paulina, wondering. ‘You too, like Drusilla, you are not married and yet you
seem to understand so much?’
‘You have met Drusilla, have you? Well, she is a very great friend of mine. And Miriam, who
lives quite near here is another. And we all know that God ca look after us in all that is needful.
But you, who have a husband, also need food and medicines, and I will bring it myself so that no
one can accuse you of having men visitors, but you can give the tray to Amina in the front room
and I will get it collected.’
She rushed away and Paulina at once felt comforted. After half an hour Ahoya came back in the
car.
She handed through the window a tube of ointment and a tray with thick slices of bread and jam
and cold orange drink on it.
‘Now if he smells ointment, tell him I bought it and he can come and ask me questions he likes.
Paulina heard the car start. She ate carefully, forcing herself to finish, and when Amina tapped at
the window to take the tray away they exchanged such small courtesies as can be managed
without a common language. Paulina slept until the stiffness softened into a small ache all over
her body, and Amina gathered her cronies to tell them:

That Martin, soft he may have looked and spoken but my goodness, did he go for her! And the
mother’s milk hardly dried on her lips; poor thing. We’ll see that she learns to give him
something to think about, won’t we just’

a) Explain what happens just before this extract.

b) Describe the first meeting between Paulina and Ahoya.

c) Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the extract.

i) Dazed

ii) Courtesies

d) What does Paulina think of Martin after the events so far recorded in the novel?


e) Rewrite the following in reported speech:

'No. I do not need anything, thank you.

f) Describe two character traits of Paulina revealed in this extract.

g) Make notes on Ahoya’s view of wife beating.

h) Who is Drusilla?

i) Comment on the expression ‘and the mother’s milk hardly on her lips

  

Answers


Martin
(a) Just before this extract Martin had beaten Paulina and locked her up
In the house ( after she had been away for two nights) when she lost
her away from hospital)

(b) The police inspector finds Paulina locked in a cell without a charge,
takes pity on her and decides to take to Ahoya’s residence for safety as
it was a nightfall. Ahoya, an elderly white lady, took her in, fed her and
gave her a place to sleep. Very early in the morning they set out in
search of Martin/ Martin’s house and soon enough they found him
leaving the house for work.

(c) (i) Dazed- unable to think clearly/ stranded
Dumbfounded/ dumbstruck/ confused/ stupefied/ stunned/
bewildered

(ii) courtesies- pleasantries/ greetings/ small talk/ friendly talk/ casual
exchange.

(d) Paulina thinks that Martin does not love her/ she says the first time. He
used to love me

(e) Paulina thanked Ahoya and told her she did not need anything
Paulina politely told Ahoya that she did not need anything

(f) Timid/ nervous/ fearful It takes Ahoya a quite a while to make
Paulina open up
Naïve/ innocent/ unworldly Had thought that since Martin loved her he
would never beat her
Caution/ prudent/ careful She finds out who is at window before
opening lest Martin had sent a visitor to
test her.

(g) She views wife beating as a natural thing that most wives who join their
husbands in Nairobi go through
She views it as a trivial thing since it is not the end of the world/ she
views it as something not to make a woman regret.
She views it as something that should not make a woman regret being
in marriage.

(h) A staunch Christian mid- wife who had been called in to eaxamine
Paulina when she was lost and just come from hospital/ she used
single. Has chosen to remain single


Role she plays

(i) Emphasizes the fact that Paulina is too young to have been married. She
has just been earned off. Leads to the last part which emphasizes the
sympathy/ Amina expresses for her.
Portrays a community that practices unity marriage/ it explains Paulina’s
sympathy.

marto answered the question on June 27, 2019 at 06:35


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  • Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with the most appropriate word.(Solved)

    Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with the most appropriate word.

