- Read the excerpt below then answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the excerpt below then answer the questions that follow.
Mrs. Linde: I think I have the right to be. I too have
Nora: I think so, too. But now, listen to this: something to be proud and glad of.
Mrs. Linde: I have no doubt you have. But what do you refer
Nora: Speak low. Suppose Torvald were to hear! He mustn't on any account — no one in the world must know, Christine, except you.
Mrs. Linde: But what is it?
Nora: Come here. (pulls her down on the sofa beside her.)
Now I will show you that I too have something to be proud of. It was I who saved Torvald's life.
Mrs. Linde: 'Saved'? How?
Nora: I told you about our trip to Italy. Torvald would never have recovered if he had not gone there —
Mrs. Linde: Yes, but your father gave you the necessary funds.
Nora: (smiling) Yes, that is what Torvald and all the others think, but—
Mrs. Linde: But—
Nora: Papa didn't give us a shilling. It was I who procured the
Mrs. Linde: You? All that large sum?
Nora: Two hundred and fifty pounds. What do you think of that?
Mrs. Linde: But, Nora, how could you possibly do it? Did you win a prize in the lottery?
Nora: (contemptuously) In the lottery? There would have been no credit in that.
Mrs. Linde: But where did you get it from, then?
Nora: (humming and smiling with an air of mystery) Hm, hm! Aha!
Mrs. Linde: Because you couldn't have borrowed it.
Nora: Couldn't l? Why not?
Mrs. Linde: No a wife cannot borrow without her husband consent.
Nora: (tossing her head) Oh, if it is a wife who has any head for business — a wife who has the wit to be a little bit clever
Mrs. Linde: I don't understand it at all, Nora.
Nora: There is no need you should. I never said I had borrowed the money. I may have got it some other way. (lies back on the sofa) Perhaps I got it from some other admirer. When anyone is as attractive as I am -
Mrs. Linde: You are a made creature.
Nora: Now, you know you're full of curiosity, Christine.
Mrs. Linde: Listen to me, Nora dear. Haven't you been a little bit imprudent?
Nora: (sits up straight) It is important to save your husband's life.
Mrs. Linde: It seems to me imprudent, without his knowledge, to -
Questions:
a) Place the excerpt in its immediate context.
b) What major theme comes out in the excerpt?
c) Give two-character traits of Nora brought out in the excerpt.
d) Compare what Mrs Line has been through to what Nora has gone through and say what it reveals about women.
e) Explain dramatic irony as brought our through Nora's revelation.
f) I think I have the right to bee (Add a question tag)
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
With every passing day, technology is overtaking our daily lives. Regardless of age, gender, career or economic status, smartphones are fast becoming ubiquitous.
More than two million Kenyans now own smartphones. Add the computer, tablet and other high tech devices and your life is surrounded by a myriad gadgets which, to some, have become best friends.
Many of us rely on the phone to do everything, from saying “ I love you” to “I’m quitting”, from checking bank balances to selling stuff on OLX, from sharing photos and videos to streaming content on the web. We can carry out a plethora of daily tasks, right from the palms of our hands.
At the dinner table, it’s the norm to constantly check for texts, e-mails, tweets, WhatsApp and Face book updates. In a darkened movie hall, people are always multi task on their phones while watching a movie. Some people even walk with the phone to the toilet and text and take calls from there.
Over dinner, in church, at a funeral service and even when carrying on face-to-face conversation, the smartphone is guaranteed to keep you in tune and in touch. It is common to see careless people texting while driving despite the fact that it is six times more dangerous to text and drive than to drink and drive.
Because of this over-dependence on the smartphone, many people suffer from the fear of losing it, even if only for a few minutes.
The “I must- have-my-phone-with-me-at-all-times” mindset has become such a real problem. There’s now a name coined for the fear of being without phone: nomophobia -no-mo(bile) phone-phobia. Nomophobia is the fear of not being able to connect to the digital world by the means of mobile phone.
Although there is no ICD-10 code (the required classification for any medical condition) yet for this specific affliction, researchers into the phenomenon describe nomophobic people as individuals who suffer from the anxiety of not having their mobile phone.
The anxiety commonly manifests itself when the person notices their smartphones has a low battery, no internet connection or if it is missing and one is therefore out of the loop with friends, family, work and the world. We are ever so busy with gadgets that we intrude into other people’s space.
As our culture becomes ever more tech savvy and tech hungry, phone-free zones will become more and more common. Just like we have smoke-free zones in public places, we are starting to see quiet corners, where phone calls are restricted. It’s because common courtesy is often thrown out the window when we’re on the phone.
