- Identify by underlining the silent vowel sounds in the following words.
1. Parliament
2. Factory
3. Given
4. Reduce
5. Attention.(Solved)
Identify by underlining the silent vowel sounds in the following words.
1. Parliament
2. Factory
3. Given
4. Reduce
5. Attention.
Date posted: October 31, 2019. Answers (1)
- The maskWe wear the mask that grins and liesIt hides our cheeks and shades...(Solved)
Read the following poem carefully and then answer the questions that follow:
The mask
We wear the mask that grins and lies
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us while
We smile, but O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile
But let the world dream otherwise
(Paul Lawrence Dunbar).
QUESTIONS
1. Describe the Rhyme Scheme of the above poem.
2. Identify ANY other sound patterns used in the poem. What is their effect?
3. If you were reciting this poem to an audience how would you perform the last line.
Date posted: October 31, 2019. Answers (1)
- The setting of a story ________ to the time and place where the story takes place....(Solved)
Fill in the following gaps with the most appropriate word
The setting of a story ________ to the time and place where the story takes place. The setting may shift
from one place to _________________________as the story progresses and end somewhere else, or it
might move elsewhere and come back to the _____________________________ place, hence completing
a full circle. Sometimes the setting _________________ be static (no change. Time is also important for
the setting. This could be told in the story, or could be ____________________________ by the events in
the of the story. For example ,if the story ______________________around a modern setting, with modern
buildings and technological devices, this alludes to the time of setting-i.e. the recent past.
__________________________ if the show grass-thatched huts as dwelling places of the character, this
could be an indication that either the setting is in the____________________________ of the rural areas
,or the story was written was some time __________________________the past
It is important to _____________________________ the setting of a story as this helps us to understand
the theme, the behavior and attitudes of the characters in the story better.
Date posted: October 31, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the narrative below and then answer the questions that follow. A greedy Old Man and the Sausage. Once upon a time, there lived an...(Solved)
3. ORAL SKILLS
(a) Read the narrative below and then answer the questions that follow.
A greedy Old Man and the Sausage
Once upon a time, there lived an old man. One day he paid a visit to his in-laws. On entering the house of his mother-in-law, he found that she had been roasting some meat, among which was delicious looking sausage and she was not in the house. He immediately took the sausage and quickly shoved it into his quiver. And it so happened that a piece of live coal had got stuck on the sausage but the old man didn’t know. He quickly shut the quiver.
No sooner had he sat down than the owner of the house came in. They sat down to talk about the children’s health. When they had finished, it was time for the old man to return to his home. Just then, the woman noticed smoke issuing from the quiver and asked the old man; “Paker, how come the quiver is smoking? The man answered, “Oh. It’s some naughty fire stick with a soft head that smokes whenever it comes into contact with soft wood and the arrows.” The woman kept quiet and got up to escort her guest.
When they had walked only a short distance, the fire made a hole in the quiver and the arrows fell out, tak! together with the stolen sausage. The lady, who was walking closely behind, exclaimed: ‘see, had I not known it! Then the old man fearing that his sausage might be eaten shouted, “Oh, my Paker, Please do not do it!”
So while the lady ran home in shame, the greedy old man continued with his journey in extreme embarrassment. They showed each other their backs and there ends the story.
Questions
i) State three things a narrator would do to draw the audience’s attention at the beginning of the story (3mks)
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………….
ii) Describe how a narrator would perform line 4-6 of the second paragraph (2mks)
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………….
iii) Explain four ways in which audience can indicate active listening in the performance of this narrative (4mks)
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………….
iv) Apart from using the ending formula, how else would a narrator signal to the audience the ending of his story? (1mk)
………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………….
3b. For each of the following words, identify the silent letter (5mks)
(i) Satchet
(ii) Tomb
(iii) Married
(iv) Mortgage
(v) Champagne
3c. Pick the odd word out based on the pronunciation of the underlined vowel sounds
(4mks)
(i) Cup, bury, hut cut
(ii) Pail, paper, patron, patter
(iii) Cold, corn, cohort, convoke
(iv) Brook, broom, brood, boot
3d. You have been summoned to the Discipline Teacher’s Office. You are in possession of a bag that was reportedly missing. Complete the gaps in the following conversation.
Discipline Teacher (knock!) Yes, come in, Good morning
Me…………………………………………………………………… (1mk)
Discipline teacher: Are you innocent Kibaya?
Me…………………………………………………………………….. (1mk)
Discipline teacher: Tell me about this missing bag.
Me…………………………………………………………………….. (2mks)
Discipline teacher: Do you have any substantial proof?
Me……………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………… (2mks)
Discipline teacher: Okey Innocent, I find your explanation convincing.
I feel it was a case of mistaken identity.
Me…………………………………………………………………….. (1mk)
3e. You are giving verbal directions to a stranger in your estate. What are the main parts to consider? (4mks)
Date posted: October 29, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in each of the following spaces in the passage below with the most appropriate word. The donkey has always been looked on...(Solved)
2. CLOZE TEST (10 MARKS)
Fill in each of the following spaces in the passage below with the most appropriate word.
The donkey has always been looked on (1)__________________ the less impressive cousin of the horse. It (2) __________________ rather silly with its big, floppy (3) _________________ and short, sturdy legs. It also makes an unbecoming loud braying (4) _________________________ probably (5) ____________________ of its appearance and bray. It is always (6)_______________________ in folk tales as a silly creature.
