Senior Secondary

English
A Practical Approach to
Comprehension and Note-Making

Patrick Chipeka Phiri

CLAIM Ltd
7 Glyn Jones Road,
P.O. Box 503,
Blantyre,
Malawi.

© CLAIM 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form, electronic, photocopying, recording, mechanical,
or otherwise except with prior written permission of the publisher.

Editor : Sydney Kadasiche

Designer : Kevin Thomas Chakwiya

Proofreader : Andrew E. Mkwate

First Published 2013

ISBN 978-99960-35-04-3

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

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Table of Contents
Preface.......................................................................................iv
Acknowledgements vi
Dedication vii

Chapter 1
What is Comprehension? 1
Understanding what one reads 1
Understanding what someone says 4
Understanding what one sees 5
Quick Facts about Chapter 1 5

Chapter 2
Elements of Comprehension 6
Reading Skills 6
Objects of Comprehension 6
Language Skills and Comprehension 8
Types of Reading 7
Questionnaire for Book Report 7
Considerations for Selecting Comprehension Passages 8
Dealing with Unsuitable Passages 10
Stages of the Reading Lesson 11
Quick Facts about Chapter 2 12

Chapter 3
Assessment in Comprehension 13
Types of Questions in Comprehension 13
Broader Categories of Comprehension Questions 16
Guidelines in Answering Questions 16
Giving Meaning 21
Explaining Meaning 22
Common Mistakes in Comprehension Answers 24
Marking Comprehension Exercises 25
Quick Facts about Chapter 3 25

Chapter 4
Summary Writing
What is Summary? 27
Stages in Writing Summaries 27
Important things to Remember when Summarising 28
Techniques for Writing Concisely 29

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Quick Facts about Chapter 4 30

Chapter 5
Assessment in Summary Writing 32
Classroom Exercises in Summary Writing 32
Discussion Point 35
Common Mistakes in Summary Writing 37
Marking Summaries 40
Quick Facts about Chapter 5 41

Chapter 6
Test Items for Practice 42

Chapter 7
The Concept of Note-Making 82
Elements of Note-Making 82
Samples of Note-Making Questions and Answers 89
Quick Facts about Chapter 7 92

Chapter 8
Assessment of Note-Making Summaries 93
Scoring Note-Making Summaries 93
Common Mistakes in Note-Making 94
Samples of Mistakes in Note-Making Summaries 95
Quick Facts about Chapter 8 96

Chapter 9
Effective and Systematic Classroom
Approach to Note Making 97
Formulating Titles and Sub-titles 98
Formulating Supporting Points 99
Introducing/Revising Signaling Devices 101
Classroom Activities in Abbreviations and Symbols 101
Common conventional abbreviations and acronyms 102
Common Conventional Symbols 104
Scientific Formulas 105
Roman Numerals 105
Quick Facts about Chapter 9 105

Chapter 10
Test Items for Pracice 106
References 117

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

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 Preface:
The aim behind this book is fourfold. Firstly, it provides an indepth coverage
of Comprehension and Note-Making of which information is usually
scattered and rather shallow. Secondly, it enables a practical step-by-step
approach to the teaching and learning of English Language in the two areas.
Thirdly, it offers an examination oriented experience to both teachers and
learners. While the material helps teachers how to help learners obtain
best results in tests and National Examinations, it also helps learners read
the mind of the examiner, fully understand their task and ably interpret
given instructions in Comprehension, and thoroughly prepare for local tests
and National Examinations. Fourthly, it provides a rare chance to student
teachers in University Colleges of Education. Experience has shown that
much of the work covered in college is theoretical in nature. On the ground,
assessment procedures and more learner-centred pedagogies will depend
upon directions on each paper from the Malawi National Examinations
Board (MANEB) and the level of competency of learners, respectively. In
Malawi, the level of competency in students has largely followed selection
criteria into secondary schools whereby the four categories of schools receive
students at the entry point based on how they perform during their Primary
School Leaving Certificate Examinations (PSLCE).

It therefore became needful to develop this teaching and study materials to

suit all levels of learners. The book has been written in easy-to-understand
language to enable even those who do not have fulltime tutors to sail through
Comprehension and Note-Making examinations.

Major Parts of the Book:

Basically, the book has three parts, namely content, guidelines on how to tackle
Comprehension and Note-Making and a reading assignment, and items for
practice.
99 Content: This part contains technical issues about language. It defines
Comprehension and Note-Making, lists and explains forms of Comprehension
Questions, and outlines elements of both Comprehension and Note-Making.
99 Guidelines: Through this part, the book unveils standards in dealing with
Comprehension and Note-Making. This is a crucial part to both the teacher
and the learner since it provides information on what examiners look for
in the work of candidates. A procedure on how to solicit information from
students about what they have learnt from a novel or a short story they
were given to read has also been included.

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

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99 Items for Practice: This part contains passages carefully selected to
provide practice to the learner. Teachers may also use the passages to test
how much learners have gained during a series of lessons on Comprehension
and Note-Making.

How to use the book:

Obviously, one is expected to first understand what Comprehension and
Note-Making entail. After that, one has to proceed to mastering guidelines in
answering questions in both parts. Then, one is expected to go into practice.
Practice will help one how much s/he has understood the guidelines and how
much one is ready for examinations.
It is therefore advisable to students that they pick a passage at a time, be it
under Comprehension or Note-Making, attempt it and hand it in to their teacher
or home tutor for marking.

Strictly follow this triangular approach:

Read the Guidelines

Assess Oneself Seek Evaluation

Advice to Teachers:
It becomes more rewarding to learners when you begin with short preliminary
exercises in teaching Summary and Note-Making. Thus, much of Form 3 work
should focus on these.

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 Acknowledgements:
I am deeply indebted to the almighty God, Creator, Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ, for according me the chance to reach this far on this life’s journey; the
chance to go to school and the chance to write this book.
My family deserves profound thanks for the endurance they had to go through.
Nelson and Sharon would sometimes work round the clock to accomplish typing
assignments. Brother Makango and his wife Catherine and sister Gombozgani
Nyembezi Phiri will always be remembered for the moral and material support
they selflessly rendered.
The following people have contributed tremendously towards the development
of this material, and to them I feel greatly grateful: Mr A. Banda, Subject
Officer for English at the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB);
Mrs Angela M. Nkhoma, Chief Examiner and Headteacher of Naming’omba
CDSS; Mr R. Stephano, Deputy Headteacher of Mitundu Secondary School; and
all examiners of MSCE English Paper III. I am also full of appreciation to Mr
Lackson J. Chatha, Deputy Headteacher of St Mary’s Secondary School and Mr
Kondwani Chaholi Mhone for their technical advice. Assistant Commissioner
Foster Mwale, Officer-in-Charge Education in the Malawi Police Service, and
his wife Joyce.J. Mwale and Mr Paul Sezi-Phiri, the Headteacher of Maranatha
International Academy, deserve deep thanks too for their support.
My vote of thanks wouldn’t be complete without the mention of Mr M.S.D.
Alufandika, Education Division Manager for the South East; the Mangochi
Teachers of English and Chichewa Association (MTECA) and Mr Emmanuel
GershomMwase of University of Livingstonia, for encouraging me to write
this book.
My neighbours, Frank and Eluby Masauko, Lawrence and Asimenye Mchombo
and Dyton Liphale, my head teacher Rose Chikhambi, and all teachers and
students of St Michael’s Girls Secondary School deserve my profound thanks
for the conducive working and living environment that I was able to enjoy in
their midst.

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 Dedication
To my beloved daughter Sharon, who went into glory before the book she had
worked hard to see published was still being developed. May her soul rest
in eternal peace.

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 1
What Is
CHAPTER Comprehension?

1. Understanding what
The word ‘comprehension’
means ‘the ability to read or someone has read
hear and understand what Using a written text in a comprehension
someone writes or says or lesson has been the traditional and
what someone sees’. It involves usually the only way for most teachers.
someone’s ability to interpret As long as it is a comprehension lesson,
and translate messages. This learners know they are going to discuss
definition implies that unlike the a certain passage in the book that
traditional way of getting learners their teacher has selected for them.
to show their ability to understand This, of course, is the most enriching
written passages, comprehension, approach to comprehension because
in a broader sense, applies even it offers learners an opportunity to
for passages that the teacher or closely survey the passage. The teacher
another learner can orally put can achieve almost all the purposes of
across, or if it is a story, tell to comprehension with getting learners
the class. Sometimes the readers to read a passage. For example, new
may be required to express their vocabulary and technical terms can
own opinion on contentious issues best be discussed with the text before
appearing in some passages. In the learners.
so doing, the readers or listeners
may agree or disagree to the point Another important argument for
of view of the writer or speaker. continued use of written texts for
comprehension in class is that it offers
Thus, to comprehend is to be able
an opportunity for learners to practice
to do the following from what one
in readiness for national examinations,
hears, reads or sees:
which come in that particular form.
A. Mention what has happened;
who has done it; when it was Example:
done; where it was done
Read the passage below and answer the
B. State why and how it was
questions that follow:
done
C. Explain personal judgement “Large crowds began to gather on the
of a character’s action village ilo as soon as the edge had
D. Infer meaning of given words, worn off the sun’s heat and it was
phrases and statements etc. no longer painful on the body. Most
communal ceremonies took place at
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
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the time of the day, so that even when it was said that a ceremony would
begin ‘after the midday meal’ everyone understood that it would begin a long
time later, when the sun’s heat had softened.
It was clear form the way the crowd stood or sat that the ceremony was
for men. There were many women, but they looked on from the fringe like
outsiders. The titled men and elders sat on their stools waiting for the trials
to begin. In front of them was a row of stools on which nobody sat. There
were nine of them. Two little groups of people stood at a respectable distance
beyond the stools. They faced the elders. There were three men in one group
and three men and one woman in the other. The woman was Mgbafo and the
three men with her were her brothers. In the other group were her husband,
Uzowulu, and his relatives.
An iron gong sounded, setting up a wave of expectation in the crowd. Everyone
looked in the direction of the egwugwu house. Gome,gome,gome,gome went
the gong, and a powerful flute blew a high pitched blast. Then,came the
voices of the egwugwu, guttural and awesome. The wave struck the women
and children and there was a backward stampede. But it was momentary.
They were already far enough where they stood and there was room for
running away if any of the egwugwu should go towards them.
The drum sounded again and the flute blew. The egwugwu house was now
a pandemonium of quavering voices: Aruoyim de dedededei! filled the air as
the spirits of the ancestors, just emerged from the earth, greeted themselves
in their esoteric language. The egwugwu house into which they emerged
faced the forest, away from the crowd, who saw only its back with the many
coloured patterns and drawings done by specially chosen women at regular
intervals. These women never saw the inside of the hut. No woman ever
did. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision
of men. If they imagined what was inside, they kept their imagination to
themselves. No woman ever asked questions about the most powerful and
most secret cult in the clan.
And then the egwugwu appeared. The women and children sent up a great
shout and took to their heels. It was instinctive. A woman fled as soon as
an egwugwu came in sight. And when, as on that day, nine of the greatest
masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle.
Even Mgbafo came to her heels and had to be restrained by her brothers.
Each of the nine egwugwu represented a village of the clan. Their leader
was called Evil Forest. Smoke poured out of his head. The nine villages of
Umuofia had grown out of the nine sons of the first father of the clan. Evil
Forest represented the village of Umuru, or the children of Eru, who was
the eldest of the nine sons.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
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“Umuofiakwenu!” shouted the leading egwugwu, pushing the air with his
raffia arms. The elders of the clan replied, “Yaa!”
“Umuofiakwenu!”
“Yaa!”
“Umuofiakwenu!”
“Yaa!”

Evil Forest then thrust the pointed end of his rattling staff into the earth.
And it began to shake and rattle, like something agitating with a metallic
life. He took the first of the empty stools and the eight other egwugwu began
to sit in order of seniority after him.

Okwokwo’swives, and perhaps other women as well, might have noticed that
the second egwugwu had a springy walk of Okonkwo. And they might also
have noticed that Okonkwo was not among the titled men and elders who
sat behind the row of egwugwu. But if they thought these things, they kept
them within themselves.

When the egwugwu had sat down and the sound of the many tiny bells and
rattles on their bodies had subsided, Evil Forest addressed the two groups
of people facing them.

“Uzowulu’s body, I salute you,” he said. Spirits always addressed humans

as ‘bodies’. Uzowulu bent down and touched the earth with his right hand
as a sign of submission.
“Our father, my hand has touched the ground,” he said.
“Uzowulu’s body, do you know me?” asked the spirit.
“How can I know you, father? You are beyond our knowledge.”
Evil Forest then turned to the other group and addressed the eldest of the
three brothers.
“The body of Odukwe, I greet you,” he said, and Odukwe bent down and
touched the earth. The hearing then began.
After hearing from both sides, Evil Forest began to speak and all the while
he spoke everyone was silent. The eight other egwugwu were as still as
statues. Then judgement was passed.
[An extract from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe]

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Questions:
1. What is the name of one of the egwugwu.(1 mark)
2. (a) According to the belief of the people of Umuofia, who were the egwugwu?
(1 mark)
(b) Is this belief correct? Explain your opinion. (2 marks)
3. Why had the meeting been called? (2 marks)
4. (a) Differentiate between the traditional leadership of Umuofia clan and
that of our clans in Malawi? (2 marks)
(b) Which system is better? Give a reason. (2 marks)
5. In the story women are portrayed as weak in strength and power. Supply
two pieces of evidence from the story that back up this statement. (4 marks)
6. Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage:
(a) awesome (1 mark)
(b) spectacle (1 mark)
(c) subsided (1 mark)
7. Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the passage:
(a) but it was momentary (2 marks)
(b) in order of seniority (2 marks)
8. Suggest the suitable title for the passage. (2 marks)
9. Summarise the passage in your own words. Your summary must be between
70 and 100 words. (10 marks)

2. Understanding what one says

Another way of comprehending is demonstrating the understanding of what
learners have heard from an oral presentation of a passage, poem or play. In
this case, the teacher selects an article and memorizes it if he or she is not
the original source of the article. If the teacher cannot memorize it, then they
can read it before the class. Whatever the case may be, learners should listen
attentively. As much as possible they should take notes from the narration,
recitation or reading in readiness for questions.
Though not popular, this method of conducting comprehension has a number
of notable gains. Firstly, it develops in the learners the skill of listening.
Secondly, learners learn to be alert at what they hear, and this enables their
minds to process information faster. Thirdly, the practice adds variety to
comprehension that has for ages been associated with reading passages and
answering questions. Fourthly, it prepares learners for real life situations
where people mostly analyse situations from what they hear.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
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The passages, poems or plays need not be too long. They should be of good length
to enable the teacher teach comprehension within the allotted time. Easy-to-
understand language should be used in the selected articles. Passages, poems
or plays must raise a mind boggling problem to invoke debate. This will make
learners speak as much as possible.

3. Understanding what one sees

This is the rarest approach to comprehension. Yet, the experience can be
equally rewarding to the learner. Under this approach the teacher occasionally
takes his or her learners to a performance of a play and instructs them to
listen attentively, watch closely while jotting down notes on what they see.
Sometimes learners may be asked to attend an open day organized by a club
in the school. When they return to class, their comprehension lesson dwells
on whatever transpired at the open day, with questions ranging from how the
open day was organized and how the activities were performed.
This approach enables learners to fully use own syntactic and semantic
applications rather than transferring these from a written exposition. Besides,
learners have the opportunity to fully discuss situations without being directed
since comments follow individual perceptions as they follow what they see. Of
course, such an approach adds variety to comprehension.

Quick Facts About Chapter 1

1. Comprehension means ‘the ability to read or hear and understand
what someone writes or says or what someone sees’.
2. Classroom approaches to comprehension include:
a. Holding a discussion on a written text.
b. Conducting a lesson based on an orally presented text.
c. Discussing a performance or an activity or a set of activities that
they witness.
3. Comprehension based on a written text is the most popular and
examinable one in Malawi.
4. The other two approaches are needful to maximise speech practice among
learners. They add variety to the teaching and learning of comprehension
and enhances the use of own semantic and syntactic applications.

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 2
Elements Of
CHAPTER Comprehension

Reading Skills
Reading involves a variety of skills. According to John Munby (cited in Grellet,
J. (1981:4-5) some of the key skills include the following:
99 Deducing the meaning and use of unfamiliar lexical items.
99 Understanding explicitly stated information and [rightly guess at the
meaning of implicitly stated information].
99 Understanding conceptual meaning.
99 Understanding the communicative value of sentences and utterances.
99 Understanding relations within the sentence.
99 Understanding relations between parts of a text through lexical
cohesion devices.
99 Understanding cohesion between parts of a text through grammatical
cohesion devices.
99 Interpreting text by going outside it.
99 Identifying the main point or important information in a piece of discourse.
99 Distinguishing the main idea from supporting details.
99 Extracting salient (significant) points to summarize the whole text, a
paragraph or an idea.
99 Extract relevant points from a text.
Based on the skills above, comprehension therefore aims at understanding the
whole text. One who understands the text is able to:
i. Extract meaning from it;
ii. Explain the connotative and denotative meaning of a word, phrase,
sentence or the whole text;
iii. Apply text to relevant situations;
iv. Critique the opinion of characters in a story or actors in a play or that
of an author in an article or essay.

Objectives Of Comprehension
Comprehension objectives have been formulated in such a way that learners
acquire the above skills. The Malawi School Certificate of Education and Junior
Certificate of Education English Syllabi contain the following comprehension
objectives:
99 Demonstrate a critical understanding of what is being said in a variety

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

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 of situations
99 Identify the central ideas and supporting details from a talk, passage or play
99 Draw inferences for what is read or heard
99 Interpret correctly the intended meaning of the speaker or writer by
relating the phonological, syntactic, and semantic forms to the content
99 Distinguish between fact, opinion, and attitude in a variety of situations
99 Compare or contrast cultural values across given works.

Language skills and comprehension

When selecting objectives for a comprehension lesson or exercise, the teacher
should make sure that the lesson covers all the four language skills, namely
listening, speaking, reading and writing. It is not only important but also
imperative to integrate the skills in every language lesson since this approach
takes care of the whole learner. Different skills can be infused through the
reading activities chosen:
99 Reading and listening, e.g. Comparing an article and a news bulletin,
using recorded information to solve a written problem, matching
opinions and texts, etc.
99 Reading and speaking, e.g. Discussions, debates, appreciation, etc.
99 Reading and writing, e.g. Summarising, mentioning what you have
read in a letter, note-making, etc.

Types Of Reading
1. Skimming
This is quickly running one’s eyes over a text to get the gist of it. Here, you are
looking for the general idea, or the overall picture, without bothering about fine
details. You usually skim through a borrowed newspaper or magazine, reading
a few sentences here and there and recognizing certain words or expressions as
clues to the function and ideas of what follows, thereby making it unnecessary
to read the text in detail.
2. Scanning
It refers to quickly going through a text to find a particular piece of information.
During scanning you ignore everything except that particular information.
Exercises can be done with telephone directories, classified advertisements,
bus schedules, some characters in a story, especially the protagonist, or some
outstanding feature in the story.
3. Intensive Reading
This is the one employed when you read shorter texts. Here, you aim at catching
the details, analysing a particular issue and evaluating the author’s opinion
or a particular subject raised in the story. You aim at mastering what is being
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
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read, understanding the new words contained in the text. Comprehension is
largely conducted in such a manner. Depending upon class level and purpose
you may even be required to read the whole novel intensively. Book reviews,
for example, require reviewers to do quite an intensive reading of works of art.
4. Extensive Reading
This is when you read longer texts, e.g. novels, usually for one’s own pleasure.
Considering the fact that reading enhances the exposure to and mastery of wide
vocabulary, it is important and imperative to encourage learners at any level
to read different novels and literary works. Right in Form 1 learners should be
given novels or plays to read individually. The teacher must bear in mind the
linguistic level of the learners when selecting books for reading for pleasure.
Although book reports have gotten out of fashion in secondary school, they are
quite an important practice in getting the learners to actually read given books.

Table 1: Sample Questionnaire for Book Report

A simple book report may solicit the following information:

1. What is the title of the book?
2. What type of book is it? [Play/Novel]
3. Who is its author or playwright?
4. Who is the most outstanding character in the story
or actor in the play?
5. Do you like him or her?
6. If yes, why? Or if no, why?
7. Who are the other characters or actors in the book?
8. Where and when does the story take place?
9. What lessons do you learn from the story?
10. Summarize the story in one paragraph.

Considerations For Selecting

Comprehension Passages
1. Readability
99 Choose text with suitable language level for the learners. Consider how
much lexis students know.
99 Consider how much vocabulary to introduce through a single text.
99 If there are too many new words, the reader may resort to the use of
the dictionary; hence defeating the purpose of comprehension.

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2. Suitability of the Context
99 Text must appeal to students.
99 Consider age and cultural background of learners.
99 Political, especially local, or with themes such as those on local politics,
are not suitable for comprehension.
99 Passages that are critical of some religions and cultural values may
not be suitable as well.
3. Exploitability
99 Refers to the use or development of a passage or text in order to gain
a benefit i.e. to facilitate learning.
99 When choosing a text for comprehension, be certain of:
i. The sort of interpretive skills it demands,
ii. Methods the teacher will need to employ to help students fully benefit
from the passage.

The passages below may be unsuitable material for comprehension:

A. I swam as kismet directed me, and was pushed forward by wind and
tide. I often let my legs drop, and could feel no bottom; but when I was
almost gone, and able to thrash about no longer, I found myself within my
profundity; and by this time the storm was much abated. The declivity
was so petite, that I walked near a mile before I got to the shore, which
I conjectured was about eight o’clock in the evening. I then advanced
forward near half a mile, but could not discover any precursor of houses
or inhabitants; at least I was in so scrawny a condition, that I did not
observe them.
I was dead beat, and with that, and the heat of the weather, and about
half a pint of brandy that I guzzled as I left the ship, I found myself much
apt to sleep. I lay down on the grass, which was very squat and soft; where
I slept sounder than ever I remember to have done in my life, and as I
reckoned, above Nine Hours; for when I awaked, it was just day-light. I
attempted to rise, but was not able to stir: for as I happened to lie on my
flipside, I found my arms and legs were strongly fastened on each side
to the ground; and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the
same comportment. I likewise felt several slender ligatures across my
body, from my armpits to my thighs. I could only look upwards; the sun
began to grow hot, and the light offended my orbs. I heard a confused
noise about me, but in the posture I lay, could see nothing but the sky.
B. The role of institutions in promoting growth in developing and emerging
economies has sparkedrenewed interest in recent years. A burgeoning
literature thus seeks to determinethe extent to which the quality of
public and private economic institutions, the particularstructure
of governance, and the extent of social capital (or civic engagement)
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
9
 affect growth. Evidence from global cross-country econometric studies
is potentially important because the paucity and weakness of both
macroeconomic and institutional data for many developing countries
preclude robust policy interpretationson a country-by-country basis.
If there is clear evidence that weak political and economic institutions
significantly hamper growth, policy makers might propose measures
that strengthen institutions in particular ways or that encourage more
appropriate political structures. For instance, African countries usually
form a significant part of the cross-country samples, and the region
plays a distinctive role in this literature. Many African countries possess
very weak public and private institutional frameworks, and Sub-
Saharan Africa has experienced the slowest economic growth of any region
in the world, with poverty large and deepening. ‘Several cross-country
studies of growth have found that the conventional factors of growth
(labour, physical and human capital accumulation, and so on) do
not fully explain Africa’s experience and have turned to an institutional
explanation. Unfortunately, interpreting the evidence on growth using
institutional measures is not a straightforward matter.

Reasons for lack of suitability:

a. The texts comprise too many new words. As such, they may pose
linguistic challenges to the learners. There are too many words whose
meanings the learners may not know.
b. Readability may be problematic as learners will have to stop at every
new word trying to figure out its appropriate pronunciation.
c. The second text contains political and economic jargon, which may be
too distant to the learners. Consequently, the learners may not be able
to comprehend the passage.
d. Both passages may therefore be not appealing to the learners since
latter’s interpretive skills are not fully developed.

Dealing With Unsuitable Passages

Sometimes a teacher may find a passage appropriate for a particular lesson
depending upon the language and semantic values that the passage may have.
In this case, the teacher simplifies the text by altering the system of references,
repetition and redundancy as well as the discourse indicators.
The following steps could be followed when simplifying a text:
i. Replacing difficult words or structures by those already familiar to the
students.
ii. Rewriting the passage in order to make its rhetorical organisation
more explicit.

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10
 iii. Giving a more simplified account by conveying the information contained
in the text in one’s own words.
Example:
Passage A, paragraph one may be simplified as follows:
I swam as luck directed me, and was pushed forward by wind and tide. I
often let my legs drop, and could feel no bottom; but when I was almost
gone, and able to fight back no longer, I found myself within my depth;
and by this time the storm was much reduced. The declivity was so small,
that I walked near a mile before I got to the shore, which I guessedwas
about eight o’clock in the evening. I then advanced forward near half a
mile, but could not discover any sign of houses or inhabitants; at least I
was in so tired a condition, that I did not observe them.

NB: From this paragraph, the teacher may leave one word (the one in bold
print) for the learners to guess its meaning.

Stages Of The Reading Lesson

1. Get the learners to predict what the story is all about by studying the
title of the passage.
2. Class closely looks at an illustration appearing at the top of the passage
or within the passage. This stage, just like the preceding one, is meant to
predict the story.
3. Class is then asked to scan through the passage, after which skimming
is carried out. The former means looking for specific information while as
the later means quickly surveying the passage for its general information.
4. Teacher gives class pre-reading questions. This helps the teacher to
establish whether the learners’ expectations about what the text is all
about are correct, especially after they have surveyed the passage. Correct
prediction helps to deepen understanding of the passage.
5. Learners then conduct a thorough silent reading of the passage.
6. Class discussion follows individual reading of the passage. During
this stage, the teacher asks the learners questions. The teacher may
deliberately invoke a debate on a particular issue appearing in the passage.
He/she may provoke a situation which makes learners ask questions
themselves. New words and phrases may be tackled during this stage.
7. Learners then answer questions appearing at the end of the passage
or those that the teacher comes up with on the passage and writes them
down on the chalkboard. Most textbooks have comprehension questions
already. However, it may also be important to alter such questions
somehow depending upon what a lesson is meant to achieve.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
11
 Quick Facts About Chapter 2
1. Elements of Comprehension
a. Reading skills
b. Objectives of comprehension.
c. Language skills
d. Types of reading
i. Skimming
ii. Scanning
iii. Intensive reading
iv. Extensive reading
e. Assessment of comprehension.
2. Book Report Questionnaire: This is a list of sample guiding questions that
help solicit what a student has learnt from a book, especially novel they
were given to read.
3. When selecting a passage for comprehension, a teacher should consider
the following:
a. Readability of the passage
b. Suitability of the passage
c. Exploitability of the passage
4. The chapter has also made suggestions on how unsuitable passages for
comprehension should be dealt with.
5. Stages of the reading lesson have been outlined as
a. Title discussion.
b. Illustration discussion.
c. Scanning the passage.
d. Skimming the passage.
e. Pre-reading questions.
f. Reading.
g. Class discussion.
h. Individual questions.

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

12
 3
Assessment in
CHAPTER comprehension
A. Types of questions in comprehension
1. Structured Questions
This type of questions requires students to:
99 Mention items
99 List objects
99 State items, ideas
99 Describe opinions, ideas, characters
99 Explain reason, etc.
2 True/ False Questions
3. Multiple choice
4. Matching items
5. Gap filling
6. Summary writing of paragraphs or whole passage (Discussed fully in
Chapters 5, 6 and 7).

Example:
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
It had been a busy day at work and Pilirani felt exhausted. She locked
the office and started for home. It was dark and the idea of walking a
fewkilometres to Manase Township where she lived worried her. Drivers
were gone as she had not alerted any to wait around to take her home
after work. It was well over seven o’clock and the buses had long stopped
operating. So she had to walk home. As she strode through the deserted
streets, a few kilometres away from her office, she saw something dart
from the left side and freeze in the middle of the road. She paused and
looked around to see if there was anything peculiar. When she came
close, she noticed that it was only a squirrel trying to cross the road. She
ignored it and, quickening her pace this time, she proceeded.
Upon reaching her house, Pilirani hastily opened the door and stopped
awhile at the door way to make sure there was nobody following her or
that nothing was amiss in the house. She strode into the house, closing
the door behind her. She dropped her handbag on the table and threw
herself on her new sofa. She heaved a sigh of relief. Having reached the
sanctuary of her home safely, Pilirani wanted to rest for a while before
retiring to bed. She was in no mood to make supper that evening. As
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
13
she relaxed, she was startled by a knock on the door.
‘’Who can that be?’’ she wondered nervously. The loneliness and the
silence in the house made her tremble. She was all alone in the house.
The house girl and her seven year old daughter, Maliwase, had gone to
Songani to see some family friends and she did not expect them back
that evening.
She thought it was a group of thugs in the city at her door step. With
the misunderstanding of democracy and the increase in population for
the scarce resources, robberies had become more frequent in the area.
People were being robbed and murdered in broad daylight. She had,
in fact, once witnessed her friend, Natasha, being robbed and stabbed.
Pilirani wondered why there was so much unrest in the whole world,
more especially in Africa. She was thinking about this when the knock
on the door was repeated. This time it was stronger. Pilirani froze with
fear and she stood motionless.
Finally, she gathered some courage and tip-toed to the window. She
parted the curtains and peeped through. Uh! She could not believe it.
It was just a woman holding a plastic carrier bag in her hand. With
darkness outside, however, Pilirani could not recognize her. She opened
the door. Who was she? What did she want at that time?
“Good evening. How are you?” Pilirani greeted her while standing on
the doorway. Silence.
“What can I do for you at this off hour then, …uh!” Pilirani said, perplexed.
Still, the stranger did not utter a word. Convinced by the looks that she
was either a mad woman or a beggar, Pilirani fished some one kwacha
coins from her pocket and pushed them onto her hands.
“You beggars are becoming a bore! Visiting people’s homes even at
night!” She said while retreating into her house with disgust, slamming
the door behind her. She then made a bee line around her furniture to
the bedroom.
Thirty minutes later, Pilirani felt so hungry that she decided to get
something to eat. Should she go to the kitchen or make herself a cup of
coffee right in the bedroom? She decided for coffee and was soon finished
and ready to go to bed. However, she checked her verandah to make sure
the stranger was gone. Alas! The uninvited visitor was still there; she
had not moved an inch.
Pilirani was now worried. She could not imagine what she could do to
drive her away and she certainly was not going to give her a place to
sleep in. She decided to confront her and if possible threaten her away.
“What do you want from me?” she asked as soon as she opened the door.
But as she looked closer at her unannounced visitor, she discovered that
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
14
 the woman was crying.
“Who are you?” Pilirani asked with exasperation. “It’s me, mama. It’s
me Balekile,” the visitor announced.
Pilirani stood motionless and dumbfounded. Her mind raced back to
her past. A past she abhorred, and wanted to remember no part of. She
recalled how she was disowned by her own parents when she was in
Form Three; how she had given birth to a baby girl who was entrusted
into the care of her paternal grand mother as Pilirani tried to earn a
living. Pilirani opened the door wider and invited the visitor in.
[Adapted from: The Unsung Song, by Chirambo, R. et al (eds)]

Questions:
I. Structured Questions
1. What reason is given for Pilirani’s exhaustion that day? (2 marks)
2. Why did Pilirani have to walk home? Give two reasons. (4 marks)
3. Why did Pilirani not make supper? (2 marks)
4. Mention two things that made Pilirani tremble with nervousness in the
house. (2marks)
5. List down names of two other people who lived in the house. (2 marks)
6. Why was there an increase in robberies in the country? Mention two
factors.
7. a. What was the relationship between Pilirani and the visitor? (1 mark)
b. Give a reason for your answer. (2 marks)
8. Give the meaning of the following words and phrases as used in the
passage:
a. “dart”: ________________________________________________(1 mark)
b. “freeze”: _______________________________________________(1mark)
c. “dumbfounded”: _________________________________________(1 mark)
d. “had reached the sanctuary of”:__________________________ (2 marks)
e. “made a bee line”: ______________________________________(2 marks)

II. True/False Questions

9. Pilirani had two children, Maliwase and Balekile. TRUE/ FALSE? (1
mark)
10. Pilirani had most likely abandoned her daughter even after finishing
school. TRUE/FALSE? (1 mark)

III. Multiple Choice Questions

11. Robberies had increased around Pilirani’s area because
A. There were too many people who were jobless.
B. The teachings of democracy encouraged people to be involved in
stealing and violence.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
15
 C. The population was too large.
D. The available resources could not support the growing population.
12. Pilirani was in no mood to make supper since
A. She was too perplexed with the strange things happening in those
days.
B. She was deeply thinking about her friends who had lost their lives.
C. She was too tired to cook.
D. The strange visitor bored her.

IV. Matching Items

Draw arrows between items on the left that match with those on the right.
Maliwase Strongly hated
Perplexed Pilirani’s friend
Natasha The House Girl’s daughter
Abhorred Puzzled
V. Gap Filling
Pilirani, now working in _______________, had had a ________________
pregnancy while she was in Form Three. Because of this, her parents
_______________ her, the incident that saw her seeking refuge at her
______________ home. She then gave birth to a child, _______________.
She was then given an opportunity to finish school. When she finished,
she got a job. One day, Pilirani’s daughter decided to pay her a surprise
______________. Because a long time had passed before they met and
also because of ______________, Pilirani could not ________________ her
daughter. In fact, she mistook her for a ______________. It was only upon
her _______________ that Pilirani was able to know her and invited her
into the house. (10 marks)
VI. Summary Questions
13. Summarise paragraph 1 in not more than 12 words. (2 marks)
14. Summarise paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 in not more than 20 words. (4 marks)
15. Summarise the passage in your own words. The summary must be between
70 and 100 words. (10 marks)

B. Broader Categories Of
Comprehension Questions
1. Observation Questions
These test critical thinking of students. This is demonstrated when candidates
are able to follow the “line of thought” or what the passage is all about.
Observation questions demand;
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
16
a. General summaries of the message of paragraphs. For example,
i. “What is the main message carried in paragraph 4?”
ii. “From the way the last paragraph has been phrased, do you think
Pilirani was a responsible mother? Explain.”
b. Mentioning specified things about the paragraph, for example,
i. “What is meant by ‘her mind raced back to the past’ in the last
paragraph?”
ii. “What appeared so threatening to Pilirani according to paragraphs
3 and 4?”
c. Giving lists of things, e.g.
i. “Mention one violent act that Pilirani once witnessed.”
ii. “List down two things that made Pilirani tremble upon hearing the
knock on her door.”

2. Comparison Questions
These questions enable students to give similarities or differences between two
items or facts. Questions under this category demand:
a. An examination of one action, idea, description or object against another.
For example, “In what way are Pilirani’s grandparents more
caring than her?”
b. The ability to draw clear differences between one thing and the other, e.g.
“Give any special quality of the principal character in this story.”
c. The abilityto translate, e.G. “Write in your own words what you
understand by the words ‘ a past she abhorred’.”
d. The ability to spot words or phrases which carry the same meaning as
others, e.g.
i. “Which other word is similar in meaning to ‘slamming’ (paragraph 8)?”
ii. “Find an antonym (the opposite) of ‘threaten her away’ in paragraph 10”

3. Reflection Questions
Questions on reflection demand students to:
99 Describe the tone in which a character speaks, e.g. “Describe the mood
of Pilirani in the story?”
99 State a character’s argument, e.g. “In your own words, state what
Pilirani means by ‘at this off hour’.”
99 Describe the relationship between characters, e.g. “What do you
think the words ‘you beggars are becoming a bore’ reveal about
Pilirani’s character?”
99 Explain or commenting on something, e.g. “What explanation can
you give for Pilirani’s failure to recognize her own daughter?”
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
17
4. Selection Questions
Such questions require students to:
99 Pick out statements showing something as specified by word or phrase.
For example, “In paragraph 2, which sentence clearly shows that
Pilirani felt relieved to be finally home?”
99 Quote a statement or phrase whose meaning is similar to the other. An
example could be “From the passage above, pick out words which
show that Pilirani is worried and apprehensive”
99 Give details about something, e.g “Write down in note form the flow
of events from the time Pilirani reaches her house to the time
she lets balekile in.”

5. Conclusion Questions
Conclusion questions require students to:
a. Summarise texts which describe things, situations, events, etc, e.g.
“What sort of character is Balekile?”
“What conclusion can you make from Pilirani’sfailure to
recognize Balekile, her own daughter?”

b. Give opinion, e.g.

“What do you say about…?”

c. Give reasons, e.g.

“Explain the reason for …”
“What reasons can you give for …?”

C. Guidelines In Answering
Comprehension Questions
This is a crucial part in the assessment of comprehension. During examinations,
most candidates do not do well in comprehension because of lack of knowledge
in what is required in making responses to given questions. Candidates should
be aware that knowing answers to questions is one thing; but the ability to
express the answers is totally a different thing that matters if a candidate is
to excel. A number of factors must be considered when tackling questions.
1. Brevity of the answer
Most students think that if they make a long response, they will score a
better mark. However, the opposite is true. The longer the response the more
mechanical errors there may be. As such,
a. Students should not beat about the bush. Rather, they should go
straight to the answer.
b. As much as possible, students should not repeat the question or any
part of it.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
18
Table 2: Showing answers that are brief.
Type Of Question How To Respond
Who-/ when-/ where- qs Students should just mention the
person, date, or place.
E.g. Who was Pilirani’s daughter? Balekile
What-qs,
E.G. What did Tina see in the forest? Wild animals and birds
What made Tina go to the forest? Her mother had fallen ill, so she
wanted to look for herbs.
Why-qs, e.g. Why did Tina go to the forest? ——To look for herbs for her
mother
——Because she wanted to look
for herbs for her mother
——Her mother had fallen ill,
so she wanted to look for
herbs.
——She wanted to look for
herbs for her mother.
Give a reason for the induna’s banishment He had insulted the chief.
to the island.
How did the ministry communicate the ——By mail
message according to paragraph 3? ——The ministry wrote them
letters.
——Through letters

NB: Why-questions and how-questions can be approached from several angles:

I. Why-Questions
a. Expressing answers as phrases beginning with “to…”
Example: “to look for herbs for her mother”
b. Expressing answers as adverb clauses of reason or purpose
beginning
i. Because…
ii. So that…
iii. In order that…
iv. So as to…
v. Since…
c. Writing answers in sentence form.

II. How-Questions w-Questions

a. Answers expressed as phrases beginning
i. By…
i. Through…
b. Answers expressed as sentences
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
19
2. Answers be explained in the candidates’ own words
One of the commonest and most costly problems is that of repeating the answers
verbatim, or simply extracting a sentence as it is in the text and writing it as the
answer to a given question. This practice is called lifting. This is not encouraged
at all. A student who lifts answers defies the purpose of comprehension, which
is to demonstrate the understanding of the text. Students should learn to use
their own words in answering questions.

Table 3:Example of lifting:

Question 1: What reason is given for Pilirani’s exhaustion that day?
Lifted Answer:
It had been a busy day at work.
Note that this is what exactly appears in the passage.
Correct Answer: She had been busy at work. / She had had a busy day.
Question 2: Why did Pilirani have to walk home? Give two reasons.
Lifted Answers:
(i) Drivers were gone as she had not alerted any to wait around to take
her home after work.
(ii) It was well over seven o’clock and the buses had long stopped operating.
Correct Answers:
(i) She had not arranged with drivers to pick her after work./All drivers
had knocked off because she had not asked any of them to wait for her.
(ii) There were no buses still operating at that time./ It was too late and
buses had stopped operating.

3. Responses should be properly punctuated

Careless punctuation or no punctuation at all may cost students marks.
Therefore, all rules of punctuation, including orthographic rules must be closely
followed. The following points must be considered:
a. No full stop should be put at the end of a response which is a single
word or phrase.
b. First letters of proper nouns should be capitalized.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
20
Table 4: Examples of poorly punctuated responses:
Question Poorly punctuated
responses
Why did Pilirani not make supper? She did not have any appetite for
food (Responce has no full stop at
the end, being a sentence);

she did not have any appetite

for food (Responce has no capital
letter at the beginning and no full
stop at the end);

Because she had no appetite.

(Responce does not require full
stop since it is a phrase);
What was the relationship between Pilirani They were mother and daughter,
and the visitor? respectively (Responce has no full
stop at the end, being a sentence);

they were mother and daughter

respectively (Responce has no
capital letter at the beginning
and no full stop at the end);

Mother and daughter. (Responce

does not require full stop since it
is a phrase);

4. Questions requiring expression of meaning should follow the rules

below:
There are two types of questions requiring candidates to express meaning,
namely:
I. “Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage”
II. “Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the passage”

I. Giving meaning
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
21
This question requires a one-word answer, except in special circumstances.
The general principle is that students must consider congruency between the
question and the answer. In other words, the form and grammatical value of
the question should be the same as that of the responses they give. Congruency
is looked at in terms of:

a. The part of speech of the question in the answers

It follows that responses should be expressed in the part of speech of the
question, for example, noun, verb, adverb, adjective, etc. In addition, the form
of the part of speech should be matched as well. For instance, if the word is a
noun, consider number (Singular/Plural) and form (Gerund/Ordinary).

Exasperation (Noun Singular/ Annoyance (Noun Singular/Ordinary)

Ordinary)
Thugs (Noun Plural/Ordinary) Violent thieves (Noun Plural/
Ordinary)
Thug (Noun Singular/Ordinary) Violent thief (Noun Singular/
Ordinary)
Pilfering (Singular/Gerund) Stealing small items (Singular/
Gerund)
Peculiar (Adjective) Strange (Adjective)
Hastily (Adverb) Quickly (Adverb)

a. The tense and form of the verb

Many candidates lose marks on questions that require giving meaning because
they do not match the question and its tense and verb form. The rule is that
there must be a match. Equally, the verb form must be matched as well. Any
departure from this principle will cost a candidate all the marks indicated
against a question. The table below has some examples.

Dart (verb in simple present) Dash (verb in simple present)

Amble off (phrasal verb/present simple) Go away (phrasal verb/present
simple)
Dumbfounded (adjective) Speechless (adjective)
Abhorred (verb in simple past) Hated (verb in simple past)

Conditions for two or more words for answers

As already pointed out, the general rule in answering the question “Give the
meaning of the following words as used in the passage” is that candidates give
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
22
a one-word response. However, there are two exceptions to this rule, namely:
a. When it has proved difficult to find a suitable word. For example,
i. Tip-toed: moved on toes
ii. In-situ: the original habitat of a thing
iii. Ex-situ: outside the original habitat of a thing
iv. Status quo: the way things are now
v. Pork: hog meat
b. When the answer does not give an exact meaning without a modifier or
qualifier
i. chastise: punish severely
ii. bizarre: totally strange
iii. thrilled: so excited
iv. dunderhead: very stupid person

II. Explaining Meaning

Questions under this category come in the form of phrases picked from the
passage, for example:
I. “Had reached the sanctuary of”
Ii. “Made a bee line”
Iii. “Raced back to”.

1. When writing responses to such questions, several rules must be applied:

The tense, form and part of speech of the verb in the question must match
that of the answer. Slight changes may be there, of course. Here is an
example:
a. “had reached the sanctuary of” (Past Participle + Noun Phrase)
becomes “had arrived/come to safety of” (Past Participle + Noun
Phrase)
b. “made a bee line” (Verb Past Simple + Noun Phrase) is answered
as “went straight to” (Verb Past Simple + Adverb Phrase). Note
the slight change here.
c. “raced back to” (Past Simple + Adverb + Preposition) is the
same as “quickly remembered/ stared back into” (Modifier + Past
Simple/ Past Simple + Adverb Phrase)

2. Students must strictly limit their responses to what the question

demands. The question itself is a component of a particular
sentence in the passage. For instance, “made a beeline” is part of the
following sentence:
She then made a bee line around the furniture to the bedroom. As such,
expressing the answer as a sentence is wrong. It creates an awkward
sentence. Suppose a candidate wrote the answer in a sentence form, like
this: “ Pilirani went straight”. If you fit this into the original sentence, it
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
23
 would read: “She then Pilirani went straight”. So, it is only the answer
that matters.

5. Questions requiring character description

Students should be advised not to use:
a. relationships, e.g. brother
b. physical qualities, e.g. tall
Rather, they should base their description on personality characteristics or
behavioural qualities, e.g. brave, impulsive, stubborn, kind etc.
Note that character can be delineated through:
a. What someone says about themselves
b. What others say about the character
c. How the character acts or reacts
d. How the character thinks about others
The table below shows how questions on characterization should be treated.
You will see that a descriptive word (Adjective) precedes a statement that
justifies the choice of the answer.
Explain the qualities/personality a. Concerned: She goes to the
traits/personal characteristics/ forest to fetch herbs so that her
character of Tina in the story. mother gets healed.
b. Courageous: She goes to the
forest alone without fear of danger.

6. For questions requiring predicting/suggesting a title for a passage

Perhaps we should first examine the meaning of the word “title”. Understanding
this term will help students not to give responses which do not meet the
definition of “title”. The dictionary definition of “title” is a brief and inclusive
heading of a passage. A title has the following characteristics:
a. It is not a sentence.
b. It is short and concise.
c. It must capture the general idea of the passage.
d. For the sake of examinations, it should not be a proverb or saying.
e. It is not the name of complementary characters.

How to formulate suitable titles for passages:

There are basically three approaches to coming up with suitable titles. These
include:
a. Theme, that is, the central idea or lesson contained in or carried by
the given passage, e.g. “The Reunion”
b. Character, especially of the major character and how the same
conducts him/herself, e.g. “Pilirani and the Unexpected Visitor”
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
24
 c. Plot. Here, the reader (in this case, student/candidate) focuses
on the major thing to which the plot or a series or events in the
story point to e.g. “The Unexpected Visitor”.

As will be noted, most titles do combine either Character/Theme or Character/

Plot.

D. Common Mistakes In Comprehension Answers

1. Summary of Incorrect responses.
a. Answers out of context.
b. Answers expressed in general terms.
c. Factual misrepresentation.
d. Incorrect spellings.
e. Use of wrong tense.
f. Giving two answers where the requirement is one answer.
g. Making responses in direct speech.
h. Faulty grammar in responses.
i. Use of short forms, contractions and abbreviations.
j. Lifting the answers.
k. Poor punctuation of answers.
l. Writing long and winded answers instead of single words or phrases.

E. Marking Comprehension
1. For every single error a student loses ½ mark. Therefore, a student loses
1 mark for any two errors.
2. A candidate loses a maximum of 1 mark for all errors they may commit
in a response.
3. For questions with many parts, including those on meanings, a candidate
also loses a maximum of 1 mark. The other errors are ignored.
4. For a lifted answer, a student loses half-the-mark of the marks against
each question.

Quick Facts About Chapter 3

The Chapter has broadly dealt with pertinent issues regarding Assessment in
Comprehension:
1. Types of questions
i. Structured
ii. True/False
iii. Multiple choice
iv. Matching items
v. Gap filling
vi. Jumbling up ideas
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
25
 vii. Summary writing

2. Broader categories of Comprehension Questions

i. Observation
ii. Comparison
iii. Reflection
iv. Selection
v. Conclusion

3. Guidelines in answering questions

i. Brevity of the answer
ii. Expressing answers in the candidates own words
iii. Punctuating answers appropriately
iv. Following rules regarding questions soliciting meaning of words or
phrases
v. In describing the behavior of characters candidates must mention a
descriptive word (Adjective) and then give a backing statement.
vi. Suggesting titles is based on theme, character and plot of the story.

3. The chapter has also outlined common mistakes in Comprehension

answers.

3. The marking of Comprehension Questions has also been

discussed to help teachers properly grade learners.

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

26
 4
Summary
CHAPTER Writing
What is summary?
Generally speaking, the word summary refers to a short version containing
gist of something.It is a shortened version of something that has been said or
written, containing only the main points. At MSCE Level, students are required
to summarize passages in one paragraph of between 70 and 100 words. Unlike
in note-making (which is also a form of summarizing), summary writing involves
putting main points of a given passage in prose.
Stages in summary writing
1. Students are required to read the passage thoroughly in order to
understand it. If they do not grasp the ideas in the passage, after the
first reading, then it should be imperative to them to re-read the passage.
In the course of reading, they identify key ideas from the passage.
Note that there are two major approaches to identifying key ideas from
a given passage:
Following what the narrator or the major character does. This approach
is applicable if the passage is a short story.
Tracking down topic sentences in the paragraphs if the passage is
in the form of an essay. Topic sentences are introduced by signaling
devices, e.g. firstly, secondly, in addition, in fact, finally, etc.
2. List down the selected ideas in point form.As much as possible, stick
to only relevant and more important points.
3. Link up the points that have been listed down. Several things must
be considered during this stage:
(a) Preciseness of the points
(b) Brevity in the points
(c) Grammatical correctness of the points
(d) The word range of the summary. In marking a summary exercise,
the teacher/examiner counts the words used in the summary
and simply ignores everything you write which exceeds the target.
(e) Expressing the ideas in one’s own words. Remember, lifting is
prohibited
4. Edit your summary. During this stage, you are expected to:
(a) Make attempts to perfect grammar.
(b) Check correctness of spellings.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
27
 (c) check consistency of tense
(d) verify the number of words that you have written. As much as
possible, apply all means of reducing content to reach the target
words.
5. Write the final copy of the summary. Having identified all the
necessary points, linked them up, polished them and verified the number
of words in which they are expressed and the consistency of the tense, you
can now neatly jot down the final draft. Make sure that the summary
is written in a single paragraph.

Note that during examination you may not have time to write a draft.

Important things to remember

when summarising
1. Your summary should incorporate all the important and relevant ideas
in the given passage.
2. Expressed ideas in your own words.
3. A natural flow of ideas must be created. Reference ties and connectives
can be used, e.g. all the same, however, further, in fact, then, and, etc.
These create cohesion and coherence of points in the summary.
4. Always be mindful of the number of words. Do not write more than the
target number.
5. Summary must be written in one paragraph.
6. Be consistent on the tense used. Though the simple present tense may
be used, it is more encouraged to use the reportorial pattern. This is
where the candidate places him/herself in the shoes of an observer who
later reports what they saw.
7. Simplify or express in simple and direct language all figurative
expressions that may be part of an important idea.
8. Short forms, contractions, abbreviations, symbols, slung and cell phone
language are not allowed.

Table 5: Examples of short forms, contractions, abbreviations

Contractions Can’t, I’m, won’t, don’t,

mightn’t, isn’t
Short forms Exams, maths, demos, gala,
bro, gents, do’s and don’t’s,
geog, bio, eng, bike, prep,
rep, forex

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

28
 Abbreviations e.g., etc., i.e., pvt, ltd., pple,
tv,
MBC, ZBS, OVC, VDC, AU,
EU, PP, DPP
Slung Wanna, gonna, ok, yap, dad/
daddie, mum/mummie
Cell phone language Lyf, becoz/coz, gud, ‘u’, ‘r’,
pliz, wat, de/da, wud, 4 (for
‘four’), nyt/9t, 2 (for ‘to’), dis,
dat, mek

Techniques for writing concisely

1. Generalise a sequence of events or actions in one word or phrase.
Event/Action Expressed in a general way
If you met Chikondi, you wouldn’t make Chikondi closely resembles his
a mistake as to who his father is. The father.
stature, complexion, movement, speech
pattern, facial expression are no different
from those of his father, Donnex.

My uncle does not go to work and he won’t My uncle is extremely lazy.

help his family. He can’t be bothered to
read a book, and he doesn’t listen to the
radio because he says it tires him. His
favourite occupation is sleeping.

Households were run on a handful of Families found it hard/ struggled

change; you ate from the same plate with to survive.
your brothers and sisters, wrestling with
your hands for the meat – at night you
wrestled for blankets with visitors from
the country, while your father brooded
over school fees’ invoices in the candle
light.

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

29
2. Linking up related points in one sentence.
Sometimes, it becomes necessary to combine into one sentence two or three
ideas contained in two or three short paragraphs.
3. Using one word or phrase to cover similar items or a list of examples.

Similar items One word/phrase used instead

Big Bash is keeping in his backyard such Big Bash has many vehicles in his
cars as pick-ups, saloons, vans, micro- backyard.
buses, minibuses, coasters, and lorries.

Every year during graduation, outgoing D u r i n g g r a d u a t i o n o u t g o i n g

students buy gifts for their form teachers students give their form teachers
(“daddies” or “mummies”) which include various gifts.
plates, spoons, tumblers, pots, graters,
shirts, t-shirts, trousers, caps, shoes, bed
sheets, pillows, and quilts.

The carpenter carried a hammer, a The carpenter carried his working

screwdriver, a saw, a plane and an auger. tools.

Jacqueline Mitepa is good at netball, Jacqueline Mitepa is a multi-

volley-ball, basket-ball, football, table talented player.
tennis, swimming and athletics.

During his second term in office, people During his second term, the country
suffered shortage of fuel, lack of foreign experienced many serious economic
exchange reserves, blackouts, killings, and political problems.
political oppression, and media muzzling.

Quick Facts About Chapter 4

The Chapter has been a focus on how to write summaries with special attention to:
1. The meaning of summary writing.
2. Stages in summary writing:
a. Reading a given passage and identifying key ideas.
b. Listing down the selected ideas.
c. Linking up the ideas into a paragraph.
d. Editing the summary.
e. Writing a final copy.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
30
3. Important things to remember when summarizing.
4. Techniques for writing concisely:
a. Generalizing a sequence of events or actions.
b. Using one word or phrase to cover a number of similar items.
c. Linking up related points.

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

31
 5
Assessment In
CHAPTER Summary Writing

Classroom exercises in
summary writing
While the commonest approach by teachers is to teach students stages of
summarising a passage, it must be realised that there are a number of
other exercises that can motivate learners and make summary writing more
meaningful. Perhaps what should be borne in mind is the fact that summarising
a passage should be the final exercise that learners should be engaged in. This
follows the understanding that someone summarizing a passage has to first
deal with a phrase or sentence and reconstructing the same in a shorter and
more concise way. Having dealt with a phrase or sentence, one then thinks
of how to shorten a particular idea. Remember, an idea is contained in a
paragraph. You will see that after all the paragraphs have been shortened;
the whole passage is then done away with! As such, students should first
be introduced to summarizing phrases or sentences before they are made to
shorten paragraphs and whole passages.

1. Summarising Paragraphs
Summarise the paragraphs below following any of the three techniques
discussed in Chapter 4 above:
(i) Whenever I take La, I experience headaches, nausea, and a slight fever.
Sometimes I vomit. (not more than sixwords)
Answer: I am allergic to La.
(ii) Life was becoming increasingly tough. The children had been sacked from
school for failing to pay fees. Barely a week later, water and electricity
were disconnected. All we lived on were alms collected from the street
by our last born, Masuzgo. (not more than 7 words)
Answer: We barely survived.
(iii) The journey was long and tiring. Most members of the group got
exhausted and started complaining bitterly. In the end we decided to
camp at a certain place for a night. (not more than 13 words)
Answer: Since we were too tired, we camped overnight.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
32
 Now, try the rest:
(iv) There was suddenly a great noise emanating from the café. Students
were heard shouting insults on the kitchen staff because of the poorly
cooked mealie meal. In a short meeting that they had convened, the
students agreed not to accept the noon meal. (not more than 8 words)
(v) All days are not Sundays really. Unlike all the previous journeys,
last week’s sail over Lake Malawi was not rosy. Our small steamer,
Mwanahanja, met a heavy storm between Makuzi and Msuli Points.
It was tossed like a pith on a fast flowing river until it hit a rock. Water
started coming in through the hole that the accident had created. She
could not move on, and eventually got submerged. (not more than 10
words)
(vi) Nelson was sent to the superette to do some shopping. When he came
back, his basket was filled to the brim with all sorts of items like sugar,
soap, biscuits, cooking oil, jam, bread, tooth paste, etc. (between 6 and
10 words)
(vii) We sat on the beach, as we had always done. On this day, we decided
on counting steam ships, trailor boats, speed and fishing boats as they
entered the lake from the Shire. (between 8 and 12 words)
(viii) Joseph Kamwendo, a renowned Flames striker for several years, provided
the fans with classic entertainment in the game. At one point, having
received a pass from the mid-field, he worked the ball on the right
touchline, advanced diagonally towards the Zebras’ goal posts before he
sent the spectators wild with a net shaker. One-zero it was. (between
5 and 10 words)
(ix) When I entered the library I got the shock of that morning. Some
of the shelves were empty; student books for Mathematics, History,
Agriculture, Biology and Social Studies had disappeared. However,
newspapers, magazines, novels and encyclopedia remained intact. Both
librarians, Mrs Mizeki and Mrs Usubeni couldn’t explain what had
happened. It was only later that I discovered a hole which thieves had
used. (between 5 and 12 words)
(x) As we grew up, things changed, slowly. We had scorned the poverty we did
not see in our ignorance of it, wearing our clothes till our bodies showed
through, but we began to notice clothes that stole our souls. We saw
bell-bottom trousers, ‘Satan’ denim jeans, platform shoes, bold, bright
shirts with large, raised collars, checked jackets, massive belts. Dresses
crept up women’s thighs and women were so much taller, suddenly; we
heard of gogo shoes and hot pants. A strange disease afflicted the heads
of the women. It made them rip off their hair and don wigs which, when
oiled, looked like the fur of drowned cats. (between 7 and 15 words)
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
33
 2. Summarizing phrases/sentences
Different forms of phrases and sentences may be shortened by way of
generalization and simplification or by using single adverbs, adjectives, nouns
instead of adverb, adjective and noun particles. Here are several examples:

Table 6: Shortening phrases and clauses by substituting them with

equivalent singl
Phrase/ Clause Single Adverb/Adjective/Noun

Every now and again Intermittently

In a short time from now Soon
For a short time only Temporarily
No longer in use Obsolete
Occurring at the same time Simultaneously/concurrently
At that time Then
Of one’s own free will Voluntarily
To a certain extent Somewhat
On many occasions Often
Not really willing Hesitantly
A cluster of houses in a village Hamlet
Give up all hope Despair
Fit to be eaten Edible
One who cannot read or write Illiterate
Weakened by the addition of water Diluted
Certain to cause death Fatal
Impossible to notice Imperceptible
Certain to happen Inevitable
Suffering a lot of side effects Allergic
Continually increased Accelerated
Hundredth anniversary Centenary
Liable to be called to account Accountable
Such that it can never to be repaired Irreparable
One who is hundred years old Centenarian
Fit to be chosen/to choose Eligible
Animals living on flesh Carnivores
Contrary to law Illegal
That which cannot be read Illegible
Loss of loved one through death Bereavement
Side view of a face Profile
A person who wants peace at any cost Pacifist

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

34
 Discussion Point
Table 7: Exercise
Now try out this list by matching items on the left with those on the right:

One who sneers at the good intentions of others Tirade

A person who spends money recklessly Emancipated
Soldiers who have just joined up Indelible
Noble-mindedness and magnanimity Invincible
A long angry speech Cynic
Not able to be conquered Spendthrift
Fit for ploughing Recruits
Spreadable by contact Infallible
Incapable of making a mistake Notorious
Without a dwelling Contagious
Showing cleverness of invention or construction Arable
Frank, innocent, trusting Civility
Widely but unfavourably known Homeless
Incapable of being rubbed out or removed Ingenious
Careful about what one says or does Schedule
Not able to be calmed or pacified Posthumous
False outward show, pretence Discernible
An expert judge of the finer things Postnatal
Formalities observed on an important or special occasion Implacable
Happening after death Postpone
Those coming after, future generations Masquerade
An examination of a body after death Connoisseur
Happening in the period after birth Posterity
A part added to a letter after the writer has signed it Postmortem
To put something off until another time Asphyxia
Partial or total loss of memory Kleptomania
An uncontrollable desire to steal Postscript
A longing for times past Amnesia
Line of people, vehicles Reliability
With thoroughness and exactitude Vengeance
Not easily convinced, doubting Skeptical
Punishment inflicted on retribution Judicious
Ability to be depended on Queue
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
35
Read the following passage and then summarize it in not less than 70
words and not more than 100 words.
No one really knows how it all started. I asked Angela if she knew who
had conceived the idea, but was noncommittal to disclose. Even Miss
Steamer expressed ignorance about how the two score and one students
had quickly organized themselves and flocked out of the gate in a noisy
crocodile and ascended Namizimu Forest. All I remember is that some
excited finale had run the errand of asking us to meet at the gate.

I had all along longed for a stroll to the forest. Now that a giant
communications company, Celtel, was mounting a transmitter uphill,
my curiosity to go there was all the more stimulated. We checked
out at the gate in style, with the security personnel, AnkoloAipa
and AnkoloSikumbiri, waving us good bye. Anisusho, the last one to
get out of the gate, soon caught up with us even before we reached
MonomotapaSuperrette opposite MAYNET (Malindi Aids Youth
Network) offices. No sooner had we reached the newly-constructed
Celtel Corridor than we came face to face with our English teacher,
the architect of the adventure, waiting for us.

The only stranger in our midst was full of fun. It was then that I learnt
that his students fondly called him Mr Bangster because he would sway
from side to side as he moved. He was a man in his early thirties, tall
and slim. His long hairy emaciated arms culminated into long fingers,
with which he would jab in emptiness whenever he wanted to emphasize
a point. His equally long but strong legs rested on heavily veined feet,
safely tacked in newly purchased American made snickers. An ant
surviving the wrath of his boots would count itself lucky, for he moved
with such emphasis that a fearful bachelor sleeping alone in his house
would think a ghost was after his life. The style of his tender beard
gave him the look of a Hollywood film star. We were so engrossed in
his Shona folktales and descriptions of places that we did not even feel
the midday sun scorching us.

Well, the landscape below us was marvelous. The shimmering waters

of Lake Malawi could easily be mistaken for a solidified white magma
on the surface were it not for the fishermen scattered about its length
and breadth. We had the rear opportunity of capturing the source of
the River Shire. The Shire looked like a tired snake as it meandered
its course down Fort Johnston valley into Lake Malombe. Still to our
left, hamlets could be seen from across Lusalumwe River all the way to
Chindamba’s where we were. Green foliage sheltered all infrastructures
at St Michael’s save the somehow ancient asbestos-topped classroom
blocks. Across Lake Malawi, the Nankumba Peninsula was covered in a
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
36
 mist, which obscured our clear view of the hotels lined along the white
western beaches of the twin-v, the southern end of the lake. Looking
right, we could see a white massive rock off the shores of Moto-Mtengeza
Village. Close by, lay the famous Chilanga’s Two Pillars Leisure Centre,
a hideout to some notable dealers from the township.

As we approached the apex of the hill, our destination, inquisitiveness

heightened within me. I increased my pace to catch up with Nicola, who
was busy recording what she could find worthwhile. The transmitter,
standing at the towering height of 150 metres, had been built on a
square foundation. Towards its very end were three long bulbs, which
sent signals into three different directions at a 35 kilometre radius. A
bricklayer working on the site quickly rushed to our rescue when he saw
us nosing about for some information. By the time he started briefing us,
all but one ten of us had withstood the bite of hunger. The story of the
satellite dish, that it would render impotent anyone passing in front of
it when it was switched on, was still fresh when we happily descended
the hill. As we passed by the Supermarket, our teacher treated us to a
feast of the sweet cane, probably from Namwela.
[Story adapted from Malindi Memories by Patrick Chipeka Phiri]

Table 8: Sample Summary of the passage above

An English teacher had organised an impromptu tour of Namizimu Forest
where Celtel company was mounting a transmitter. The teacher had led
forty one students. A teacher from another school also accompanied them.
This teacher was nicknamed Mr Bangster by his students because of the
way he moved. His appearance and skill in narrating Shona folktales
captivated the interest of the students. Students also enjoyed the beautiful
scenery of the lake and the villages below. After getting some information
at the site about how transmitters work, the group returned. They were
then bought sugarcane by their teacher.

Common Mistakes in
Summary Writing
Many students, let alone candidates, do not score impressively or totally fail in
summary writing because of a number of factors. Some of them are explained
below:
1. Giving a summary of a totally different story (off-point
summaries). This is so because different candidates interpret the
instruction “Summarise the passage in your own words” differently.
This may sound exaggerated. However, about 10 percent of candidates
every year provide summaries of:
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
37
 i. Stories they have read elsewhere.
ii. Memorable events that have taken place in their families.
iii. Things that spoil the lives of youths.
iv. Note-making passages.

2. Writing a summary as if it were a folktale. Folktales begin with

phrases “Once upon a time”; “A long time ago”; “Some time in the past”
or “In a certain village there was a man called ….” A candidate who does
this does not deserve any mark at all.

3. Lifting the lines of the summary from the original passage.

Students who have not been fully drilled on summary writing will usually
pick sentences they think contain the key ideas from each paragraph
and then join them up. Doing so demonstrates failure to comprehend
the given passage. As such, the student/candidate deserves no mark.

4. Presenting a summary in which characters are not addressed by

names. For example, some students/candidates will write “In a certain
town there was a certain woman… One day the woman received an
unknown visitor…” Here as well, the student/candidate gets nothing.

5. Some students/candidates use irrelevant names in their summaries.

Instead of Themuthemu, one may write Muthemuthe. If this error
appears once or twice, the student/candidate is penalised on wrong
spelling. However, if the wrong name is persistently used up to the end
of the summary, it is assumed the student/candidate has written his/
her summary from a different story.

6. Other learners will present their summaries in point form. Yet,

summary follows a constructive approach to organising collected
information. Writing in point form defeats this approach. Like in the
above instances, the candidate loses all the marks.

7. Not following the given word-range, i.e. “between 70 and 100

words”. For shorter summaries (under 70 words), the student/candidate
is assessed out of half the mark for summary (5 marks). As for summaries
that shoot 100 words, any word or words beyond the hundredth word is/
are ignored. A line must be drawn below the hundredth word and the
part of the summary hereunder must be crossed out.

8. Use of direct speech in the summary. This is usually the case where
the candidate has lifted the response. However, some candidates will
mix their own sentences and lifted ones. Here is an example:
When news was heard that Themuthemu’s remains were to be
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
38
 taken to Tsalani, the deceased’s home district, at the request of
an influential family member, people wondered: “Where was this
benevolent man all along? Does he realize that abandoning a dug
grave is a bad omen?”

9. Inconsistent use of tense is another problem that most learners face

every time they summarise passages. Students who are not so good at
grammar may better use the past tense to write what they read. Here,
the writer puts him/herself in the shoes of an observer, who later reports
what they saw happening in the past. Use of the present simple is also
acceptable. In both cases the candidates use the reportorial pattern, that
is, they put themselves in the shoes of an observer who later writes what
they saw. What is required in both cases is consistency. Study the two
examples below.

First set:
a. Past Tense

The people of Umuofia had gathered to hear a case between Mgbafo

and her husband Uzowulu. The setting of the court was purely tra-
ditional: the nine judges represented their respective clans that had
formed the villages of Umuofia. These judges, the egwugwu, wore
masks and looked so frightening to the people, especially women and
children. These had to be restrained from running away. Okonkwo
was suspected to be one of the nine judges. As soon as the egwugwu
appeared from their house, they saluted the people and the hearing
of the case started.

b. Present Tense

The people of Umuofia gather to hear a case between Mgbafo and her
husband Uzowulu. The setting of the case is purely traditional: the
nine judges represent their respective clans that form the villages of
Umuofia. These judges, the egwugwu, wear masks and appear so
frightening to the people, especially women and children. These have
to be restrained from running away. Okonkwo is suspected to be one
of the nine judges. As soon as the egwugwu appear from their house,
they salute the people and the hearing of the case starts.

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

39
Second set:

a. Past Tense

Pilirani left office late in the evening and walked home through the
empty streets.She felt afraid but managed to arrive safely. Soon after
arrival, she heard a knock on her door. At first she hesitated to open
the door fearing for her life. After gathering courage, she opened the
door only to see a woman whom she shouted at thinking it was a
beggar. Checking for the second time, she discovered the woman was
still there. When she confronted her, the woman revealed she was
Balekile, Pilirani’s own daughter. Pilirani then invited her into the
house.

b. Present Tense
Pilirani leaves office late in the evening and walks home through empty
streets.She feels afraid but manages to arrive safely. Soon after arrival,
she hears a knock on her door. At first she hesitates to open the door
fearing for her life. After gathering courage, she opens the door only to
see a woman whom she shouts at thinking it is a beggar. Checking for
the second time, she discovers that the woman has not disappeared.
When she confronts her, the woman reveals she is Balekile, Pilirani’s
own daughter. Pilirani then invites her into the house.

Marking Summaries
When marking summaries, teachers must consider three areas:
1. Content
This aspect comprises the key ideas that are contained in the given
passage. A candidate is supposed to compress all the major ideas in only
six points. The six points are then joined in a continuous piece of writing
in a single paragraph.
(Each correct point is worth one mark).
2. Mechanical Accuracy
In written summaries students or candidates are supposed to demonstrate

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

40
 competency in the use of language i.e. spellings and grammar. Half-
a-mark is deducted for every mistake committed. Note that a
maximum of four errors or mistakes will count. The rest of the errors
are ignored. This means a total of 2 marks will be lost where a candidate
has committed four errors or more. A candidate who has not committed
any error or mistake will be awarded 2 marks.
Commonest mistakes and errors include:
i. Incorrect spellings
ii. Poor punctuation
iii. Lack of subject/verb agreement
iv. Sentence fragmentation
v. Run-on sentences
vi. Comma splices
vii. Dangling constructions
viii.Lack of parallelism in sentence structures etc.
3. Flow
Candidates will lose or gain 2 marks depending upon how they present
ideas in the summary.Marks will be gained under flow when students:
a. Simply join selected sentences from the passage without expressing
them in their own words. This is a summary in which sentences
have just been lifted from the original passage.
b. Lose both marks on mechanical accuracy. Inaccurate grammar
culminates in meaningless and disjointed sentences.

NOTE: The formula for marking summaries is therefore:

C + F + MA = 10
6 + 2 + 2 = 10

Quick Facts About Chapter 5

Overally, the chapter has been a discussion of assessment in Summary Writing.
Two major issues have been addressed:
1. Classroom exercises in summary writing;
a. Summarising paragraphs.
b. Summarising phrases/sentences.
c. Summarising passages.

2. Common mistakes in summary writing.

3. How to mark summaries.

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

41
 6
Test items for
CHAPTER practice
The passages and the questions that follow below them are intended to help
you, the learner, to prepare thoroughly for the Malawi School Certificate of
Education examinations (MSCE). You are strongly advised to read throughly
the information in the preceding chapters before you make the attempt. Strictly
spend only 60 minutes on each question.

Practice 1
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
There was a great camp-fire burning in the middle of the village, the
flames lighting it all up like a full moon. The mercenaries, about twenty
of them, were singing and shouting in the fire light, and drinking what
we guessed to be ‘pombe’ they had stolen from the villagers. They were
quite drunk but we could see they carried revolvers at their waists and
there were rifles lying around the fire, so we could not attack them.
We watched for almost half an hour but there was nothing we could do
against twenty armed men, so at last we crept dejectedly away.

It was on our way back to the Land Rover that I had an idea- not a very
good one but at least it gave us a faint chance of getting past them and
rescuing the chief. First I asked Peter to find out if there were other
mercenaries on the road ahead and he said there were none. This was,
therefore, an isolated band as most of the mercenaries had already been
wiped out by government forces. That was good. If there had been more
ahead, it would have been no use going on anyway. But slowly now,
with Peter interpreting my speech into their local language, I began to
explain my plan to the villagers. They were eager to do anything that
could save their chief.

By midnight we were watching the village, but this time from the other
side as we had skirted right round it by the forest paths which the
villagers knew so well. Juma was not with us. He sitting in the Land
Rover, which he had driven a little way off the road and camouflaged
with branches and leaves.

A few of the mercenaries were sleeping by the fire but most were still
drinking and singing. We now had about fifty villagers with us, flitting
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
42
as silent as shadows along the great trees. There were not only men but
also women and some children. I had asked them to bring everyone who
could make a noise.
Some of the men were carrying smouldering fire logs which they used
instead of matches. At a sign from me, they crept off towards the village,
concealing the glow from their logs. It was very dark so we lost sight
of them immediately. We waited anxiously for the sound of shots that
would tell us that our friends had been seen and our plan failed; but
nothing broke the silence expect the cries of the night birds. After what
seemed an age of waiting, flames suddenly leapt up into the air. The
men had succeeded in setting fire to the grass roofs of a number of huts
on the edge of the village.

Now it was our chance to act. I gave a yell and all together we began
to run towards the village, shouting and shrieking at the top of our
voices. It was the woman who made the most terrifying noise which
even frightened me, though I knew what it was. Later, I learnt that the
women were making the baying noise they use for frightening animals
towards the men when the later are hunting. The mercenaries did just
what I had hoped for. They thought they were being attacked by an
army of hundreds of villagers and they ran for their lives. A few shots
were fired in our direction but in panic and not aimed. Then we heard
the engines of their trucks roaring into life and a moment later the two
vehicles sped off down the way they had come by.

There was still a moment of fear. Had the mercenaries had time to shoot
the chief? That too had worked out as I had hoped. The mercenaries
had panicked and the guard had run off without waiting to unbar the
door to get at their hostage. Soon the chief was free and he was talking
excitedly to his followers. Meanwhile peter and I were looking at a grim
sight; the bodies of three villagers which had been riddled with bullets
by the mercenaries. Our attention was drawn away from the bodies by
the sound of an engine. A vehicle was racing towards the village from
the direction the mercenaries had taken.

The villagers began to run for the forest thinking the mercenaries were
returning, but Peter and I called them back. There was only one vehicle
coming and besides, we knew the sound of our Land Rover’s engine too
well to be mistaken. Yes, it was Juma. According to plan, he had waited
with no lights on till the two trucks had sped past in the opposite direction.
Then he had hastily thrown off the camouflage and driven to the village.

There was no time to spare. Though the villagers wanted to hold a feast
and a dance in our honour, the mercenaries would come back when they
realized they had been tricked, and this time they would be shooting
on sight. We say hasty goodbyes. The villagers dispersed into the thick
forest and we drove off on our way to Beri.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
43
[Adapted from: Progress in Comprehension by DW Armstrong and RG
Taylor, Heinemann 1972]
Questions
1. What were the mercenaries doing in the middle of the village? (2marks)
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

2. a. What time of the day was it? (1 mark)

__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

b. How do you know what time it was, as asked in 2.a. above? (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

3. According to the passage, what prevented the villagers from rescuing

their chief? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

4. The writer was not a member of the village. Give evidence from the
passage to support this statement. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

5. Why do you think the villagers set fire to the grass roofs of a number
of huts? (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
44
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

6. Noise making was not a new experience for the villagers. Support this
statement with evidence from the passage. (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

7. Give the meaning of each of the following words as used in the passage:
(i) coumflaged (paragraph 3): ( 1 mark)
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

(ii) concealing (paragraph 5): (1 mark)

__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
(iii) hostage (paragraph 7): (1 mark)
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
8. Explain the meaning of each of the following expressions as used in
the passage:
(i) crept dejectedly away (paragraph 1): (2 marks)
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

(ii) isolated band (paragraph 2)(2 marks)

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
45
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

(iii) skirted right round (paragraph 3): (2 marks)

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

9. Explain why the villagers were still afraid after the two vehicles
belonging to the mercenaries had sped off. (2 marks)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

10. “That too had worked out as I had hoped” (paragraph 7). What had
the writer hoped?(2 marks)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

11. Why did the villagers run for the forest? (2 marks)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

12. Why could they not celebrate their victory? (2 marks)

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

13. Why did the villagers want to feast and dance in honour of the
narrator and his friend? (2 marks)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

14. Suggest a suitable title for the passage. (2 marks)

_________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
46
 _________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
15. Summarise the passage in your own words. The summary should be
between 70 and 100 words. (10 marks)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

Practice 2
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

The whole village of Maluwu had turned up to witness the trial of Abiti
Soda, who was charged with allegedly practicing witchcraft. The evidence
was that Abiti Soda had always lived a secret and mysterious life apart
from the other villagers. She was also in the habit of receiving strangers
from far-off places into her home who would not state what dealings
they had with her.
Recently, a number of children in the village had died sudden deaths,
and each time a mother stood up to describe these sudden deaths, the
crowd roared in fury because the deaths of the children and the evil
practices of Abiti Soda were one of the same thing in their minds. Abiti
Soda sat a little apart from the villagers in a quaking, ashen, crumpled
heap. Each time the villagers roared, she seemed about to sink into the
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
47
earth. Noting this, GogoChaloViwanga was struck with pity.
Further evidence was that about a week before, a strange woman had
gone straight to Abiti Soda’s hut where she later died a sudden death.
This incident had sent Abiti Soda running and screaming. It was only
the intervention of the police that saved Abiti Soda from being torn to
pieces by the villagers. GogoChaloViwanga was silent for sometime.
The insanity of mankind never ceased to amaze him. At last he turned
to the accused and said gently, “Well, mother, what do you have to say
in defense of yourself?”
“Sir, I am no witch even though I am called the mother of witches”, said
the quavering old voice. “Long ago, I was taught by the people who live
in the bush how to cure ailments with herbs; and that is my business.”
She pointed a shaking finger at a bag near her.
“I would like to see the contents of the bag,” GogoChalo said with a great
show of interest. The bag was brought to him and its contents tipped
out on the ground. They were a various assortment of dried leaves, roots
and berries. He examined them in a leisurely fashion, picking up a few
items for closer inspection. This very deliberate gesture was meant to
puncture a hole in the confidence of the crowd, who annoyed him. While
he fiddled about, he was aware of how silent and intent they had become,
following his every movement with their eyes. Thus holding the stage,
he turned to the old woman and said:
“Proceed with your defense, mother.”
“About the deaths of the children of which I am accused, I know
nothing, Sir,” she said. “About the young woman who died in my house
last Saturday, I am also innocent. This young woman came to me on
recommendation, being grievously ill. We were discussing the ailment
when she fell dead at my feet. Never has such a thing occurred before,
and this caused me to lose my head and run out of the house.”
“That is quite understandable, mother,” the judge said sympathetically.
“Even I should have been grieved if some stranger was struck with death
in my home.”
He swept the crowd with a stern glance. “Who issues death certificates,”
he asked. There was a short bewildered silence. Then the doctor of
Maluwu Hospital was fetched. His evidence was brief and to the point.
He admitted that there had been a surprising number of child deaths in
Maluwu. He then revealed that all the deaths were due to pneumonia.
At this juncture, sabbatical silence reigned in the courtroom. “As for
the young woman who died at the accused’s house last Saturday, our
postmortem showed that she had died of a septic womb due to having
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
48
procured an abortion with a hooked and unsterilized instrument. The
septic condition of the womb had been of a three month’s duration,” the
doctor concluded.
GogoChalo sank in his chair, scanned the people with his eyes and
delivered his judgement. “It seems you people are suffering from
derangement of the brain.” He paused long enough to allow the villagers
to look at each other. “Your children die of pneumonia!” he thundered,
“and to shield yourselves from blame you accuse a poor old woman of
having bewitched them into death. Not only that, you accuse her of the
most serious crime which carries the death sentence. How long have you
planned the death of the woman, deranged people of Maluwu?” The Chief
jabbed his walking stick in the sand, and finally meted out a verdict.
“The fault is all with you, and because of this I fine each household
one beast. With the money that is to be realized from the sale of these
beasts, each household is to purchase warm clothing for the children so
that they may no longer die of pneumonia.” He paused and took a long
breath before he continued. “As for you, mother, I have a large house
and you are welcome to the protection it offers.” He stood up, signifying
the end of the case. The people of Maluwu fled in confusion from the
courtyard, but the old woman sat for a long time on the ground, silent
tears of gratitude dripping down into her lap.
[Story adapted from Secondary English Book 4 by Neville, G. et al]
Questions:
1. What was the case before the judge in the courtyard?(1 mark)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

2. Mention the:
a. accused in the case (1 mark)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. judge (1 mark)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

49
3. What pieces of evidence do the people bring before the judge against
the accused?
a. ____________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b._____________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

4. Explain the defense that the accused presented before the judge in
denial of the offence she was being accused of.
a.______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

b.______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

5.a. What is the actual cause of death among the children of Maluwu?
(1 mark)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. From what the judge says, what is the possible solution to the
problem? (1 mark)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

6. How does the medical report vindicate the accused as innocent?

a.______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

50
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

7. Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage:

a. ailments (paragraph 3):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. bewildered (paragraph 6):

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

c. sabbatical (paragraph 6):

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

8. Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage:

a. with a great show of interest(paragraph 4):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. to lose my head (paragraph 5):

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

c. meted out a verdict (paragraph 7):

_________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
51
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)

9. How would you describe the character of GogoChaloViwanga in the

story?
(2 marks)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

10. Suggest a suitable title for the passage. (2 marks)

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

11.Summarise the passage in your own words. Your summary must be

between 70 and 100 words. (10 marks)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

52
Practice 3
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:

It was several days later that the gong-gong was beaten in the late
afternoon and the whole town called to assemble outside the chief’s
house. The crowd was large when I got there and I could see nothing.
I climbed up a very high tree and, seated in the swaying branches, I
watched the whole scene.

After all were assembled the door opened and the chief emerged. He was
a middle-aged man dressed in a kente cloth, wearing a gold crown on his
head and sandals on his feet. He was preceded by his horn-blower and
accompanied by his interpreter, bearing his stuff of office, and elders of
the town. A small boy of my own age carried the royal stool, and another
walked in front of the chief, acknowledging on his behalf the greetings
of the crowd. The chief himself did not change expression from one of
stern gravity. The stool was set down outside the house and the chief
and his party sat.

Then came the fetish priest, a tall old man, naked to the waist, and
his assistants. Some of these, too, were children no older than myself –
little girls in white skirts, their arms and the upper part of their bodies
smeared with white clay, and covered with strings of white copper and
silver coins. The priest stationed himself by an altar that had been set
up in the compound, and poured a libation to a god asking that the truth
be revealed.

Another group then came from the chief’s house and in the centre of it
were three women. Their clothes were torn and they stumbled and wept.
Obviously they had been roughly treated. Two were old and ugly. The
other was about my mother’s age and plump and comely. They were
the occupants of the house that Fuvu’s coffin had entered, and they
all denied that they had killed the girl. The crowd began to jeer at and
threaten them. A few stones were thrown. But the chief ordered the
people to be still.

Three cocks were brought and given to the priest’s assistants. The first
old lady was brought before the altar and warned to speak the truth or
the god would surely kill her. She threw herself on her knees and swore
that she was not a witch. The priest took the first cock and with a sharp
knife cut its throat halfway across. Then he threw it on the ground. Amid
a breathless silence the cock struggled to its feet, ran a few steps and

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

53
collapsed and died on its back, its breath uppermost. The crowd roared.
The god had accepted the woman’s answer. She had spoken the truth,
and, thus, innocent and free. She fell down and started sobbing, till her
friends came and helped her to her feet.

The second old woman was brought forward. She too denied that she
was a witch and the same ritual was followed. Her cock too died on its
back and the god acknowledged her innocence.

Now they brought the third woman before the altar. The crowd grew
restless and an angry muttering prevented me from hearing what the
woman answered. But she stood upright and looked proud and defiant.
The priest took the cock in his hand, but then he paused and in a loud
and stern voice which silenced the crowd he cried, “Take care, woman,
what you do. If you are guilty the god will surely reveal it. And if you
have not spoken the truth the god will surely kill you.” He took up his
knife but before he had time to use it, the woman fell to the ground, her
limbs twitching and foam coming from her mouth. The crowd roared.
The priest put down the knife and let the cock flutter away. Two of his
assistants raised the woman to her feet and held her till her strength
returned. Then, trembling, she confessed that she was a witch. She was
strongly advised by the priest and his assistants to confess all her crimes.

Somewhere a drum began to beat, low and insistent. I began to feel faint
from the heat and my cramped position. The scene on which I looked
seemed to go far away and became small and unreal although I still saw
and heard it clearly. I was looking on the witch who had flown over my
house and gone to murder Fuvu. In a few moments I should hear it from her
own lips. More drums began to beat, their different rhythms interweaving.
The woman said that she had exchanged the life of her own child long ago
for her witchcraft power, and had no more children. Fuvu’s mother had
taunted her and jeered at her, speaking of Fuvu’s health and beauty and
her success at school, and reviling her for her childless state. Witnesses
were called to confirm that this was true. Fuvu’s mother was called and
sternly rebuked. Then again the woman was urged to confess that she
had murdered Fuvu by witchcraft and she said, “It’s true.”

Then the drums began to beat more loudly and the people jeered and shouted
abuses at the woman. She was stripped naked and then covered roughly
with a torn mat. A few broken pots and old pieces of cloth and a bottle of
water were tied in a bundle and put on her head. With shouts and songs and
blows she was driven to the edge of the town. But when the crowd halted,
they did not kill her. They told her that if ever she entered Chipayika again
she would be beaten to death. They then drove her into the bush.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
54
Questions
1. What incident had made the people gather at the chief’s house?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)

2. In what way does the story show that the people at the scene believed
that the women are witches? Give two points.
a. _______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

3. What, according to the priest, is an indication that the accused is

innocent?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

4. Explain two things in the story that show that the chief never spoke
to the people directly.
a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. _______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

5. Why had the third accused woman killed Fuvu?

_________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
55
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

6a. What is the relationship between the narrator and Fuvu?

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. Give the reason for your answer.

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

7. Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage:

a. emerged   (paragraph2):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. comely (paragraph5):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

c. halted      (paragraph 12):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

8. Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the passage.

a. bearing his staff  of office (paragraph 2):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
56
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. poured a libation (paragraph 4):

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

c. let the cock flutter away (paragraph8):

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)

9. Explain how the send-off of the guilty woman shows that the people
did not want her to die in the bush.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

10. Explain any one theme depicted in the story.

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

11. Suggest a suitable title for the passage.

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

12. Summarise the passage in your own words in not less than 70 words
and not more than 100 words.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
57
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(10 marks)

Practice 4
When a swarm of these buzzing bloodsuckers entered the car it was
by no means easy to deal with them, for they are swift and persistent
as well as tough. If they are merely swatted, like houseflies, they may
momentarily give up the fight because of broken legs and bent wings,
but they will soon pull themselves together and start biting again. They
must be properly caught and squeezed between the forefinger and thumb
till they crack. Mboba, our driver, always insisted that they are not only
dead until you have pulled their heads off.

Tsetse flies are not only bloodthirsty than lions and wild dogs, but also
more successful. Wild animals have to give way to men whenever settlers
want to evict them from their homeland. It is easy to exterminate leopards,
elephants, buffaloes and antelopes. But the tsetse fly does not surrender so
easily. To wipe out this insect takes a great deal of intelligence and money.

With mosquitoes and most other flies only the females drink blood. The
males live on fruit juice and other innocuous liquids. Both male and
female tsetse flies drink blood, however, and have never been observed
feeding on anything else. Small cutting teeth on the proboscis quickly
penetrate the skin and soon pierce a minute blood vessel. This causes
a small lake of blood to form just below the skin. The fly squirts saliva
into it to prevent the blood from clotting. Then it begins to suck up the
blood, and its shrunken stomach becomes visibly fuller and redder.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
58
Many people do not know that a fly can become pregnant. Ordinary flies,
and most insects, lay large numbers of eggs which hatch out into larvae.
Most of these die. The tsetse fly has a different method. After the male
and female have paired, which takes up to hours, the female is fertilized
for the rest of her life. If a fertilized fly should stray into a region where
there are no others, she will continue to produce eggs for the remaining
two hundred days of her life. She produces eggs but does not lay them.
A female tsetse fly will hatch out a single egg inside her own body and
feed the larvae through special glands. The young larva will then shed
its skin several times inside the ‘womb’ just as ordinary insect larvae
do outside the bodies of their mothers. Then the single larva is born as
a whitish maggot, about 10 millimetres long.

During the first two days before birth, the mother can no longer suck
blood because there is simply no room for a meal. She chooses shady,
loose soil as a nursery and uses her own legs to act as a midwife. The
larva burrows from sight within twenty minutes. Once inside the ground
the skin of the larva hardens into a brown pupa and within thirty five
days the maggot inside the chrysalis changes into an adult fly. When it
is ready, the young fly opens the chrysalis by pushing at the lid with its
head. A fertilized female can probably bear two or three children a month.

Nobody can make a fuss about the tsetse fly if none of the species did
carry a dangerous disease. Its swift flight and high-pitched buzz have
meant death for untold numbers of men and animals. These flies are
true Africans and do not feel at home anywhere else. When travels in
Africa became easier at the end of the last century, the tsetse fly was
transported into new regions. Large areas of Africa were populated
by this scourge, though now, thanks to modern drugs, it is no longer
important in Africa.

Questions:

1. What two things are necessary in-order to get rid of tsetse flies?
a._______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
59
2. Give two reasons which show that tsetse flies do not die easily.

a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(4marks)

3. Explain three ways in which tsetse flies differ from other flies.
a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
c.________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)

4. Describe three changes that take place in a newly born tsetse flies.
a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

c. ________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
60
5. How important is the fact that female tsetse flies are fertilized for life?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

6. Give the meanings of the following words as used in the passage.

a. Persistence (paragraph 1)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. Evict: (paragraph 2)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

c. Scourge:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

7. Explain the meanings of the following phrases as used in the passage.

a. pull themselves together: (paragraph 1)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. Stray into a region: (paragraph 4)

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
c. These are true Africans: (paragraph 6)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
61
 8. Suggest the suitable title for the passage.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

9. Summarise the passage in your own words in not less than 70 words
and not more than 100 words.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(10 marks)

Practice 5
Read the passage blow and answer the questions that follow:
I was awakened by the 7 o’clock bell at the primary school a few metres
away from my house. It was Friday morning with cloudless skies and a
cool breeze from Ndirande Mountain, which overlooked Ndixville. The
streets were already bustling with activity in a township that never slept.
Minibus touts, vegetable sellers and house-to-house vendors spiced the
morning activity to continue the choruses of birds and night workers
who had retired to respective hiding places and homes.

I quickly took a shower and put on my white cassock and a hat, which I
matched with white sandals. Then, I went to fetch a sachet of milk from
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
62
my jacket. I had bought a unit of 50g Kerrygold sachets to use whenever
I wanted to have tea. The access to this commodity in the home had
been restricted to me the head of the family, especially during the lean
period of the month. My little Mariam emerged when I was sipping the
last amount of tea from the mug.

“Dad, why are you late for work?” the girl quizzed suspiciously.

“Well, everybody reports late in most government offices. Besides, it’s half
day for me, for I’ll have to join the faithful for prayer later in the day,” I
said with broken statements. I could see that the girl wasn’t convinced
and wanted to subject me to a lengthy press conference. I threw a K100
note at her and pushed the door behind me.

Several hours behind the computer trying to prepare payment vouchers

for junior staff, I felt numb at my legs. Taking advantage of Miss
Novirikana’s absence in the room, I jogged about in the empty spaces of
the room, kicking the air and jabbing it with an upper cut which I had
learnt from Bruce Lee’s films.

Payment of salaries was only three days away. However, even if I

panicked, my effort wouldn’t pay dividends. Several workmates in the
department were running self-appointed errands in town. It was about
11 a.m. now and I thought of going to the bank. After a second thought,
I decided to use a shortcut that passed through the gmelina woods. The
weather had turned suddenly windy. As such, the woods would shield
me from the dust sweeping across the main road.

No sooner had I reached the middle of the forest than I saw a man running
towards me. He was clad in a yellow work suit and a blue cap. The red
shoes he was wearing became more conspicuous as he approached me. I
quickly gave way. I wondered if he had been in the company of a young
man ahead of me who had just branched into the woods, probably to
answer the call of nature. This man too was wearing a yellow overall,
save for the red shoes and blue cap that the other one was wearing.

While I meditated over why this second person was in such a flight,
a group of people, each person carrying what they could fetch…clubs,
panga knives, stones, name it, darted passed me.

“Where is he?” they asked in unison. And before I could respond, many
more people shouted, “thief!”

“He’s wearing yellow.”

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
63
Not knowing what was happening, the first man emerged from the
bushes, just before one third of the group had disappeared.

“He’s here,” the people shouted, and before the man could realize what
was happening, the mob-men, boys, and a few girls-descended on him.
I ran closer to the scene to restrain the people; but it was too late. Mob
justice had already reigned. His head lay wedged on a rock under it as
blood oozed out of his mouth, nose and ears. A deep wound on his head
would make one doubt the victim’s chances of survival.

When the few people at the head of the chasers arrived, the situation
changed. One of them cried, “This is not the thief we were chasing! I
know this man. He is Chiswamphira, an employee of the Electricity
Supply Company of Nyasaland (ESCON). He might have been going
home for lunch.”

I was about to say something when the police arrived on the scene.
Several of us who had not taken cover were rounded up and frog marched
in their van.

[Story authored by Patrick Chipeka Phiri]

Questions

1. Mention three groups that make the streets lively in the mornings.
a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

c.________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

2. What is the town in which the story take place?

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
64
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)

3. Why is the narrator carrying along sachets of milk in his jacket

pockets?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

4. State any one thing that adds humour to the story.

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

5. Explain two things that show that there is no seriousness in the civil
service.
a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

6. What two things would contribute to late payment of salaries to civil

servants?
a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

b._______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

65
7. Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage.
a. lean (paragraph 2):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. clad (paragraph 6):

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

c. restrain (paragraph 9):

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

8. Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the

passage.
a. wouldn’t pay dividends:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
b. to answer the call of nature:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
c. had already reigned:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)

9. How does the story end tragically?

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
66
 10. Describe one theme in the story.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

11. Suggest a suitable title for the passage.

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

12. Summarise the passage in not less than 70 words or more than 100
words in your own words.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(10 marks)

Practice 6
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:

Botawota had just returned from abroad from his studies in Divinity
under the scholarship of Heaven Bound Ministries. When he arrived,
he was shocked to see and to hear what was happening. This part of the
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
67
world greeted him with a plethora of surprises. Among them was that
the church which had initiated him into Christianity; the church which
used to impose on top of Makuzi Hill lay derelict.

“What happened to the church that imposed on the hill?” was his first
question.

“It wound up”, Manoah answered.

“How would a church wind up as if it is a business venture?” Botawota

was not convinced.

Manoah was noncommittal to divulge any more information. He didn’t

want to subject his bishop to needless ridicule. However, Botawota was
inquisitive and no news eluded him. He grasped the reason for its closure
through the rumour mill. The problem was that it was personalized by
Bishop Chigonawaya. All the church’s accounts and assets were in his
name. The church minus the bishop was nothing.

Despite his fat bank account and stable following, running the church
proved a daunting task for him. The self-styled bishop had never been
to a seminary or theological college. All the same he was a bishop and
his wife was a senior pastor. The flock happily addressed them so.

His command of the Queen’s language left a lot to be desired. Surprisingly,

however, he always made it a point to speak the Queen’s language
wherever he went. That aside, the good Lord had opened the flood gates
of blessings on him such that his church registered unprecented growth.
In a short time the church produced a number of satellite churches.

One such offshoot was an orphanage whose managing director was the
bishop himself. Various well-wishers donated to this institution for they
were willing to associate themselves with this noble cause. They gave
generously in the hope that the plight of the vulnerable in the society
would be addressed.

Soon however, people stopped giving. They started insinuating that the
donations were ending up into his pockets. While a good number of his
members wallowed in poverty, he on the contrary, not only wore trendy
and expensive suits but also drove posh cars.

But the old folk abhorred the bishop’s lifestyle; the youth took a liking
to him. They were impressed by his grooming and deportment. It was
very doubtful he was spending as much time in meditating on the word
of God as he did on grooming. Ironically, he had the ability to cast out
evil spirits. He liked to pray for the physically challenged.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
68
In a twist of events, some misunderstanding between the bishop and
the laity sparked a fire storm. Rumours started spreading that the
bishop himself had three children, all of whom were born outside
wedlock. Mothers to these children were either members of the Heaven
Mothers Fraternity or Heaven Youth Fraternity. The women had been
strictly warned never to implicate the bishop in the pregnancies. In
return the bishop would award them handsomely with cash and trips to
neighbouring countries as members of his entourage whenever he was
invited to preach there.

The tension had reached seismic proportions and the church was pushed
to the verge of collapse. The youngest concubine of the three women
felt convicted. To her, coming to church the child of which pastor she
was nursing and continuing to sing in a choir was unmasked hypocrisy,
especially that some people knew about it. Thus, one Sunday, she went
straight to the office of the Chief Deaconess of the church with her
daughter. She asked to be allowed to confess her sin to the church.

What remained between the bishop and his flock was bad blood. That
Sunday morning a scuffle ensued after members blocked the Bishop from
entering the church’s premises. It had to take the intervention of the
police to quell the situation. Today, where the magnificent church stood
is flat ground. The church was razed to rubble and the spoils shared.

[Adapted from ‘Weekend Nation’ by Chabinga]

Questions:
1. Who had sponsored the education of Botawota in the university abroad?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)

2. Why does Manoah decide not to commit himself to divulging more

information regarding what has happened to Heaven Bound Ministries?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

3. Explain three things that members of the Heaven Bound Ministries

had for Bishop Chigonawaya.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
69
a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

c.________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)

4. Mention two things that are evident in the story that the Bishop is
extravagant.
a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

5. What was the immediate cause of the collapse of the church?

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

6. Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage.

a. derelict (paragraph 1):
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

b. divulge (paragraph 2):

_________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
70
_________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

c. plight (paragraph 5):

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

7. Explain the following expressions as used in the passage.

a. registered unprecedented growth: (paragraph 8)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. wallowed in poverty: (Paragraph 10)

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
c. had reached seismic proportions: (Paragraph 13)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)

8. What two things would you consider ironical in the story?

a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. _______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

9. Describe any character trait of Bishop Chigonawaya.

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
71
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

10. Give the suitable title of the passage.

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

11. Summarise the passage in between 70 and 100 words in your own
words.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(10 marks)

Practice 7
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:

Baits have sometimes been used by different police services across the
world. A bait is a valuable object or device that is placed in a certain place
with the aim to entice someone. Sometimes the bait is a small amount
of cash in a stray wallet or a credit card. Even a pack of cigarettes can
do the trick.
The practice of using baits has been a valuable tool for catching career
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
72
criminals and deterring thefts in public places. Police in plain clothes
leave the items unattended — on subway platforms, on park benches, in
cars — and wait to see if someone grabs them. A typical scenario was for
a plainclothes officer to place a handbag with cash on a train platform
and briefly look or step away. Anyone who took the bag, and went away
with it without handing it over to the undercover cop or to report it to a
uniformed officer posted nearby could be locked up.
The use of baits was started as a highway operation aimed at driving
down crime there. The strategy was also motivated by a spike in thefts
of personal property in public places such as bus depots and parks.
Since the tactic was adopted, police has registered some headway in
combating crime. Perpetrators of car thefts and break-ins, wallet and
handbag snatchers have not been spared. In most cases, police plant
property — an iPad, a pack of cigarettes — in plain sight as the bait for
thieves but make sure the car is locked so that a suspect would have to
take the extra step of breaking in before being arrested.
The use of bait, however, has not gone unchallenged. In a recent ruling,
a court threw out a larceny case against a Bronx woman, Dora Myers in
New York. Judge Linda Lopez found that there was no proof the woman
tried to steal anything — and that she was framed by a sting that took
the tactic way too far. Critics have cast a harsh light on the tactic which
they say it too often sweeps up innocent people.
“Upholding the charges would greatly damage the confidence and trust
of the public in the fairness and effectiveness of the criminal justice
system, and rightly so,” the judge wrote.
Myers, a 40-year-old single mother with no criminal record, has since
sued the city, claiming she and her daughter were traumatized by a
wrongful arrest in 2010.
“You know how embarrassing and humiliating this was?” Myers said.
“I’d never been stopped by the police for anything in my life.”
The strategy used in the Myers case “was certainly the most extreme version
of the operation that we’ve seen,” said her attorney, Ann Mullens. According
to court papers and to Myers’ account, she and her daughter Kenya, then a
15-year-old high school student, were sitting on the stoop of their building
when a dark car raced down the block before stopping. Another vehicle
carrying plainclothes officers wasn’t far behind. When the driver got out
and ran, the officers gave chase, yelling, “Stop! Police!” Kenya had then ran
down the steps to peer inside the car and to see what was happening. Just
then, a group of police officers suddenly pulled up in a van and forced her to
the ground. Together with her mother, who was also descending the stare
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
73
case to whisk away the child, were taken into custody, even though they
never touched anything inside the car. While entering a stationhouse in
handcuffs, Myers spotted the driver of the car standing outside, smoking a
cigarette. It dawned on her that he was an undercover with a starring role
in the sting — a suspicion supported by the court ruling.
Civil society groups have also been strong lucky bag critics. They consider
the tactic a “bizarre and extreme attempt to set somebody up”. Because of
this, police now require more evidence of intent — a suspect trying to hide
a wallet or taking cash out of it and throwing it away — before making an
arrest.
Questions:
1. Mention any two items that the police use as bait.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

2. Why do the police use bait tactics? Give two reasons.

a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

3. Explain how police use baits to catch would-be offenders.

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

4. What strides have the police made so far following the adoption of the
bait tactic? Give two points.
a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
74
b. _______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

5. Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage.

a. deterring (paragraph 2):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. traumatized (paragraph 7):

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
c. bizarre (paragraph 10):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

6. Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the

passage.
a. undercover cop (Paragraph 2):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

b. has not gone unchallenged Paragraph 5):

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

c. whisk away the child

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
75
7. What two criticisms do different groups have against the use of bait
by the police?
a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

8. What would you find strange in the way the police in New York arrested
Myers and her daughter Kenya?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

9. Mention one group of law breakers that the bait tactic targets
_________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)

10.Suggest a suitable title for the passage.

_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

11. Summarise the passage in your own words. Your summary should
not be less than 70 words and not more than 100 words.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________(10 marks)
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
76
 Practice 8
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:

The sun had lost its burning intensity; the shadows had lengthened; and I
tramped on through the slight haze. To drive away morbid thoughts I played
all sorts of games with myself, counting bushes, kicking stones out of my path;
but all the time my eyes probed into the now misty landscape for a sign of some
living creature or hut. There was none. I was alone in emptiness and silence.
I tried to sing but no words came. Dusk thickened into night. The stars came
out. A faint breeze began to move and it refreshed me like cool water. I broke
into a trot, free of the searing chains of the sun. But I was weary and soon my
legs failed to respond to my will. Down I went beside a large bush and, with an
effort, ringed myself in with smaller bushes, like an animal seeking shelter.

I finished the sausages, ate a biscuit and drank alternative sips of wine and
water. After cleaning out my shoes I threw a blanket over me and sank into
the dreamless depths of sleep.

The call of some bird woke me at dawn. Through half-opened eyes I saw its grey
shape sail across the sky. Then memories of the previous day’s happenings
flooded my mind. I wondered what Armand was doing and whether I should
ever get out of this awful solitude. Half an orange restored me and I began
to count my blessings. Chief among them was the wonderful pair of shoes I
was wearing. With my mind full of thoughts of Armand I began to walk. I
imagined him at work on the car, dragging himself round on his damaged
ankle. I had been waiting for perhaps an hour when I saw something that
stopped me dead in my tracks.

High up in the deep blue sky black specks were gathering. As I watched them
they formed into a column of vultures preparing to spiral down to earth. Their
revolutions told me that in the burning waterless bush; perhaps a few miles
away, some poor animal was lying dead. If I fell, I too should become food
for these ravenous creatures with evil eyes and rending beaks. The thought
drove me on. My first step on this second day was under the scanty shade of a
stunted tree. Here I drank a little water. If our reckoning was correct, I should
reach a small village the following night. I had to reach it, for by then I should
be out of food and water.

Up again and on the road. The vultures had gone; but after half an hour’s
walking I heard the sound of what appeared to be an aeroplane engine- a
mechanical heart-beat in the body of this vast primitive wilderness. I wondered
how I could let the pilot know of the presence of a tired woman, walking her
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
77
feet into the ground. My eyes searched the dazzling blue sky. There was no
aeroplane to be seen. The sound moved and seemed to come from the road
behind me. I looked back. There was nothing to be seen either, except dust.
Then all my heart leapt. Although not a breath of air stirred, the dust seemed
to be moving. This is a desert hallucinating, I told myself. Perhaps I’ve got
a touch of the sun. My brains are boiling in this heat. I walked on, but the
noise continued to pursue me. I had an impulse to run. For one wild moment
I though I had gone crazy. Then I stopped walking and turned round again.

A car was racing towards me – a car! It was going so fast and threw up so
much dust that its shape was hidden. I started into the dust-cloud, trying
to see what sort of a car it was and to halt the driver. I sprang in the middle
of the road. The driver my pass without seeing me! I waved and shouted. As
it drew nearer, I recognized the driver. It was Armand. The car came to a
grinding stop. I rushed towards it and saw my husband getting out of the cab
and limping towards me. We embraced.

“Get in darling,” he said, “and I’ll tell you how I managed to get the car going.”
He handed me a mug of wine and we drank to each other and to providence.
As Armand let in the clutch to continue the journey, the sun seemed friendlier,
the dust less chocking, and the road a perfect highway through a savanna now
free of danger.
[Adapted from: Antony Russell (1970) School Certificate English Practice 2;
Heinemann]

Questions

1. Identify the characters in the story:

a. the narrator: ______________________________________________________
b. the birds: _________________________________________________________
c. the husband: ______________________________________________________
(3 marks)

2. What times of day are shown by the following phrases in the passage?
a. “the sun had lost its burning intensity”: _____________________________
b. “dusk thickened”: __________________________________________________
(2 marks)
3. Within what space of time does the story take place?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
4. Mention two phrases which suggest that the story takes place in a desert.
a. ___________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
78
 b. __________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
5. Why does the narrator play games as she walks?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
6. Quote the words in the passage that show that the narrator slept in this
vast area.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

7. What was the cause of the “morbid thoughts” on the mind of the narrator?
Give two points.
a. ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

8. Suggest a reason for the narrator having a dreamless night.

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

9. Describe two personality traits of the narrator.

a. __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

10. Give one or two word equivalent of the following words as used in the
passage:
a. morbid: __________________________________________________________
b. solitude: _________________________________________________________
c. racing: ___________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

11. Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the passage:
a. broke into a trot: __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
b. stopped me dead: __________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
79
 c. had an impulse to run: _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)
12. Pick out one word from the passage that reminds you of fear or danger.
___________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)

13. Suggest one theme found in the passage. Which words support it in the
passage?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

14. Suggest a suitable title for the passage.

____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

15. Summarise the passage in your own words. The summary should be
between 70 and 100 words.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
(10 marks)

Practice 9

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
In 1937 there lived in Munich an uncle and nephew both bearing the same
name Joseph Frey. Despite their relationship, the difference in their ages
was slight, one was twenty-one and the other nineteen years old. Both were

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

80
keen climbers and they often climbed together, though neither was in the top
fight of his chosen sport.

The Freys were poor and out of work and each had an aged father to support.
Desperately they tried to think of some way of earning money. If only they
were famous! If only, for instance, the German-Austrian Alpine Club would
choose them to take part in one of the Himalayan expeditions, they would
become famous and people would hire them as guides for mountain climbs
and they would make a lot of money, it was a pipe-dream with no hope of
reality, but to the two Freys it seemed to offer a slender chance-anything was
better than their present existence.

But before they could be picked for some major expedition, they reasoned, they
would have to show the authorities what good climbers they were. They would
have to undertake climb which had defied all the leading mountaineers, and
succeed. What better than a winter ascent of the east face of Watzmann?

Although the Watzmann is fairly small peak as Alpine mountains go, being
about 8 905 feet high, it possesses one of most glorious cliffs in Europe. For
6 000 feet the east face of the mountain cascades down in a series of terraces
and provides climbers with a long, difficult climb for a summer’s day. In
winter, draped with ice, it is like an enormous tiered wedding cake and the
difficulties are ten times formidable. Before the Freys made their attempt,
there had been only one other, when four climbers had been trapped on the
face for three bitter days and were lucky to escape with their lives.

The Freys cared nothing about other attempts, they were determined to
succeed or die. On New Year’s Day, 1937, they set off in appalling weather in
this desperate peak, which, incidentally, neither of them had ever seen before.
As luck would have it, the weather cleared and they climbed well during
that first day. When night fell they bivouacked on a ledge, huddled together
in a sleeping-sack and numbed by the intense cold. Their only mishap was
dropping on their lamps – that was the shooting star the forester had seen –
and they were somewhat alarmed when they heard the forester’s vice calling
up at them. If they answered, he might think they were calling for help, and
they were no need of a rescue – party! They decided to remain quiet.