    What is good governance? This is a (1)……………… discussed very often. It refers to the (2)……….. management of affairs of a village, town or country. Where there is (3) …………………. governance, people live (4) …………… harmony, ways of reducing poverty are sought and people (5) ………… ownership of the process of developing their communities. (5)………………… ownership of the process of developing their communities. Although the government is expected to create a (6) ……….. political and legal environment, it cannot succeed if ordinary citizens do not co-operate and play their role. Everyone craves for the maintenance of the (7)……………. of law, but if we do not obey that same law, we will know no peace. We accuse certain sectors of corruption but give (8) …………. in order to induce others to give us preferential (9) …………. If we really desire to have positive changes in our society, we must change our attitudes and join hands in building a society we can be (10)……….

    Date posted: June 12, 2019.  Answers (1)

  • Explain the difference in meaning between the following sentences.(Solved)

    Explain the difference in meaning between the following sentences.

    i) The guest who have badges will park at the yard

    ii) The guests, who have badges, will park at the yard.

    Date posted: June 12, 2019.  Answers (1)

  • Rewrite each of the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Do not change the meaning(Solved)

    Rewrite each of the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Do not change the meaning.

    i) The jet circled the town. It scared the residents. (Combine into one sentence using a participle)

    ii) ‘I must sign the cheques now’ the manager said. (Rewrite in reported speech)

    iii) I passed well in KCSE. It was because of my mother’s support.(combine into one sentence beginning: But..

    iv) If you have not talked to the principal, he will send the students home. (Rewrite in passive)

    v) Parliament passed the marriage bill it requires couples to declare whatever they own jointly. (punctuate correctly)

    Date posted: June 12, 2019.  Answers (1)

  • Read the story below and then answer the questions that follow.(Solved)

    Read the story below and then answer the questions that follow.

    love with him. Eight girls at least, were known to want to marry the young warrior, for they had composed many songs ion his praise.
    Now this warrior was one time getting ready to go a long raid in a far away country. Before he set off for the raid, he called the youngest of his eight lovers and told her to put fresh milk in a small gourd. He also instructed her to keep checking on the color of the milk every day.”Should the milk turn red, the warrior told the girl.’ it would mean that I have been killed or am seriously wounded’. The young girl was so touched by the departure of her lover that she composed the following song for him.
    My warrior whom I love
    For whom I open the sweet curdled
    Milk of my father’s herd,
    And to whom I give fat ram
    Of my father to slaughter
    To whom I give my slender
    Thighs to lie on
    With whom are you going on a raid next?
    It happened that many days after the departure of the warrior, the girl ‘noticed the milk was turning red she wept bitterly for she knew that her lover was either dead or dying in a far away country. Without telling anyone the girl set off to look her dying lover.
    For many days she traveled and as she walked through plains and forests she sang the song she had composed for her lost warrior she traveled on and as she traveled she checked the color of the milk in the gourd. Each day that she saw the milk turn a little more red., she traveled faster and each day she hoped that she hoped that she would find her love alive.
    On the ninth day the girl sang louder and louder as she traveled. Each time she sang she would listen to hear if there was any reply. And as she listened at one time she heard a faint voice. There was no mistake about it. It was her lover’s voice she ran and ran and after a while she found her lover. He was extremely weak and badly wounded. When the dying warrior saw her, he told her, 'When I am finished, you take war attire and weapons home. When you get a son give them to him'. And with that the warrior seemed to be dying. But the girl did not listen to him, she quickly looked for water and washed his wounds. And after that she began to look for food for him. It did not take long before she saw a deer passing by. With her lover’s pear she killed it, and roasted the meat for her lover. For many months the young woman washed the wounds of her lover and fed him until he was well again. Back at home everybody thought that the young woman and her lover were dead, and they insisted that their death rites be performed
    However, the father of the warrior kept postponing the death rites. But at the last the old man agreed to perform the rites because his youngest son was to be circumcised, and could not be circumcised before the rites were performed.
    So, preparations for the death rites for the lost warrior were made. But on the morning of the day that rites were performed and as people were gathering, one of the people in the gathering heard a war song coming from the other side of the valley. He asked other people to listen. The father of the warrior could not mistake his son’s soul. He was almost crying as he gazed on the other side of the valley. The singing voice becomes clearer and before long the warrior and his lover emerged, driving a large herd of cattle. The bells that were tied around the necks of the oxen played to the tune of the war song.
    There was great rejoicing as people ran to meet the lost warrior and his young lover. On their arrival back home a big bull was slaughtered and there was a great feast. People ate and drank. And the warrior and his lover were married. They become man and wife and lived happily. And my story ends.
    Adapted from Oral literature: A junior course by A: Bukenya and M. Gachanja, Longhorn.