Yes, donkeys that live (7) ____________________ the wilderness are fine looking and well built creatures. They are sociable and (8) _______________________ an average life span longer than (9)______________________ of horses . Wild donkeys can (10) ________________ even faster than horses.
Date posted: October 29, 2019. Answers (1)
- You are a member of the Wild Life Club in your school, a sponsor has requested you to sent him an email...(Solved)
1. FUNCTIONAL SKILLS (20 MARKS)
You are a member of the Wild Life Club in your school, a sponsor has requested you to sent
him an email including minutes of a meeting in which you requested for assistance to plant
trees in the school compound.
Date posted: October 29, 2019. Answers (1)
- Lilly loves leaking lolly pops like a little lad lying like a lilly in a lake.
i) Identify the above genre
ii) Explain the features...(Solved)
Lilly loves leaking lolly pops like a little lad lying like a lilly in a lake.
i) Identify the above genre
ii) Explain the features characteristic of the genre
iii)What are the functions of the above genre?
Date posted: October 29, 2019. Answers (1)
- i) You are the outgoing President and you have been asked to give a speech during your prize giving day. List five strategies you may...(Solved)
i) You are the outgoing President and you have been asked to give a speech during your prize giving day. List five strategies you may employ to ensure effective introduction of the speech.
ii)Imagine that you feel nervous as you present the speech. What would you do to overcome it?
Date posted: October 29, 2019. Answers (1)
- For each of the following words provide another word pronounced the same.
i) Boy
ii) Colonel
iii)Grown
iv)Liar
v)Quay (Solved)
For each of the following words provide another word pronounced the same.
i) Boy
ii) Colonel
iii)Grown
iv)Liar
v)Quay
Date posted: October 29, 2019. Answers (1)
- My mother groaned, my father wept, Into the dangerous world I Leapt, Helpless,...(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
INFANT SORROW
My mother groaned, my father wept,
Into the dangerous world I Leapt,
Helpless, naked, piping loud
Like friend hid in a cloud.
Struggling in my father’s hands,
Striving against my swaddling bands,
Bound and weary I thought best,
To suck upon my mother’s breast.
(William Blake)
i)Illustrate any two stylistic devices used by the poet.
ii) Work out the rhyme scheme in this poem.
iii)Mention two non-verbal cues you would use to make the poem interesting. Indicate the lines you would use them.
iv)Which words would you stress in line 1 and why?
Date posted: October 29, 2019. Answers (1)
- When food gets (1) ____________________ people are forced to resort to desperate measures. (2)_________________ families resort to eating wild fruits, tubers and vegetables. For example,...(Solved)
When food gets (1) ____________________ people are forced to resort to desperate measures. (2)_________________ families resort to eating wild fruits, tubers and vegetables. For example, in Turkana South, people eat a hard highly (3)_________________ wild fruit called ‘Elamarch’ which they have to boil for over ten hours before it becomes safe for human (4) ________________. Sadly, by the time it is cooked, some weak people would have (5)__________________ of hunger.
The most (6)____________________ twist to famine situation is when food poisoning occurs. It aggravates an already (7) ____________________ situation because it also claims human (8)____________________ food. The (9)____________________ poisonous substance found in contaminated food is aflatoxin B1. Aflatoxin is mainly found in (10)_________________ stored maize.
Date posted: October 29, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in the blank spaces, with the most appropriate word.Poaching is increasingly (1) _______a menace, not just in Kenya, (2) ____ also in...(Solved)
Fill in the blank spaces, with the most appropriate word.
Poaching is increasingly (1) _______a menace, not just in Kenya,
(2) _____ also in other parts of the continent, (3) _______ a grave
danger to the survival of various animals species, particularly the elephant. Whereas
there have been (4) ________to raise awareness about the danger posed by
the menace, not enough has been done to (5) _____it out and punish offenders.
As it is, poaching is becoming a crisis, threatening species like elephants, which are
hunted (6) ________their ivory, rhinos which are targeted because of their
horns and other game like lions.
The Kenya Wildlife Service has been doing well to combat (7) _______________ but
it appears that more is needed if the criminals (8) _________________ to be stopped.
If the killers have more sophisticated weaponry, then KWS must (9) _______________
its game or call (10) _______________ the military to assist.
Date posted: October 21, 2019. Answers (1)
- Punctuate the following correctly.
mother I said I am listening she replied am I really going away
(Solved)
Punctuate the following correctly.
mother I said I am listening she replied am I really going away
Date posted: October 17, 2019. Answers (1)
- Add question tags to the given statements.
i) I am not expected to do it _______________________
ii) Enjoy your mid-term break ______________________(Solved)
Add question tags to the given statements.
i) I am not expected to do it _______________________
ii) Enjoy your mid-term break ______________________
Date posted: October 17, 2019. Answers (1)
- Fill in each blank space using the correct form of the word in brackets.
i)The news came as a __________________________ to us all. (reveal)
ii)The chairman...(Solved)
Fill in each blank space using the correct form of the word in brackets.
i)The news came as a __________________________ to us all. (reveal)
ii)The chairman was accused of __________________________ of funds. (manage)
iii)Tom and John are close __________________________. (relate)
Date posted: October 17, 2019. Answers (1)
- 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)