Some airports are now offering lounges that are cell phone free. Just like cigarettes, the mobile phone pendulum is beginning to swing as more and more people acquire monophonic tendencies.
Considering the Smartphone’s new abilities and capabilities, they are now being used like digital ‘Swiss Army Knives’, replacing possessions like watches, cameras, books and even laptops. Today the Smartphone is capable of being an alarm clock, digital camera, and even television, which causes users to become heavily dependent on it.
Psychologists advise that, while monophobia could possibly never receive a diagnosis, it is certainly a rising trend. If you constantly find yourself using your Smartphone at odd times, such as dinner table, while driving, or even in washroom, try your best to refrain from it and use it only when it is safe and not considered rude.
Setting limits for yourself and engaging with family and friends face-to-face can help calm the anxiety of continuously checking your phone.
(Adapted from Sunday Nation May 25, 2014)
Questions
a) Why is technology said to be overtaking our daily lives?
b) In point form, state the uses of a phone.
c) What are the bad habits that result from over-dependency on the phone as seen in the passage and how can they be managed?
d) When does anxiety manifest itself more with the use of a phone?
e) According to the passage, why is there need for free zones in public places.
f)Some airports are now offering lounges that are cellphone free.’ Rewrite using a question tag.
g) What is the author’s attitude towards smartphones?
h) Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage:
a) Myriad......................................
b) Ubiquitous............................
c) Plethora................................
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Choose the correct word to fill in the blank spaces. (Solved)
Choose the correct word to fill in the blank spaces.
i) I came here with Don and .....................(she ,her)
ii) Between you and ................... (I, me) who is more generous?
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Fill in each of the blank spaces with an appropriate word. (Solved)
Fill in each of the blank spaces with an appropriate word.
i) The burglar was accused ................. being an accomplice in the theft.
ii) The banana was shared .............. the three girls.
iii) The book is hidden ..................the view of passers – by.
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Complete each of the following sentences using the correct phrasal verb formed from the word given in brackets.
(Solved)
Complete each of the following sentences using the correct phrasal verb formed from the word given in brackets .
i) It was so dark that I could hardly.................. the person lurking in the darkness. (make)
ii) The nurse was so..................that she threw the file onto the doctor’s desk (work)
iii) The number of AIDS patients in Kenya is ................. (come)
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions after each. (Solved)
Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions after each.
i) It is bad manners to spit on the ground. (Rewrite using a gerund)
ii) It is a pleasant surprise to meet you again after all these years. (Rewrite beginning: What…….)
iii) Kathundai likes eating rice more than taking coffee. (Begin: Kathundai prefers …….)
iv) There were very few boys in our class. (use ……any…….)
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Read the excerpt below and then answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the excerpt below and then answer the questions that follow.
Helmer: What sort of an expression is that to use about our marriage?
Nora: (undisturbed) I mean that I was simply transferred from papa's hands into yours. You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same tastes as yours or else I pretended to, I am really not quite sure which — I think sometimes the one and sometimes the other. When I look back on it, it seems to me as if I had been living here like a poor woman —just from hand to mouth. I have existed merely to perform tricks for you, Torvald. But you would have it so. You and papa have committed a great sin against me. It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life.
Helmer: How unreasonable and how ungrateful you are, Nora! Have you not been happy here?
Nora: No, I have never been happy. I thought I was, but it has never really been so.
Helmer: Not — not happy!
Nora: No, only merry. And you have always been so kind to me. But our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa's doll-child;and here the children have been my dolls. I thought it great fun when you played with me, just as they thought it great fun when I played with them. That is what our marriage has been Torvald.
Helmer: There is some truth in what you say — exaggerated and strained as your view of it is. But for the future it shall be different. Playtime shall be over, and lesson-time shall begin.
Nora: Whose lessons? Mine , or the children's?
Helmer: Both yours and the children's my darling Nora.
Nora: Alas, Torvald, you are not the man to educate me into being a proper wife for you.
Helmer: And you can say that!
Nora: And I — how am I fitted to bring up the children?
Helmer: Nora!
Nora: Didn't you say so yourself a little while ago — that you dare not trust me to bring them up?
Helmer: In a moment of anger! Why do you pay any heed to that?
Nora: Indeed, you were perfectly right. I am not fit for the task. There is another task I must undertake first. I must try and educate myself— you are not the man to help me in that.
I must do that for myself. And that is why I am going to leave you now.
