- Read the telephone conversation below and then answer the questions that follow.
(Solved)
Read the telephone conversation below and then answer the questions that follow.
Wanjiru: (Dialing a number) Is that Wananchi Wholesalers?
Voice 1: Sorry, wrong number.
Wanjiru: (Tries several other numbers unsuccessfully and eventually gets it right) Is that Wananchi Wholesalers?
Voice 2: Yes, it is. Can I help you?
Wanjiru: I want to order maize flour.
Voice 2: How many bales, Madam?
Wanjiru: Just a minute. (Turns from the phone and asks her husband how many
bags they need.) Ten bales
Voice 2: Any preference in the brand?
Wanjiru: Of course! Everybody goes for Jaza.
Voice 2: Anything else, Madam?
Wanjiru: No. But I want them delivered.
Voice 2: When and to what address?
Wanjiru: Before too long to shop number eighnifi, Keriko Shopping Centre.
Voice 2: Pardon, what was the number again?
Wanjiru: (Impatiently and shouting) 8-9-5
Voice 2: We will deliver them in an hour’s time. Thank you, Madam. It has been a pleasure doing business with you.
Identify any four shortcomings of Wanjiru’s telephone skills in this conversation.
Date posted: August 7, 2019.
- Identify the letter that is not pronounced in each of the following words. (Solved)
Identify the letter that is not pronounced in each of the following words.
(i) Could- _________________________
(ii) Sachet- _________________________
(iii) Sword- _________________________
(iv) Assign – _________________________
(v) Lesson- _________________________
Date posted: August 7, 2019.
- Consider the following riddle and then answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Consider the following riddle and then answer the questions that follow.
Challenger : I have a riddle; I have a riddle!
Audience : State it. We accept it.
Challenger : I have a wife. She never returns where she came from.
Audience : The water of a stream.
Challenger : No.
Audience : Rain.
Challenger : No.
Audience : A child from the womb.
Challenger : No.
Audience : We cannot get it.
Challenger : Give me a village so that I tell you the answer.
Audience : We give you Bulindo.
Challenger : Oh no! That little village is miserable. It is dry and infertile. And it is full of drunkards. I don’t want it.
Audience : We give you Ggayaaza.
Challenger : Fine! So, then, I would settle there in my Ggayaaza, and I would fully relax there. And I would fully relax there, be ruler of even the girls’ high school. And I would see for you that wife of mine who never returns to where she came from…. It is the leaf of a tree!
(Adapted from Oral Literature by Austin Bukenya et.al. Nairobi: Longhorn Publishers, 2004)
Questions
i) Identify the different parts of this riddle.
ii) Mention the non-verbal cues the challenger would separately use in response to the offer of the two villages, Bulindo and Ggayaaza and say why in each case.
iii) If you were the challenger, how would you deliver the solution statement?
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Read the passage below and fill each blank space with the most appropriate word. (Solved)
Read the passage below and fill each blank space with the most appropriate word.
It is an indisputable fact that agriculture (1) _______________ the backbone of the economy. It is therefore (2) ________________ that we stop over-relying on the rain-fed agriculture. Israel is a classic (3) ________________ of a country that has reclaimed its deserts and put them
(4) __________________ use. Land which was (5) _______________ ‘useless’ has been turned around and (6) ____________________ useful. Egypt which solely depends on (7) ______________________ River Nile is a leading exporter of fruits and cereals. For our country to (8) _______________________ self-sufficiency in food production and to get a (9) ________________________ for export, land should be utilized to the (10) _________________. This is only possible with irrigation.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Read the telephone conversation below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the telephone conversation below and answer the questions that follow.
Wanjala: Hello, is that Chaka Limited.
Sheila: (Picking the phone) Those shoes fit well. Hello, is anybody on this line?
Wanjala: Hallo, is that Chaka Limited?
Sheila: What do you want?
Wanjala: Please confirm for me whether I called the right place, Chaka Limited?
