- Provide a homophone for each of the following words.(Solved)
Provide a homophone for each of the following words.
i) Bury …………………………………..
ii) Claws ………………………………..
iii) Guest …………………………………
iv) Male ………………………………….
Date posted: August 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Underline the silent letters in the following words. (Solved)
Underline the silent letters in the following words.
i) Corps
ii) Parliament
iii) Leopard
iv) Fracas
Date posted: August 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the conversation below between a student and a teacher and then answer that follow.(Solved)
Read the conversation below between a student and a teacher and then answer that follow.
Student: (knocking the door loudly and getting in) I am told you called me.
Teacher: (motioning him to seat) please have a seat Rono and don’t be anxious.
Student: (still standing). Don’t tell me you have sum…
Teacher: (interrupting). Please relax. It is not an indiscipline issue again. No cause for alarm.
Student: So then, why do you want to see me?
Teacher: Calm down Rono. On the contrary, it is a positive note.
Student: (looking a bit controlled and sliding into a seat). Sorry sir, May I know what it is about.
Teacher: (Smiling broadly). That’s better. I called you to discuss your progress in academics lately.
Student: (With a lightened up face and more reassured).Yes sir.
Teacher: Looking at your trend of performance especially in languages and mathematics, I am very impressed. (Pointing at Maths and English columns) See, from D+ to B in Maths and D to C+ in English is commendable!
Student: (Rubbing his hands and slightly smiling) Thanks sir. I am grateful for your kind guidance.
Teacher: (In affirmative note) Yes. This is the result of change of attitude, obedience and determination.
Student: (Sighs) Thank you once more for your concern. I will be able to face my dad courageously now.
Teacher: Yes, that’s how it should be. Always work to impress your parents. Never look back again. Forward ever.
Student: Thanks Sir. I promise never to let you and my parents down ever again.
Teacher: Good. You can now go back to class.
Student: (Stands up and shakes hands with the teacher). Thanks once more and good day sir.
Questions
i) How does the teacher establish good rapport with the student?
ii) What good conversational skills are displayed by:
a) The teacher?
b) The student?
iii) Identify two shortcomings in the student’s speech
Date posted: August 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- State the four points to consider when giving instructions to a person about how to get from
one point to the other.(Solved)
State the four points to consider when giving instructions to a person about how to get from
one point to the other.
Date posted: August 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Give a homophone for each of the following words.(Solved)
Give a homophone for each of the following words.
i) Gate ………………………………………………………………..
ii) Forward …………………………………………………………………
iii) Medal …………………………………………………………………
iv) Sweet …………………………………………………………………
Date posted: August 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in each blank space in the passage with the most appropriate word. (Solved)
Fill in each blank space in the passage with the most appropriate word.
The issue of birth certificates as a (1) ………………………………..for registration of candidates has ignited a lot of concern for parents with students sitting for this year’s examinations. Whereas we are concerned about the issue of foreigners in this country, this directive has (2) ………………………….. many parents and students alike unprepared (3) ………………………………… instance, most students sitting this year’s K.C.S.E. were born in the late 90s and if they happen not to have even birth certificates, which is (4) …………………………… likely, it also means that they don’t have even their birth notification cards. (5) …………………………………… birth certificates under these circumstances, and within the given time frame, is (6) …………………………………………….. . The authorities (7) …………………………….. with the issuance of these documents (8) ………………………………….. process them urgently. (9) ……………………..is a serious matter. Candidates have been given a very short time to (10) …………………………… these documents.
Date posted: August 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the following telephone conversation and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the following telephone conversation and answer the questions that follow.
Secretary: (Phone rings) Hello, Purpose Drive Secondary school, may I help you?
Caller: I want to speak to the principal.
Secretary: May I know who is calling please?
Caller: (Impatient and irritated) I have said I want to speak to the principal, period
Secretary: Excuse me I am sorry He is in a meeting with the board of management, could you please call later, Sir?