Helmer: (springing up) What do you say?
Nora: I must stand quite lone, if I am to understand myself and everything about me.lt is for that reason that I cannot remain with you any longer.
Helmer: Nora, Nora!
Nora: I am going away from now, at once. I am sure Christine will take me in for the night —
Helmer: You are out of your mind! I won't allow it! I forbid you!
Nora: It is no use forbidding me anything any longer. I will take with me what belongs to myself. I will take nothing from you, either now or later.
Helmer: What sort of madness is this!
Nora: Tomorrow I shall go home — I mean, to my old home. It will be easiest for me to find something to do there. Helmer: You blind, foolish woman!
Questions:
a) What expression had Nora used about their marriage?
b) How does this excerpt add relevance to the title of the play?
c) Give two-character traits for each of the following characters as brought out in the excerpt.
1) Helmer
2) Nora
d) What theme comes out in the excerpt?
e) explain place of women in society
f) I am going away from here now. (Change into a negative statement)
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
Africans are undoubtedly a very enduring race and have the capacity to utilize the available natural resources for the betterment of life. The biggest challenge however, is to identify ways and means of creating an environment that is likely to encourage development in Africa.
Perhaps the greatest strategy would be to develop political structures and government institutions that have the capacity to formulate and implement genuine poverty alleviation strategies. Administrative arrangements that no longer serve our needs should be overhauled or discarded altogether. Governments should foster exploitation and management of natural resources by providing an enabling environment. Having stable governments may not be effective if we don’t fight corruption. We should ensure that leaders and government agents become answerable to the taxpayers. The public should be educated on the ills of corruption. Those who have stolen public funds must be made to return it or face the full force of the law. Again, people known to have stashed money in foreign banks should be forced to repatriate that money so as to improve cash flow in our economies.
Apart from this, African countries must find a way of solving their internal conflicts without involving the international community; after all, we are all brothers with a common cause. The need to unite and exist as unitary states should be stressed as this overrides clan and tribal rights or sentiments that fuel animosity. The African union should be strengthened to enable it to arbitrate intra and inter – states disputes. The resulting peace will provide a suitable environment for economic growth and set us on the road to recovery and prosperity.
Another solution would be to develop rural –based economies since the bulk of our population lives in the rural areas. Industries that process farm produce and those that manufacture farm inputs, machinery and implements should be located in rural areas. Similarly, mining concerns should establish processing plants near mines. Such industries will naturally recruit manpower from the locality involved and consequently reduce the incidence of rural – urban migration. Setting up industries in the rural areas will necessitate development of infrastructure, which will open up the rural areas for business. This will further encourage agricultural expansion and increase food production to counter perennial
food shortages in Africa. For instance, development of dairy and beef processing industry in the rural areas will encourage development of sustainable livestock keeping and probably bring to an end the loss of cattle to drought. A rural based economy will basically raise the income of the rural people and bridge the disparity between the rich and the poor.
We could also introduce appropriate technology in exploitation of natural resources and in wealth creation. Since imported technologies are expensive to maintain, Africans should tap the local expertise to develop technologies appropriate to our needs. Home – grown technology should enable us alleviate Africans food insecurity for utilizing river and lake water for irrigation and by harvesting wind and solar energy.
Lastly, our regional economic units such as ECOWAS, SADC and EAC should be transformed into common markets by removing unnecessary tariffs on goods at various entry points so as to realize the benefits of a common market.
The people of Africa should continually seek a better life. We have the resources; the manpower and the capacity to make things move.
a) From paragraph 1, what is the author’s opinion of Africans?
b) What should African countries do to fight corruption?
c) Explain how Africans can open up rural areas
d) We have the resources; the manpower and the capacity to make things move.
(Rewrite adding a question tag)
e) Using information in the passage, summarize the ways of fostering development in African countries in not more than 50 words.
f) What is the tone of the last paragraph of this passage? Give reasons from the passage to support your answer.
g) Explain the meaning of each of the following expressions as used in the passage.
i) stashed
ii) disparity
iii) fuel animosity
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Fill the blanks with the correct preposition.(Solved)
Fill the blanks with the correct preposition.
(i) The accused was so confused that he was lost________________ words.
(ii) A friend is someone you should be able to count _______________when you are in difficulties.
(iii)The county Director of education conferred _______________the class teacher before entering the class.
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Rewrite the following in passive voice.(Solved)
Rewrite the following in passive voice.
i) People say this new material is very good
ii) A student dentist took two of my teeth out.
(iii)A guide took me round Fort Jesus.