Sheila: (Shouting) Which other company has a similar phone number as this?
Wanjala: May I then speak to the Managing Director?
Sheila: I prefer the red shoes ... (on phone). What do you say? Oh, the Managing director can’t talk to you.
Wanjala: Can I then leave a message which you can pass to him.
Sheila: Why can’t you call him on his personal line ... (away from the receiver) go for the red ones.
Wanjala: (Surprised) Hello, excuse me madam. I am Wanjala Nicholas and I’m requesting to talk to the Managing Director over an important matter concerning one of your employee...
Sheila: I told you Managing Director is not in. (hangs up)
Questions.
i) Explain three things that make Sheila an ineffective communicator.
ii) Explain three things that one should observe if they are to communicate effectively over the phone
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Study the following item of oral literature and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Study the following item of oral literature and answer the questions that follow.
Kot took Kot’s coat, Kot went to court, the court told Kot to return Kot’s coat to Kot.
Questions.
i) Identify the above genre.
ii) If the above genre was to be translated to another language, what would be the effect of translation?
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.
If we Must Die - Claude Mckay.
If we must die - let it not be like hogs.
Haunted and penned in an inglorious spot
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs.
Making their mock at our accursed lot,
If we must die - oh let us nobly die
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honour us through dead!
Oh Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;
Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
i) Describe the rhyme scheme of this poem.
ii) Which words would you stress in the last line of this poem and why?
iii) Apart from rhyme, how else has the poem achieved rhythm?
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Fill each blank space in the following passage with the most appropriate word.(Solved)
Fill each blank space in the following passage with the most appropriate word.
By far the (1) __________________ obstacle to success, in my view, is a poor understanding of people. Most careers (2) ___________________ working with other people. You can have great academic intelligence (3) ____________________ still lack social intelligence - the ability to be (4) ________________ good listener, to be sensitive (5) _______________ others, to give and take criticism well.
If people do not like you, they may help you fail. On the other hand, you can get (6) _______________ with serious mistakes if you are socially intelligent. How are you when it comes to working with people? Are you genuine and authentic, or do you (7) ______________ put up a front? Do you listen to (8) ____________, or do you do most of the talking? Do you expect everyone else to confirm to your wishes, your schedule and your agenda, or do you look for ways to meet people on their (9) ___________________? If you haven’t learnt to get along with people, you will always be fighting a battle to succeed. (10) _______________, making people - skills a strength will take you farther than any other skill you develop.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- You are attending a debate club competition in your neighbouring school. When a student from your school takes the podium, you notice that he/she is...(Solved)
You are attending a debate club competition in your neighbouring school. When a student from your school takes the podium, you notice that he/she is afraid. Write down three indicators that would tell you that the student is afraid and suggest how to overcome them.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Indicate how you would address each of the following officials to express courtesy.(Solved)
Indicate how you would address each of the following officials to express courtesy.
i) President -
ii) Judge -
iii) Pope -
iv) MP
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Identify the silent letters in the following words.
(Solved)
Identify the silent letters in the following words.
i) Boutique ___________________
ii) Plumber .......................
iii) Bough _________________________
iv) Bouquet ____________________
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word.(Solved)
Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word.
Kenyans (1) _________________ a lot from the newly elected government. All the promises (2) ________________ during campaigns ought to be (3) __________________. (4) ______________________ it is quite unrealistic to expect a lot out of nothing. We all need to work extra hard in our respective activities so as to (5) _________________ on dreams. Things will never fall (6) _______________ above. (7) ______________ of all of us are needed to realize vision (8) ________________ meeting our basic needs. Above all that, we must (9) _______________ national unity and (10) ___________ for the progress of all.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word.(Solved)
Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word.
Gender 1. …against the African woman is not 2 ….very widespread but also deeply embedded in African Societies. Several factors combine to 3. …..the African woman. First, we have primitive and irrational 4……about the natural inferiority of the woman. 5. ……, many negative cultural practices, female genital 6.…, bride price and confinement to specified spaces, injure, humiliate and 7. …..the person of the woman. Thirdly , the abject poverty and abysmal ignorance prevailing in many 8. …..societies deny the African woman the means, the knowledge and the power to make 9. ………..decisions about her life.
Last but not 10. ……., the African man’s chauvinistic greed for power and insensitivity to the needs of his mother, daughter, sister and companion is a regrettable hindrance to female emancipation
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- The following is a dialogue between Doreen and her mother. Read it carefully and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
The following is a dialogue between Doreen and her mother. Read it carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Doreen : Mom, what did you decide about my camp?
Mom : What camp, Doreen?
Doreen : Oh mom, you mean its not important to you? I already told you about the
St. John’s club camp that our school is organizing.
Mom : Oh, that one? Remember we discussed it. But remember we also agreed that would pay for it only if your grades…
Doreen : I knew it! You always use my poor grades as an excuse not to do anything for me.
Mom : That is not true, Doreen. You know I do a lot for…
Doreen : Stop it! You don't love me! That is why…
Mom : I will not allow you to speak to me like that, Doreen.
Identify three weaknesses in Doreen’s negotiation skills, and explain briefly how she can address them.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- You have been appointed to chair a class discussion on M. Ogallo, ’The River and the Source’. After the discussion, your classmates comment that you...(Solved)
You have been appointed to chair a class discussion on M. Ogallo, ’The River and the Source’. After the discussion, your classmates comment that you steered the discussion very well. Write down four things you did right
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word. (Solved)
Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word.
Nothing has changed the face of the global economy (1) than the expansion of international trade. (2) impact has been decisive on large and (3) economies alike. Most global trade is among industrialized countries, but (4) countries are gaining an increasing share of world trade.
However, globalization is not without its problems. Many countries seek to (5) local industries from increased competition. Inevitably, one country’s exports are (6) country’s imports, but whereas expanding export markets are seen as beneficial (7) economic growth, increasing openness to (8) is often seen, by both governments and ordinary people, as threatening the goods and (9) produced in the home country.
Governments shield local industries from (10) competition through such measures as putting tariffs on imports and subsidizing production.
Adapted from: The Knowledge Book, National Geographic, Washington D.C. 2008.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Rodgers was to attend a graduation ceremony for his daughter in Mombasa. Being his first time in the city, he asked Mark his son-in-law...(Solved)
Rodgers was to attend a graduation ceremony for his daughter in Mombasa. Being his first time in the city, he asked Mark his son-in-law who lives in Mombasa for directions to the graduation venue. But it turned out that Rodgers never reached his destination. Give any possible reason for this.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Study the following situations and write down what you would say in each case.(Solved)
Study the following situations and write down what you would say in each case.
i) When walking along a corridor, you accidentally bump into somebody out of your own clumsiness.
ii) You are engaging in a conversation and you catch yourself interrupting the other person.
iii) You want to introduce a point during a discussion which contradicts what the other person has said
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- For each of the following set of words, underline the odd one out.
(Solved)
For each of the following set of words, underline the odd one out.
i) Pose paws pores pours
ii) Heel hill heal he’ll
iii) core corps cause
iv) told toed towed toad
iii)Assume you are taking part in a group discussion. Explain how you would ensure you observe the rules of turn-taking
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Read the passage below and fill in the blank spaces with an appropriate word.(Solved)
Read the passage below and fill in the blank spaces with an appropriate word.
Most parents innocently believe __________________(i) parental guidance with regard to television watching means making sure that your child does not sit too close to the set. They believe that sitting close to the TV ____________________(ii) hurt their eyes. Unfortunately, the harmful effects of electronic media go much deeper _______________________(iii) just the physiological damage of x-rays on the brain and eyes. This is especially so with children under the __________(iv)
of seven, whose senses are only ____________________(v) beginning to develop. Electronic media has been discovered to
hamper young children’s __________________(vi) to create their own inner pictures - which is the foundation of all creativity.Imitation is the key ______________________(vii) this early age. A child can only to be truly human from human beings themselves; not from electronic gadgets, __________________(viii) do faithfully represent humanness. Studies show consistently how watching TV slants creative play in young children. Nightmares _____________________(ix) ensue from the violent scenes watched.Television anaesthetizes our higher brain function ______________________(x) disrupts the balance and interaction between left and right hemispheres
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- In the paragraph below, give the correctly stressed word.(Solved)
In the paragraph below, give the correctly stressed word.
The warden said they wanted to (‘conduct, con’duct) a search at the port of Mombasa. In the (‘process, pro’cess) of doing so, they found the consignment meant for (‘export, ex’port) in a go-down. The main (‘convict, con’vict) was Kaelo. Since he had been a (‘rebel, re’bel) in his native country for many years, the judge had no option but to (‘subject, sub’ject) him to many years in prison.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Provide a word that is pronounced the same way for each of the words below(Solved)
Provide a word that is pronounced the same way for each of the words below.
i. Barren ................................................................................................
ii. Lichen ...............................................................................................
iii. Fowl ...............................................................................................
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Your class is visiting a cultural center for field work. State how you would prepare to ensure that you collect objective information during the visit.(Solved)
Your class is visiting a cultural center for field work. State how you would prepare to ensure that you collect objective information during the visit.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- List two effects of using courteous language. (Solved)
List two effects of using courteous language.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Your teacher of English has asked you to discuss a question on ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’. Three minutes into the discussion, most of the students...(Solved)
Your teacher of English has asked you to discuss a question on ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’. Three minutes into the discussion, most of the students lose concentration .Give the possible reasons why this happened.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Indicate the intonation in the following sentences. (Solved)
Indicate the intonation in the following sentences.
i. How often do you visit your mother? ..................................................
ii. Have you lost your way? ........................................
iii. Andrew, come here at once! ...............................................................
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are grey
You never know dear
How much I love you
Please don’t take
My sunshine away
i) Describe the rhyme scheme of the above poem.
ii) Which word would you stress in line two and why?
iii) State two ways you will make the performance of the above poem interesting
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Fill in the blank spaces below.(Solved)
Fill in the blank spaces below.
During this month, the meteorological department has warned (1)................................
respiratory diseases (2)............................. Nairobi, Central Highlands and counties such as
Kericho, Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia, (3)................................. children and the elderly to dress
warmly. “(4)....................................... of respiratory diseases like asthma, pneumonia and
common cold (flu) are expected to be on the increase due to the (5)........................................
cold and chilly conditions. The general public, (6).................................. the young and elderly
members of the society are (7)............................................ to adopt (8)............................. dress
code to avoid contracting (9)..................................... diseases.” The 10)...............................said
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- Below is a dialogue between Muthomi and James who are candidates. Read it and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Below is a dialogue between Muthomi and James who are candidates. Read it and answer the questions that follow.
Muthomi: James, I’m worried about my performance in English. It’s not encouraging.
James: Ah! I’m happy with mine in Biology. I got an A in the last exam.
Muthomi: I really don’t know what to do about English, maybe…
James: I don’t like History and P.E teacher. He thinks he is the only one who can a pick-up truck. My mum told me she would be buying one soon.
Muthomi: (Trying to bring him back to the topic) Tell me James, how do you revise English?
James: Oh! Is that Betty? She promised to bring me a movie. (Calling out) Betty! Betty! (The runs after her)
a) Identify the shortcomings in the dialogue above
Date posted: August 6, 2019.
- The underlining indicates the stressed word in the sentences below. Briefly explain what each sentence mean (Solved)
The underlining indicates the stressed word in the sentences below. Briefly explain what each sentence mean
i) The lady in a red dress lost her purse
ii) The lady in a red dress lost her purses
iii) The lady in a red dress lost her purse.
Date posted: August 6, 2019.