    a) Explain features of oral narratives in the above genre.

    b) How has the youngest lover changed the plot of the story?.

    c) State and explain three social activities of the communities depicted in the story.

    d) Describe the prevailing mood of the last paragraph.

    e) Explain two character traits of the warrior as depicted in the narrative.

    f) A class collected the above item from a community in Rusinga Island.

    1. Which means of transport do you think they used and why?

    2. State the items they lost during the transcription of the above story.

    g) Provide a proverb that summarizes the above story.

    h) State the main function of the song used in this narrative

    Date posted: June 12, 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.

    A new system modeled on Continous Assessment Tests [CATs] will soon replace ranking of teachers, learners, schools and regions in both KCPE and KCSE according to the Cabinet Secretary for Education Science and Technology Prof Jacob Kaimenyi.
    In the meantime, the ministry has constituted a team of experts to work out on an elaborate, credible and all-inclusive standard system that the management of schools would use in conducting the tests from the moment learners join school to the time they complete studies. This will include collaboration with the Education Ministry, the Examinations Council, Parents Association and Teachers Unions.
    According to the Ministry’s plan, the accumulated marks awarded over a period of time in all areas of learning, including co-curriculum activities would count towards the final results when one leaves school either after KCPE or KCSE examinations. To achieve the best possible grading and desired results, those charged with implementing the new program would have to consider all the important aspects of administering CATs at various levels of learning and teaching. The new system which would be implemented any time soon will serve as an alternative after the recent banning of ranking on performance of schools and candidates in national examinations, though there have been calls from a section of parents, Kenya National Union of Teachers and The private Schools Association to have the Minister rescind his decision on ranking.
    It is worth noting that in the CATs program, learners are examined continuously during their education and results considered after leaving school. It is an evaluation conducted over time; in other words, you are examined right through your learning process and not after the learning process [summative evaluation].By doing this assessment, you can track the improvement of the learner; you will be able top give more support and guidance and the learner will have more opportunities to improve.
    It has also been established that CATs can provide early indicators of likely performance of learners, something that can be of great help to the students themselves. It can also provide details of what has been learned at a particular stage of the course.
    The CS said that after working out the new grading system for KCSE and KCPE candidates to be used by schools, the system would become a policy where KNEC will be left with no other choice but to make it operational to end the public outcry on scrapping franking of schools teachers, candidates and regions. However, we are waiting to see if the teachers, some of whom have been accused of perpetuating examinations’ vices, will uphold the integrity that is in doubt.
    [Adapted from Education News:Jan 10-22, 2015]

    (a) State what are normally compared after KCPE and KCSE have been announced.

    (b) How is the new system going to ensure inclusivity before its inception?

    (c) In note form, state four would be advantages of the new system.

    (d) In what way are two mentioned systems different?

    (e) It is worth noting that in the CAT program, learners are examined continuously during their education and results considered after leaving school.(Re-write adding a question tag

    (f) Show that the banning of ranking is not approved by all.

    (g) Describe the writer’s attitude in the last paragraph.

    (h) What procedure will be followed before the proposed systems begins?

    (i) Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage

    Rescind

    Integrity

    Date posted: June 12, 2019.  Answers (1)