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Punctuate the following sentences correctly:(Solved)
Punctuate the following sentences correctly.
(i) The frog states an old African proverb does not jump without a reason
(ii) The principal said thank you for the information Mrs. Mulwa.
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Punctuate the following sentences correctly.(Solved)
Punctuate the following sentences correctly.
(i) The frog states an old African proverb does not jump without a reason
(ii) The principal said thank you for the information Mrs. Mulwa.
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each .Do not change the meaning.(Solved)
Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each .Do not change the meaning.
(i) Lillian Gilbreth invented the step - on garbage can. Her children wrote about her life.
(Join into one sentence using ‘whose’)
(ii) My brother and me have been taking piano lessons for six years. (Rewrite correctly)
(iii) Is this the only blue car in your showroom?
(Begin: Aren’t)
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Read the excerpt below and answer the questions that follow.
(Solved)
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions that follow.
Nora: Yes, read it.
Helmer: (standing by the lamp) I scarcely have the courage to do it. It may mean ruin for both of us. No, I must know. (Tears open the letter, runs his eye over a few lines, looks at a paper enclosed, and gives a shout of joy) Nora! — No, I must read it once again Yes, it is true! I am saved! Nora, I am
Nora: And l?
Helmer: You too, of course; we are both saved, both you and l. Look, he sends you your bond back. he says he regrets and repents —that a happy change in his life -- never mine what he says! We are saved, Nora! No one can do anything to you, Oh, Nora, — no, first I must destroy these hateful things. Let me see - . (takes a look at the bond) No, no, I won't look at it. The whole thing shall be nothing but a bad dream to me. (Tears up the bond and both letters, throws them all into the stove and watches them burn.) There — now it doesn't exist any longer. He says that since Christmas Eve you —These must have been three dreadful days for you, Nora.
Nora: I have fought a hard fight these three days.
Helmer: And suffered agonies, and seen no way out but-. No, we won't call any of the horror to mind. We will only shout with joy, and keep saying, 'It's all over! It's all over!' Listen to me, Nora. You don't seem to realize that it is all over. What is this? — Such a cold, set face! My poor little Nora, I quite understand; you don't feel as if you could believe that I have forgiven you. But it is true, Nora, I swear it. I have forgiven you everything. I know that what you did, you did out of love for me.
Nora: That is true
Helmer: You have loved me as a wife ought to love her husband. Only you had not sufficient lcnowledge to judge of the means you used. But do you suppose you are any the less dear to me, because you don't understand how to act on your own responsibility? No, no; only lean on me; I will advise you and direct you. I should not be a man if this Womanly helplessness did not just give you a double attractiveness in my eyes. You must not think any more about the hard things I said in my first moment of consternation, when I thought everything was going to overwhelm me. I have forgiven you, Nora; I swear to you I have forgiven you.
Nora: Thank you for your forgiveness. (She goes out through the door to the right.)
Questions:
a) What is it that Nora asks Helmer to read?
b) After reading the letter, Helmer exclaims. 'l am saved!' What does this reveal about him?'
c) What style is brought out when Helmer says, 'I know that what you did, you did out of love for me.’
d) Explain what happens after the excerpt.
e) From your knowledge of the play what made Krogstad change his stand.
f) Thank you for your forgiveness. (Use the word appreciate instead of thank you)
g) What is the meaning of the following words as used in the excerpt?
1.ruin
2.Dreadful
3.Agonies
4.Overwhelm
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Read the passage and then answer the questions that follow. (Solved)
Read the passage and then answer the questions that follow.
Two weeks before the fateful examination began; I was indiscreet enough to fight the principal’s son. He was a fellow fifth former with whom ,up till then ,I had no quarrel at all .He was inclined to be a little overbearing at times ;but then a flint needs contact with another flint in order to spark, and I had been forced to develop from the start an easy-going and tolerant disposition .I suppose as the examination drew nearer, our nerves became tauter and our tempers shorter .When, during a discussion in our classroom about careers Samuel declared unnecessarily loudly that he believed all persons who came from North should return to it to find employment ,I suddenly felt my anger rising like a column of mercury. I asked him why, in as calm a voice as I could assume. He replied with a sneer by quoting a Sagroson proverb whose meaning was roughly that even a man who does not know where he is going to ought, at least, to know where he has come from: and the gentle laughter, which greeted it brought my temper to boiling point. I was tall and well built, but so was he. Three strides took me beside him and by the time the class prefect succeeded in separating us, Sagrosan blood and Lokko blood had mingled on the floor. Moreover, as is the custom with us, the fight was as much verbal as physical and a torrent of abuse directed mainly against the other’s antecedents was flowing out of each battered mouth.
