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ENGLISH

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PAPER 1

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(FUNCTIONAL SKILLS)
OCT./NOV.2006
2HOURS

THE KENYA NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

K.C.S.E
ENGLISH PAPER 1
TIME: 2HOURS

Question 1 (20mks)
You are the chairperson of your school‟s Wildlife Conservation Association (WICA). Your
group has just come back from a visit to a national park in a neighbouring country.

Write a report to the patron of WICA about the trip. In your report indicate what you
accomplished, the problems you experienced and what cautionary measures you would take
during trips.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Question 2 (10mks)
Fill in each of the blank spaces in the passage below with the most appropriate word.
There was time when telecommunication 1………………Africa was nearly non-existent. With
the 2……………of one or two more developed nations, most African countries
3 …………… infrastructure and telephony was out of reach for 4………………. of the
population. But mobile telephony has 5……………. a lot of that and has demonstrated Africa‟s
6……………. to leap-frog older technologies with new ones more 7…………. to the
environment.

Telecommunication in Africa is growing 8………….. there is room for improvement and

development. A number of new networks 9………. coming up all over the continent and the
African telecommunication market is growing 10………. The driver of this growth? Mobile
telephony.
(Adapted from African Business, May 2004)

Question 3
a) Read the oral narrative below and then answer the questions that follow.
Nyasaye (God) wanted to put a stop to the rampages of death-death which claims the lives of
everyone
Young and old
Boys and girls
Men and women
Strangers and kinsmen;

Death which kills

The innocent and the guilty
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Chiefs and their subjects

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The healthy and the sick

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The wise and the foolish.

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So one day he sent a servant to earth with a message for all his people. “send me an offering of
fresh, untainted fat,” he ordered. “It should be as clean and sparkling as the moon.” Hearing this,
the people slaughtered a goat, removed its pure white fat, and placed it in a clay dish overspread
with fine fresh leaves.

Now they summoned Ngo‟ngruok, also known as Haniafu the Chameleon, and ordered him to
take their offering to Nyasaye. They also fashioned a long pole that reached up to heaven where
Nyasaye dwells in his glory. This was the path Ng‟ongruok would follow when carrying their
offering.

But Ng‟onguruok accidentally soiled the fat with his clumsy feet, and on his arrival before
Nyasaye, presented a dirty and unsightly offering. Nyasaye was furious and rejected it, shouting:
“tell the people of earth that because of this insult they must continue to die, just as their
ancestors have done!”

Ng‟ongruok descended from heaven delivered Nyasaye‟s message, and returned the offering to
the people. Ever since then, alas death has continued to ravage human beings. For his
clumsiness, Ngo‟ngruok was cursed by the people. Hence, he must always walk on all fours, and
his steps must be hesitant and slow. That is why you will always see him carrying one leg raised
from the ground as he tries to decide exactly where to tread.
(Adapted from: keep my words by B. Onyange-gutu and A.A Roscoe)

i) What would you do in order to capture the audience‟s attention before you begin to tell
this story? (2mks)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………
ii) Explain two ways in which you would make the narration of lines 20 to 23 of the story
effective (4mks)

………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………..
iii) Mention two ways in which you would know that you audience in this story is fully
participating in the performance. (4mks)
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………..
b) For each of the words below write another word that is pronounced in the same way.
Heir…………………………………………………
Weather…………………………………………….
Base………………………………………………..
Mourning………………………………………….
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c) Read the poem below and answer the question that follow.

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Isatou died

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When she was only five
And full of pride
Just before she new
5 How small a loss
It brought to such a few
Her mother wept
Half grateful
To be so early bereft.
10 And did not see the smile
As tender as the root
Of the emerging plant
Which sealed her eyes
The neighbours wailed
15 As they were paid to do
And thought how big a spread
Might be her wedding too
The father looked at her
Through marble eyes and said;
20 “Who spilt the perfume
Mixed with morning dew?”
Lenrie Peters
(From: The Earth Is Ours. Edited by Ian Gordon)

i) Identify any two pairs of rhyming words in this poem. (2mks)

ii) Which words would you stress in line 2 of this poem, and why? (2mks)
iii) How would you say the last two lines of this poem? (2mks)

d) You have lost your luggage on your way back to school. You decide to report the matter
to the nearest police station. Below is part of the conversation between you and the police officer
at the reporting desk. Fill in the other part. (Read through the conversation first before writing
your responses).

You:…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………… (2mks)
Police Office: (Interrupting) Easy. I am sorry about what happened but before you go into the
lost items, please give me your full name and address.
You:…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………
(2mks)
Police Officer: That is good. Now go ahead and tell me what happened, without leaving out any
important details.
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You:…………………………………………………………………………………………………

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………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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………………………………………

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(3mks)

Police Officer: From which schools are the students who alighted before you? You see, it is
possible that your box was off loaded from the bus by mistake especially because another box
that nearly resembles yours was left behind.

You:…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………
(2mks)

Police Officer: Good. At least that is a starting point; we will get the box from the bus then go to
that school to make enquiries.

You:………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
(1mk)
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ENGLISH

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PAPER 2

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(Comprehension, Literary
Appreciation and Grammar)
Oct/Nov 2006
2 ½ hours

THE KENYA NATIONAL EXAMINATION COUNCIL

K.C.S.E
ENGLISH PAPER 2
TIME: 2HOURS.

1. Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow.
During the last couple of decades, the developing world has made enormous economic progress.
This can be seen most clearly in the rising trend of incomes and consumption: between 1965 and 1985
consumption per capita in the developing world went up by almost 70 percent. Broader measures of
well-being confirm this picture-life expectancy, child mortality, and educational attainment have all
improved markedly.
Against that background of achievement, it is all the more staggering-and all the more shameful-
that more than one billion people in the developing world are living in poverty. Progress in raising
average incomes however welcome, must not distract attention from this massive and continuing burden
of poverty.
The same is true of the broader measures of well-being. Life expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa
is just 50 years, in Japan it is almost 80 more than 110 million children in the developing world lack
access even to primary education while in the developed world, anything less than universal enrollment
would rightly be regarded as unacceptable. The starkness of these contrasts attests to the continuity toll
of human deprivation.
It should be noted that even in the developing world, poverty levels differ from region to region,
country to country and even location to location within same country. For example, nearly half of the
world‟s poor live in South Asia, a region that accounts for less than one third of the world‟s population.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for a smaller, but still highly disproportionate share of global poverty-
Within regions and countries, the poor are often concentrated in certain places: in rural areas with high
population densities. Often, the problems of poverty, population, and the environment are intertwined;
earlier patterns of development and pressure of rapidly expanding populations mean that many of the
poor live in areas of acute environmental degradation.
It is also true that the weight of poverty falls heavily on certain groups. Women in general are
disadvantaged. This is because in poor households, they often shoulder more of the workload than men,
are less educated, and have less access to remunerative activities. Children, too suffer
disproportionately, and the future quality of their lives is compromised by inadequate nutrition, health
care, and education. This is especially true quality of their lives is compromised by inadequate nutrition,
health care, and education. This is especially true for girls, for their primary school enrolment rates are
less than 50 percent in many African countries.
Obviously, reducing poverty is the fundamental objective of the economic development in any
country. It is estimated that in 1985, more than one billion people in the developing world lived in
absolute poverty. Clearly then, economic development has a long way to go. Knowledge about the poor
is essential if governments are to adopt sound development strategies and more effective policies for
attacking poverty. How many poor are there? Where do they live? What are their precise economic
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circumstances? Answering these questions is the first step toward understanding the impact of economic

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policies on the poor.

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a) What evidence does the author give to show that incomes and consumption trends are rising in
the developing world? (2mks)
b) How does the author feel about the progress made so far by the developing world?(2mks)
c) Why does the author mention Japan? (1mk)
d) What is odd about the poverty situation in South Asia? (2mks)
e) Explain the relationship between poverty and a high population (3mks)
f) Rewrite the following sentence in the singular
“They are also less educated, and have less access to remunerative activity” (1mk)
g) Why is a girl doubly disadvantaged in a poor country? (3mks)
h) In about 55 words, summaries, the main argument of the author (4mks)
i) Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage (2mks)
Staggering
Compromised

2. Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
In the days after the bomb went off the air was full of whispers. Paulina knew the sense
of them although they were often enough phrased in difficult English purposely order to exclude
her. But she could not be excluded. Had she not lost a child? They said that Kariuki had gone to
Zambia, had registered in a hotel there. But the elder Mrs. Kariuki was an acquaintance of the
house and she did not know of it, her co-wife also did not know. There had been no preparations
for going: there had been no custom of keeping unnecessary secrets. It was small husbands with
small concerns who did that.
Whisper, whisper, whisper. They said the police officers had been transferred from here
to there. That officers had been consulting with the missing man here and there. That there was a
lot of money. That parliament- whisper, whisper, whisper.
Paulina went about her duties, ironing, setting tables, supervising the servant in the
cleaning of the house and the hard washing. Sometimes her belly throbbed with the child who
had been so casually taken from her at another time like this and the others who had been denied
her. And yet a child was a child with a light hold on life. When it came to a man, a wealthy man,
golden tongued, greatly loved, though he was not of her own people she knew this much, that the
passing of such a man would be remembered, celebrate. Still not a week passed without someone
speaking of Tom.
And when the body was found, discreetly mutilated, you knew what the event was that
for weeks you had been expecting, although the real event was still not known. The police
officers went about their leave or their business outside the station without referring to it, the
mortuary keeper who had a well-dressed corpse of appropriate size and weight and
characteristics in his charge did not tumble to it. The airline clerks checking flights to Zambia
did not tumble to it, the children playing in the streets did not tumble to it -children who were of
the age to have been shot in Kano or patel flats, children who did not shy away from the sight of
a gun or hold their noses against white smoke from a bonfire, children who had been conceived
after their fathers had come back from the camps, after the squatters had missed their chance to
buy up the white farm settlement plots, after the land titles had been written, children who did
not know the eerie stillness of the forest of the KEM prohibited signs. Children of the New
Method, who knew John Wayne and the Aga Khan and Bruce Lee and Charlie Chaplin by sight,
who knew how to figure on a base of five and counted out diligently in their nursery schools.
“Eeny, meeny, miny mo,
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Catch a little baby so,

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If he hollers let him go,

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Eeny, meeny, miny mo.”

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Even those terribly sharp children did not tumble to it.
Nobody really knew how it tied up with the bomb. There was no need to know, Hyenas
were there to settle with those who asked too many questions. But while the casualties of the
bomb were nameless people absorbed into the daily casualty lists of fire, flood and domestic
quarrels, J.M burst upon the scene as a martyr and a paroxysm of grief ran through the city. The
skies were leaden that April and it grew colder and colder. Eyes grew hard in Nairobi and
conversations were rounded off with polite, empty phrases, even before the stranger came close.
Photographs of J.M alternated with the Pope and the Sacred Heart on the roadside framing
stands. The book was reprinted and within a few months parliamentary speeches were printed
too. A kikuyu gramophone record was banned Mr. Mwangale remarked bluntly in parliament,
“This is time we cannot be told Njenga did it. “Paulina and Martin did not discuss it. The
employers spoke of it in low tones. In May the rains came, chill and steady, a bit late, and in the
shanties by the river people squirmed and shivered over the water-logged ground and fires
smoked damply at the amount of airless polythene shelter.

a) Which bomb is referred to in this extract? (1mk)

b) Explain why the author repeats the word “whisper”? (3mks)
c) “…..the child who had been so casually taken from her at another time like.” What
incident in the novel does this relate to? (4mks)
d) Write notes on the aspects of the politics contained in this extract. (4mks)
e) Mr. Mwangale remarked bluntly in parliament,
“…this time we cannot be told Njenga did it”.
Rewrite as reported speech. (1mk)
f) In about 80 words, summerise the cover-up (6mks)
g) Identify and explain one use of sarcasm in this extract. (3mks)
h) What shows that J.M became even more popular after he died? (3mks)

3. Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow:
Touch by Hugh Lewin
When I get out
I‟m going to ask someone
To touch me
Very gently please
And slowly,
Touch me
I want
To learn again
How life feels

I‟ve not been touched

For seven years
For seven years
I‟ve been untouched
Out of touch
And I‟ve learnt
To know now
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The meaning of

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Untouchable.

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Untouchable-not quite
I can count the things
That have touched me

One: fists
At the beginning
Fierce mad fists
Beating beating
Till I remember
Screaming
Don‟t touch me
Please don‟t touch me

Two: paws
The first four years of paws
Every day
Patting paws, searching
Arms up, shoes off
Legs apart-
Probing paws, systematic
Heavy, indifferent
Probing away
All privacy.

I don‟t want fists and paws

I want
To want to be touched
Again
And to touch.
I want to feel alive
Again
I want to say
When I get out
Here I am
Please touch me.
(From poets to the people, edit by Barry Feinberg)
a) Where do you think the personal is? Briefly explain your answer. (3mks)
b) What do you think the persona means by “touch”? (3mks)
c) Using two illustrations, describe the persona‟s experience during the seven years
(4mks)
d) What is the significance of the word” paws”? (2mks)
e) Which device does the poet use to reinforce the theme? (2mks)
f) Explain the meaning of the following words as they are used in the poem (2mks)
Prodding
Indifferent (4mks)
g) What does the poem reveal about human need? (4mks)
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4 a) Fill in the blank spaces in the following sentences with the most

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appropriate word(s) (3mks)

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i) If we had gone to bed early last night, we………………..rested enough.
ii) If I…………… the recruiting officer, I would not take bribes.
iii) Every one of the students now……….a role to play in keeping the school
compound clean

b) Rewrite the following sentences to remove gender bias. (3mks)

i) A professor should give his student opportunities to develop their skills
ii) My sister was appointed chairman of the Water Project Committee
iii) The firemen took a long time to arrive at the scene of the accident.

c) Fill in the blanks with the correct alternative from the choices given (3mks)
i) Who……..a fire outside my house? (Light/lighted/Lit)
ii) Since the introduction of community policing in our estates…………………..of
theft have reduced. (incidence /incident/incidents)
iii) an elephant looks after…..calf (it‟s/its)

d) Rewrite the following sentences according to the instruction given after each. Do
not change the meaning. (6mks)
i) The choir entertained the visitors (beginning: the visitors……………)
ii) If we do not keep environment clean, the health officer will close our café
(Rewrite using “unless”)
iii) That patient could not stand without support. She also could not sit straight.
Rewrite as one sentence using: “neither ….nor”)
iv) The school team would not have won the game if it had not been for the captain‟s
quick action. (begin: Had…..)
v) Jomo Kenyatta the first president of Kenya was a great orator (Punctuate the
sentence)
vi) We learn from the legend that Mekatilili was a powerful leader
(Begin: the legend…)
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ENGLISH

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Paper 3

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(Imaginative composition and Essays based on set texts)
Oct.Nov 2006
2 ½ hours

1. Imaginative composition (compulsory) (20mks)

Either
a) Write a composition ending with the words: “It then dawned on me that perhaps this is
why I had been born.”
Or
b) Write a composition agreeing or disagreeing with the statement, “A good name is better
than riches.”

2) Drama (compulsory) (20mks)

William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
“Racial and religious prejudice only cause misery. “Write a composition in support of this
statement drawing your illustrations from the Merchant of Venice.

3) Optional set texts

Either
a) The short story
Macmillan (Ed.) Half a Day and other Stories (20mks)
Using illustrations from Nawal El Saadawi‟s “Solitude” write a composition about
dehumanizing prison conditions.
Or
b) Drama
John Ruganda, Sheds of Tenderness (20mks)
Write a composition on the problems of jealously among siblings. Draw your illustrations
from John Ruganda‟s Shed of Tenderness
Or
c) The Novel
Velma Pollard, Homestretch (20mks)
Write a composition on the cause and effects of migration from developing to developed
countries Refer to Velma Pollard‟s Homestretch for your illustrations.
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101/1

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English

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Paper 1

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(Functional Skills)
Oct/Nov 2007
2 hours
You are the chairperson of the creative Writing Club in your school. The club would like
assistance in publishing the winning entry in a recent competition. Write a letter to a publisher
asking them to consider the book for publication. Remember to write through the head teacher.
In your letter, include the following
 The title of the book and name of author
 A brief description of what the book is about
 Why it is important for the book to be published.

2. Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word
Good conversationalists are not born that way. They 1 ……………………… their
skills through patience, preparation and practice 2…………………….. a long period
of time. Some people find it 3……………………. To talk than others, but do not
confuse talk with conservation that is, good conversation.
There are all kinds of conversations, 4 ………………………….. from poor to
excellent. Unfortunately, some of the worst conversations come from those who find
it easiest to talk. 5………………………….the very ease with which some people
talk make them 6……………………… to what they say and unaware that they may
say 7……………………………… much.

It lies within the power of each one of us develop quality in our conversational
ability. However, one has to take some 8……………… you may need to force
yourself to take part in conversations, even though you have 9………………… to
contribute at first. If you cannot talk listen. If you cannot talk, listen. If you don‟t
understand, ask questions. Secondly, enlarge your storehouse of knowledge every
day. Never let a day go 10………………… without learning something new: talk
more with people; read; listen to the radio; watch television; be more observant of
everything and everybody around you; travel as much as you can; start a hobby or
two develop common interests with friends and classmates.

3. (a) Read the story below and answer the questions that follow
Once upon a time, there lived a young woman who ran away from home to secretly
marry her warrior lover out in the wilderness. The warrior directed the young woman to a
place in the forest where he would meet her. He said to her, “When you get to a fork
along the path take the right path.” Then the warrior went ahead to await her arrival in the
forest.

The young woman took off, and when she got to the fork that the warrior had
mentioned, she followed the left path, forgetting which path the warrior had instructed
her to follow.

As the girl walked on, she came upon an ogre who said to her, “hey, young woman where
are going? Do you have anything to say now that I‟m going to eat you?” the girl
answered in song
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Not here my dear

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Let us go to the water hole

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Where you can eat me

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And have a drink
Oh my dear warrior, where was it?

And so it happened that this was very bushy country. The ogre led the young woman on,
and when they got to another spot, he said to her, “I am now going to eat you here.” The
girl broke into song, urging him not to eat her.

They went further, and the young woman kept hoping that the warrior would hear her
voice. As they walked on, the ogre asked the young girl: “shall I eat you hear” The girl
sang again

Not here my dear

Let us go to the water hole
Where you can eat me
And have a drink
Oh dear warrior, where was it?

But the warrior had still not heard her. When they got to a cave by a river, the ogre
collected branches and leaves on which to place the young woman‟s flesh after he had
slaughtered her. When he brought one type of leaf, the girl objected to having her
flesh laid on ordinary leaves preferring the sweet- scented leaves of the Matasia
plant. The ogre brought another kind of leaf nut the girl also rejected it, until
eventually the sweet- smelling leaves of Matassia plant were brought. When the ogre
asked the girl whether those were the right type of leaves, she said: Yes, these are the
ones.” The ogre then laid the leaves down on the ground and lit a big fire. All this while,
the girl was continuously singing the same song.
Just when the ogre was about to jump on the young woman, the warrior suddenly
emerged from the bush. The young woman said to the ogre, “It is now your skinny flesh
that will be laid on those leaves.” The warrior killed the ogre and placed him on the bed
of leaves and took the girl away. And that is the end of the story.
(Adopted from “a young woman and an ogre” in Oral Literature of the Maasai, by
Naomi Kipury. Nairobi: EAEP 1983)

(i) If you were performing this story, how would you say the words of the warrior?
( 1 mk)
(ii) What could the warrior lover have done to improve on his giving of directions
( 1 mk)
(iii) How would you deliver the first speech of the ogre?( 2 mks)
(iv) The song is sung for both the ogre and the warrior lover. How would you
perform it to show this? ( 2 mks)
(v) As the story teller, how would you say the sentence: “ just when the ogre was
about to jump on the young woman, the warrior suddenly emerged from the
bush.” ( 2 mks)
(vi) How do you think the audience would react when the warrior lover arrivers?
( 1 mk)
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(b) Identify and number any five pairs of words that are pronounced the same

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Plane Mad Plain Mourn

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Burrow cat Berry Mud
Bury You Bred cut
Pull Father Pool Ewe
Bread Moan Fool Farther
Further See Full Sea ( 5 mks)

(c) In the words given below, underline the part that should be stressed

(i) suc.cess
(ii) chal.lenge
(iii) ad.vice
(iv) ap.proach

(d) Suppose you were asked to make a speech at a friend‟s graduation party. What would you do
to capture the audience attention? (4 mks)

(e) The following is a conversation between a father and his daughter. Identify eight
shortcomings in the father‟s listening skills ( 8 mks)

DAUGHTER: (shortly having arrived home from school) Good afternoon,

Daddy
FATHER: (Sitting complacently in the sofa, reading a newspaper. Looking up…..)
Good afternoon (Resumes reading)
DAUGHTER: (Holding out her school report form) Daddy, I‟m excited. My teacher said
I was the best improved. I was………..
FATHER: Oh, you were? Me, I used to be number one. I was absolutely unbeatable.
DAUGHTER: Chemistry has been a particular headache ( now looking at the report
form which she thought her father would want to see), but this time…….
FATHER: (Stretching his arms, looking preoccupied)
Chemistry for me was particular easy.
I never scored anything less than 90%
DAUGHTER: Dad, I was going to tell you that this time…….
FATHER: (Absent minded) by the way, where is your mum?
DAUGHTER: Mum is in the garden picking vegetables. But dad, you‟re not listening to
my story. I was telling you about Chemistry
FATHER: You mean you have a story about chemistry? Chemistry is not about
stories. It is hard science.
DAUGHTER: It‟s about my improvement……..
FATHER: (laughing) me, it wasn‟t matter of improvement. I was always at the top
of the class
DAUGHTER: Daddy, I give up. You‟re not listening
FATHER: ( looking surprised) Listening? I heard you: you were talking about
improvement in chemistry, weren‟t you?
DAUGHTER: anyway, Dad. Thank you for paying attention. Enjoy your newspaper.
FATHER: Oh yes, I‟m reading an interesting story about politics
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English

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Paper 2

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(Comprehension, Literary)
Appreciation and Grammar
Oct/Nov 2007
2 ½ hours

1. Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow
You may think that expecting food to change your life is too much to ask. But have you
considered that eating the right food at the right time will increase energy, help you manage
weight and ward off major illness?

Researchers have found that eating a meal with plenty of protein leaves you feeling more
satisfied for longer when compared to a meal loaded with low - quality carbohydrates. Your
body takes longer to digest protein, leading to a gradual increase in blood sugar. The high
protein breakfast will therefore carry you through the morning and more importantly, through
your tea break, many high carbohydrate meals are absorbed quickly and send blood sugar
on a roller coaster ride, taking your appetite with it and depleting your energy.

Many foods contain antioxidants, but fruits and vegetables may be the richest source. Behaving
like chemical warriors, antioxidants neutralize molecules known as free radicals before they
damage arteries and body cells. This protects you from heart diseases, high blood pressure,
cancer and diabetes. You can now see why antioxidant foods should be consumed in generous
portions

Actually, forget pills – antioxidants work best when consumed in foods. In fact, nutritionists
recommend that we eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. It‟s less daunting than it
sounds: a portion equals a piece of fruit, three tablespoons of cooked vegetables or a glass of
fresh juice.

And do you desire to relive yourself of some baggage? Calcium is the latest weight – loss star
to appear on the scene. Scientists stumbled on its magic by accident. From s study that
measured the blood pressure of obese people. It was discovered that those who took one large
tub of yoghurt a day in their diet lost an average of eleven pounds of body fat in one year,
even though they did not eat less.

A follow- up study found that people on a high calcium diet lost weight and fat than did
people on a low – calcium diet - and again, both consumed the same number of calories.
Researchers believe calcium encourages fat cells to stop “ getting father” instead, the cells burn
extra fat without you having to go anywhere near a gymnasium.

It probably sounds strange to say that you can eat more in order to lose weight. Obviously,
the question you should ask immediately is, “Eat more of what?” We are talking about foods
rich in fibre. They have what is referred to as low- energy density; that translates to few
calories relative to weight. This means that you can down a mountain without fear of calories
overload.
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Fibre also aids weight loss because it‟s filling. Most high - fibre foods take a lot of chewing,

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triggering your body‟s fullness sensors. Moreover, you absorb the food more slowly so you feel

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full longer.

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Will the wonders of food ever cease? Not if researchers in nutrition keep their pace. Let them
keep the good news flowing- such as the fact that we don‟t have to starve ourselves to lose
weight and keep diseases at bay.
(Adapted from Reader’s Digest, January 2004

(a) From the information given in the first paragraph, how can you improve your life?
( 1 mk)
(b) In not more than 35 words, summarize the effects of eating carbohydrates
( 4 mks)
(c) Explain how free radicals contribute to the occurrence of high blood pressure and
cancer ( 2 mks)
(d) In what two forms can antioxidants be consumed ( 2 mks)
(e) In fact, nutritionists recommend that we eat five portions of fruit and vegetable a day.”
(f) What is the attitude of the author towards calcium as a weight – cutting measure?
( 3 mks)
(g) According to the passage, how can you use up excess fat? ( 2 mks)
(h) Identify an instance of irony in the passage ( 2 mks)
(i) Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the passage
(3 mks)
Daunting
Baggage
Down a mountain

2. Read the except below and then answer the questions that follow
ANTONIO: I am as like to call thee so again,
To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too.
If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not
As to thy friends- for when did friendship take
A breed of barren metal of his friend?
But lend it rather to thine enemy
Who, if he break, thou may‟st with better face
Exact the penalty.

SHYLOCK: Why look you how you storm!

I would be friends with you and have you love,
Forget the shames that you have stained me with,
Supply your present wants, and take no doit
Of usance for my moneys, and you‟ll not hear me.

BASSANIO: This were kindness

SHYLOCK: This kindness will I show

Go with me to a notary; seal me there
Your single bond, and. In a merry sport,
If you repay me not on such a day
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In such a place, such sum of sums as are

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Expressed in the condition, let the forfeit

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Be nominated for an equal pound

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Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken
In what part of your body pleaseth me.

ANTONIO: Content, in faith. I‟ll seal so such a bond

And say there is much kindness in the Jew

BASSANIO: You shall not seal to such a bond for me!

I‟ll rather dwell in my necessity

ANTONIO: Why fear not, man, I will not forfeit it.

Within these two months- that‟s a month before
This bond expires – I do expect return
Of thrice three times the value of this bond

SHYLOCK O father Abram, what these Christians are,

Whose own hard dealings teaches them suspect
The thoughts of others! (TO BASSANIO) pray you tell
Me this
If he should break his day, what should I gain
By the extraction of the forfeiture?
A pound of man‟s flesh taken from a man
Is not so estimable, profitable neither
As flesh of muttons, beefs or goats. I say
To buy his favour I extend this friendship
If he will take it, so, if not adieu
And for my love, I pray you wrong me not

ANTONIO: Yes, shylock I will seal unto this bond

SHYLOCK: Then meet me forthwith at the notary‟s

Give him direction for this merry bond
And I will go and pursue the ducats straight
See to my house, left in the fearful guard
Of an unthrifty knave and presently
I‟ll be with you ( Exit)

ANTONIO Hie thee, gentle Jew

The Hebrew will turn Christians, he grows kind

BASSANIO I like not fair terms and a villain‟s mind

ANTONIO Come on, in this there can be no dismay;

My ships come home a month before the day.
(Exeunt)

(a) What is Antonio referring to when he says:

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I am as like to call thee so again? ( 2 mks)

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(b) Why does Antonio hate Shylock? ( 4 mks)

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Rewrite Shylock‟s first speech in this excerpt in your own words without changing

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(c)

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its meaning ( 4 mks)
(d) Shylocks says he will cut off a pound of flesh from the part of the body that “
pleaseth” him. Later he is more specific. Which part does he target and why?
( 2 mks)
(e) What do we learn about the friendship between Bassanio and Antonio in this excerpt?
( 4 mks)
Explain you answer
(f) Describe the character of shylock as seen in this excerpt. ( 4 mks)
(g) Rewrite the following in indirect speech
ANTONIO: yes, shylock, I will seal unto this bond (2 mks)
(h) Explain the irony in the last speech by Antonio in this excerpt
( 3 mks)

3. Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow
“Sympathy”
I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass
And the river flows like a stream of glass
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes
And the faint perfume from its petals steals
I know what the caged bird feels!

I know why the caged bird beats his wing

Till its blood is red on the cruel bars
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he rather would be on the branch a swing
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting
I know why he beats his wings

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me

When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore
When he beats his bars and would be free
It is not a song of joy or glee
But a prayer that he sends from his hearts deep core
But a plea, that upward to heaven he flings
I know why the caged bird sings!

(Adapted from the poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar in America Negco Poetry,
edited by Arna Bontempts. New York: Hill and Waug, 1974

(a) Explain briefly what the poem is about ( 3 mks)

(b) What does the poet focus on in each of the three stanzas? Give your answer in
one form ( 6 mks)
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(c) How would you describe the persona‟s feelings towards the caged bird?

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( 4 mks)

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(d) What can we infer about the persona‟s own experiences? ( 3 mks)

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(e) Identify a simile in the first stanza and explain why it is used( 2 mks)
(f) Explain the meaning of the following lines
(i) And the faint perfume from its petals steals ( 1 mk)
(ii) And they pulse again with a keener sting ( 1 mk)

4. (a) use the correct form of the word given in brackets to fill in the gap in
each sentence ( 3 mks)
(i) The …………………. Of the right of expression is a violation of human rights (deny)
(ii) Saving the child from the burning house was a ………. Act (hero)
(iii) They were asked to ……….. the alarm (active)

(b) Rewrite the following sentence as instructed

(i) We can control the spread of HIV/ AIDS by educating the public
(Begin: the spread of …………)
(ii) The man was arrested. His cattle destroyed the maize in the school farm
(Rewrite as one sentences)
(iii) Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa.
(Rewrite using “higher” in stead of highest”)

(c) Use the correct form of the verb given in brackets

(i) Measles……………………… not common among adults.
(be)
(ii) Every morning, either the puppy or the kitten………. For me at the door.
(wait)
(iii) The ministry of health has ………. An extensive inoculation programme for
children under five years. (Begin)

(d) Complete each of the following sentences in the most suitable way
(i) If you really loved Kenya, you ………. Buy Kenyan products more
(ii) I would have cleaned the toilet if the detergent ……….. available

(iii) Hardly had she left the house …………… the guests arrived

(e) Choose the most appropriate conjunction from those given below to fill in the gap.
(When, what, while, which, who)
(i) She wouldn‟t tell me ……………. I wanted
(ii) He walks to work everyday, ……………. Keeps him healthy
(iii) ………….. they waited as the secretary‟s office, the suspect left by a back door.
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English

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Paper 3

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Imaginative composition and composition based
On sets texts)
Oct/Nov 2007
2 ½ hours

1. Imaginative Composition (compulsory) ( 20 mks)

Either
(a) Write a composition beginning with the following sentence:
When I left home that bright Sunday afternoon, I did not realize that the events of the
next few days would completely change my life.
Or
(b) Write a story to illustrate the saying
“Experience is the best teacher.”

2. The compulsory set text ( 20 mks)

Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye, Coming to Birth
Using the story of Martin and Paulina, write an essay on how intolerance and suspicion
can ruin relationships. ( 20 mks)

3. The optional set texts

Answer any one of the following three questions

Either
(a) The short story
Macmillan (ed) Half a day and other stories
Drawing your illustrations from the life of Mme Lady in Wangui wa Goro‟s “
Heaven and Earth” write an essay on the saying “ all that glitters is not gold.”
Or
(b) Drama
John Ruganda, Shreds of tenderness
Illustrations your answer with examples from Shreds of Tenderness, write an essay
entitled:
“The effects of coups d’etat”
Or
(c) The Novel
Velma Pollard, Homestretch
Write an essay illustrating the following saying. “In love, all is well that ends well: refer
to Homestretch for your examples.
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K.C.S.E

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English

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Paper 1
(Functional Skills)
Oct./Nov. 2008
Time: 2hrs
You are secretary of the drama club in your school. The chairperson has asked you send out a notice of
the second meeting to plan the staging of shake spear‟s play, The Merchant of Venice. During the
meeting, you will need to appoint the director of the play, set up a date for selecting the cast, discuss the
budget for the play, and the dates of rehearsals and the final performance.
(20mks)
a) Write the notice of this meeting which you would send to the members of the drama club.
b) Write the agenda that you would attach to the notice.

Fill each blank space in the following passage with the most appropriate word (10mks)
By far the 1__________________ obstacle to success, in my view, is poor understanding of people.
Most careers2__________________ working with other people. You can have great academic
intelligence 3________________ still lack social intelligence the ability to be 4_______________ good
listener, to be sensitive 5______________others, to give and take criticism well.

If people do not like you, they may help you fail. On the other hand, you can get6_________with
serious mistakes if you are socially intelligent. How are you when it comes to working with people?
Are you genuine and authentic, or do you 7________________put up a front? Do you listen to
8___________or do you most of the talking? Do you expect everyone else to conform to your wishes,
your schedule, and your agenda, or do you look for ways to meet people on their 9___________? If you
haven‟t learnt to get along with people, you will always be fighting a battle to succeed.
10______________making people-skill a strength will always be fighting a battle to succeed.
10___________making people –skills a strength will take you farther than any other skill you develop.

a) Provide a word which sound the same as each of the following (5mks)
i) Male…………………………
ii) Queue………………………..

iii) Hire………………………….

iv) Blue………………………….
v) Ate………………………….
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b) Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.

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“The Debt” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

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This is the debt I play
Just for one riotous day,
Years of regret and grief,
Sorrow without relief.

Put it I will to the end-

Until the grave, my friend,
Gives me a true release-
Gives me the clasp of peace.

Slight was the thing I bought,

Small was the debt I though,
Poor was the loan at best
God! But the interest!
(From American Negro Poetry, Edited by arna Bontemps)

(i) List at the pairs of rhyming words (3mks)

(ii) Describe the tone of voice that would be appropriate in the reading of this poem.
(3mks)
(iii) How does the punctuation in the second stanza influence your reading of the poem?
(3mks)
(iv) How would you say the last are of the poem? (2mks)

c) Consider the situation below and then answer the question that follow.
You are part of an audience that is listening to a speech. You look around and notice that some
people are looking at their watches, a few are yawning, and one or two are shifting in their seats.
i) What would be the likely cause of such behaviour? (3mks)
ii) What would you do to ensure you continue listening effectively? (3mks)

d) Consider the following conversation between a seller and a buyer of chickens and then answer
the questions that follow.
BUYER: How are you this morning?
SELLER: I‟m okay
BUYER: I‟m looking for good chickens, but yours don‟t look too good.
I‟m going to have visitors, and this being the Christmas season, I really must give them a
feast.
SELLER: These are the right kind of chickens for your visitors. They‟re healthy and well fed.
BUYER: On the contrary, they look underfed. Anyway, what is your price?
SELLER: It depends I charge more for cocks; they have more meat, you know (pointing at a red
cock). This one, for instance, goes for sh 400.00. as for the hens, I charge sh. 250.00
BUYER: You‟re not serious! Much of the weight is a bundle of bones. I‟m giving you sh. 150. 00
for each hen and sh. 300.00 for each cock. I‟m buying three of each-three hens for Sh.
450.00 and three cocks for sh. 900.00. this will give us a total of sh. 1,350.00.
SELLER: You know, I buy and sell. I don‟t get them from my shamba.
Your figure doesn‟t give me any profit at all.
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BUYER: But you also know money is hard to come by, and especially during this Christmas

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season. Give me a reasonable price, unless you prefer I go to another seller.

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SELLER: Let me make it Sh. 225.00 for a hen and sh. 375.00 for a cock

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BUYER: It looks like you‟re not interested in selling your chickens
SELLER: No, I‟m. why would I be here? My children‟s fees come from this business.
BUYER: Okay, take sh. 175.00 for each hen and sh. 325.00 for each cock
SELLER: No, there would be no profit for me. You can do better than that
You can surely promote my small business. Give me Sh. 350.00 per cock and sh. 225.00
per hen. This would be sh. 675.00 for the three hens and sh. 1,050.00 for the cocks.
BUYER: (During his mental arithmetic) That‟s a total of sh. 1,725.00. Okay, at least I‟ll be able to
feed may visitors. (Handing over the money) Here you are.
SELLER: Thank you. (As the seller ties them together) You‟re good customer. Please come again.
My name is Musimbi.
BUYER: And I‟m Karani, See you then.
SEELER: See you.

i) What is the purpose of the greetings in this situation? (1mk)

ii) Identify and explain the negotiation skills of the buyer. (3mks)
iii) What does this business transaction reveal about the nature of negotiations?
(4mks)
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ENGLISH

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PAPER 2

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(COMPREHENSION, LIRETARY APPRECIATION AND GRAMMAR)
OCT./NOV. 2008
TIME: 2 ½ HOURS.

For Africans living abroad, nothing is more irritating than the constant diet of negative news on Africa.
The only silver lining is that Africa is way down the list of news importance for the Western media.
Most of the time Africa is ignored but when it does make it into the newspapers, radio or TV, then it is
always portrayed as sinking in corruption, wars, famine and disease. If you set out to find a positive
story on Africa, you may have to wait until your grand children have grown old.

What is more unfortunate is that whereas the rest of the world is divided into nations, Africa is lumped
into one big sorry mass. A civil war in a tiny country in Africa elicits screaming headlines such as
“Africa returns to barbarity”. Civil wars in Europe are not European civil wars but civil ears in Bosnia,
Sebia and so on. No one bothers to mention that out of Africa‟s 54 countries, only two may be engaged
in civil wars. That means 52 countries are peaceful. But the impression you get from the Western
media is that all of Africa is at war with itself.

The same goes for diseases, especially aids. Hardly does a week go by without the „experts‟ from the
West predicting how Africa‟s entire population will be wiped out in fifty years‟ time. If all the
predictions made about the impact of Aids had been correct, most African countries would have been
entirely depopulated by now.

According to the Western media, Africa is corrupt . All of Africa, all the time. It is interesting to note
that in America, for example, only the executives of a given company are said to be corrupt while all
African leader are seen as being irredeemably corrupt.

The point being put across is that Africa is guilty unless proven innocent. Western journalists assigned
to cover Africa are in most cases the most junior and the least experienced in the organization. They are
given this version of a „Hopeless Continent‟ for so long that when they land in any African country, they
immediately set out to confirm their prejudices. And you can always find what you are looking for.

The situation is similar to the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In Africa, Western
journalists set out to find corruption, decay and mismanagement. And if they cannot find it, they will
invent it on the basis that “ it must be there somewhere”

The causes of this generalized negative view of Africa are complex. When you confront Western
journalists, they deny that their view of Africa is prejudiced. They are probably telling the truth because
they report what they see- but they see what they want to see. And what they want to see,
subconsciously is a version of backward, primitive and uncivilized Africa.
So, while we feel irritated and even angered by the Western media‟s portrayal of Africa, we must
remember that many journalists cannot help but see Africa the way they programmed to do. The only
way this can change is if the programming is changed. But how do you go about doing so?

The first step is to create space for dialogue between the Western media and Africans. It is during such
discussions that Africans will be able to tell their side of the story. If this happens, then the Western
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media will see Africa as we do –a glorious continent full of promise but going through a rough time at

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present.

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(Adapted from African Business, May 2004)

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a) What is the likelihood of finding a positive story on Africa? (2mks)
b) Why are Bosnia and Serbia mentioned? (3mks)
c) Why is the word “experts” on the third paragraph put within quotation marks?
(3mks)
d) Rewrite the following sentence to begin: Had….
“If all the predictions made about the impact of Aids had been correct, most African countries
would have been entirely depopulated by now.” (1mk)
e) According to the passage is Africa more corrupt that America? Explain your answer.
(3mks)
f) Give two reasons why African stories are mainly assigned to the most junior and inexperienced
journalists (4mks)
g) How can we
h) Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the passage:
(3mks)
Silver lining
Sorry
Irredeemably

2. Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow:

She lay there, more dazed than dozing, she did not know for how long.. No water, No charcoal. There
was a little hand mirror in the cupboard and she looked at the dark bruises on her checks, but they were
less swollen than her back and shoulders. She had opened the window a crack to see in the mirror, then
closed it again but now there was a tapping on the shutter.

„Who is it?” she called, fearful that he might be testing her by sending visitors

„It is Ahoya Don‟t be afraid,‟ came the welcome voice in Luo.

„Are you all right, Paulina?”

„Are you all right, Paulina?‟

„I am all right but not very,‟ said Paulina shamefacedly, pushing at the shutter,‟ and I cannot open the
door‟.
„Yes, I thought so,‟ replied the matter-or-fact voice. „He has locked you in. Did he beat you also?‟

„Yes, he beat me also.‟

„And that is the first time?‟

„The first time. He used to love me.‟

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Ahoya laughed gently. „Well, he does love you. I could see it in his face as he caught sight of you. But I

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thought also he would beat you, for it is a shame to him to have you lost, though you did not mean it so.

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Have you anything to eat?‟

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„No. I do not need anything, thank you.‟
„Or any medicine?‟
„No, I shall be all right.‟

„Be sensible, child. Every wife who comes to Nairobi from the country has problems. Do not think it is
the end of the world. Every young man has problems too. Probably all his friends and workmates have
been telling him he is too young to marry and now he begins to wonder how he will manage. Don‟t you
know that if ou had been married in the old way your husband would have given you a token beating
while the guests were still there? They say that is so that if you are widowed and inherited you will not
be able to say that you new husband was the first person ever to beat you. So don‟t start to wish back
wards. You praise God that He has given you a husband to love you, just as I have been able to do
without one.‟

„You too?‟ asked Paulina, wondering. „You too, like Drusilla, you are not married and yet you seem to
understand so much?‟

„You have met Drusilla, have you? Well, she is a very great friend of mine. And Miriam, who lives
quite near here is another. And we all know that God ca look after us in all that is needful. But you, who
have a husband, also need food and medicines, and I will bring it myself so that no one can accuse you
of having men visitors, but you can give the tray to Amina in the front room and I will get it collected.‟

She rushed away and Paulina at once felt comforted. After half an hour Ahoya came back in the car.
She handed through the window a tube of ointment and a tray with thick slices of bread and jam and
cold orange drink on it.

„Now if he smells ointment, tell him I bought it and he can come and ask me questions he likes.
Paulina heard the car start. She ate carefully, forcing herself to finish, and when Amina tapped at the
window to take the tray away they exchanged such small courtesies as can be managed without a
common language. Paulina slept until the stiffness softened into a small ache all over her body, and
Amina gathered her cronies to tell them:

That Martin, soft he may have looked and spoken but my goodness, did he go for her! And the mother‟s
milk hardly dried on her lips; poor thing. We‟ll see that she learns to give him something to think about,
won‟t we just‟

a) Explain what happens just before this extract. (2mks)

b) Describe the first meeting between Paulina and Ahoya. (4mks)
c) Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the extract. (2mks)
i) Dazed
ii) Courtesies
d) What does Paulina think of Martin after the events so far recorded in the novel?
(2mks)
e) Rewrite the following in reported speech: (1mk)
“No. I do not need anything, thank you.”
f) Describe two character traits of Paulina revealed in this extract. (5mks)
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g) Make notes on Ahoya‟s view of wife beating. (4mks)

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h) Who is Drusilla? (3mks)

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Comment on the expression „and the mother‟s milk hardly on her lips‟.

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i) (2mks)

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Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.

The splash
Under warm sunshine,
A pond of water rests, calm and serene.
The blue sky inhabits the middle of the pond,
And its sides reflect the greenery,
Spotted with the yellow and the red,
The red and the violet
The water, the sky, the vegetation,
Hand in hand convey harmony and peace.
Then comes the splash!
And a tremendous stirring surges:
Reflections distort,
Giving way to a rushing flow of triples
Ripples innumerable,
All fleeing from the wound.
Time elapses,
Ripples innumerable
All fleeing from the wound
Time elapses,
Ripples fade,
Reflections regain their shape,
And once again emerges the pond
Smooth and tranquil.
But the stone!
The stone will always cling to the bottom
Yusuf O. Kassem
a) What do you think this poem is about? (3mks)
b) What is implied by the use of color imagery (lines 4, 5, 6)? (4mks)
c) Identify and explain two stylistic devices used in this poem other than color imagery.
(4mks)
d) Describe the tone of this poem (3mks)
e) Explain the meaning of the last two lines. (3mks)
f) Explain the message of the following words as they are used in the poem: (3mks)
Surges
Fade
Tranquil
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English Paper 3

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(Creative composition and Essays based on set texts)

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Oct./Nov. 2008
Time: 2 ½ Hours

Answer three questions only

1. Creative Composition (compulsory) (20mks)
Either
a) Write a composition illustrating the saying: “Honesty is the best policy”
Or
b) Write a story beginning:
I had never found myself in such a situation before..

2. Drama (Compulsory) (20mks)

Using William Shakespeare‟s The Merchant of Venice for your illustrations, write an essay on
the need for forgiveness in human relationships. (20mks)

3. Optional Set Texts

Either
a) The Short story
Macmillan (ED), Half a Day and other Stories
Using illustrations from the story „The Town‟ by Eneriko Seruma, write an essay on the
characteristics of Townspeople as seen through the eyes of The Villager.
In a paragraph, say whether or not you agree with The villager.
Or
b) Drama
John Ruganda, Shreds of Tenderness
There are several instances of “Play within a play” in John Ruganda‟s shreds of
Tenderness.
Write an essay describing any three such instances and indicate how they contribute to
the play.
Or
c) The Novel
Velma Pollard, Homestretch
With illustrations from Velma Pollard‟s Homestretch, write an essay on the
relationship between children and their step-parents.

ENGLISH
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PAPER 1

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(FUNCTIONAL SKILLS)

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2009

THE KENYA NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

KENYA CERTIFICATE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

ENGLISH

PAPER 1

2 HOURS

1. You are waiting to join college after you K.C.S.E examination. While reading

newspaper, you see an advertisement for a volunteer worker at a children‟s home. Write a

letter of inquiry to the manager. Express your interest and inquire if they will pay any

allowances and whether they can provide accommodation. Remember to quote the

reference number of the advertisement.

(20 mks)

2. Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word

(10 mks)

If our skins were to be complainants in a court of law, they would 1………….. us of

committing all manner of dermatological crimes 2……………. Them. And they would

have legitimate grounds to do so.

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They would, for instance, argue that some of us assault them with bleaching creams, all

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in an 3 ……………. to make our complexions look much 4 …………….. they would produce

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exhibits of ugly 5………………….. left behind by the hazardous substances.

In addition, some would recount how we usually 6………………..them to layers of irritating

anti-aging creams without consulting them. They would insist that we allow them to age

7…………….. and gracefully. Moreover, there would be 8 …………..that would object to

continually being plastered with choking substances meant to eliminate non-existent pimples.

In closing, our skins would submit that they have suffered gross skin abuse in our hands

9……………….hope that the judge would find us 10……………as charged.

a) Read the following oral chant and then answer the questions that follow

Rain Making Litany

(Reciter) (Responders)

We overcome this wind we overcome

We desire the rain to fall, that it may be poured in showers

Quickly

Ah! True rain, I adjure three falls, if thou rainest, it is well It is well

A drizzling confusion Confusion

If it rains and our food ripens, it is well it is well

If the children rejoice, it is well it is well

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If the young men sing, it is well it is well

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If the young men sing, it is well. If our women rejoice, it is well

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If the young men sing, it is well it is well

A drizzling confusion confusion

If our grain ripens, it is well it is well

If our women rejoice, it is well

If our women rejoice, it is well

If our children rejoice, it is well

If the young men sing it is well

If the aged rejoice it is well

An overflowing in the granary overflowing

May our grain fill the granaries may it fill

A torrent in flow A torrent

If the wind veers to the south, it is well It is well

If the rain veers to the south, it is well It is well

i) Identify three aspects of oral performance that make this chant easy to remember.

(3 mks)

ii) In what ways would this chant be made interesting to listen to. (3 mks)chant be made

interesting to listen to. (3 mks)

iii) what preparations do you think a narrator would make to ensure that the audience listens

to and participates in the performance of the chant. (4 mks)

b) You are going to take part in a debate. Explain how you would deal with the fear

and anxiety associated with public speaking of this kind. (6 mks)

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c) Classify the words below according to the sound of the underline ‟ch‟ letter. An

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example of each of the seconds represented has been given.

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(3 mks)

Bench Chore chanderlier

Charisma parachure trachoma

Chauvinism choral church

Champagne charm chrysalis

/t/ // /k/

Church champagne trachoma

d) The underlining indicates the stressed word in the sentences below. Briefly

explain what each sentence means. (3 mks)

i) I wrote the love poem for you

ii) I wrote the love poem for you

iii) I wrote the love poem for you.

e) Shouting and screaming from your class monitor, you have been called by the

teacher on duty to her office to give an explanation.

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Complete the conversation below by filling in the blank spaces.

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You are the class monitor of Form Two East, aren‟t you?

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Teacher:

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You: ……………………………………………………..(1 mk)

Teacher: Why was your class shouting and screaming?

You: I am not sure, madam. The noise started at the back of the classroom.

Teacher:

………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………(1 mk)

You: You see madam, I sit at the front of the classroom and by the time I turned

to look, the boys at the back were already on top of the desks and some

were trying to jump out of the window.

Teacher ……………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………….(1 mk)

You: I ran out, madam!

Teacher: ……………………………………………………………..(1 mk)

You: I ran out, madam!

Teacher: …………………………………………………………..(1 mk)

You: I am sorry madam, but it seemed like there was great danger in the middle

of the class. I had to run for my life.

Teacher: when the noise subsides, what did you find out?

You: ………………………………………………………….(1 mk)

Teacher: Snake?

You: ……………………………………………………….(1 mk)

Teacher: whose toy snake was it?

You: …………………………………………………………(1 mk)

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Teacher: whose toy snake was it?

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………………………………………………………….. (1 mk)

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You:

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Teacher: You can go now, but I will need to know whose toy snake it was.

You: ………………………………………………………..(1mk)

101/2

ENGLISH

PAPER 2

(COMPREHENSION, LITERARY

APPRECIATION AND GRAMMAR)

OCT./NOV/.2009

2½

1. Read the passage below and the answer the questions that follow.

In the eighteenth century, the field of science was virtually closed to women. In France,

the countess wrote a highly regarded book about Newtonian physics, but its very

excellence spoke against her. The manuscript was so good that it was widely assumed

that it had been written by the countess‟s tutor rather than by the countess herself. Sadly

enough, the tutor Samuel Konig, did nothing to discourage the rumous about the book‟s

authorship. Instead, he took full credit for the countess‟s efforts. In England, the leading

nation in science, the situation was worse. Women were strictly prohibited from
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admission to scientific societies. Indeed, the English denied women access to all forms

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of scientific study.

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Italy, however, was something of an exception to the general European rule, and a

number of provincial scientific societies did admit women. It is perhaps not surprising,

them that the one woman who crashed the barriers erected against her gender was an

Italian, Laura Bassi (1711-1778). Bassi actually became a respected scientific figure at a

time when women were generally thought to be too intellectually limited for the rigors of

scientific study. By all accounts, she thoroughly disproved the sexist notion that women

and sciences were opposed to one another.

Bassi was one of the lucky women of her era. Her father was an enlightened lawyer in

bologna, Italy, who believed that women should be educated. Thus, young Laura was

schooled by the family times, particularly Newtonian physics. Because her father

encouraged her to display her erudition at social gatherings, Bassi‟s reputation as a

learned woman grew. Tested by a group of professors and scholars anxious to prove that

a woman could not possibly be so clever, Bassi astonished the skeptics with her

intelligence, learning, and eloquence. Local scholars were so impressed that in 17321

they invited her to join the Bologna Institute of Sciences and to study for a degree at the

University of Bologna. On May 12, 1732, Bassi became only the second woman ever to

gain an academic degree. A few months later, she became the world‟s first female

professor.
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But despite her breakthrough, those in charge of the University of Bologna had very rigid

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ideas about what Bassi could or could not do as a professor. For example, she had no say

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over her schedule. To the University‟s leaders, she was an intriguing oddity. They might

trot her out for display to curious visiting scholars, buttery would not let her lecture on a

regular basis. Nor, for that matter, could she pursue her own studies or research. Still ,

Bassi was not an easy woman to control, and to a degree she managed to go her own way.

In 1749, to escape university restrictions, Bassi began offering private lessons in

experimental physics. She also began championing Newtonian physics at a time when it

was relatively unknown in Italy, and she promoted Newton‟s findings about gravity even

in the face of widespread intellectual resistance. In addition, Bass corresponded wit the

leading physicists of the day. Thus, she kept her country a breast of new scientific

theories

In 1776, when Bassi was sixty-five, the university acknowledged her contributions to

scientific thought by bestowing upon her an unheard of honour for a woman: She was

appointed chair of experimental physics, and her husband, the father of her eight children,

was appointed her assistant

Contrary to expectation, Bassi‟s achievements did not pave the way for other women.

This is because many of her male colleagues had been disturbed by her extraordinary

progress and were reluctant to let any other female follow in her footsteps. After Bassi‟s

death in 1778, it took more than a century, and the arrival of Marie Curie, for another

woman to find herself at home in the male-dominated world of science.

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Adapted from reading for Results by Laraine Fleming (2008) New York: Houghton

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Mifflin.

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a) Why was it widely assumed that the countess‟s tutor had written the book on

Newtonian physics? (2 mks)

b) In what way was France better than England in the treatment of women interested

in the sciences? (3 mks)

c) Rewrite the following sentence using the word” surprisingly”.

(1 mk)

It‟s perhaps not surprisingly, then, that the one woman who crashed the barriers

erected against her gender was an Italian, Laura Bassi.

(3 mks)

d) According to the passage, what was a professor expected to do?

(3 mks)

e) For what selfish purpose did the University of Bologna use Bassi?

(2 mks

f) What evidence is given to show that Bassi was difficult to control?

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(3 mks

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g) Why do you think the author mentions the fact that Bassi had eight children?

(3 mks)

h) Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the passage

.(3 mks)

Erudition………………………………………………………….

To a degree……………………………………………………….

Find herself at home…………………………………………….

2. Read the excerpt below and then answer the questions that follow:

DR. STOCKMANN: No, no; I am impatient, as you can understand. I shallnot

know a moment‟s peace of mind until I see it in print.

HOVSTAD: Hm!- It will take a good while yet. Won‟t it, aslaksen?

ASLAKSEN: Yes, I am afraid it will.

DR. STOCKMANN: all right, my dear fellows; I will come back.

I do not mind coming back twice if necessary. A matter of

such great importance- the welfare of the town at stake-it is

no time to shirk trouble.(About to go, but stops and comes

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back) Look here- there is one more thing I want to talk to

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you bout.

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HOVSTAD: Excuse me, but could it not wait till some other time?

DR. STOCKMANN: I can tell you in half a dozen words. It is only this. When

people read my article tomorrow and realize that I have

been quietly working the whole winter for the welfare of

the town…

HOVSTAD: Yes, but doctor…

DR. STOCKMANN: I know what you are going to say. You don‟t see how on

earth it was any more than my duty – my simple duty as a

citizen. Of course it wasn‟t; I know that as well as you do.

But my fellow citizens, you know….! Good Lord, think of

all the good souls who think so highly of me….!

ASLAKSEN: Yes, our town folk have had a very high opinion of you up

to now Doctor.

DR. STOCKMANN: Yes, and that is just why I am afraid they …. Well, this is

the point; when this reaches them, especially the poorer

classes; they take it like a summons to take the town‟s

affairs into their own hands for the future…..

HOVSTAD Hm! Doctor, I won‟t conceal from you the fact….

(Getting up)

DR. STOCKMANN: Ah I – I knew there was something in the wind! But I won‟t

hear a word of it.

If anything of that sort is being organized

HOVSTAD: Of what sort?

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DR. STOCKMANN: well, whatever it is – whether it is a demonstration in my

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honor, or a banquet or a subscription list for some

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presentation to me- whatever it is, you must promise me

solemnly and faithfully to put a stop to it. You too, Mr.

Aslakesen: do you understand

HOVSTAD: excuse me, Doctor, but sooner or later you‟ve got to hear

the plain truth.

a) Where is this dialogue taking place? (2 mks)

b) What is it that Dr. Stockmann wants to see in Print? And what are its contents?

(3 mks)

c) How are Hovstad‟s and Aslaksen‟s jobs related to Dr. Stockmann‟s concerns?

(2 mks)

d) What new information do Hovstad and Aslaksen have that has changed their

attitude towards Dr. Stockmann? (4 mks)

e) What does this dialogue reveal about the character of Dr. Stockmann?

(5 mks)

f) Dr. Stockmann‟s last speech in this excerpt proves ironic in the light of what

happens later in the play. Explain the irony. (4 mks)

g) What “plain truth” is Hovstad referring to? (2 mks)

h) Hovstad‟s last speech in this except is interrupted. State who interrupts him and

why? (3 mks)

Read the story below and then answer the questions that follow;
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Hare, the cleverest and funniest of animals, was once on good terms with Elephant and

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Hippo. He knew very well that he was weaker than his mighty friends, yet oddly enough

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he was always seeking ways of showing that he was, infact, much stronger than they.

While drinking at the lakeshore one day, he met Hippo, “How are you, brother, you big –

for –nothing brute?” He began. “I‟ve been waiting a long time to prove how much

stronger than you I am. It‟s time you recognized your betters and gave me the respect I

deserve.”

“What!” Hippo retorted, unable to believe his ears, “do you really dare to address me like

that, you worthless little creature? Have you forgotten I‟m the biggest and strongest of all

the water creatures?”

Hare‟s reply was deliciously cool. “You may well be, “he said, “but I‟m the strongest of

all animals wherever they live; and from now on be sure you remember it. If you want to

see how weak you are let„s meet here in three days‟ time and try a little tug-of-war. I

promise you I‟ll haul you clean out of the lake into the forest”. Such imprudence

infuriated Hippo.

“stop this idle prattle!” he retorted. “Go home and eat for a few years. You „ll need to

before you start dreaming of pulling me from the lake.”

And so they parted. Now as it happened, Hare, as yet, had no idea how he could outwit

Hippo. He spent the remainder of the day deep in thought. by late afternoon the rather

obvious idea of tying one end of a rope to a tree-trunk was taking root in his mind when

suddenly his friend Elephant appeared.

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His mind raced like the wind. “Hello, you long-eared oaf!” he shouted. “Why on earth

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do you keep swinging your snout like that?”

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Elephant was not amused. He replied in rather hurt tones. “What‟s wrong with you

today, Hare?” he asked. “Have you taken leave of you senses? You sound like someone

who‟s never slept a night in his grandfather‟s house. Have you forgotten how to respect

your elders?”

Hare pretended that he had. “stump- footed fool!” he roared. Don‟t talk such nonsense.

It‟s you who should recognize your betters and one day I‟ll teach you how.”

Elephant was growing weary. “Look, I‟ am busy today,” he said, “run along and find a

child to play with – someone like yourself.”

Hare now pushed out his tiny chest, quite swollen with self-confidence. “all right, “ he

shouted, “I‟ll offer you challenge. Come here in three days and I‟ll prove I‟m stronger

than you by dragging that great carcass of yours out of the forest and into the lake.” And

without more ado, he turned on his heels and bounced off into the forest.

Three days later, Hare took the longest rope he could find and ran to the shore to find

Hippo. He gave his friend one end, saying, “Here, catch this and hold tight. Do nothing

until you hear a horn blowing then pull as hard as you can.” Taking the rope, Hippo sank

back complacently into the water, his big eyes twinkling merrily on the surface of the

lake. The rope‟s other end Hare carried to Elephant who reliable and punctual as ever,

was waiting in the forest. Raising his voice to his huge friend, Hare shouted, “Hold this
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and stay put. Don‟t pull until you hear a horn blowing. Now I‟m Off to drag you into the

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lake.”

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And away he sped, hiding himself in a clump of bushes where he enjoyed a clear view of

both animals. In the forest, elephant waited patiently; in the lake Hippo smiled to

himself, convinced in his heart that it was all just a bad joke. Hare now blew his horn,

and with a crashing of trees and a wild cascading of water, the colossal beasts began

their tug-of-war. Hour upon hour the struggle went on, forest and shore echoing to the

noise of their furious grunting and trumpeting.

At last, seeing his friends reduced to complete exhaustion, Hare again blew the horn and

told them to stop.

Then quickly rolling in the dust, he ran down to the shore and addressed himself to

Hippo. “Brother”, he began, “I hope you now realize your mistake. You see, I „m not

only clever but remarkably strong as well. From now on perhaps you‟ll respect me.”

They shook hands and parted, Hare leaving his friend to go to Elephant. “Well, you

wouldn‟t believe me,” he said, speaking boldly to Elephant, “Now you‟ve learnt your

lesson. You may be as big as a mountain, but basically you‟re a weakling.” Puzzled and

dumbfounded, Elephant shook his head, and after reluctantly shaking hands, lumbered

away into the forest.

(From keep My Words by Onyango- Ogutu and A. A. Roscoe) EAEP Ltd.

a) From the first paragraph how can we tell that Hare was not contented with his?

State (2 mks)
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b) Why is it ironical that Hare is asking to be respected? (2 mks)

c) From the information in paragraph 5, explain what Hippo‟s attitude towds Hare is.

(3 mks)

d) From the information in paragraph 5, explain what Hippo‟s attitude towards Hare

is. (3 mks)

“Now as it happened, hare as yet, had no idea how he could outwit Hippo” (1 mk)

e) in about forty words, summarize Elephant‟s feelings about Hare.(6 mks)

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f) Both Hippo and Elephant do what Hare says. What does this prove? (3 mks)

g) Explain the meaning of the following expressions as they are used in the story:

i) Imprudence (1 mk)

ii) Taking root (1 mk)

ii) Lumbered (1 mk)

4. a) Identify, underline and correct the four words that have been mis-spelt in the

paragraph below. (4 mks)

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We didn‟t give him the privilege of representing us on the District Environmental

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committee because he has a tendency of disagreeing with everyone. He

embarrasses himself by pretending to be so knowledgeable.

b) Rewrite the following sentences as instructed. (3 mks)

i) She realized that she had made such a serious blunder.

(Rewrite using “What)

ii) Just in case you change your mind, call this number

(begin: should ..)

iii) I don‟t know either of them. (End..to me)

c) Fill in the blank spaces with correct preposition. (4 mks)

i) Nyawira, get…………the wet wall immediately!

ii) My sisters and I will share this piece of land ……….. ourselves
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We wondered if there was need ………such equipment

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iii)

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iv) Mwela dipped the bucket …………the well.

d) Use the correct form of the nouns given in brackets. (4 mks)

i) These …………….. (Student) phones were confiscated.

ii) There are many…….. (Hero) who fought for our independence

iii) How many ……….. (editor-in chief) were invited?

iv) This must be your…………. (Father-in-law) car

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ENGLISH

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PAPER 3

(CREATIVE COMPOSITION AND ESSAYS BASED ON SET TEXTS)

OCT. /NOV. 2009

2 ½ HOURS

Answer three questions only

Imaginative Composition (compulsory) (20 mks)

Either

a) Write a composition to illustrate the saying.

“Truth will always set you free”.

Or

Write a story beginning:

The birds ha already started their morning songs, and here I was wondering whether...

The Compulsory Set Text (20 mks)

Ngugi Wa Thiong‟o, The River Between

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Drawing you illustrations from Ngugi WA Thiong‟o the River Between, Write an essay on the

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challenges of reconciliation.

The Optional set Texts (20 mks)

Answer any one of the following three questions.

Either

a) The short Story

Macmillan (Ed.) , half a Day and other stories

With illustrations from Contheth‟s short story “ Letter to may sisters”, show how

traditions have been used to oppress women.

Or

b) Drama

John Ruganda, Shreds of Tenderness

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“During a civil war, those who flee their country suffer as much as those

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who remain behind.”

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Drawing illustrations from Ruganda‟s Shreds of Tenderness, write an essay in

support of this statement.

Or

c) The Novel

Velma Pollard‟s Homestretch.

Write an essay on ways of encouraging “domestic tourism”. Drawing your examples from Velma

pollard‟s Homestretch.

K.C.S.E YEAR 2010 PAPER 101/1

1 .You are the Chairperson of the Environmental Club which has just been newly introduced in your
school. There is going to be an official launching of the club. Write a brief speech that you will deliver at
the launch. Your speech should include the following: introduction, club officials, the objectives (aims)
of the club, the activities to be carried out, conditions for membership, enrolment and any other relevant
information. (20 marks)

2. Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word. (10 marks)

I met Frank as soon as he was 1 ................... from the hospital. He felt 2 ................... to be alive.
His seat-belt had kept him from going 3 ................... the windscreen, and he had only a 4
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................... cheek and some double-vision to indicate he 5 ................... had a nearly fatal crash. In

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the weeks that followed, 6 ..................., I began to notice strange after effects. Frank forgot to return

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phone calls. One afternoon, while writing out payroll cheques for his staff, he repeatedly asked me the

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date. I watched as his pen froze over the yellow cheque-book. He would 7 ................... flip the pages
to check the spelling of a colleague's name. At the piano, he played the same note over and over again,
seemingly 8 ................... to proceed to the next. It 9 ................... be months before any of us were
willing to accept the painful 10 ................... that his music career was over.

3. (a) Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.
When, in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast
state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself
and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like
him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man's art and that man's
scope, With what I most enjoy contented least, Yet in these thoughts myself
almost despising; Haply I think on thee, and then my state, (Like to the lark at
the break of day arising) From sullen earth sings hymns at heaven's gate,
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to
change my state with kings.
(William Shakespeare's Sonnet 29)
(I) Identify any four pairs of words that rhyme in this poem (2
marks)
(ii) Give two instances of alliteration in this poem.
(2 marks)
(iii) How would you say the words in brackets in this poem?
(2 marks)
(iv) How would you perform the last two lines of this poem?
(2 marks)

4. (b) Read the passage below and then answer the question that follows.
It's a cold, misty December morning. You hear the sharp screeching of brakes followed by a loud bang,
then screams. You rush to the scene of the crash, where you find a car overturned with a young woman
and two small boys inside. The woman and one of the boys climb from the wreckage unhurt; but the other
boy is pinned between the dashboard and the roof of the car, groaning in pain. Kru, kru, km, you scratch
your scalp as you try to remember your lessons in first aid.
Identify any four instances of onomatopoeia in the passage. (4
marks)
(c) For each of the following five words, write another word that is pronounced the same.

(i) past ............................................................

(ii) aren't .........................................................

(iii) hole ............."...............................................

(iv) what ...........................................................

(v) male ........................................................... (5

marks)

(d) For each of the following letters, provide a word in which the letter is silent. (i)

(I)p....................................................................
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(ii) b ....................................................................

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(iii) 1 ....................................................................

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(iv) n....................................................................

(v) t .................................................................... (5

marks)

(e) Your school choir is rehearsing a choral verse for the school's music festival. They are making a
presentation for the rest of the school so as to get some feedback.

Give four things that the listeners need to pay attention to and explain why.
(8 marks)

K.C.S.E YEAR 2010 PAPER 102/2

1. Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow,

Moving to a new country can be an exciting, even exhilarating experience. In a new environment, you
somehow feel more alive: seeing new sights, eating new food, hearing the foreign sounds of a new
language, and feeling a different climate against your skin stimulate your senses as never before. Soon,
however, this sensory bombardment becomes sensory overload. Suddenly, new experiences seem
stressful rather than stimulating, and delight turns into discomfort. This is the phenomenon known as culture
shock. Culture shock is more than jet lag or homesickness, and it affects nearly everyone who enters a new
culture - tourists, business travellers, diplomats and students alike. Although not everyone experiences culture
shock in exactly the same way, many experts agree that it has roughly five stages.

In the first stage, you are excited by your new environment. You experience some simple difficulties such
as trying to use the telephone or public transportation, but you consider these small challenges that you can
quickly overcome. Your feelings about the new culture are positive, so you are eager to make contact with
people and to try new foods.

Sooner or later, differences in behaviour and customs become more noticeable to you. This is the second
stage of culture shock. Because you do not know the social customs of the new culture, you may find it
difficult to make friends. For instance, you do not understand how to make "small talk," so it is hard to carry
on a casual, get-acquainted conversation. One day in the school cafeteria, you overhear a conversation.
You understand all the words, but you do not understand the meaning. Why is everyone laughing? Are they
laughing at you or at some joke that you did not understand? Also, you aren't always sure how to act while
shopping. Is this store self-service or should you wait for a clerk to assist you? If you buy a sweater in the
wrong size, can you exchange it? These are not minor challenges; they are major frustrations.
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In the third stage, you no longer have positive feelings about the new culture. You feel that you have made a

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mistake in coming here. Making friends hasn't been easy, so you begin to feel lonely and isolated. Now

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you want to be with familiar people and eat familiar food. You begin to spend most of your free time with

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students from your home country, and you eat in restaurants that serve your native food. In fact, food
becomes an obsession, and you spend a lot of time planning, shopping for, and cooking food from home.

You know that you are in the fourth stage of culture shock when you have negative feelings about almost
everything. In this stage, you actively reject the new culture. You become critical, suspicious, and irritable.
You believe that people are unfriendly, that your landlord is trying to cheat you, that your teachers do not like
you, and that the food is making you sick. In fact, you may actually develop stomachaches, headaches,
sleeplessness, lethargy, or other physical symptoms.

Finally, you reach the fifth stage. As your language skills improve, you begin to have some success in meeting
people and in negotiating situations. You are able to exchange the sweater that was too small, and you can
successfully chat about the weather with a stranger on the bus. Your self-confidence grows. After
realizing that you cannot change your surroundings, you begin to accept the differences and tolerate them.
For instance the food will never be as tasty as the food in your home country, but you are now able to eat and
sometimes even enjoy many dishes. You may not like the way some people in your host country dress or
behave in public, but you do not regard their clothes and behaviour as wrong -just different.
In conclusion, nearly everyone moving to a new country feels some degree of culture shock. Symptoms
may vary, and not all people experience all five stages. Newcomers with a strong support group may feel at
home immediately in the new culture, while others may take months to feel comfortable. Staying in touch
with friends and family, keeping a positive attitude, and, above all, learning the language as soon as
possible are ways to overcome the difficulties and frustrations of adapting to life in a new land.
From: Writing Academic English, Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Pearson Education, Longman (2006)

(a) According to the passage, what is the meaning of culture shock? (2 marks)
(b) Identify any three factors that can cause culture shock. (3 marks)
(c) What evidence does the author give to show "you understand all the words, but you do not
understand the meaning"? (2 marks)
(d) Give any three features that characterize a person in the worst state of culture shock. (3 marks)
(e) In note form, give the difficulties experienced in the second stage of culture shock. (4
marks)
(f) Why is making friends helpful in overcoming culture shock? (2
marks)
(g) Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage: (3
marks)
alive .....................................................................................................................................................
obsession .............................................................................................................................................
negotiating ...........................................................................................................................................
(h) Staying in touch with friends and family, keeping a positive attitude, and, above all, learning the
language as soon as possible are ways to overcome the difficulties and frustrations of adapting to life in a
new land.
(Rewrite the sentence above without changing the meaning. Begin: You ....) (1
mark)

2. Read the excerpt below and then answer the questions that follow:
Again Nyambura glanced over her shoulder in the direction of her home. She wondered whether to stop or
to go on. She heard Waiyaki's voice.
"T am going to see Kamau."
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"And I Johana. My father has sent me to him to tell him to come to our home today."

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"Then we can walk together," he suggested.

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They moved on slowly. He was thinking of this girl. Muthoni had been the cause of their first meeting. Then
Nyambura had been a fairly tall girl with well-formed features. Now he could see the woman in her under the
bright moonlight.
"What are you going to do there?" she asked. Waiyaki thought: What am I going to do there? It was then
that it occurred to him that he did not want to see Kamau. Not now. He too thought of the people and what
they would say now if they saw them walking together. Above them the moon gazed and lit the whole land,
Nyambura was not circumcised. But this was not a crime. Something passed between them as two human
beings, untainted with religion, social conventions or any traditions.
“Just to see Kamau and the family."
Nyambura felt a little angry. She thought; their activities. They came to a place where their ways parted.
They stopped there and stood as if held together by something outside themselves. Perhaps it was the magic
of the moon that held them both rooted to the spot. Waiyaki wanted to dance the magic and ritual of the
moon. His heart beat hard, beating out the darkness. And Nyambura stood there looking as if she were
the embodiment of serene beauty, symbolised by the flooding moon and the peace around.
Suddenly Waiyaki felt as if the burning desires of his heart would be soothed if only he could touch
her, just touch her hand or her hair. He controlled himself. A strange uneasiness began to creep through
him.
"Are you still teaching?"

"Yes..."

"I have not seen your school."

"You should come some day. And why not tomorrow in the afternoon just after school closes? I could take
you round."

(a) Why did Waiyaki want to see Kamau at that time of the evening? (2 marks)
(b) Muthoni had been the cause of their first meeting. Explain how Muthoni had been the cause of
Nyambura and Waiyaki's first meeting.(4 marks)
(c) What indicates that both Nyambura and Waiyaki are uncomfortable in the circumstances they find
themselves in this excerpt? (4 marks)
(d) Identify and explain any two character traits that Nyambura and Waiyaki share in this excerpt.
(4 marks)
(e) "What are you going to do there?" she asked.
(Rewrite in reported speech) . (1 mark)
(f) Briefly describe aspects of the themes of the Novel that come through in this excerpt. (6
marks)
(g) Identify and illustrate any two aspects of style used in the excerpt. (4
marks)

3 Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.
"Song of the wagondriver". B.S. Johson
My first love was a ten-ton truck They
gave me when I started, And though she
played the bitch with me I grieved when
we were parted.
Since then I've had a dozen more,
The wound was quick to heal,
And now it's easier to say
I'm married to my wheel.
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I've trunked it north, I've trunked it south,

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On wagons good and bad, But none was

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ever really like The first I ever had.

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The life is hard, the hours are long,
Sometimes I cease to feel,
But I go on, for it seems to me
I'm married to my wheel. . ;
Often I think of my home and kids,
Out on the road at night, And think of
taking a local job Provided the
money's right.
Two nights a week I see my wife And
eat a decent meal, But otherwise, for
all my life, 5. I'm married to my
wheel.
(From The Earth is Ours: Poems for Secondary Schools.
Selected by lan Gordon)
(a) Briefly explain what the poem is about. (2
marks)
(b) What is contradictory about the persona's relationship with his first truck? (2
marks)
(c) The persona is facing a real dilemma. Which is it? (2
marks)

d) Identify and illustrate any two literary devices that the poet uses. (4 marks)
(e) What makes the persona's job demanding? Give your answer in note form. (4
marks)
(f) Explain the meaning of the following lines: (i) Sometimes I cease to feel
(i) Sometime I cease to feel (2
marks)
(ii) Provided the money's right (2
marks)
(g) Explain the meaning of the words below as used in the poem.
(i) grieved .........................................................................................................................................
(1 mark)
(ii) trunked ........................................................................................................................................
(1 mark)
4 (a) Rewrite the following sentences in Direct Speech. (2

marks)

(i) The tourist exclaimed that Kenya was a beautiful country.

(ii) Halima told James to go where she was.
(b) Rewrite each sentence below to make it communicate more sensibly. (2

marks)

(i) They left the field full of sweat.

(ii) Powerful and comfortable, the buyer really liked the car.
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(c) Fill in the blank spaces with an appropriate pronoun. (3

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marks)

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(i) The children and ..................... ought to leave immediately if we want to arrive there before dark.

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(ii) The organisers have invited Mwamburi and ..................... but I don't intend to go.

(iii) Since she obtained the highest grade, the school should give the award to no one else but

(d) Fill in the blank spaces -with the correct form of the verb in brackets,

(3 marks)

(i) A flock of birds ..................... (fly) away from this lake every week.

(ii) I wondered why they had ..................... (sing) that particular song.

(iii) The ball must have been ..................... (hit) too hard.

(e) Rewrite each of the following sentences as instructed.

(3 marks)
(i) It is amazing that the couple takes care of so many orphans.
(Begin: That......)
(ii) What we need in Kenya is patriotism.
(End: .......... in Kenya.)
(iii) My students don't drink. My students don't smoke. (Join into one sentence using 'neither ....)
(f) Fill in each blank space with the appropriate word.
(2 marks)
(i) I stopped the child from chewing a ..................... of grass.

(ii) The doctor told her to take the ..................... of medicine according to the prescription.
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K.C.S.E YEAR 2010 PAPER 101/3
Answer three questions only.
1 Imaginative Composition (compulsory) (20 marks)
Either
Write a composition illustrating the fact that crime does not pay.
Or
Write a composition explaining how young people can overcome tribalism in Kenya.

2 The Compulsory Set Text (20 marks)

Henrik Ibsen, An Enemy of the People.

Write an essay supporting the proposition that: "Katherine Stockmann is the embodiment of reason in

Ibsen's play An Enemy of the People."

3 The Optional Set Texts

Answer any one of the following three questions. (20 marks)

Either
(a) The Short Story
Macmillan (Ed.), Haifa Day and other stories
Using Honwana's short story 'Hands of the Blacks' for illustration, write an essay on racial
prejudice.
Or
(b) Drama
John Ruganda, Shreds of Tenderness
"Sibling rivalry should never be allowed to get out of hand."
Using the characters in John Ruganda's play Shreds of Tenderness write an essay in support of this
statement.
Or
(c) The Novel
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Veltna Pollard, Homestretch

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"East or West, home is

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best."
Drawing examples from the lives of Edith and David in Homestretch, write an essay illustrating the
truth of this statement.
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ENGLISH PAPER 1

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2011
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS
1 Your Drama Club is organizing to stage a performance of Henrik Ibsen's play,
An Enemy of the People. You are inviting neighbouring schools and the general public
to the event.

(a) Write the notice announcing the event and inviting other schools and the public to
attend. (8 marks)

(b) In not more than 200 words, write a synopsis of the play to accompany the notice.
(12 marks)
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Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word.

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As you think about the different aspects that go 1 our persona, it is important to

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2 your best traits and recognise the 3 you may have been taking for
granted all 4 Doing this will provide a foundation of confidence that serves as a
5 to connect you to other people.

6 your appearance is what makes people curious to get to know you, your presence
is what makes them respond to you. Your presence is your energy, your spirit and your aura. It
includes 7 those qualities that help you bond with another human being. It starts with eye
contact and moves into your listening skills as well as the extent to which you are engaged in a
conversation. Some people are 8 there, giving 100 percent; others give 20 percent at 9
because their minds are elsewhere.

Eye contact is an 10 powerful tool. So long as you are making eye contact while talking,
the topic is not likely to matter much.

Adapted from Love Smart by Dr. Phil, McGraw (2006). Simon & Schuter, UK Ltd.

(a) Against each of the following sentences, indicate whether you would end with a rising
or falling intonation. (5 marks)

(i) You actually saw the pyramids?---------------------------------------------------------

(ii) My younger sister has identical twins. ------------------------------------------------

(iii) Why did you oversleep?--------------------------------------------------------------

(iv) Could I come with you, please?-------------------------------------------------------

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(v) What a tragic experience that was!------------------------------------------------------.

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(b) Read the following poem and then answer the questions.

Lazybones, let's go to the farm

Sorry, I've got a headache
Lazybones, let's go pounding grain
Sorry, my leg isn't right
Lazybones, let's go fetch firewood
Sorry, my hands are hurting
Lazybones, come and have some food
Hold on. let me wash my hands!

(From Oral Poetry from Africa. Compiled by Mapanje and White. Longman Group, U.K)

(i) How would you say Lazybones' responses in lines 2,4 and 6? Give reasons
for your answer. (3 marks)

(ii) If you were performing this poem, how would you say the last line?
(2 marks)

(iii) Provide another word that has the same pronunciation as each of the following words:

some:……………………………………………………………………………………..

right:……………………………………………………………………………………

come: .................................................................................................................................
.(3 marks)

(c) Apart from the voice, what else would you use to capture and maintain an audience's
attention when delivering a speech? Explain, (6 marks)

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(d) Read The dialogue below and then answer the question that follows;

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JUMA: Do you know? I think the new law will transform our society. OWING:

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Juma, you can't argue like that. You sound like somebody from...

JUMA: I don't want to argue with you, anyway, How can I stoop so low. You are
unlikely to comprehend my point,

OWING: You see. You are rude and unrefined.

JUMA: And you. of course, have such fine manners!

Whats wrong with what I said?

OWING: A document or mere legislation cannot transform a society.

It's the people who must change their thinking and demonstrate a
willingness to make things better.

JUMA: But the new law provides guidelines that will put us on the right path. It's like a
compass. If we follow it, we won't get distracted...

OWING: You have made your point.

JUMA: I give up. Every word you say confirms that I shouldn't be talking to you.

Explain the features that make the conversation between Juma and Owino ineffective.
(6 marks)

(e) Underline the part (syllable) where the stress falls in each of the following words.
(5 marks)

(i) descent

(ii) contest (verb)

(ill) discuss

(iv) friendly
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(v) present (noun)

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2011

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ENGLISH

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Paper 2
(Comprehension, Literary Appreciation and
Grammar) Oct/Nov 2011
21/2 hours

Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow.

When I visited my mother last May, much of her sitting room had been converted into what I half
jokingly called a Barrack Obama shrine. Since Obama had declared his candidacy for president, my
mother had diligently collected everything about the man that she could get her hands on. Magazines,
newspaper articles, and T-shirts formed the bulk of her collection, all of it in pristine condition and not
to be handled except with utmost care. Almost overnight, all things Obama had become a staple of my
mother's conversation. His message of unity and transcendence, his unwillingness to be cowed by "a
chorus of cynics," all of this inspired in my mother a late-life surge of confidence. It had even led to her
changing the way she answered her phone. Instead of her usual "Hello," she took to lifting the receiver
and announcing, "This is our moment."

By the night of Obama's remarkable triumph, she had digested far more than his trademark phrases.
Still, she was more than thrilled when, during his victory speech at Chicago's Grant Park, he once again
proclaimed, "This is our moment." Obama's victory seemed "just too good to be true, overwhelmingly
good, "she told me. 'There are no words to describe how I feel. 'Elated' is not good enough.'*

Hers is a voice tempered and made scratchy by seventy-seven years of living, and decades of making
herself heard in a house crowded with loud, boisterous youngsters. My mother is special to me, of
course, but in many respects she's a typical black woman of her generation. A child of the Depression,
she married young, and stayed home to raise six children. She remembers Jim Crow quite well and, like
many of her peers, has more than a few chilling firsthand tales of travel in Mississippi (where her father
was born), Missouri, and other places known for white residents' historically open and violent hostility
towards African Americans. She is faithful, fearless, and frank, adept at blessing you with gentle
encouragement while demonstrating her unerring skill at telling it exactly like it is. While her experience,
her lifetime of dearly purchased knowledge, deeply informs my own life, there are parts of it to which I
have no access. Her memories contain mysteries that I can only guess at. To hear her answer her phone with
such an uncautiously optimistic phrase was a startling, wonderful surprise.

[Adapted from What Obama Means: For Our Culture,

Our Politics, Our Future.
by Jabari Asim. New York: Harper
Collins Publishers, 2009]

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(a) What does the author of this passage suggest by referring to his mother's living room as a shrine?

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(2 marks)

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(b) Why does the author's mother like and support Barack Obama's candidacy?
Give two reasons. (2 marks)

( c ) Explain why the words: 'This is our moment" particularly thrilled the mother. (2 marks)

(d) Why does the author's mother find Obama's victory "just too good to be true"? (2 marks)

( e ) Give one reason why the author uses his mother and not himself to explain the significance of the
Obama campaign and victory? (2 marks)

A child of the Depression, she married young. (Rewrite using: for) (1 mark)

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(g) Describe the relationship between the author and his mother. Illustrate your answer. (4 marks)

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(h) The author's mother remembers Jim Crow. Do you think this memory is positive or
negative?
Illustrate your answer. (2 marks)

(i) Explain the meaning of the following as used in the passage:

(3 marks)

(i) staple of my mother's conversation;

(ii) surge;

(iii) digested.

2 Read the excerpt below and then answer the questions that follow.

HOVSTAD: Hush! (calls out.) Come in! (DR. STOCKMANN comes in by the street door,
HOVSTAD goes to meet him) Ah, it is you, Doctor! Well?

DR. STOCKMANN: You may go ahead and print it, Mr. Hovstad!

HOVSTAD: Has it come to that, then?

BILLING: Hurrah!

DR. STOCKMANN: Yes, you may go to press. Certainly it has come to that. Now they must take
what they get. There is going to be a fight in the town, Mr. Billing!

BILLING: War to the knife, I hope! We will get out knives to their throats, Doctor!

DR. STOCKMANN: This article is only a beginning. I already have four or five more figured out in
my head. Where is Aslaksen?

BILLING: (calls into the printing-room): Aslaksen, just come here for a minute!

HOVSTAD: Four of five more articles? On the same subject?

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DR. STOCKMANN: No - far from it, my dear fellow. No, they are about quite another matter. But

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they all spring from the question of the water supply and the drainage. One

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thing leads to another, you know. It is exactly like beginning to pull down an

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old house.

BILLING: By God, it's true; you find that you are not done till you have pulled all the old
rubbish down.

ASLAKSEN: (coming in): Pulled down? You are surely not thinking of pulling down the
Baths, Doctor Stockmann?

HOVSSTAD: Far from it, don't be alarmed.

DR. STOCKMANN: We meant something quite different. Well what do you think of my article, Mr.
Hovstad?

HOVSTAD: I think it is simply a masterpiece.

DR. STOCKMANN: You really think so? Well, I am very pleased.

HOVSTAD: It is so clear and intelligible. One need have no special knowledge to

understand it. You will have every enlightened man on your side, once they
have read it.

ASLASKEN: And every prudent man too, I hope!

BILLING: The prudent and the imprudent alike - almost the whole town.

ALASKEN: In that case we may venture to print it.

DR. STOCKMANN: I should think so!

HOVSTAD: We will put it in tomorrow morning.

DR. STOCKMANN: Of course - you must not lose a single day. Aslaksen, please do me a favour.
Could you supervise the printing of it yourself.

ASLAKSEN: With pleasure, Dr. Stockmann.

DR. STOCKMANN: Take care of it as if it were a treasure! No misprints - every word is important. I will
look in a little later; perhaps you will be able to let me see a proof. I can't tell you
how eager I am to see it in print, and see it fired off...

B [LLINGS: Yes, like a flash of lightning!

DR. STOCKMANN: ... and to have it submitted to the judgement of my intelligent fellow
townsmen. You cannot imagine what I have gone through today. I have been
threatened with all sorts of things; they have tried to rob me of my most elementary
rights as a man...

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(a) