- Replace each of the following words with a phrasal verb that means the same as the underlined word.
i) The suspect confessed after a long...(Solved)
Replace each of the following words with a phrasal verb that means the same as the underlined word.
i) The suspect confessed after a long interrogation.
ii)Only very irresponsible parents can abandon their children.
iii)It is wrong to despise the less fortunate.
Date posted: October 17, 2019. Answers (1)
- Rewrite the following sentences according to instructions given after each.
i) I’ll be back tomorrow. (Write into indirect speech)
ii) Mary did not show up...(Solved)
Rewrite the following sentences according to instructions given after each.
i) I’ll be back tomorrow. (Write into indirect speech)
ii) Mary did not show up for the meeting. Lucy as well did not.
(Rewrite as one sentence beginning: Neither…
iii)The English teacher lent me a book entitled ‘Going Down River Road’. (Rewrite using borrowed).
iv)On the way from school I saw a large snake (Begin: Coming…)
Date posted: October 17, 2019. Answers (1)
- HAWK AND HEN A long time ago, there lived Hen and her friend Hawk....(Solved)
Read the following story and then answer the questions that follow.
HAWK AND HEN
A long time ago, there lived Hen and her friend Hawk. The two were good friends and lived near each other. They shared whatever they possessed and their children too were good friends. Every morning after the planting season, one called upon the other to go out to the woods and to rubbish dumps to look for worms and other types of food.
One day, as they prepared themselves to go out to look for food, Hare called on them and told them, “My friends, as you know a friend in need is a friend indeed, I’ve called upon you this morning to invite you to my daughter’s wedding. I cannot forget,” she continued, “how you, especially you, Hen, fed my children when I was sick and bed-ridden. Please, come and enjoy with all of us,” she concluded.
Hen and Hawk looked at each other and nodded their heads. They promised Hare they would go to the ceremony. Hare thanked them and ran off towards his home.
After Hare had left, they looked at each other and burst out in laughter. As far as they were concerned, they did not consider Hare as a real friend but just one of them. They, however, decided to attend the wedding party out of curiosity. Hawk’s son had married a very beautiful girl the previous year and there was a lot of eating and drinking. Hawk could remember vividly how Hyena drank and drank beer until his four legs could not carry him. He had to be taken home completely unaware of what was happening. Could Hare’s party match hers? Hawk wondered. She became curious and wanted to find out.
On the wedding day, Hen and Hawk dressed themselves in their best party costumes. They warned their children not to leave their home compounds during their mothers’ absence. They then left home and walked happily towards Hare’s compound. Hare saw them at a distance and hurried to meet them.
“Oh! How are you my friends? Welcome home. The party is going to start in an ‘hour’s time”.
They went home while Hare was holding Hen’s hand. Hawk noted this with displeasure but she said nothing. When they reached home, Hare said: “Sit down and have a drink while I prepare myself’.
She asked one of her young sons to serve them drinks. When the drinks were brought, again Hawk noted that Hen was served the drink in a glass but Hawk was served in a cup with cracked edges. This killed Hawk’s spirits. She may not have been as beautiful as Hen but that was no reason why she should be discriminated upon. After all, hadn’t she gone out of her way to dress in her best clothes, just for that party? Hawk thought bitterly.
After an hour, Hare emerged from an inner room, dressed magnificently with matching shoes and a necklace. They all proceeded to the party. Hare made sure she sat next to Hen but Hawk sat a little further away. She wondered what was happening. Hen seemed very happy at the party and she laughed all the time with Hare, ignoring Hawk’s presence. Hawk became moody and decided not to talk to any of them from then on.
After the party was over, Hare bid the two goodbye and left for home. It was getting dark as they walked home. Hen tried to involve Hawk in a conversation.
“How did you find the party? I think it was wonderful.” Hawk did not answer Hen and she wondered why Hawk was behaving in that manner. Hen wanted to discuss the matter but Hawk said she was not interested. They went home without talking to each other until they reached their respective compounds. Hen, as usual in her high spirits, bid Hawk goodbye but Hawk looked at her sneeringly, swung her hips more than usual and shut her gate without a word. Hen closed her gate, too, and went to cook for her children.
Very early the next morning, Hawk’s child knocked at Hen’s door and after Hen opened the door, she said, “Mummy sent me to you to tell you to give back all the things that belong to us. Here are all your things that were in our house”
Hen was dumbfounded. She could not imagine ending the friendship with Hawk. They had been friends for such a longtime. Nevertheless, she gave the child all the things that were not hers to take to her mother. The child left but after a short while, she returned.
“Mummy told me you did not give me all the things. She needs our hoe and panga which you borrowed last week to cultivate your farm. She also needs the razor-blade which you borrowed yesterday to shave your children.”
Hen went back to the house and came out with the hoe and the panga but without the razor. She could not find the razor at all. She told Hawk’s child,
“Go and tell your mother I have searched for the razor-blade everywhere but I cannot get it. Tell her I will look for it later on and I will send one of my children with it”
Hen called out to all her children to look for the missing razor-blade and they scratched all round their compound without any success. That evening, Hen sent one of her children to report that the razor-blade was lost and they could not get it. When Hen’s child knocked at Hawk’s door, the door opened, she was pulled in by Hawk and killed. Hawk insisted that she had to have back her razor-blade and she swore to eat all of Hen’s children unless she got it back.
The next morning, Hawk and her children hovered over Hen’s compound trying to get a chance to snatch one of her children. Hen clucked loudly cluck...cluck...running all over the compound, frightened and frantically calling her children to come to her for protection. They all ran to her and she protected them, and Hawk flew away disappointed.
From that time until today, hens get frightened and hide their children any time they see Hawk nearby. Hawk, on the other hand, is still angry and she looks for Hen’s children to kill. She said she will never stop until she gets her razor-blade back. Hen still looks for her razor-blade everywhere and that is why hens are always seen scratching here and there looking for Hawk’s razor-blade. They wonder whether they will ever restore peace with Hawk and her family.
Questions
a)Identify and illustrate the main occupation of the characters in this narrative.
b)Explain the meaning of the following proverb as used in the passage.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed.”
c)How did Hen hide her children from the Hawk?
d)Identify and explain the characteristics of narrative evident in this story.
e)What incidences forced Hawk to break her friendship with Hen?
f)Identify at least two character traits of Hawk that are evident from this story.
g)Why do you think the words Hawk and Hen start with capital letters?
Date posted: October 17, 2019. Answers (1)
- A woman was yesterday arrested by a mannequin. It stood elongated, beige and on...(Solved)
Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow.
A woman was yesterday arrested by a mannequin. It stood elongated, beige and on tip toe with a curvaceous bum emphasizing its outline and boy did it work those jeans and that vest. She walked in and asked for that exact outfit in her size. It is not for nothing window shopping in such an easy phrase to relate to. Mannequins are enticing at the very least and at best serve up healthy doses of inspiration. A boutique displaying elegant though mostly pale, stiffened people with immobile faces and fingers draped in sophistication stands a better chance of reeling in a higher and steadier stream of clients.
Up market shops have for years adorned their space with the sleek veneer of a host of mostly female mannequins. One recently opened along Moi Avenue. It stands out because of its stark white contrast and completely unexpected presence on that side of the street.
In other parts of the world where fashion is taken rather seriously, dressing a window is art. Mannequins don’t simply usher you in.
They promise a slice of groomed life with as much head turning as the displays wrung out of your harried and hurried existence. A really powerful display window is irresistible. It stops you dead in your tracks and can transform an ordinary shop into a happening, hip joint with a revolving door. Yet these space and acres of clear, polished windows for all the world to see are the most underutilized pieces of real estate around.
Bookstores cheekily promise a “banned” book or sell a striking self-help title like Why Men Don’t Ask For Directions and Women Can’t Read Maps to convince you that you can indeed judge a book by its cover. Not attracting clients with your window is a failure to launch your business. A kind of slow, unfashionable death that is a fate suffered by so many shops one can be left breathless from the count. As a stylish individual, this is why you should care that yesterday a window displayed a fleet of wedding gowns with a velvety red background and today they have sporty wear. Smart, dynamic stores first change window displays to illustrate new stock, a very clear signal they have ventured into new fashion territory. It serves to reflect and magnify stock on their shelves.
Moving things around is a very handy trick supermarkets understand. Every time you walk into one, you have no idea where that bar of Ushindi you normally make a beeline for is, and instead wander around looking for it. This way, you not only spend more time in there but you look at old stuff with a fresh pair of eyes. This act alone entices you to spend more unless you possess extraordinary discipline, imagine then the possibilities within a clothes shop where wares are placed on mannequins with human features albeit with legs to rival Tina Turner’s, concaved abdomens that look nothing like anything we see in real life and perky breasts we know if we had, would never support.
To make money and increase traffic, price tags are kept in secret compartments forcing you to walk in and investigate.
By itself, apparel must seduce and entice a passer-by and transform them into a buyer. It is bait and you are the fish. An appealing outfit reels you in for a closer look. To mull over it further, you walk in to cop a feel, try it on or ask for the price. The objective has been achieved. You are in the shop.
By Carol Odero
Adapted from Sunday Nation, 29th March, 2009.
Questions
a)How was the woman mentioned in the first paragraph arrested?
b)What are mannequins according to the passage?
c)How do mannequins work as seen in the passage?
d)What does the writer mean by windows being the most under-utilized pieces of real estate?
e)What justifies a sudden change in window display according to the writer?
f)In about fifty words summarise what tricks supermarkets play on customers in order to entice them.
Rough copy
Final copy
g)In what way is an item on sale independent of the mannequins?
h)Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage.
i) Arrested
ii)Draped
Date posted: October 17, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
Modern science: A double-edged sword?
The human genome map is complete. This was the startling and fascinating news with which international scientists greeted the 21st Century. It meant that they had discovered and recorded every detail about the patterns of genes in our DNA. DNA is the substance of life in the cells of our bodies, and genes are the patterns in which this substance is
arranged. These patterns determine everything about our existence, from what we look like to how long we will live. Thus a full understanding of how these genetic patterns work was a very important scientific discovery for humankind.
Genetic mapping, however, was only one in a long series of scientific discoveries which have drastically changed our world and our lives over the past one hundred-odd years. These discoveries include internal combustion, aerodynamics, wireless communication and nuclear fission. Internal combustion means the production of heat energy by burning fuel
inside a closed chamber. Its discovery led to the manufacture of engines which move most vehicles today. It is easy to see that modern transport would be unimaginable without such machines. Still thinking of transport, the fastest and most efficient form of long-distance travel today is air travel. People had always dreamt of being able to fly but only a proper mastery of the
principles of aerodynamics – how objects stand and move within the atmosphere – made it possible to make flying machines. Today, aeroplanes fly to and from every corner of the world. The speeds at which aircraft move is also a wonder. When the supersonic concorde jet was used for air travel, one could have had breakfast in Nairobi, lunch in London and dinner in New York, across three continents, all on the same day. This is the power of modern science. Being able to send messages through space around the globe is another wonder of modern science. It was only in stories of fantasy that people could see and hear things many miles away. Today, this is reality, thanks to our scientific understanding of the behaviour of sound and vision waves. This understanding has lead to the invention of instruments such as the radio, television, computer and mobile phone. Today, one can watch events on a television set as they happen in any continent or even in space. Science seems to have overtaken magic.
A scientific development which is as frightening as it is fascinating is nuclear fission. Somewhere during the 1930s’ scientist found out that they could produce a tremendous amount of heat energy by splitting the cores of atoms, some of the smallest units of which matter is made. The heat produced by splitting these atoms was so great that it could burn
a whole city to ashes in a matter of minutes. Indeed, this is what sadly happened in Japan in 1945 during the Second World War. In order to win the war quickly, the Americans dropped two atomic bombs, made by nuclear fission, on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two cities were destroyed instantly and thousands of people were killed. The Japanese were so shocked that they surrendered immediately. Science had helped the Americans to win the war, but at what cost!
This brings us to a very important point about science. It has both benefits and dangers.
Our understanding, control and use of nature, which is what science is, can be used for good or for evil, Mastery of human genome, for example, can help in the control of
hereditary diseases. A clever rearrangement of a person’s genes may prevent them from inheriting breathing problems characteristic of asthma or uncontrollable bleeding caused by haemophilia. This would be science in the service of humankind. On the other hand, an evil scientist may manipulate human genes to create monsters. Scientist have managed to clone animals such as cattle, sheep and rabbits. A clone is an animal that is an exact genetic copy of another animal. Some scientists have even contemplated producing cloned human beings! What kind of human beings these will turn out to be; only time will tell.
Questions:
1. How did scientists greet the 21st century?
(2mks)
2. Name four scientific discoveries that have been made in the last one hundred years?
3. What according to the passage demonstrates the advantages of aerodynamics?
4. Mention one scientific discovery which is said to have overtaken magic.
5. Explain how an atomic bomb is made.
6. Why did the Americans drop atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
7. How can scientific discoveries in the area of genetics benefit humankind?
8. What is the possible danger of the discoveries in genetic research?
9. Comment on the relevance of the title of the passage.
10. Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the passage
i) Is as frightening as it is fascinating.
ii) A clever rearrangement.
Date posted: October 15, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in the blank spaces below with the most appropriate words.(Solved)
Fill in the blank spaces below with the most appropriate words.
It was now time for 1....................who had a question or anything else to do so. At first nobody stood. 2. .............. seemed to be staring blankly in the air waiting for someone else to go first. Suddenly, somebody finally stood. "I have a suggestion," she said. "Let 3........... be given a chance to say 4................ We should not leave this meeting until this matter is resolved." Wangui suddenly gathered 5.................and spoke as tears flowed freely down her face 6. ...............she asked for forgiveness from those they had aggrieved. Right in front of her, was Paulo, the headboy. Before he could 7............, Wangui handed him the mobile phone they had been 8 ............. for in the dormitories. She hated the prospect of facing their ruthless principal, but she was 9. ..........that that was the right thing to do. The principal was not 10. ............. to learn that Wangui had had this phone all along.
Date posted: October 15, 2019. Answers (1)
- FIRST SIGHT
Lambs that learn to walk in snow
When their bleating clouds the air
Meet a vast unwelcome, know
Nothing but a sunless glare...(Solved)
FIRST SIGHT
Lambs that learn to walk in snow
When their bleating clouds the air
Meet a vast unwelcome, know
Nothing but a sunless glare
Mainly stumbling to and fro
All they find, outside the fold
Is a wretched width of cold.
i) Describe the rhyme pattern of the poem.
ii) Identify, illustrate and show the effect of one other sound pattern in the poem.
iii) Identify an example of paradox in the poem.
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- Identify the odd one out in the underlined sounds.
i) chase chit choke chauffer cheque
ii) book pool fool tool cool
(Solved)
Identify the odd one out in the underlined sounds.
i) chase chit choke chauffer cheque
ii) book pool fool tool cool
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- Indicate the kind of intonation you would use for the following.
i) What was your School mean score?
ii)Did you revise for your exam?(Solved)
Indicate the kind of intonation you would use for the following.
i) What was your School mean score?
ii)Did you revise for your exam?
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- ‘There is nothing like a dull audience. It is the speaker’s responsibility to enliven it.’
Which ways would you put in place to ensure this?...(Solved)
‘There is nothing like a dull audience. It is the speaker’s responsibility to enliven it.’
Which ways would you put in place to ensure this?
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- What non-verbal cues would be used to express the following emotions and attitudes?
i)Respect
ii) Sadness
iii)Confidence
iv)Tension
v)Shyness (Solved)
What non-verbal cues would be used to express the following emotions and attitudes?
i)Respect
ii) Sadness
iii)Confidence
iv)Tension
v)Shyness
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- Some words may sound the same but they are actually very different in terms of meaning and spelling. Supply the missing pair for the following.
i)...(Solved)
Some words may sound the same but they are actually very different in terms of meaning and spelling. Supply the missing pair for the following.
i) Wail
ii) Yew
iii) Or
iv) Dam
v) Lead
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- Identify the silent consonant sounds in the following.
i)Sword
ii)Wretched
iii)Iron
iv)Solemn
v)Scepter
vi)Would (Solved)
Identify the silent consonant sounds in the following.
i)Sword
ii)Wretched
iii)Iron
iv)Solemn
v)Scepter
vi)Would
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- CLOZE TEST
There are (1) __________________ fake job offers which job seekers (2) _________________ in their e-mail nowadays. While some can (3) __________________ be...(Solved)
CLOZE TEST
There are (1) __________________ fake job offers which job seekers (2) _________________ in their e-mail nowadays. While some can (3) __________________ be distinguished as fake, others are not that easy to do so. You’re looking for a job, like millions of people these days are, and you rummage (4) _________________ the sites for offers. Voila, you see a position (5) ________________ that fits your (6) _____________________ with a local company you may know. (7) ________________ be you take time to fill out the laborious (8) _________________ and send it on its way, (9) __________________ that, finally you might be in the running. But hours turn (10) ________________ days, a week goes by. And you don’t hear a peep.
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill the blanks with the correct prepositions.(Solved)
Fill the blanks with the correct prepositions.
5. Fill the blanks with the correct prepositions.
a. James has a great passion ..............debates.
b. My mother prohibited us ...........talking to strangers.
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- Complete each of the following sentences with the correct form of word in brackets.
a) Mwala’s remark was ................. (repeat) of what Mworia had said.
b)...(Solved)
Complete each of the following sentences with the correct form of word in brackets.
a) Mwala’s remark was............(repeat) of what Mworia had said.
b) Mark’s............. (decide) affected everybody.
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in the blanks using ‘some’ or ‘any’.(Solved)
Fill in the blanks using ‘some’ or ‘any’
a) I don’t have .............. paper.
b) I think John would like ........... more ugali.
c) Is there .................... fresh meat at the butcher’s?
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- Re-arrange the following sentences to make a short story. (Solved)
Re-arrange the following sentences to make a short story.
a) The bird, highly flattered, opened her mouth to sing.
b) One day a crow spied a piece of cheese on a window sill.
c) The cheese fell and was soon eaten by the crafty animal.
d) She picked it up and flew to a neighboring tree.
e) A cunning fox approached and praised her voice.
Date posted: October 14, 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.
Moving to a new country can be exciting, even exhilarating experience. In a new environment, you somehow feel more alive: seeing new sights, eating new food, hearing the foreign sounds of a new language, and feeling a different climate against your skin stimulate your senses as never before. Soon, however, this sensory bombardment becomes sensory overload. Suddenly, new experiences seem stressful rather than stimulating, and delight turns into discomfort. This is the phenomenon known as culture shock. Culture shock is more than jet lag or homesickness, and it affects nearly everyone who enters a new culture – tourists, business travelers, diplomats and students alike. Although not everyone experiences culture shock in exactly the same way, many experts agree that it has roughly five stages.
In the first stage, you are excited by your new environment. You experience some simple difficulties such as trying to use the telephone or public transportation, but you consider these small challenges that you can
quickly overcome. Your feelings about the new culture are positive, so you are eager to make contact with people and to try new foods.
Sooner or later, differences in behavior and customs become more noticeable to you. This is the second stage of culture shock. Because you do not know the social customs of the new culture, you may find it difficult to make friends. For instance, you do not understand how to make “small talk,” so they overhear a conversation. You understand all the words, but you do not understand the meaning. Why is everyone laughing? Are they laughing at you or at some joke that you did not understand?
Also, you aren’t always sure how to act while shopping. Is this store self-service or should you wait for a clerk to assist you? If you buy a sweater the wrong size, can you exchange it? These are not minor challenges; they are major frustrations.
In the third stage you no longer have positive feelings about the new culture. You feel that you have made a mistake in coming here. Making friends hasn’t been easy, so you begin to feel lonely and isolated. Now you want to be with familiar people and eat similar food. You begin to spend most your free time with students from your home country, and you eat in restaurants that serve your native food. In fact, food becomes an obsession, and you spend a lot of time planning, shopping for, and cooking food from home.
You know that you are in the fourth stage of culture shock when you have negative feelings about almost everything. In this stage you actively reject the new culture. You become critical, suspicious, and irritable. You believe that people are unfriendly, that your landlord is trying to cheat you, that your teachers do not like you, and that the food is making you sick. In fact, you may actually develop stomachaches, headaches, sleeplessness, lethargy, or other physical symptoms.
Finally, you reach the fifth stage. As your language skills improve, you begin to have some success in meeting people and in negotiating situations. You are able to exchange the sweater that was too small, and you can successfully chat about the weather with a stranger on the bus. Your self-confidence grows. After realizing that you cannot change your surroundings, you begin to accept the differences and tolerate them. For instance the food will never be as tasty as the food in your home country, but you are now able to eat and sometimes even enjoy many dishes. You may not like the way some people in your host country dress or behave in public, but you do not regard their clothes and behavior as wrong – just different. In conclusion, nearly everyone moving to a new country feels some decree of culture shock.
Symptoms may vary, and not all people experience all five stages. Newcomers with a strong support group may feel at home immediately in the new culture, while others take months to feel comfortable. Staying in touch with friends and family, keeping a positive attitude, and above all, learning the language as soon as possible is ways to overcome the difficulties and frustrations of adapting to life in a new land.
From: Writing Academic English, Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Pearson Education, Longman (2006)
(a) According to the passage, what is the meaning of culture shock?
(b) Identify any three factors that can cause culture shock?
(c) What evidence does the author give to show "you understand all the words, but you do not understand the meaning"?
(d) Give any three features that characterize a person in the worst state of culture shock.
(e) In note form, give the difficulties experienced in the second stage of culture shock
(f) Why is making friends helpful in overcoming culture shock?
(g) Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage.
i. Alive –
ii. Obsession –
iii. Negotiation –
(h) Staying in touch with friends and family, keeping a positive attitude, and, above all, learning the language as soon as possible are ways to overcome the difficulties and frustrations of adapting to life in a new land.
(Rewrite the sentence above without changing the meaning. Begin: You.....)
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the following narrative and answer the questions that follow.
(Solved)
Read the following narrative and answer the questions that follow.
The Ndebele tell their children that long ago, there were three friends: the beautiful leopard, the jackal and the hyena. They went everywhere together. Whenever Leopard killed an animal, he would always leave part of it for his friends so that they could have a good feed too.
One day it happened that leopard was ill, and so he could not hunt. "Jackal," he said, "please catch some food for us, for I am not well."
But lazy Jackal said, "No, I am too weary. Ask Hyena."
So Leopard said, "Hyena, please hunt for us today, for I am not well enough to do so.”
But Hyena, too, made an excuse: "No, I have a sore foot."
So leopard roared in anger. "I thought you were my friends, but you are a no-good, lazy pair. Never again will I leave you meat when I make my kill. From this day on, I will make sure of it. I shall take what is left and hang it in a tree, when I have eaten all I want. Then neither of you will be able to get at it."
Leopard was true to his word – for since that day he has never left any meat for his selfish friends. Up into a tree it goes, high out of reach of jackals and hyenas. They have become scavengers now instead, and they eat the scraps that other animals leave behind. It was a sad day for them when they lost Leopard’s friendship.
(when Hippo was Hairy and Other Tales from Africa, Letterworth Press, 1990)
a) Giving a reason for your answer, say what kind of narrative this is.
b) What character can you give the leopard?
c) Identify the features of oral narratives that have been used in this story.
d) What lessons do we learn from this story?
e) What function is played by an opening formula and a closing formula in an oral narrative?
Date posted: October 14, 2019. Answers (1)