We were bloody, sweaty, and dusty when it was over but still only partly through our respective stocks of abuse. Nothing more than a heighted respect each for the other might have come out of the fight, had Samuel been a boarder. Unfortunately for both of us, however, he lived very much under his august father’s eye and the marks I had succeeded in leaving on his face were too distinctive to be hidden by any sort of artifice. I prepared for the worst (prepared in spirit that is, for physical preparations were known to be unavailing at such times.)The summons to the principal’s office duly came after lunch the same day.
He was quite impartial, I’ll say that for him. We were both arched over his desk and inscribed across our rumps with two dozen strokes of a bamboo four-footer .Then we were made to shake hands with each other and sent off for walk together along the beach and back (this was the principal’s usual way of dealing with a pair of fighters, and one which usually made bosom friends of them.)That thrashing and the walk which followed ,gave me the moments of deepest mortification I have experienced ,and drove home to me the utter futility and wastefulness of making issue of tribal divisions, in a land where much else required our attentions and our energies .Having heard from us how the fight started ,the principal might so early have wasted our time and his reading us along patriotic sermon on the essential brotherhood of all the people of Songhai .
Such a theme would have made him appear to me hypocrite and to Samuel a traitor –for we both knew only too well that the difference between us were real, if not deep .Instead, we were made to share a fellowship of misery and humiliation which linked us together more effectively than any half-believed fiction about cultural or ethnic affinities could have succeeded in doing.
QUESTIONS:
(a) What was the cause of the fight?
b)Show how the statement “A flint needs contact with another flint in order to spark” is applicable to this story?
c) With illustrations show the difference in character between the narrator and his classmates?
(d) What is the narrator’s attitude towards the head teacher?
e) Identify three phrases in the passage to describe the fierce nature of the fight?
(f) Identify two images that are used to show the extent of the narrator’s anger?
(g) Identify a case of parenthesis in paragraph one?
h) Get a quotation from the passage that shows the fight did not end the tribal differences between the two groups?
(i) Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in passage: (2marks)
(i) bosom friends
(ii) Patriotic sermon
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Read the following passage and then answer the question that follow .(Solved)
Read the following passage and then answer the question that follow.
Africa are undoubtedly a very enduring race and have the capacity to utilize the available natural resources for the betterment of life. The biggest challenge, however, is to identify ways and means of creating an environment that is likely to encourage development in Africa. Perhaps the greatest strategy would be to develop political structures and government institutions that have the capacity to formulate and implement ‘genuine poverty alleviation strategies’. Administrative arrangements that no longer serve our needs should be overhauled or discarded altogether. Government should foster exploitation and management of natural resources by providing an enabling environment. Having stable government may not be effective if we don’t fight corruption. We should ensure that leaders and government agents become answerable to the tax payer. The public should be educated on the ills of corruption.Those who have stolen public funds must be made to return them and face the full force of the law. Again, people known to have stashed money in foreign banks should be forced to repatriate that money so as to improve cash flow in our economies.
Apart from this, Africa must find a way of solving their internal conflicts without involving the international community. After all, we are all brothers with a common cause .The need to unite and exist as unitary state should be stressed as this overrides clan and tribal rights or sentiments that fuel animosity. The Africa union should be strengthened to enable it to arbitrate intra and inter-state disputes .The resulting peace will provide a suitable environment for economic growth and set us on the road to recovery and prosperity. Another solution would be to develop rural-based economies, since the bulk of our population live in the rural areas. Industries that process farm produce and those that manufacture farm inputs, machinery and implements should be located in the rural areas .Similarly mining concerns should establish processing plants near the mines. Such industries will naturally recruit manpower from the locality involved and consequently reduce the incidence of rural-urban migration. Setting up industries in the rural areas will necessitate development of infrastructures which will open up rural areas for business This will further encourage expansion and increase food production to counter perennial food shortage in Africa .For instances development of dairy and beef processing industry in the rural areas will encourage sustainable livestock keeping and probably bring to an end loss of cattle to drought. A rural based economy will basically raise the income of the rural people and bridge the disparity between the rich and the poor.
We should also introduce appropriate technology in exploitation of natural resources and in wealth creation. Since imported technologies are expensive to maintain, Africa should tap local expertise to develop technologies appropriate to our needs. Home grown technology should enable us alleviate Africa’s food security by utilizing river and lake water for irrigation and by harnessing wind and solar energy.