Caller: (Shouting) are you stopping me from talking to your boss, do you know who I am? Had you even heard of the supplier of your stationery?
Secretary: (Politely) Oh, Mr. Erickson? I am sorry you cannot talk to him now call after an hour or may I take a message to him please?
Caller: (Bangs the receiver)
i) Identify two instances that show the caller lack of telephone etiquette.
ii) How can you tell that the secretary observes professional conversational skills in the above telephone conversation
Date posted: August 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Identify the odd one out based on the pronunciation of the underlined letter(s). (Solved)
Identify the odd one out based on the pronunciation of the underlined letter(s).
i) Quay, quaint, quack, quality .................................................................................................
ii) Chain, Character, Flinch, Champion .....................................................................................
iii) Sachet, Packet, Ticket, Thicket .............................................................................................
Date posted: August 5, 2019. Answers (1)
- Write down a word with a silent letter as indicated.(Solved)
Write down a word with a silent letter as indicated.
i) …………………………………………. p
ii) …………………………………………..s
iii) …………………………………………..n
Date posted: August 5, 2019. Answers (1)
- Assign intonation to the following sentences.(Solved)
Assign intonation to the following sentences.
i) I think we are completely lost …………………………………………
ii) We will be able to go, won’t we? ……………………………………..
iii) She bought a house ……………………………………………………
Date posted: August 5, 2019. Answers (1)
- Provide homophones for the following words. (Solved)
Provide homophones for the following words.
i) Coup ………………………………………………………...
ii) Brooch ………………………………………………………
iii) Muscle ...................
Date posted: August 5, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word. (Solved)
Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
It is undeniable that our education system.1……………. Kenya has done a lot for students. Our literacy 2……………………. has risen tremendously over the 3..…………….thirty years. More youths are leaving school for the work force at 4…………………… educational levels. The majority of Kenyans have had the 5…………… of primary education, something most of our grandparents do not 6……………………
However, there are still 7…………………which need improvement in our educational system. There is need for enough space experimentation 8……………the cultivation of genuine interest. .….9…….is required is a real understanding and appreciation of the subject,10…………merely high marks.
Date posted: August 5, 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:
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
Date posted: June 27, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
For Africans living abroad, nothing is more irritating than the constant diet of negative news on
Africa. The only silver lining is that Africa is way down the list of news importance for the
Western media. Most of the time Africa is ignored but when it does make it into the newspapers,
radio or TV, then it is always portrayed as sinking in corruption, wars, famine and disease. If
you set out to find a positive story on Africa, you may have to wait until your grand children
have grown old.
What is more unfortunate is that whereas the rest of the world is divided into nations, Africa is
lumped into one big sorry mass. A civil war in a tiny country in Africa elicits screaming
headlines such as “Africa returns to barbarity”. Civil wars in Europe are not European civil wars
but civil ears in Bosnia, Sebia and so on. No one bothers to mention that out of Africa’s 54
countries, only two may be engaged in civil wars. That means 52 countries are peaceful. But the
impression you get from the Western media is that all of Africa is at war with itself.
The same goes for diseases, especially aids. Hardly does a week go by without the ‘experts’
from the West predicting how Africa’s entire population will be wiped out in fifty years’ time. If
all the predictions made about the impact of Aids had been correct, most African countries would
have been entirely depopulated by now.
According to the Western media, Africa is corrupt . All of Africa, all the time. It is interesting to
note that in America, for example, only the executives of a given company are said to be corrupt
while all African leader are seen as being irredeemably corrupt.
The point being put across is that Africa is guilty unless proven innocent. Western journalists
assigned to cover Africa are in most cases the most junior and the least experienced in the
organization. They are given this version of a ‘Hopeless Continent’ for so long that when they
land in any African country, they immediately set out to confirm their prejudices. And you can
always find what you are looking for.The situation is similar to the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In Africa, Western
journalists set out to find corruption, decay and mismanagement. And if they cannot find it, they
will invent it on the basis that “ it must be there somewhere”
The causes of this generalized negative view of Africa are complex. When you confront
Western journalists, they deny that their view of Africa is prejudiced. They are probably telling
the truth because they report what they see- but they see what they want to see. And what they
want to see, subconsciously is a version of backward, primitive and uncivilized Africa.