Early next morning, in response to the forester’s alarm, three mountain guides
set off for the Watzmann to investigate the ‘accident’. Before long, however,
they could discern the two Freys ascending and there was obviously no cause
of alarm. But the weather looked stormy, so the guides continued to the foot of
the cliff and shouted a warning to the two climbers, at the same time advising
them to retreat. The Freys simply ignored them.
[From: Walt Unsworth, “The Falling Light” in E. Blishen, Miscellany 4]
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
81
Questions
1. What is the relationship between the Freys?
____________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)

2. State two pressing reasons for the two Freys to need money.
a. ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

3. What, according to the passage, is the necessary condition for someone to

be considered for a guiding job?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

4. How could the Freys earn money through the climbing sport?
____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

5. What motivated the Freys to climb the Watzmann small as it was?

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

6. Suggest why the word “accident” has been enclosed by inverted commas.
____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

7. Give another word with a similar meaning to each of the following:

a. slight: ____________________________________________________________
b. expeditions: _______________________________________________________
c. draped: ___________________________________________________________
d. appalling: _________________________________________________________
e. mishap: ___________________________________________________________
f. discern: ___________________________________________________________
(6marks)

8. What made the forester call up at the two Freys?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
82
9. What prompted the mountain guides to climb the Watzmann?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

10. Why did the guides shout a warning to the Freys?

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

11. Describe two personality qualities of the Freys?

a. __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

12. Suggest a suitable title for the passage.

___________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

13. Summarize the passage in your own words. The summary should be
between 70 and 100 words.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
(10 marks)

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 Practice 10
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
It was spring, and in the night the men of the clans could be heard
singing to the spirits of powerful animals. Apawo and his two friends
decided they would explore the lands beyond the village. The brothers,
Apawo’s friends, had never ventured out of the valley of their people, for
the elders often cautioned them about the dangers of the world beyond
the meadow. But Apawo loved to explore, and his infatuation with
adventure was highly contagious. Before long his two friends wanted to
accompany him.

So early, one morning the three boys started in the direction of the
farthest slope of the little valley. By the time the sun was high, they
were tired and hungry. The brothers complained of the heat and cursed
the rocks that bruised their feet through the thin soles of their moccasins.
They were not the kind of people who are made for adventure.

Apawo attempted to encourage them, but his high spirits had little effect.
The elder brother was especially sullen as they hiked through the rocky,
scorched landscape in which nothing grew and there was neither fruit to
eat nor water to drink. The three boys searched everywhere for food, but
they found absolutely nothing, not even tender roots or green berries.

Finally, the sullen elder brother sat down on a rock and refused to go
any farther. “I want to turn back,” he said angrily.

“No,” protested the younger brother. “We have come this far, and what
will be the good of it if we turn back before we have seen what lies beyond
the valley?”

“It takes nothing to go back,” Apawo told them. “That is why people never
get anywhere. Do not be easily disappointed, my friend. We will find food
soon. And we will also find a good place to make our camp for the night.”
The elder brother grumbled but finally agreed to continue their journey.
And so, after resting in the shade of a boulder, they started out again.

“Ah!” shouted the elder brother suddenly. “Just as you said, Apawo, I
have found food! Come and see what I have found for us!”

The three crowded around a nest built of pebbles among the great rocks.
In the nest were four extremely large greenish eggs. “I am very glad,”
the elder brother said, and laughed. “I have found a blessing. Here is
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
84
food for us to eat in this place where there is no food!”

“No,” Apawo whispered. “Please, my friends do not eat these eggs. I think
there is great power in them. We must come away and continue walking.”
“You are a fool, Apawo,” the elder brother shouted. “You always tell us
what to do. If we are tired, you tell us to continue walking. If we are
hungry, you tell us we must be patient. And when we finally find food,
then you tell us we must not eat it. You are a fool and I don’t know why
I call you my friend!”

“Listen to me …” Apawo urged, but the brothers ignored him and

gathered dried grass to make a fire. Soon the eggs were roasting. The
brothers sang heartily, their voices echoing among the great gray rocks,
as they sniffed the cooking food.

“You must listen to what I am telling you,” Apawo pleaded. “I have

come to know about such things, and you are doing evil. Already the
eggs have died in the fire. Now we must run away quickly. You cannot
steal these eggs without a prayer or an offering. A living thing is a vast
mystery, and something that is coming into life, like these great eggs,
is even more mysterious. I know that something bad will happen if we
eat those eggs.”

As the singing continued, a fierce deep hearse voice was heard behind
one of the rocks nearby. Then in a lightning speed a man jumped a few
rocks and stood behind Apawo’s elder brother. He looked at the boys, his
red eyes twitching nervously and swearwords tumbling endlessly out
of his thick lipped mouth. He quickly put down a dirty woolen bag that
he had slang on his shoulder. The man pulled a big snake from the bag
and ringed it around his neck. None of the boys dared to move.

[Adapted from Littell, M., The Language of Literature; pp.125]

Questions:
1. What is the number of characters in the story?

_________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)

2. a. How many days did Apawo and his friends spend in the bush?

_________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
85
b. Why do you think so?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

3. Why did the elder between the two friends of Apawo so hesitant to
proceed in the adventure?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

4. Who do you think the man with the snake is? Justify your answer.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

5. Can you cite two examples from the story that show that the people
in the story believe in spirits.

a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

6. Describe any two character traits of the elder brother in the story.
a.________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

b.________________________________________________________________
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
86
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

7. In your opinion, how does the story end?

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

8. State any one thing for which Apawo was described a fool.
_________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)

9. Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage:

a. infatuation (paragraph 1)
_________________________________________________________________

b. sullen (paragraph 3)
________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

10. Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the passage:
a. had little effects (paragraph 3):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
b. a vast mystery (paragraph 11):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

c. in a lightning speed (paragraph 12):

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)

11. Suggest a suitable title for the passage.

_________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
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12. Summarise the passage in your own words. The summary must be
between 70 and 100 words.

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(10 marks)

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 7
The Concept Of
CHAPTER Note-Making
Elements of
Note-making
Note-making is the process of
The important parts of a summary
taking down important ideas
in note-form are contained in the
from a written exposition.
instructions for the notes. Others,
Said differently, note-making
however, are not directly mentioned.
involves identifying and
These include phrases, abbreviations,
writing down important
symbols, numbering, underlining and
points from what one is
neatness.
reading. In Malawi note-
making has evolved from note-
taking, which is the process of Read the following passage carefully
taking down key ideas from and afterwards make a summary of it
an aural exposition or what in NOTE-FORM. In your summary:
one is listening to.
a. Provide a suitable title for the
passage
Note-making is about breaking
down a passage into main b. Give the main points
points or sub-headings and c. Supply supporting points for
supporting points under each main point
a heading or title. The
supporting points are put Marks will be awarded for note-style,
down in phrases. As such, the brevity and fair-copy layout.
exercise should be simple to
an average student and fair to
1. Title
those who study on their own.
However, how easy-going the It is also called heading. It is formulated
process of note-making may from the topic sentence, i.e. a sentence
become depends upon how that gives us the central idea of the
much knowledgeable the passage. The topic sentence is usually in
candidate is and how much the first paragraph of a given passage. A
practice the candidate has good title must be:
had.
99 Brief and to the point
99 Expressed as a phrase, not a
sentence
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
89
 99 Encompassing of the general idea of the passage
99 Written in the middle of the page
99 In block letters and not underlined. However, in recent years, titles
written in small letters and underlined have become an acceptable
alternative
99 Unnumbered
99 Written in words that have not been abbreviated. Symbols too are not
allowed in the title.

2. Main Points
These are also referred to as sub-headings or sub-titles. They are formulated
from the topic sentence for each paragraph. In most cases these are introduced
in the introductory paragraph. Here is an example:

Government has been defined as a political organisation comprising the

individuals and institutions authorized to formulate public policies and
conduct affairs of state. Governments are empowered to establish and regulate
the interrelationships of the people within their territorial confines, the
relations of the people with the community as a whole, and the dealings of
the community with other political entities. In Malawi, like anywhere else,
there are three branches of government. This essay discusses those branches,
namely the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.

From this introductory paragraph, one should clearly see that:

1. The topic sentence is “In Malawi, like anywhere else, there are three
branches of government”.
2. From the topic sentence a title Branches of Government can be
formulated.
3. The main points have been introduced, namely Executive, Legislature
and Judiciary.

Good main points must be:

99 Brief and in phrases
99 Written from the margin
99 Numbered
99 Written in small letters and underlined. Note that the first letters of
the words in the main point must be put in the upper case. Note that it
is unconventional to write main points in upper case.
99 Without abbreviations and symbols

3. Supporting Points
These are the ideas that elaborate and expand the thought in the main points.
They therefore fall under the main point that they support. There are higher
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
90
level and lower level supporting points. Lower level points usually illustrate
the idea further as examples. Well written supporting points must be:

99 Relevant to the main point under which they appear

99 Numbered according to level
99 Written away from the margin
99 Expressed as phrases. The phrases must make sense, and where
applicable include standard abbreviations and symbols
99 Written in the lower case except where there is a proper noun
99 Without punctuation marks at the end
99 Indented at the fall of each level
99 Without underlining

4. Phrases
As pointed out above, supporting points are expressed as phrases, and that
the phrases must make sense. What gives the phrases sense are the verbs
that come at the beginning of those phrases. In some cases, it is possible
to formulate a phrase without a verb. Where this is the case, the phrases must
be in full support of the sub-heading/main point under which they have been
written. Study the example below:

BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT
1. Executive
a. headed by State President
b. comprise: (i) Civil Service
(ii) Army
(iii) Police
c. initiate devt agenda of country
d. ensure law & order among pple
e. defend country from external forces

5. Abbreviations and Symbols

What is generally called phrases is a combination of contractions, short forms
and abbreviations and acronyms. Abbreviations and symbols are contained in
the phrases, and they are used to realize brevity of the notes. Only conventional
or standard abbreviations and symbols are supposed to be used. This means that
where a word does not have known or used standard abbreviation or symbol, it
is unacceptable to shorten it. There is a dangerous tendency among students
to think that every long word should be shortened. As such, they tend to use
personal abbreviations and symbols.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
91
Table 9: Example of standard symbols and abbreviations

CAUSES OF SOIL EROSION

1 Deforestation
a. removes veg. cover & exposes soil to adverse conditions
b. soil washed away by heavy rain
c. cause small channels & gullies
d. eroded soils build up & weaken irrigation channels, rivers + reservoirs
e. may cause floods

2 Certain methods of farming

a. ploughing up & down slope increase rate of soil erosion
b. planting crops in rows/ crops e.g. sunflower + no ground cover
(i) encourage erosion
(ii) if grown yr after yr
(iii) reduces crop yield

Table 10: Example of personal abbreviations and symbols

CAUSES OF SOIL EROSION

1 Deforestation
a. rem. veg. cover & exp. soil to adverse cond’t’n
b. soil washd away by he’v rain
c. cause sm’llchan’lz&gulez
d. eroded soils build up & weaken irrigat. chanelz, rivers & resev’s
e. may cause flds

2 Certain methods of farming

a. plou’g up & down slope incr. rate of soil eros.
b. plantin crops in rows/ crops e.g. sunflower no ground cov’r
(i) enc’r’geros.
(ii) if grown yr after yr
(iii) reduc. crop yield

NOTE: You will see that the personal abbreviations and symbols that have
been used above have rendered those phrases meaningless. This candidate
gets no mark on content.

6. Underlining
Students should be aware that only two items can be underlined:
a. Title written in lower case or small letters
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
92
b. Sub-titles or main points.

A candidate loses the mark for underlining if he/she:

i. underlines a title that is in upper case.
ii. underlines supporting points.

7. Numbering
It is perhaps necessary to realize that it is not just numbering that matters,
but numbering appropriately. Students/candidates should remember that there
are only two things that are numbered, namely main points and supporting
points. However, note that the latter come out usually in two levels: major and
minor supporting points. These three levels must be numbered differently.
a. For Main Points use:
i. Upper case Roman Numerals (I, II, III, IV etc.)
ii. Capital letters (A, B, C, D etc.)
iii. Arabic Numerals (1, 2, 3, 4 etc.)
b. For Supporting Points use:
i. Arabic Numerals (1, 2, 3, 4 etc.) depending upon level
ii. Small letters (a, b, c, d etc.) depending upon level
iii. Lower case Roman Numerals (i, ii, iii, iv etc.)

Study the examples below:

Table 11: Notes with many examples or minor supporting points

BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT
A Executive
1. headed by State President
2. comprise
a. Civil Service
(i) diplomatic missions
(ii) directorates
(iii) ministries
-Agri.
-Edu.
-Health etc.
b. Army
c. Police
3. initiate devt agenda for govt
4. ensure law & order among pple

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

93
Table 12: Notes with only two levels of supporting points

BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT
1 Executive
a. headed by State President
b. comprise
(i) Civil Service
(ii) Army
(iii) Police

Important things about numbering

1. Numbers of main points are put outside the margin.
2. Numbers of the main supporting points are written away from the margin
and those of the minor supporting points farther away from those of
the former.
3. Dashes and bullets are only used when all the numbers have been
exhausted.
4. Numbering must be consistent, i.e. the order of numbering must be
the same in every chunk of notes.
5. There must be an alternation of numbers as follows: A….. 1…..a…..i

A. ___________________________________________________
1. ___________________________________________
a. _________________________________
i. _______________________
This means that if A is used to number a main point, 1 should be used to
number the first main supporting point. Where 1 numbers a main point, a
must number the first supporting point; and if a numbers an example,i must
number a further example.
Table 13: Example of poor numbering
BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT
1 Executive
i. headed by State President
ii. comprise
-Civil Service
-Army
-Police
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94
8. Neatness
Neatness is difficult to describe. Basically it means “orderly in appearance”
or “skillfully performed”. Basing on this definition, the neatness of notes is
judged by:
a. Having an orderly appearance, i.e. following the rules of note-making
i. Title written in the centre of a page
ii. Supporting points well indented at the fall of each level
iii. Each chunk of notes well demarcated from the other by skipping a line.
b. Having legible handwriting
c. Without dirty cancellations.
d. Following orthographic rules, i.e. that different letters of the alphabet
be written differently.

NB: The letters of the alphabet can be sub-divided into three classes in
accordance with how they should appear on paper. Learners are supposed to
adhere to the way letters are supposed to be printed. The following table shows
the sub-categories of letters.

Category Examples Characteristics

Short letters a, Letters mid-way between
c,e,i,m,n,o,r,s,u,v,w,x,z lines.

Tall letters b,d,f,h,k,l,t, Letters rise above those

in category above.

Long letters g,j,p,q,y Letters protrude into a

space across the bottom
line.

Tinyade Chapenga
Madalitso Mokhothiwa
Matamando Njanji
Ulemu Milimbo
Fatsani Nyambi
Enipher Chanthinya
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Table 14: Example of notes that are not neat

BENEFITS OF LAKE MALAWI

1 Provision of Fish
- contain diff. species contain diff. species
-Chambo
- most popular
-found only in L. Mwlakemalawi
-Kampango
-Bombe
-Utaka
- Usipae.t.c.
-fish essential in diet—source of protein for body
growth
2 Tourism Charm
-contain fresh H2O for swimming
-capturecapture foreign currency
-boost economy thru. tourists

Samples Of Note-Making
Questions And Answers
Sample I
Read the following passage carefully and afterwards make a summary
of it in NOTE-FORM. In your summary:
99 Provide a suitable title for the passage
99 Give the main points
99 Supply supporting points for each main point
Marks will be awarded for note-style, brevity and fair-copy layout.

The antbear is an extraordinary creature in appearance and habits. Even its

name in English is strange for it has two names and both of them are only
partly right. Although one of the names is antbear and it certainly feeds on ants,
it is certainly not a bear. The other English name which is used is aardvark,
which is the first noun in an English dictionary. This name comes from the
Dutch language and it means ‘earth pig’. Once again this is wrong. Although
aardvarks burrow beneath the earth they are not pigs.
A grown antbear is nearly two metres long and it weighs from about 50 to 70
kilos. It has a thinly bristled coat that is generally brownish. Its skin is very
tough. The general shape of its body is similar to a pig’s, but it has a long
tail which is round and pointed. In fact, its head looks rather like that of an
anteater. The antbear’s mouth is small and it has a long, narrow, flat tongue
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
96
which can be extended far out of its mouth. The worm-like tongue is perfect for
scooping up ants and termites and their eggs. The antbear’s legs are short and
strong. Usually, on the hind feet there are five toes but on the front feet there
are only four. All of the toes have long sharp nails which are ideal for digging
underground and for raiding anthills and termites’ nests.
One of the antbear’s strangest characteristics is its very unusual teeth. They
are tube-shaped and rootless and covered in a cement-like substance, instead
of enamel. It is these tube-like teeth which puts the antbear into the order of
mammals known as Tubelidentata. However, the antbear is the only living
representative of this group. The young antbear develops milk-teeth which
are numerous, but the adult animal develops only four or five of these peglike
molars. They are all identical and they never stop growing. These are so
complicated that they are now almost completely useless: they are just a relic
from an earlier stage of evolution.
[Adapted from Roy Bevan (1988), Certificate English Language, pp.166-
7; Longman]

FAIR COPY

ANTBEAR
1 Name
a. has 2 strange names both partly right
i. antbear: feeds on ants but not bear
ii. aardvark = earthly pig but not pig
2 Appearance
a. approx. 2 m long & weighs 50-70 kg
b. has thinly bristled brownish coat
c. very tough skin
d. head as anteater
e. small mouth c long narrow flat tongue
i. can be extended far out of mouth
ii. used to scoop ants, termites & eggs
f. short + strong legs
i. 5 toes on hind ft, 4 on front
ii. toes have long sharp nails
-digging underground
-raiding anthills & termite nests
3 Teeth
a. tube-shaped & rootless
b. covered in cement-like substance
i. put antbear in order of Tubulidentata
c. numerous milk teeth in young ones
d. only 4/5 peg like molars in adults
i. identical& always growing
ii. too complicated -almost useless

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97
Sample II
Read the following passage carefully and afterwards make a summary
of it in NOTE-FORM. In your summary:
a. Provide a suitable title for the passage
b. Give the main points
c. Supply supporting points for each main point
Marks will be awarded for note-style, brevity and fair-copy layout.

Malawi is a country least known for minerals. However, creation gave her
another sort of blessing. She has what many other countries do not have – the
lovely lake. Indeed, Malawi is a blessing to the country in a number of ways.

The first way is through provision of fish to the people. The lake harbours
different types of fish. The most popular species of fish found in the lake
is ‘Chambo’. For your own information, ‘Chambo’ is a type of fish found
only in our lake. Other types of fish found in the lake include ‘Kampango’,
‘Bombe’, ’Usipa’ and list is endless. Fish are very essential in our diets.
They provide us with protein necessary for body repair and growth.

The lake also acts as a tourism charm that beckons visitors to our country.
Unlike many other African lakes, Lake Malawi has fresh water. That is
the reason why the visitors like to visit the lakeside so that they can swim
in fresh water of our lake. In this way, the lake helps in capturing foreign
currency, which is boost to our economy.

Thirdly, the lake helps the country in transport system. It provides a

water-way. You can have fun on the lake when you board our ships such as
Mtendere. You can travel from Chilumba to Cape Maclear using the lake as
a waterway. Apart from ships, many people use canoes and small boats to
travel from one place to another along the lake shore. There are also barges
that ferry cargo to ports in the north from Monkey –Bay.

Finally, the lake is a blessing through the wide shores it has. These shores
provide opportunities to our businessmen and women to build hotels, lodges
and inns along the lake. These are places where very important conferences
are held. Tourists spend their time at these places as well. All this is possible
because of the lake. The lake, indeed, is a blessing to the country.

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

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FAIR COPY

Benefits of Lake Malawi

1 Provision of Fish
a. contain diff. species
i. Chambo
-most popular
-found only in L. Mw
ii. Kampango
iii. Bombe
iv. Utaka
v. Usipa etc.
b. fish essential in diet -source of protein for body growth
2 Tourism Charm
a. contain fresh H2O for swimming
b. capture foreign currency
i. boost economy thru. tourists
3 Transport System
a. ships e.g. Mtendere sail fr.Chilumba to Cape Maclear
b. canoes & small boats move along shore
c. barges tpt cargo fro. M/Bay to n.
4 Wide Shores
a. provide business opportunities
i. men & women build hotels, lodges + inns
b. host conference
c. attract tourists

Quick Facts About Chapter 7

Chapter 7 has been a discussion on the concept of Note-Making. It is about
breaking down a written text presented in prose into points of different levels.
The following areas have been thoroughly dealt with:
1. Elements of Note-Making
These are aspects that a student has to remember to address when making notes.
a. Title
b. Sub-titles or Main Points
c. Supporting Points
d. Numbering
e. Underlining
f. Phrases
g. Abbreviations
h. Symbols
1. Neatness
2. Samples of Note-Making summaries have been included.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
99
 8
Assessment Of Note-
CHAPTER Making Summaries

Scoring note-making summaries

The scoring of notes is based on the second part of the examiner’s instruction
for the note-making question:
“Marks will be awarded for content, note-style and fair-copy layout”.

Thus, the marks a candidate gets depends on how much they understand and
interpret the three elements contained in the instruction, namely content,
note-style and fair-copy layout. The three elements will give a total of 20 marks
under the formula [C+L+N=20.]
1. Content
99 These are the main and minor supporting points of the fair-copy layout.
99 The points expressed as phrases.
99 Each phrase may be worth ½or 1/3 depending upon the length of the
passage.
99 A candidate who simply copies sentences from the original passage does
not get any mark.

2. Layout
The dictionary definition of layout is “the way component parts or individual
items are arranged” or “a design or plan showing the way things are arranged”.
A candidate is either rewarded or penalized for appropriate or poor arrangement
of the component parts of the notes. The components include title, main points,
underlining, numbering and neatness.
99 A correct title gets a maximum of 2 marks.
99 Each main point is awarded 1 mark.
99 1 mark is awarded for appropriate underlining.
99 1 mark is given for consistent numbering.
99 A candidate gets 1 mark for presenting neat work.

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

100
3. Note-style
99 Refers to the way in which something is written or performed, as distinct
from its content.
99 Comprises four aspects, namely use of phrases, abbreviations,
symbols and brevity.
99 1 mark is awarded for ½the number of phrases or above.
99 1 mark is awarded for appropriately using two or more abbreviations.
99 Any two or more symbols will attract 1 mark.
99 Less than two abbreviations and symbols will attract ½mark each,
respectively.
99 Brevity (meaning briefness or economic use of words in writing) is an
automatic mark. It is awarded where a candidate has appropriately
used phrases, abbreviations and symbols. Brevity is also achieved by
rephrasing ideas without changing their meanings. A candidate who
simply copies sentences from the original passage and fails to abbreviate
and form symbols for some words forfeits this mark, or gets half a mark
depending upon the extent of application.

Common Mistakes In Note-Making

1. Numbering a title
2. Writing a title from the margin
3. Including abbreviations and symbols in the title and sub-titles
4. Writing signaling devices, e.g. firstly, secondly, etc at the beginning of
sub-titles
5. Presenting titles and sub-titles as sentences
6. Presenting supporting points as sub-titles and vice-versa
7. Underlining supporting points
8. Using personal abbreviations and symbols instead of conventional ones
9. Using cell phone abbreviations, for example dat (that); dis (this); bcoz
(because); b4 (before); de (the); lyf (life); wat (what); gud (good); u (you), etc
10. Writing the notes in PROSE
11. Leaving out most pertinent points thereby making the notes too brief
12. Listing down sub-titles separately and then writing down supporting
points away from the sub-titles

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Samples Of Mistakes In Note-Making Summaries

Sample 1: Writing In Prose

BLESSINGS OF LAKE MALAWI

The first way is through provision of fish to the people. The lake harbours
different types of fish. The most popular species of fish found in the lake
is ‘Chambo’. For your own information, ‘Chambo’ is a type of fish found
only in our lake. Other types of fish found in the lake include ‘Kampango’,
‘Bombe’, ’Usipa’ and list is endless. Fish are very essential in our diets.
They provide us with protein necessary for body repair and growth.

The lake also acts as a tourism charm that beckons visitors to our country.
Unlike many other African lakes, lake Malawi has fresh water. That is the
reason why the visitors like to visit the lakeside sothat they can swim in
fresh water of our lakes. In this way, the lake helps in capturing foreign
currency, which is a boost to our economy.

Sample 2: Separating sub-titles from supporting points

BLESSINGS OF LAKE MALAWI

1. Main points
a. Provision of fish
b. Tourism charm
c. Transport system
d. Wide shores
2. Supporting points
a. contain different species e.g. chambo, kampango, bombe, utaka, usipa, etc.
b. fish is essential in diet, it is source of protein
c. contain fresh water used for swimming
d. canoes and small boats move along the shore
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Sample 3: Writing title, sub-titles and supporting points in sentences

Malawi is a blessing to the country in a number of ways

1. The first way is through provision of fish

a. The lake harbours different types of fish, e.g. chambo, kampango,
bombe, utaka, usipa, etc.
b. Fish is essential in the diet
c. It is a source of protein for body growth

Quick Facts About Chapter 8

In this chapter issues of assessment and evaluation in Note-Making have been
discussed. The aim of this chapter is two-fold:
1. To help teachers competently assess students in Note-Making.
2. To help learners understand how their work is assessed so that
they become more careful when writing notes.

Three things have been considered, namely.

1. The scoring of Note-Making Summaries.
2. Mistakes committed in Note-Making Summaries.
3. Samples of poorly written notes.

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103
 9
Effective And Systematic
CHAPTER Classroom Approach To
Note-Making
There are a number of approaches that
a teacher could use when handling Note-
making lessons. For best results, however,
Teaching can be a very
this chapter would like to suggest those
interesting and rewarding
classroom experience as approaches that follow the maxims of
long as learner-centred teaching. The Odhams Dictionary of the
and slow-learner friendly English Language defines maxim as “an
methodologies are used. But
axiom deduced from experience”. Simply
more than often, teachers
have imposed too many put, it is an expression giving generalized
do’s and don’ts which have advice on action and conduct. Some
made more learners develop notable maxims include teaching from:
wrong impressions about
Note-making. Thus the
object of this paper is to 99 Easy to difficult
suggest pedagogies which 99 General to particular
could be more effective in 99 Concrete to abstract
handling Note-making in
99 Near to distant
the classroom.

You would appreciate that these maxims

augur well with the first of the six levels
of the Cognitive Domain of Bloom’s
Taxonomy. This is to suggest that in
Form 3, especially first and second terms,
the teacher’s interest should be that of
introducing the major aspects of Note-
making by capitalizing on what learners
already know. Methods may include
Question and Answer, Class Discussion-
Plenary, Panel and Forum Discussions,
Discovery, Brainstorming, etc.

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104
 Applying The Strategies In
Major Areas Of Focus
A. Titles and Sub-titles
Whatever strategy you would like to use, the objective should be that of
helping learners to come up with concise and most appropriate title and sub-
titles. Obviously, learners will need a background of a topic sentence. This
is a sentence in a paragraph that carries the central idea of that particular
paragraph. The first paragraph will usually contain the topic sentence for
the entire passage. Here are examples of topic sentences to be likely found
in the first paragraph. The topic sentences have been underlined.

Students come to school full of hope and enthusiasm that they are
going to benefit fully from the lessons and other school activities.
They anticipate good performance during end of term and National
Examinations. Reality, however, may sometimes be shocking: the
opposite is what happens. This does not just happen like that. Today’s
talk is aimed at addressing the various problems affecting students’
learning.

The payment of ‘lobola’ has been demonized by societies where the

custom is not practiced. Yet, in spite of its shortfalls, the practice has
its share of advantages. These are discussed below.

Democracy has been touted as the best political system to solve

problems of countries where it has been embraced. This paper, however,
does not only look at the merits of democracy, but also at its demerits.

Once the teacher is satisfied that learners are able to pick out topic sentences,
he/she then help them to formulate titles or sub-titles from the selected topic
sentences. Learners can be helped to come up with phrases by doing away with
unnecessary words. Then the remaining words are modified to suit a title. Using
the topic sentences above, titles can be formulated as follows:
a. Today’s talk is aimed at addressing the various problems affecting
students’ learning.
Title: Problems Affecting Students’ Learning
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
105
 b. Yet, in spite of its shortfalls, the practice has its share of advantages.
Words remaining: Practice [Lobola] Advantages
Title after modification: Advantages of Lobola

c. This paper, however, does not only look at the merits of democracy, but
also at its demerits.
Words remaining: Merits of democracy, demerits
Title after modification: Merits and Demerits of Democracy

B. Formulating Supporting Points

To enable learners come up with appropriate supporting points the teacher
should help the learners to differentiate between content and function
words.
1. Content Words
These are the key words in a sentence, and are the ones on which the
meaning centres.

2. Functional words
These refer to the less important words in a sentence. The role of the
functional words is to help express the meaning in the content words
clearer. Auxiliary verbs, e.g. am, is, are, was, were; pronouns; prepositions,
and articles (a, an, and the) are good examples of functional words.

The general principle is that when formulating title, main point (sub-title),
and supporting points, the functional words must be dropped. In some cases,
however, dropping all functional words renders the phrase meaningless. For
example, the words underlined in the sentences below are not required in
phrases:
1. Fortunately, all the teachers attended theIn-service training.
Phrase: all teachers attended INSET
2. Workshops are very important because they enable people gain
additional knowledge and skills in their profession.
Phrase: workshops enable pple gain knowledge & skills
3. It is of utmost importance that interviewees must prepare thoroughly
for an interview.
Phrase: interviewees must prepare thoroughly
4. Most small holder farmers are not able to produce enough food for the
whole year.
Phrase: small holder farmers unable to produce enough food for whole yr
5. In addition, animal production is low and animal protein consumption
is limited.
Phrase: low animal production & ltd. protein consumption
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
106
 6. There are many causes of failure among students during National
Examinations. One of them is that students themselves do not prepare
adequately. They waste too much time in the course of the three terms.
Most of them play around, making noise during study times and when
teachers are not around. The second reason is that most schools are
poorly furnished with learning resources. Community Day Secondary
Schools and some Private Schools are the worst victims. There are no
libraries, laboratories and have only a few reference books for teachers.

Breakdown Of Ideas:

Topic Sentence for title: There are many causes of failure among
students during national examinations
Sentence for Sub-title 1: One of them is that students themselves
do not prepare adequately

Sentences for supporting points:

They waste too much time in the course of the
three terms
Most of them play around, making noise during
study times and when teachers are not around
Topic sentence for sub-title 2:
The second reason is that most schools are
poorly furnished with learning resources

Sentences for supporting points:

a. Community day secondary schools and
some private schools are the worst victims
b. There are no libraries, laboratories and
have only a few reference books for teachers.

Fair-Copy After Modifications

Causes of student failure in national examinations

1 Lack of preparation
a. waste time during 3 terms
b. play around
(i) make noise during prep & in absence of teachers.

2 Lack of learning resources

a. CDSS & pvtschs worst victims
b. have no libraries & labs
c. have less teacher ref. bks
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
107
C. Introducing/Revising Signaling Devices
The learners will also need to be introduced to signaling devises. These are
words or phrases which tell you what kind of information to expect. Signaling
devises are also referred to as connectives. Signals introduce topic sentences
and show the direction of argument the writer is taking.
Knowledge of signaling devices will help learners easily recognize topic
sentences. Signals are of different categories:
1. Sequence: first, second, then, after that, next, etc.
2. Addition: in other words, that is, moreover, furthermore, and, also,
again, in addition, equally important, besides, alternatively, not only…
but also etc.
3. Comparison: likewise, similarly, in the same way, in like manner, in
the same vain, etc.
4. Concession: although, even though, despite this, after all, at the same
time, nevertheless, nonetheless, etc.
5. Conclusion: to conclude, in a nut shell, to summarize, to sum up, finally,
to crown it all, etc.
6. Contrast: on the one hand, on the other hand, but, however, instead,
in contrast, unlike, on the contrary, while, etc.
7. Emphasis: indeed, as a matter of fact, certainly, actually, to emphasize
this point, in fact, etc.
8. Exemplification: in particular, namely, such as, for example, etc.
9. Purpose: so that, in order to, in order that, so as to, etc.
10. Reason: therefore, because, as a result, thus, as a  
consequence, for this reason, so, etc.
11. Result: as a consequence, as a result, consequently, for this reason,
therefore, etc.
12. Space: opposite, above, here, there, etc.
13. Time: at first, in the long run, then, after a while, presently, shortly, at
last, lately, etc.

D. Classroom activities in abbreviations, symbols, short forms, and

contractions
In the early stages, a teacher could integrate short forms and contractions in a
speech lesson. For example, you could get learners to practice making requests
and excuses. Later on, the class may come up with a list of all the short forms
and contractions used by different students.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
108
Your list may include:

99 Won’t
99 Can’t
99 Isn’t
99 Maths
99 Exams etc.
99 demos
99 mart
99 semis
99 lab
99 ad/advert
99 thru
99 cab
99 lap
99 prep

You may also use a comprehension passage to teach abbreviations. Draw

students’ attention to any existing abbreviations in the passage. Orally let them
mention other abbreviations commonly used. Then, give them newspapers for
homework. Ask them to find out abbreviations or to abbreviate titles, words,
phrases, etc. During class discussion in the following lesson, the teacher can
then turn the class’ attention to non-standard abbreviations others might have
used. Most likely, funny abbreviations will come up, e.g. coz, be4, galz, u, lyf,
dat, da, etc. It is only then that a teacher can begin imposing do’s and don’ts.

E. Other exercises on brevity

Teacher may get students to check their friends’ work and point out
unconventional abbreviations and symbols and poorly phrased supporting
points.
Teacher may also reproduce fair-copies and get the learners to mark and then
compare the marks. The class then engages in picking out all the mistakes
and correcting them.

Table 15: Common conventional abbreviations and acronyms

General

a/c accounts General

Admin. Administration ADR Alternative Dispute
Admin. Gen. Administrator Resolution
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
109
Adv. Advantage p/dm per diem/day
Aib as is basis p/hr per hour
AIDS Anti-Immunal Deficiency p/mth per month
Syndrome P/S postscript
Approx. approximately PABX Private Branch Exchange
Arv ant-retroviral PAYE Pay As You Earn
Asap as soon as possible PAYG Pay As You Go
Ave. Avenue PC Personal Computer
c/f compare with Pop. population
C/O care of pp. pages
CD Compact Disk Ppl pupil
COD cash on delivery Pple people
CPU Central Processing Unit Prep. Preparation/Study
CSO Civil Society Organization pvt private
dept. department Q.E.D. Quite Easily Done
devt. Development r.p.m. revolutions per minute
Disadv. Disadvantage Rd road
e.g. exempli gratia (example given) Ref. reference/ refer to
e.t.c. etcetera /and many more Rep. representative
Edu education Res. Residence
Esp. especially RTD retired
Excl. exclude Sch school
Flu Influenza Sec secondary
GMO Genetically modified foods Sme Small and Medium Enterprises
govt. government SMS
GPF General Purpose Fund Snr senior
i.e. id est (that is) SOS Save Our Souls
Incl. include St. Street
Info. Information Std standard
J/A Joint Account Tech. technical/technician
Jnr Junior Tpt transport
ltd. limited URL Universal R. Link
Max. maximum Viz videlicet (namely)
MDGs Millennium Development Vonc vote of no confidence
Goals wt weight
mfg. manufacturing ETA Estimated Time of Arrival
Mid middle ASAP As soon as possible
Min. minimum RSVP Repondez sil vous plait
MOU Memorandum of Understanding (Respond, if you please)
N/A not applicable RIP Requiz scat in pace
NB nota bene (take notice) (Rest in Peace)
NGO Non Governmental Organisation SARS Severe Acute Respiratory
No./Nr number Syndrome
O/D on demand Fyi For Your Information
p. page TALULAR Teaching and Learning
p.a. per annum Using Locally Available
p.a. per annum Resources
P.O. Post Office
P.T.O. please turn over
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
110
Time SSW South South West
a.m. Ante Meridian
p.m. Post Meridian Countries
sec second MW Malawi
min minute ZA Zambia
hr hour ZIM Zimbabwe
Dy day MOZ Mozambique
wk week TZ Tanzania
mth month RSA Republic of South Africa
yr year UK United Kingdom
BC Before Christ USA United States of America
AD Anno Domino (In the BR Brazil
Year of Our Lord) UAE United Arab Emirates

Days Districts
Mon Monday CP Chitipa
Tue Tuesday KA Karonga
Wed Wednesday RU Rumphi
Thur Thursday MZ Mzimba
Fri Friday NB Nkhata-Bay
Sat Saturday LA Likoma
Sun Sunday KK Nkhotakota
SA Salima
Months KU Kasungu
Jan January DA Dowa
Feb February NS Ntchisi
Mar March LL Lilongwe
Apr April DZ Dedza
Jun June MJ Mchinji
Jul July NU Ntcheu
Aug August BLK Balaka
Sep September MH Mangochi
Oct October MHG Machinga
Nov November ZA Zomba
Dec December CZ Chiradzulu
PE Phalombe
Directions BT Blantyre
N North NN Neno
E East MN Mwanza
W West MJ Mulanje
S South TO Thyolo
NW North West CK Chikwawa
NNW North North West NE Nsanje
NE North East
NNE North North East Abbreviations for U.S. States
SE South East AL Alabama
SSE South South East AK Alaska
SW South West AZ Arizona

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

111
AR Arkansas TBAs Traditional Birth Attendants
CA California OVCs Orphans and other Vulnerable
CO Colorado Children
CT Connecticut
DE Delaware Banks
DC District of Columbia NBM National Bank of Malawi
FL Florida OIBM Opportunity International
GA Georgia Bank of Malawi
HI Hawaii INDE BANK International
ID Idaho Development Bank
IL Illinois FMB First Merchant Bank
IN Indiana FDH First Discount House
TN Tennessee NFB New Finance Bank
Col. Colonel NBS New Building Society
AG Attorney General/Auditor General RBM Reserve Bank of Malawi
O/C Officer-in-Charge ADB African Development Bank
IG Inspector General
DIG Deputy Inspector General Computer Technology
COP Clerk of Parliament PC Personal Computer
CP/Compol Commissioner of Police CPU Central Processing Unit
DCP Deputy Commissioner of Police GB Gigabyte
ACP Assistant Commissioner of Police PDF Portable Document Format
Bro Brother URL Uniform Resource Locator
Sr Sister USB Universal Serial Bus
Prof Professor CD Compact Disk
A/Prof Associate Professor
UR University Registrar Colleges
MP Member of Parliament SU Skyway University
HOD Head of Department UNILIA University of Livingstonia
GM General Manager MZUNI Mzuzu University
MD Managing Director KCN Kamuzu College of Nursing
CEO Chief Executive Officer LUANAR Lilongwe University of
PRO Public Relations Officer Agriculture and
SG Secretary General Natural Resources
SC Senior Counsel MAGU Malawi Assemblies of God
QC Queens Counsel University
VIP Very Important Person EU Exploits University
VEEP Vice President UNICAF University of Nicosia
Rev Reverend in Africa
Fr Father COM College of Medicine
Supt Superintendent CHANCO Chancellor College
Dr Doctor UNIMA University of Malawi
P/S Principal Secretary MUST Malawi University of
CIO Chief Information/ Science and Technology
Immigration Officer DCE Domasi College of Education
DC District Commissioner NCE Nalikule College of Education
Capt. Captain PLU Pentecostal Life University
Sgt Sergeant ABC African Bible College

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

112
MIM Malawi Institute of Management MHC Malawi Housing Corporation
AUGCYD African University of MERA Malawi Energy
Guidance, Counseling Regulatory Authority
and Youth Development NOCMA National Oil Company
BIU Blantyre International University of Malawi
SOU Shareworld Open University MACOHA Malawi Council
for the Handicapped
Local Organisations CI Catholic Institute
MAFS Ministry of Agriculture and HHI Henry Henderson Institute
Food Security CEAR Central East Africa Railways
MOH Ministry of Health KCH Kamuzu Central Hospital
MOEST Ministry of Education QECH Queen Elizabeth
Science and Technology Central Hospital
MDAs Ministries,Departments KIA Kamuzu International Airport
and Government Agencies TEVETA Technical, Enterpreneurial,
ODPP Department of Public Vocational, Educational
Procurement Training Authority
DIAS Director of Inspection
and Advisory Services International organizations
RTD Road Traffic Directorate UN United nations
MPS Malawi Police/Prison Services UNICEF United Nations Childrens
MDF Malawi Defense Force Education Fund
NCHE National Council UNESCO United Nations Education
for Hire Education Scientific Cultural
TUM Teachers Union of Malawi Organisation
ATEM Association for the Teaching UNFPA United Nations F Population
of English in Malawi Agency
MTL Malawi Telecommunications UNDP United Nations Development
Limited Programme
TNM Telekom Network Malawi UNIDOSS United Nations
CAMA Consumers Association International Directorate
of Malawi of Safety and Security
IPM Institute of People UNHCR United nations High
Management Commissioner for the
ESCOM Electricity Supply Refugees
Corporation of Malawi WB World Bank
ADMAC Agriculture Development WHO World Health Organisation
Marketing Corporation IMF International Monetary Fund
MPICO Malawi Promotion IDA International
Investment Company Development Agency
ECAMA Employers Consultative USAID United States Agency
Association of Malawi for International
MIE Malawi Institute of Education Development
MRA Malawi Revenue Authority ADB African Develoment Bank
MACRA Malawi Communications IDA International
Regulatory Authority Development Agency
MBC Malawi Broadcasting Corporation MCA Millenium Challenge Account
MEC Malawi Electoral Commission FBI Federal Bureau of Investigations
DfID Department for
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
113
 International Development Unity Patriotic Front
JICA Japan International FRELEMO Front for the Liberation
Cooperation Agency of Mozambique
ABC Brazilian Cooperation Agency (Frente de Libertação
NATO North Atlantic Treaty de Moçambique)
Organisation RENAMO Mozambique
OAS Organisation of National Resistance
American States (Resistência Nacional
WTO World Trade Organisation Mocambiçana)
ILO International SPLA Sudan Peoples
Labour Organisation Liberation Army
FAO Food and Agriculture UNITA National Union for Total
Independence of Angola
Organisation
BRICS Brazil Russia India
China and South Africa Scientific formulas
NASA National Aeronautics Sometimes students/candidates are
and Space Administration given a passage which has chemistry or
AU African Union physics content. Where this is the case,
EU European Union candidates are free to apply molecular
SADC Southern Africa formulas. Here are some of them:
Development Cooperation Carbon C2
COMESA Common Market for Carbon Dioxide CO2
East and Southern Africa Carbon Monoxide CO
OAU Organisation of African Unity Carbon Chloride CaCl
ECOWAS Economic Commission Hydrogen H2
of West African States Hydroxide HO
CNFA Cultivating New Fronts Calcium Chloride CaCl
in Agriculture Hydrogen Chloride HCl
Sodium Na
Political Parties Sodium Chloride NaCl
NAC Nyasaland African Congress Water H2O
MCP Malawi Congress Party
UDF United Democratic Front Roman Numerals
DPP Democratic Progressive Party I one
PP Peoples Party V five
AFORD Alliance for Democracy X ten
MDP Malawi Democratic Party XX twenty
MAFUNDE Malawi Forum XL forty
for Unity and L fifty
Development LX sixty
PPM Peoples Progressive Movement XC ninety
NDA National Democratic Alliance C one hundred
ANC African National CC two hundred
Congress CD four hundred
CCM Chama Chama D five hundred
Mapinduzi (Tanzania) DC six hundred
UNIP United National CM nine hundred
Independence Party Mone thousand
ZANU-PF Zimbabwe National MM two million
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
114
 Quick Facts About Chapter 9
Chapter 9 has made suggestions to teachers on how the teaching and learning
of Note-Making can be done effectively and systematically. This includes the
following:
1. Maxims of teaching ought to be followed.
2. Identificationof topic sentences and how the subsequent formulation of
titles and sub-titles can be done in stages.
3. Learners should be given practice in formulating phrases with individual
sentences before they begin to summarize passages.
4. Learners must be introduced to function words and content words and
helped to differentiate between the two.
5. Learners should be reminded about signaling devices to enable them
identify topic sentences in paragraphs.
6. There must be preliminary activities in abbreviations, symbols.
7. Learners then must be introduced to more commonly used abbreviations,
symbols and Roman numerals.

Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making

115
 10
Test Items For
CHAPTER Practice

The passages below have been selected to give students and would-be candidates
the chance to practice. Students trying out these passages should give
themselves at least thirty minutes. They should also get their work marked
by their teachers.

Read the following passages carefully and afterwards make a summary

of it in NOTE-FORM. In your summary:
a. Provide a suitable title for the passage
b. Give the main points
c. Supply supporting points for each main point
Marks will be awarded for note-style, brevity and fair-copy layout.

Practice 1
Helping students expand and enrich their vocabulary is not easily
accomplished. A teacher needs to do far more than provide his or her
students with a list of vocabulary words to study for a test. Students
learn new vocabulary in four ways.

The first way is, through their own reading and conversation. According
to research findings children come to school knowing approximately
5,000 words and acquire 2,700 to 3,000 words each year during primary,
secondary and high school. Many of those words are learned without
teacher intervention; they are learned through students’ exposure to
language.

The second way students learn new vocabulary is through direct

instruction. Teachers can have a positive influence on students who are
learning vocabulary through well thought-out vocabulary instruction.
Giving students the definitions for new words, however, usually does not
ensure that those words will become part of their vocabulary. That is
because giving definitions for words merely provides students with the
denotation or general meaning of a word. Each word, however, also has
a connotation. The connotation of a word is the range of the meanings
it has and the specific context in which it occurs. Teachers can therefore
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
116
teach their students new vocabulary using various contexts and this
helps instil in students a desire to learn words. They can also provide
the students with strategies that help them make the new words part
of their expressive vocabulary.

The third way students learn new vocabulary is through self-instruction.

As students read, they can consciously try to learn new words.

Finally, students learn vocabulary through mental manipulation of words

while thinking, speaking and writing. Students are constantly exposed to
new words in school, at home and in books. As they use these new words,
they begin to extend their knowledge of the meanings of the words.

Students learn new words to different degrees. With every word, students
may be anywhere at different levels. That is, from where they do not
know the word at all, where they have heard the word but are not sure
about its meaning, where they have a general sense of the meaning
of the word to the level where they have the word in their expressive
vocabulary. Even if they know more meanings for a word, they often
initially lack understanding of a richness of a word.

[Adapted from Improving Reading Strategies and Resources by Jerry L.

Johns, Susan Davis Lenski]

Practice 2
Soil takes hundreds or even thousands of years to form. However, it
can be destroyed or lost in a matter of hours. This is why soil erosion
has become one of the most serious environmental problems which the
country faces today. There are several causes of soil erosion.

The first cause is deforestation. This activity removes vegetation cover and
exposes the soil to adverse conditions. In serious cases, the soil can be washed
away by heavy rain. As running water gains speed, channel and some gullies
are formed. The eroded soils build up in and gradually weaken irrigation
channels, rivers and reservoirs. Sometimes, these soils may even cause floods.

Apart from deforestation, certain methods of farming cause more soil

problems than others. For example, ploughing up and down the slope,
rather than across, can increase the rate of soil erosion. Crops which
are planted in rows, or crops such as sunflower which do not give
complete ground cover, can encourage erosion if they are grown from
year. Although this problem does not always lead to serious erosion, it
certainly reduces crops yield.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
117
Another major cause of soil erosion is overgrazing by both domestic
livestock and wildlife. The vegetation is destroyed and the top soil is
removed. This is most serious around drinking places and along tracks
near kraals. In the central region and parts of the southern region, the
system of herding cattle in dambos during the rainy season causes severe
gully erosion. Once they are affected in this way, these dambos are no
longer able to retain through the dry season.

Burning is another important cause of erosion, especially if it occurs

late in the dry season. The great heat of fire destroys the structure of
the top soil and removes all the vegetable which protect it. This exposes
the surface of the soil to erosion when the first rains come.

Finally, roads that are poorly designed can cause soil erosion. This is
because they lack proper drainage systems. As a result, gully erosion can
be formed in cases of heavy rains. In rural areas, this problem can hinder
environment. In fact, we should understand the full impact the soil erosion
has on the economy of the country for us to combat this problem.

Practice 3
I am going to give you a brief description of the way tea is produced in
Malawi and what happens to it before it reaches the shops of the countries
like Britain. There are a surprising number of stages involved in the
whole process.
First, of course, the tea has to be grown. Seeds are collected from the tea
bushes and are planted in a nursery where they are carefully looked after.
Secondly, when the seedlings are big enough they are transplanted to
the tea fields, where they are left to grow for something like five years.
After that, the bushes are ready for picking. So the tea is plucked by the
workers and taken to the factory, where it is weighed.
After weighing, the plucked leaf is then spread on vast trays or racks.
The leaf is left to wither in the air which is kept at temperature between
25 and 30 degrees Celsius. This process takes 10 to 16 hours, and is
aimed to let the moisture from the leaf evaporate and make the leaf
become flaccid.
The withered tea leaf is then laid on large rollers where the machine
breaks it. During this process, the leaf loses natural juices. At this stage
two mechanized methods are used. The first one is the orthodox way
in which larger leaf or grades are produced. The unorthodox method
produces smaller grades, which are more suited for modern markets.
Senior Secondary English: A Practical Approach to Comprehension and Note-Making
118
Grinding is followed by fermentation. The process of fermentation lasts
for about twenty four hours. At this stage the broken leaf is spread on
trays or put in troughs. Here the leaf releases enzymes or juices which
are let to oxidize. In the process the leaf is turned frequently to make it
turn rusty-brown.
Next, the fermented leaf is fed slowly through warm air chambers.
These are large tunnels into which warm air is pushed. The warm air
allows for the extraction of the moisture from the leaf. The result of this
process is the emergence of dark brown dried leaf. This is the leaf that
is commonly referred to as the black tea.
Finally, the black tea is sorted. The tea is fed into machines which have
sieves and a number of outlets. The outlets enable the tea to be sorted
according to grades. Afterwards, the grades are put in chests. These
are sent to auctions and traders or blenders. The chests are foil-lined
to prevent the tea from absorbing ordours. It also protects the tea from
losing its aroma from shipment.

Practice 4
People often think of a speech as a set of words spoken aloud. Actually
you communicate with an audience as much through nonverbal means
as through words. A good deal of emphasis is placed on the usual aspects
of speech delivery- what an audience sees. A large part of the message
of a speech, however, is carried by the voice- what an audience hears.
How you control and use your voice can make the difference between a
well received and a poorly received speech. A number of different factors
involved when using your voice for public speaking should be considered.
No matter how well organized, researched, and practiced a speech may
be, if the listeners cannot hear what is being said, the speech cannot
possibly succeed. Although it is possible to speak too loudly for a given
room or audience, most beginning speakers speak too softly and cannot
be heard in the rear of the room. This may be due to nervousness; more
often inexperienced speakers simply do not realize they are not using
sufficient volume.
Volume is primarily controlled by the amount of air a person forces
through the vocal cords. If you are going to speak very loudly, you must
have a considerable supply of air in your lungs. Research has found that
people use sixty times as much energy addressing a large audience in a
large room as they do in ordinary conversation.
Varying one’s pitch when speaking is another notable consideration.
Pitch, that is, the tone of the voice on the musical scale. Changing pitch
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as you speak comes naturally to you in conversation, but beginning public
speakers often fail to maintain their pitch variety when speaking from
a public platform. Speaking in a monotone, with no ups and downs in
pitch, can quickly give an audience the impression that the speaker is
not enthusiastic or sincere about the topic.
Also, the speaker needs to watch his or her speaking rate. Normal
speaking rate varies from 120 to 150 words per minute. Some people
speak more rapidly or more slowly than others. Nearly everyone varies
his or her speaking rate for different situations. Changes in rate are
brought about in two ways: by varying the number and length of pauses
between words or by varying the length of time it takes to pronounce
each syllable.

Practice 5
Planning in business is very important. However, there are arguments
against it. Many people in the country believe that planning is a waste
of time. Certainly, good plans take time to be prepared. There is a strong
conviction that planning delays progress. This attitude is wrong. The
purpose of planning is to ensure efficient utilization of limited resources.
Planning also helps to highlight the shortage of critical skills in the
business. Managing a business without a plan is therefore similar to
driving a car without looking through the front view wind-screen.

Effective planning demands the identification of an overriding objective.

The overriding objective should have the specification of the means by
which the objective will be achieved. The plan needs to have a time-frame
for the achievement of the desired objective with measurable results.

There are many different types of plans in businesses. Every activity

of business needs to be planned. Depending on the nature of business,
there are short-term plans, medium term plans and long-term plans.
Short-term plans may deal with sectional plans. Medium-term plans
may concern departmental activities while long-term plans could cover
the activities of the whole business.

The planning process involves the stages of analysis, choice and

implementation. The analysis stage is the most difficult because it
requires creativity. It is the process that demands full appreciation
of the political, economic, social and technological environments. The
choice stage can only be achieved when the environmental situations
have been fully appreciated. This stage involves balancing between
resource requirement and resource availability. When the resource
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availability and resource requirement have been balanced the plan can
be implemented without any obstacles. Obviously, the planning process
as explained here helps expose potential problem areas likely to affect
the operation of the business.

When a business does not plan its operations, the result is poor resource
productivity. It is in this respect that every company has to treat planning
as one of the most important processes in its activities. There are times
when the merits of centralized planning are questioned. The point to
bear in mind is that planning as a process should reflect the character
of the entire business not only one department. Every employee in the
department starting from the messenger should be involved in the
planning process. The involvement of all the employees in the planning
process should not be the end in itself. It should be the beginning of the
participation of the employees in the monitoring of the plan.

[Adapted from Crossing Cultural Frontiers by JJ Chikago, Montfort

Press.]

Practice 6
Alcoholism has been defined as a disease, diagnosed when the ingestion
of alcohol impairs the individual’s normal status of functions in daily
situations and relationships. It is not necessary to become an alcoholic
in order to be adversely affected by a serious drinking problem. We need
to determine who the drinkers are, why they drink, and the effects of
alcohol on the drinker’s health.

First, drinkers come from all levels of society. The typical drunk today has
been identified as a bright middle-management executive in his thirties,
married and living with his family in a nice neighbourhood. Drinkers fall
into several categories. The first type is the normal drinker. He drinks
only occasionally and for perfectly innocent and harmless reasons. He
could stop for a long period of time and never miss it. The second type
is the alcohol-dependent drinker. He drinks every day and depends
on alcohol more than he will admit. Having to do without alcohol is a
difficult and unpleasant experience. During this stage, the individual
usually becomes a heavy drinker. The third type is the alcoholic. He has
lost control over his drinking, and one drink means another. Alcohol
seriously interferes with every aspect of his life, even though he may
not admit it.

Second, people drink for a variety of reasons. Some people drink

occasionally to relax at the end of a tiring day. The businessman often
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 finds himself drinking at lunches, dinners and meetings to please his
clients. Many teenagers, as well as adults, drink in order to be accepted
by their peers. Some drink because they enjoy the intoxicating effects
of alcohol. Alcohol acts as a partial or total anesthetic on the brain,
depending on the amount in the blood. Moderate amounts help to reduce
shyness and feelings of restraint and relax nervous tensions. People drink
to gain relief from a difficult situation or to escape from facing reality.

Third, alcohol has many long-term effects on the drinker’s health. As

a food, alcohol supplies only calories. One eight-ounce glass of beer
or a one-ounce drink of 84 proof whisky each contains about seventy
calories. Thus, heavy drinking means extra calories in the diet. Prolonged
drinking of alcohol causes the liver to become swollen and yellow with
fat. This often develops into a serious condition known as cirrhosis of
the liver. After long excessive alcohol use, damage can occur in the form
of neuropathy or delirium tremens. Delirium tremens is marked by
hallucinations, severe tremor, insomnia and great exhaustion. Extreme
cases of long-lasting alcoholism may cause permanent brain damage and
mental illness, requiring confinement in a psychotic hospital. Another
more direct effect of alcohol is on the heart muscle itself. Deaths related
to alcohol have been cited as the fourth ranking public health problem in
America, surpassed only by heart disease, cancer and mental diseases.

Heavy drinkers may be people of any age from any social level who
drink for any number of reasons. But whatever the reason for drinking,
long-term alcoholism can reduce a person’s life span by as much as
twelve years. The only real cure for this problem is prevention through
education.

[Adapted from The Liquor Problem by the Committee of Fifty in Senior

Integrated English, SB 4]

Practice 7
Snake bites are a hazard to which all of us are exposed. Most bites occur in
the daylight, and the commonest are on the legs, because the snake is on
the ground. It is worthwhile learning to recognize the varieties of poisonous
snakes, like carpet vipers, African spitting cobras and mambas, and also
the many varieties which are not poisonous.

Poisonous snakes have two types of bites. When a snake is hungry and is
after food, it injects a large amount of poison and the victim dies rapidly.
The other bite is defensive, when a snake wants to escape. This happens
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when a human being accidentally steps on it. Here the snake uses the escape
bite and injects a small amount of poison. This is very fortunate because
more than half the victims will have the minimum or no poison at all and
death is less likely.

There are mainly two types of poison that snakes possess. There is one
that affects the nervous system and blocks muscles and nerves and cause
immediate death. The other is a vascular poison which prevents the clotting
of blood and causes bleeding.

When a person is bitten by a snake, there are three main effects. First is
the fear of rapid death. This fear can cause shock which in turn can cause
collapse. The second is the effect of the injury. There is swelling and in
time the skin, veins and muscles are severely affected. Thirdly, there may
be blisters and later an offensive smell.

Treatment should be divided into two: what non-medical people can do on

the spot and what can be done after arrival at the hospital. Reassurance
of the victim is of paramount importance. The site of the bite should be
covered by a clean cloth. A firm band such as a handkerchief, string or
strong grass should be applied to the leg above the bite so that the poison
does not travel higher up.

The victim should then be taken to the nearest hospital. If the snake has
been killed, it should be taken to the hospital so that its identification may
help the doctor to decide which type of antivenin to give the victim. In the
hospital the patient is usually given an injection to sedate him and reduce
the pain. Antibiotics usually help prevent infection.

Practice 8
Paper is one of the world’s most important and useful products. Without
it, there would be no newspapers, magazines, writing paper, or greeting
cards. There would be no paper bags or boxes, paper money, gift-
wrappers, or toilet paper. Take a look around you. How many things
can you see that are made from paper?
Paper is made from tiny fibers from plants. You can see the fibers at
the edge of a torn piece of paper. You can make paper from many types
of plant fibers. Papermakers use fibers in straw, leaves, bamboo, sugar
cane, and bark. Long ago, most papermakers used the fibers in cotton
and linen rags. Today, most paper is made from wood fibers. The most
important trees used for making paper are softwood trees. Softwoods
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include pine, fir, hemlock, and spruce. The long fibers in softwoods are
ideal for making many kinds of paper.
Paper is made in two stages. The first stage is to remove the fibers from
the wood. This is done by grinding the wood or cutting it into chips that
are softened with chemicals. The wood fibers are then mixed with water
to make a soup like substance called pulp.The second stage is to spread
out the pulp, press it flat, and dry it. This makes the fibers stick together
in thin sheets. Some paper is still made by hand. But most paper is made
by machines at factories called paper mills.
Different kinds of pulp make different kinds of paper. Pulp made by
grinding is called groundwood pulp. It’s inexpensive to make, but the
grinding breaks the wood fibers into very short pieces. Groundwood
pulp is used to make cheap papers, such as newsprint. Pulp made using
chemicals is called chemical pulp. The chemicals separate the fibers
from each other but do not break them. Chemical pulp is used to make
stronger, longer-lasting paper for use in fine books and magazines.
The main part of a papermaking machine is a wide belt made of tightly
woven wire mesh. The belt moves in a loop, and it keeps moving all the
time. Pulp is poured evenly onto the belt at one end of the machine. As
the belt moves along, water drains from the pulp. The fibers remain,
leaving a mat of wet paper. The belt goes through metal rollers that
squeeze out more water.
Now the paper is strong enough to be lifted off the belt. It passes between
heated rollers that dry it completely. Finally, the paper is pressed tightly
between cold metal rollers that make it smooth. The finished paper is
wound onto large rolls or cut into standard sizes.
The ancient Chinese invented paper about 2,000 years ago. Chinese
papermakers used fibers from tree bark and old rags. The art of paper-
making spread out from China about 500 years later. It finally arrived
in Europe about 900 years ago.
The invention of the printing press in the 1400s made books popular,
and the demand for paper increased. All paper was handmade until
1798. That’s when a Frenchman named Nicholas Robert invented a
papermaking machine that could make paper in continuous rolls.
Before the invention of paper, ancient people used many different
surfaces for writing. They wrote on clay, wood, stone, and metals. More
than 4,500 years ago, the ancient Egyptians made a paperlike material
from a plant called papyrus. Papyrus reeds were cut into flat slices,
layered, moistened with water, and pressed into sheets. The English
word paper comes from the word papyrus.
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Practice 9
Rocks are divided into three main types, based on the ways in which they
form. These are igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.
Igneous rocks are rocks formed from a molten or partly molten material
called magma. Magma forms deep underground when the rock that was
once solid melts. Overlying rock presses down on the magma, and the less
dense magma rises through cracks in the rock. As magma moves upward,
it cools and solidifies. Magma that solidifies underground usually cools
slowly, allowing large crystals to form. Magma that reaches Earth’s
surface is called lava. Lava loses heat to the atmosphere or ocean very
quickly and therefore solidifies very rapidly, forming very small crystals
or glass. When lava erupts at the surface again and again, it can form
mountains called volcanoes.
Sedimentary rock forms when loose sediment, or rock fragments, hardens.
Geologists place sedimentary rocks into three broad categories: (1) clastic
rocks, which form from clasts, or broken fragments, of pre-existing rocks
and minerals; (2) chemical rocks, which form when minerals precipitate,
or solidify, from a solution, usually seawater or lake water; and (3)
organic rocks, which form from accumulations of animal and plant
remains. It is common for sedimentary rocks to contain all three types
of sediment. Most fossils are found in sedimentary rocks because the
processes that form igneous and metamorphic rocks prevent fossilization
or would likely destroy fossils.
Sedimentary rock forms when layers of sand and mud accumulate. As the
sediment accumulates, the weight of the layers of sediment presses down
and compacts the layers underneath. The sediments become cemented
together into a hard rock when minerals (most commonly quartz or
calcite) precipitate, or harden, from water in the spaces between grains
of sediment, binding the grains together. Sediment is usually deposited
in layers, and compaction and cementation preserve these layers, called
beds, in the resulting sedimentary rock.
Metamorphic rock forms when pre-existing rock undergoes mineralogical
and structural changes resulting from high temperatures and pressures.
These changes occur in the rock while it remains solid (without melting).
The changes can occur while the rock is still solid because each mineral
is stable only over a specific range of temperature and pressure. If a
mineral is heated or compressed beyond its stability range, it breaks
down and forms another mineral. For example, quartz is stable at room
temperature and at pressures up to 1.9 gigapascals (corresponding to the
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125
pressure found about 65 km [about 40 mi] underground). At pressures
above 1.9 gigapascals, quartz breaks down and forms the mineral coesite,
in which the silicon and oxygen atoms are packed more closely together.
In the same way, combinations of minerals are stable over specific ranges
of temperature and pressure. At temperatures and pressures outside
the specific ranges, the minerals react to form different combinations of
minerals. Such combinations of minerals are called mineral assemblages.

Practice 10
What’s the hardest thing a student has to do in high school? Most people
would say it is writing a paper. Since there’s no way to get out of this
job, it makes sense to make an efficient way to getting your thoughts
down on paper. I use a series of steps called the writing process. This is
a method I learned in seventh grade. It helps me figure out what I want
to say and how I want to say it.

First make sure you know what the assignment is. Then write down
everything you know about the topic. You don’t have to worry about your
spelling or about writing complete sentences. Then look at what you have
written. Can you put your ideas in groups? Draw lines to connect ideas
or circle or number your ideas to show which ones go together. This part
of the process is called prewriting.

The next step is writing. Figuring out a good opening is worth spending
time on. I try to tell about something that happened to me or to a friend
that I can connect with the topic. For example, when I had to write
about what the legal driving age should be, I began with a story about
my cousin, who was a good driver when he was only twelve years old.
Then I try to say in general what my essay is going to be about. After
that, I write a paragraph about each group of ideas.

After writing, comes revising. This is when you re-read what you have
written and decide what to change. Sometimes you need to add things.
Sometimes you need to take things out. Sometimes something doesn’t
make sense, and you have to figure out a different way of saying it. It’s
pretty hard to know what to change, so I like to ask someone else to read
what I have written.

The last step doesn’t seem so big, but it can make a big difference in
your grade. This is editing. Go over your paper very carefully and correct
every mistake you find. Get everything right before you copy it over in
your best handwriting. If your handwriting is so bad that no one can
read it, maybe it’s time to learn to type.
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William Collins Sons and Co. Ltd.: Glasgow
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Papers: 2004, and 2005
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Mwase, C.K. &Laymaman, C.F. MSCE Comprehension
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Powell, S.H. (1985).Secondary English Book 4. Macmillan Education Australia
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 About the Author

Patrick Chipeka Phiri hails from Mdyaka-Thuli Village, T/A Mankhambira

in Nkhata-Bay. He is a well experienced teacher having taught English and
History at several schools in Malawi including Edingeni Community Day,
Nkhata-Bay and St Michael’s Girls Secondary Schools. Currently he is a Senior
Examiner of MSCE English Language. In 2001 he was awarded the Peer Gynt
Literary Award by the Malawi Writers Union in conjunction with the Norwegian
Embassy for his paper entitled Democracy in Malawi Since 1994. He studied
Education Humanities at Domasi College of Education before proceeding to
Chancellor College of the University of Malawi to read for a Bachelor of Arts
in Human Resource Management (HRM) and a Master of Arts in HRM and
Industrial Relations.

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