Lastly our economic units such as ECOWAS, SADC, and EAC should be transformed into common markets by removing unnecessary tariffs on goods at various entry points so as to realize the benefits of a common market. The people of Africa should continually seek a better life. We have the resources; we have the manpower, and the capacity to make things move.
Questions
a) What should African countries do to fight corruption?
b) Explain how Africans can open up rural areas
c)What do you understand by the term ‘genuine poverty alleviation strategies’?
d) How can we reduce the incidence of rural –urban migration?
e)Why is appropriate technology useful?
f)How can African government improve cash flow in their economies .
In not more than fifty words write a summary on the various ways of fostering development in African countries
a)Rough copy
b)Fair copy
h) What is the tone of the last paragraph of this passage concerning the future of Africa?
i) The public should be educated on the ills of corruption. (Add a question tag)
j) Explain the meaning of the following words and phrase as used in the passage.
i) Stashed
ii) Disparity
Date posted: August 19, 2019.
- Choose the correct pronoun to fill in the blanks.(Solved)
Choose the correct pronoun to fill in the blanks.
i) He was asked to choose between John and .......(I /me )
ii) I have forgotten ……………………… I gave my book. ( who/whom
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Replace the underlined words with one word that means the same as the underlined phrase.(Solved)
Replace the underlined words with one word that means the same as the underlined phrase.
i) The city council pulled down all the structures on road reserves.
ii) He passed out during his grandmother’s funeral.
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Replace the underlined words with gender - friendly words. (Solved)
Replace the underlined words with gender - friendly words.
i) The spokesman of the government was at the function.
ii) The Musyokis have a very hard - working housegirl.
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Fill the blanks with the correct form of the words in brackets. (Solved)
Fill the blanks with the correct form of the words in brackets.
The chief (shrink) ..........from taking the (decide).................. step.
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Rewrite the following sentences as instructed without changing the meaning.(Solved)
Rewrite the following sentences as instructed without changing the meaning.
i) Is she the only entrant for the 100-metre race? (Begin: aren’t…)
ii) The second meal she cooked was even less successful than the first.
(Rewrite using ..... as .....as.....)
iii) I expect you to do well in this exam if you follow the instructions (Rewrite using unless instead of if)
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
“NATURALLY”
I fear the workers: they writhe in bristling grass
And wormy mud: out with dawn, back with dusk.
Depart with seed, and return with fat- bursting fruits.
And I ate the fruit.
And still they toil at boiling point,
in head – splitting noise and threatening saws:
They suck their energy from slimy cassava
And age – rusty water taps: till they make a Benz
And I ride in the benz: festooned with
stripped rags and python copper coiling monsters
While the workers clap their blistered hands
And I overrun their kids.
They build their hives: often out
of broken bones of fallen mates
And I drone in them – “state house”
Them,“collegize” them, officialize them.
And I……. I whore their daughters
Raised in litter – rotting hovels
And desiring a quickquickhighhighlifelife
To break the bond.
And I tell the workers to unite:
knowing well that they can’t see, hear or understand:
what with sweat and grim sealing their ears
And eyes already blasted with welding sparks,
And me speaking a colourless tongue
But one day a rainstorm shall flood
The litter rotten hovels and
wash the workers’ ears and eyes clean,
Refresh the tattered muscles for a long – delayed blow
a)Describe the working conditions of the workers as depicted in stanza 1 and 2.
b) The persona assumes different roles in stanza 3, 4 and 6.With illustrations explain these roles.
c) Identify and explain 2 images from the poem
d) Which bond do the girls want to break in stanza 5 and how do they do it.
e) What reasons are given for the workers’ inability to understand the persona?
f) What is the poem suggesting in the last stanza?
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Read the following passage below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the following passage below and answer the questions that follow.
As amatter of courtesy, we had decided we would not eat until he arrived. Although he was expected at six o’clock in the evening, it was not until two hours later that he showed up. Not only had we grown impatient andirritated, but our attitude towards
him was also becoming hostile. We had looked forward to his coming because those among us who knew him had spoken highly of him.but doubtful thoughts now crept into our minds and we resented his apparent lack of consideration. The aroma of freshly cooked dishes gradually disappeared as our keen appetites intensified our restlessness.
A screech of brakes, a sudden buzz of activity and a group of solemn looking officials walking briskly into the hall announced his arrival. He was dressed in full uniform which was awe-inspiring, with his tall, well-proportioned figure, he was quite imposing. We immediately settled down to the now cold meal which we ate sparingly and in silence. Then the ceremony began.
The chairman made a brief introductory speech and then invited the guest speaker to address us. We clapped politely. He stood up, looked around the room and before he began to speak, glanced and smiled at each person in turn. His warm and sincere manner disarmed us and dissolved our hostility. The reasons for his lateness were so genuine that we felt ashamed of our ill- feelings towards him. We accepted his apology gladly.
No sooner had he begun his address than we realized that we had an interesting and thought -provoking evening ahead of us. Instead of the usual state pronouncements of administrators like himself, he spoke about real issues that face our generation and which few people have the courage or the conviction to discuss. But he warned that we should not be completely satisfied because there were areas where we had done very little. He said that we needed a sense of discipline in our national affairs. His talk was illustrated with descriptions of our disregard for traffic regulations. My colleagues nodded in agreement.
My mind began wandering. I thought of many drunken drivers I had seen and the numerous grisly accidents I had witnessed. The speaker was right. I remembered the scenes at bus stations and ‘matatu’
stands at peak hours and at the end of the month. I recalled the pushing, jostling and scrambling crowds
struggling for a place .It then dawned on me that we often thought only of our comfort and convenience. We ignored the
desperate, beseeching eyes of the children, the weak and the handicapped.
I woke from my day dream. The speaker was now expressing his concern about poor use of leisure time. After work, bars were full to overflowing while in homes wives remained without husbands and children without fathers. Free time was used unproductively. In conclusion he stressed the dangers of behaving irresponsibly and deplored the bad use of public facilities. He cited the examples of careless garbage disposal and thoughtless use of public toilets. Wasn’t it ironical to hear people complaining when the outcome of their own misdeeds inconvenienced them or posed danger to their health? He sat amidst hearty applause. We scrambled to shake his hands and assured him that his talk had inspired and encouraged us to exercise discipline in our own lives.
i) Why were the people disappointed and angry?
ii) Why do you think the food was eaten sparingly and in silence?
iii) Explain the reason for the change of attitude towards the guest speaker.
iv) On what lines did the narrator’s mind wander in the course of the speech?
v) What factors was the speaker highlighting when the narrator came out of his reverie?
vi) According to the passage, lack of discipline in different areas leads to undesirable results. What are the results of the following?
i) Disregard for traffic regulations.
ii) Concern only for personal convenience.
iii) Poor use of leisure time.
vii) Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases as used in the passage.
i) had spoken highly of him
ii)disarmed
iii)beseeching.
iv) dawned on me.
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Rewrite the following sentence replacing the underlined words with a gender word.(Solved)
Rewrite the following sentence replacing the underlined words with a gender word.
i) Our maid stole money from my mother’s purse.
ii) The firemen took a long time to arrive at the scene of the accident.
iii) Mankind thrives on cooperation.
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Explain the meanings of the following sentences. (i) Only Mutungi spoke to him.(Solved)
Explain the meanings of the following sentences.
i) Only Mutungispoke to him.
(ii) Mutungi spoke to him only.
(iii) Mutungi only spoke to him.
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Replace the phrasal verb with word of the same meaning. (i) The student kept breaking in on our conversation.(breaking in).........(Solved)
Replace the phrasal verb with word of the same meaning.
(i) The student kept breaking in on our conversation.(breaking in)
(ii) We stood up for what they believed.(stood for)
(iii) We must pull together to make sure our team wins.(pull together)
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Fill the blanks with suitable prepositions. (i) Mwende is indebted ______ him for the help he gave me.(Solved)
Fill the blanks with suitable prepositions.
(i) Mwende is indebted ______ him for the help he gave me.
(ii) The thief who snatched my bag walked __________ a limp.
(iii) Harambee stars won because the spectators cheered them.
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. (i) The young man was very hungry....(Solved)
Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each.
(i) The young man was very hungry. He swallowed the food without chewing it. (Begin: So.....)
(ii) The oil company has established petrol station here. (Rewrite beginning: A petrol station ......)
iii)The principal advised the students to consider the consequences of their behavior. (Rewrite in direct speech.)
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow. I AM TIRED OF TALKING IN METAPHORS.............(Solved)
Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.
I AM TIRED OF TALKING IN METAPHORS
I will talk plainly
Because I am moved to abandon riddles
I will tell you of how
We held our heads in our hands
Because the owl hooted all night
And the dogs howled as if mourning
We awaited the bad news
We received it:
Our mother blinded in one eye
Crippled in the right leg
Because she did not vote
For her husband’s candidate
I will remind you
Of when the peeled plantains
Stood upright in the cooking pot:
We slaughtered a cock,
Anticipating an important visitor
We got her:
Our daughter – pieces of flesh in a sack
Our present from her husband.
No! I will not use metaphors
I will just talk to you:
I do not fight to take your place
Or to constantly wave my fist in your face
I refuse to argue about
Your “manly pact”
With my father
You’re buying me for a bag of potatoes
And pepper
All I want
Is for you to stop denying me
My presence needs no metaphors
I am here
Just as you are
I am not a machine
To dismantle whenever you whim
I demand my human dignity
Questions
(a) Who is the persona in this poem?
b)What is the message of this poem?
c) Explain the speaker’s attitude towards the subject matter
d)Give one character trait of the speaker.
e)Discuss two elements of tradition highlighted in the poem.
f)Identify two poetic features of style used in the poem.
g) I am not a machine. (Rewrite adding a question tag.)
Date posted: August 16, 2019.
- Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow. The recent claim by scientists at Egerton......(Solved)
Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow.
The recent claim by scientists at Egerton University that the water table in the South Rift is dropping is alarming. The researchers have noted with great concern that several boreholes in the region have dried up and water volume in several rivers has rapidly reduced as a result of clearing of trees in the Mau forest. This significantly affects Lake Nakuru as its shoreline has noticeably been receding over time. We are being told this at a time when the Ministry of Natural Resources has already laid down plans to clear gazetted forests saying it to settle landless people. We cannot allow this to happen. In the past, we have watched influential people plunderKarura, Aberdares and Mt. Kenya forests. Marmanet forest in Laikipia is no more after several farmers were allocated the public land. We cannot afford to interfere with the water catchment areas of the great rivers of this country because they are our lifeline. Not so long ago, this country suffered crippling power rationing regime for more than six months, seriously hampering economic growth. Industries ground to a halt, laying off a number of employees; complicating an already worse unemployment crisis. This should have woken us up from the deep slumber that “all is well.”
Ours is a tale of unfettered impunity. Throughout the country, we read of owners of large flower farmers who have diverted the river course into their farms to irrigate their crops, denying those living downstream a source of water. Others are busy clearing wetlands, seriously interfering with nature’s ecological balance. We hear of industries shamelessly emptying their waste into rivers. Apart from that, influential transporters ferry truckloads of charcoal and the precious sandalwood under the noses of the police. More often than not, apart from empty rhetoric, we never get to hear that those responsible have been punished.
When the government kicked off the drive to reclaim the Mau forest, there was a flurry of activities from all and sundry. All came together in a massive tree planting exercise. However, the politicization of the compensation claims put forward by large estate owners with the Mau Complex, brought things to a halt. The enthusiasm has since died and no one knows when the matter will be brought to a conclusion.
We depend too much on our rivers to allow any selfish individual to interfere with their watershed. Needless to say, our complacent attitude towards environmental issues has made environmental problems uncontrollable. It is the high time we came together and took care of our environment.
The government through National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) , NGO’s and environmental lobby groups should step up efforts to sensitize people of all walks of life on the need to conserve our natural heritage for the future generations. This should be coupled with replanting of trees on all deforested government land and intensified practice in agro-forestry. The ban on cultivation along river banks and indiscriminate felling of trees for charcoal burning must be enforced.
Apart from that, steps should be put in place towards revocation of all irregular allocation of government forests to individuals. Government officers suspected of abetting land grabbing must face the full force of the law. Industries that dispose off toxic or untreated waste into the environment should also be dealt with firmly.
It’s time we took a step towards safeguarding our environment. There is need to develop a sense of collective responsibility. Considering the fact that the United States rejected the Kyoto Protocol of 1997, we should be even more vigilant and jealously safeguard what nature has provided. It’s our environment, our country, our heritage. We need it to pass it on to our descendants.
(a) What evidence is given in paragraph 1 to show that the water table in the South Rift is falling?
b)What excuse is the government giving for its plans to clear gazetted forests?
c) Using information in the second paragraph, summarize how impunity, has led to environmental
degradation
(d) How does power rationing affect economic growth?
e) What halted the reclaiming of the Mau Complex?
(f) Why is the shoreline of Lake Nakuru receding?
g)What should the government do to address the environmental problems? Write your answer in note Form.
(h) Explain the following words as used in the passage.
(i) Rapidly
(ii) Plunder
(iii) Intensified
(iv) Safeguard
Date posted: August 16, 2019.