So, while we feel irritated and even angered by the Western media’s portrayal of Africa, we must
remember that many journalists cannot help but see Africa the way they programmed to do. The
only way this can change is if the programming is changed. But how do you go about doing so?
The first step is to create space for dialogue between the Western media and Africans. It is
during such discussions that Africans will be able to tell their side of the story. If this happens,
then the Western media will see Africa as we do –a glorious continent full of promise but going
through a rough time at present.
(Adapted from African Business, May 2004)
a) What is the likelihood of finding a positive story on Africa?
b) Why are Bosnia and Serbia mentioned?
c) Why is the word “experts” on the third paragraph put within quotation marks?
d) Rewrite the following sentence to begin: Had….
'If all the predictions made about the impact of Aids had been correct, most African
countries would have been entirely depopulated by now.'
e) According to the passage is Africa more corrupt that America? Explain your answer.
f) Give two reasons why African stories are mainly assigned to the most junior and
inexperienced journalists
h) Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the passage:
Silver lining
Sorry
Irredeemably
Date posted: June 27, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:(Solved)
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
In the days after the bomb went off the air was full of whispers. Paulina knew the
sense of them although they were often enough phrased in difficult English purposely
order to exclude her. But she could not be excluded. Had she not lost a child? They said
that Kariuki had gone to Zambia, had registered in a hotel there. But the elder Mrs.
Kariuki was an acquaintance of the house and she did not know of it, her co-wife also did
not know. There had been no preparations for going: there had been no custom of
keeping unnecessary secrets. It was small husbands with small concerns who did that.
Whisper, whisper, whisper. They said the police officers had been transferred
from here to there. That officers had been consulting with the missing man here and
there. That there was a lot of money. That parliament- whisper, whisper, whisper.
Paulina went about her duties, ironing, setting tables, supervising the servant in
the cleaning of the house and the hard washing. Sometimes her belly throbbed with the
child who had been so casually taken from her at another time like this and the others
who had been denied her. And yet a child was a child with a light hold on life. When it
came to a man, a wealthy man, golden tongued, greatly loved, though he was not of her
own people she knew this much, that the passing of such a man would be remembered,
celebrate. Still not a week passed without someone speaking of Tom.
And when the body was found, discreetly mutilated, you knew what the event
was that for weeks you had been expecting, although the real event was still not known.
The police officers went about their leave or their business outside the station without
referring to it, the mortuary keeper who had a well-dressed corpse of appropriate size and
weight and characteristics in his charge did not tumble to it. The airline clerks checking
flights to Zambia did not tumble to it, the children playing in the streets did not tumble to
it -children who were of the age to have been shot in Kano or patel flats, children who did
not shy away from the sight of a gun or hold their noses against white smoke from a camps, after the squatters had missed their chance to buy up the white farm settlement
plots, after the land titles had been written, children who did not know the eerie stillness
of the forest of the KEM prohibited signs. Children of the New Method, who knew John
Wayne and the Aga Khan and Bruce Lee and Charlie Chaplin by sight, who knew how to
figure on a base of five and counted out diligently in their nursery schools.
“Eeny, meeny, miny mo,
Catch a little baby so,
If he hollers let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny mo.”
Even those terribly sharp children did not tumble to it.
Nobody really knew how it tied up with the bomb. There was no need to know,
Hyenas were there to settle with those who asked too many questions. But while the
casualties of the bomb were nameless people absorbed into the daily casualty lists of fire,
flood and domestic quarrels, J.M burst upon the scene as a martyr and a paroxysm of
grief ran through the city. The skies were leaden that April and it grew colder and colder.
Eyes grew hard in Nairobi and conversations were rounded off with polite, empty
phrases, even before the stranger came close. Photographs of J.M alternated with the
Pope and the Sacred Heart on the roadside framing stands. The book was reprinted and
within a few months parliamentary speeches were printed too. A kikuyu gramophone
record was banned Mr. Mwangale remarked bluntly in parliament, “This is time we
cannot be told Njenga did it. “Paulina and Martin did not discuss it. The employers spoke
of it in low tones. In May the rains came, chill and steady, a bit late, and in the shanties
by the river people squirmed and shivered over the water-logged ground and fires
smoked damply at the amount of airless polythene shelter
a) Which bomb is referred to in this extract?
b) Explain why the author repeats the word “whisper”?
c) “…..the child who had been so casually taken from her at another time like.”
What incident in the novel does this relate to?
d) Write notes on the aspects of the politics contained in this extract.
e) Mr. Mwangale remarked bluntly in parliament,
“…this time we cannot be told Njenga did it”.
Rewrite as reported speech.
f) In about 80 words, summerize the cover-up
g) Identify and explain one use of sarcasm in this extract.
h) What shows that J.M became even more popular after he died?
Date posted: June 27, 2019. Answers (1)
- Explain the difference in meaning between the following sentences.(Solved)
Explain the difference in meaning between the following sentences.
i) Mary even learnt how to write
ii) Even Mary learnt how to write
Date posted: June 12, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in the gaps in the sentences below with the most appropriate prepositions.(Solved)
Fill in the gaps in the sentences below with the most appropriate prepositions.
i) This year's candidates are very good ............................................ languages.
ii) Give us information ................................................ your company.
iii) The police wanted proof ......................................... their explanation
Date posted: June 12, 2019. Answers (1)
- Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given.(Solved)
Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given.
i) If you come to the arena, you will meet the great Isukuti dancers. (Rewrite using . . . . .unless . . . .)
ii) Korean women are very short; very few of them are above five feet tell.
(Rewrite as one sentence using the word 'hardly')
iii) He had never know that it meant go to without a meal. He was unsympathetic towards the street boy.
(Begin: Never . . . .)
iv) My family owns a holiday flat and that is why we always go to the same place. (Begin: If . . . . )
Date posted: June 12, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and then answer the questions after it.(Solved)
Read the poem below and then answer the questions after it.
THE SMILING ORPHAN
And when she passed away, They came,
Kinsmen came,
Friends came.
Everybody came to mourn her.
Hospitalized for five months The Ward was her world Fellow patients her compatriots
The meagre hospital supply-her diet
When she was dying
Her son was on Official Duty The State demanded his Services. Her only daughter, uneducated, Sat by her
Crying, praying, waiting for an answer From God far above
Wishing, she spoke the language Figures in white-coats do understand. They matched, the figures did
Stiff, numb and deaf, to the cries and wishes Of her dying mother.
As she was dying
Friends and kinsmen TALKED of her
How good, how helpful: a very practical woman.
None reached her: they were too busy, there was no money, Who would look after their homes?
Was it so crucial their presence?
But when she passed away, they came, Kinsmen came, friends hired cars to come, Neighbours gathered to mourn her,
They ought to be there for the funeral
So they swore.
The mourners shrieked out cries
As they arrived in the busy compound of the dead. Memories of loved ones no more
Stimulated tears of many.
They cried dutiful tears for the deceased Now stretching their hands all over to help. The daughter looked at them
With dry eyes, quiet, blank.
The mourners pinched each other Shocked by the stone-heartedness Of the orphaned.
She sat: watching the tears soak their garments Or in the soil around them; wasted.
That night, she went to her love,
In the freshly made emergency grass hut,
And let loose all ties of the Conventional Dress she wore Submitting to the Great Power, she whispered
Now .....
You and I must know Now .... Tomorrow you might never understand
Unable to lick my tears ..... ·
And there was light
In the darkness of the hut While outside
The mourners cried Louder than the Orphan.
By Grace Birabwa Isharaza
a) Who is the persona in the poem?
b) Explain what the poem is about?
d) Comment on the effectiveness of the title of the poem.
e) Identify one character trait of the orphan.
f) Identify and illustrate any two stylistic devices used in the poem.
g) Describe the mood of the poem.
h) Explain the following lines and used in the poem
They cried dutiful tears for the deceased .................................................................................................
And there was Light in the darkness of the hut
Date posted: June 12, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
The statements, events and reactions of the past couple of weeks surrounding the perennially vexed subject of corruption makes me wonder. Are we on the cusp of the challenge to and confrontation against corruption?
Certainly we have come a long way In identifying and isolating it. Let me give a small example. Twenty one years ago, I wrote a piece for the Sunday Nation which was entitled "Why Kenya's looting brigade now has its eyes on public land"
The main thrust of the article was that after the monetary excesses of 1992 and 1993, there was a growing penchant for Kenya's looting brigade to next move their focus and activities to public land. The process was as simple and as was crude. A handful of politically connected private individuals or entities would get allocated a prime piece of public land for a nominal sum. A title would be processed and then it would be sold, in part or whole, at a much higher price to a public institution that had the cash resources. It became known as "land grabbing" and most Kenyans can give countless examples of where this has taken place. It was double plunder because not only was the land grabbed; it was often paid out of public resources or savings that were meant for other things.
Today, we talk about this activity and make reference to it with alacrity and in most cases without fear. Not so in 1994.When I first wrote the piece and offered it to the Sunday Nation, it passed the relevant tests of being well researched and factually correct, but publishing it was another matter. There was a culture of fear that shrouded the whole country and putting one's head above the parapet was regarded as dangerous and reckless. The piece was pushed around a couple of editorial desks and the decision to publish was deferred for a while I recall I was requested to "soften" the piece. When it did eventually get printed, I was very much aware that I might get a backlash and braced myself accordingly. Today, there is much less remaining of that culture of fear but as we have been reminded several times recently, corruption at many levels continues unabated. The Dossier compiled by the Ethics and Anti-corruption Authority (EACC) is evidence enough. The stance made by the president on Thursday is also encouraging.
So where to now? There is no doubt that the public outrage the majority of the population, who are mere victims, as opposed to beneficiaries, is gathering the momentum of landslide proportions. We should not underestimate that growing anger. This is both unsurprising and gratifying. For most of us, corruption just makes our lives much tougher, more fatiguing and even expensive.
The big question is: how seriously will those who have been named take it? The norm in many countries which aspire to high integrity standards is that when a person is named by such a body as the EACC, then that person should step aside. The onus is on the relevant bodies to complete investigations and prosecute as and when necessary and for the person named to defend him or herself.
That is where we should be heading. The president should make it clear that all the people named in the scandal should step aside. If we move down that road, then we are indeed heading in the right direction. If we do not then this will just be another bout of public gesturing of the bread and circuses variety.
Lastly, the EACC and in turn the Director of Public Prosecution, need to do some serious ground work to fully support and, where applicable, prosecute what is being alleged. We are watching and in a number of cases, rather sceptically.
a) According to the passage, what statements shows that corruption has taken a long time to be addressed?
b) From the writer's perspective, what is land grabbing?
c) Why is it easier today to talk about land grabbing with alacrity than before?
d) Why does the writer refer to land grabbing as 'double plunder'?
e) How does corruption affect the wider society?
f) What steps should be taken when suspects involved in corruption step aside? Give your answer in note form
g) We should not underestimate that growing anger. (Rewrite in the passive)
h) In which way can the EACC help in the fight against corruption?
i) What is the meaning of the following words as used in the passage?
i) Thrust
ii) Deferred
iii) Dossier
Date posted: June 12, 2019. Answers (1)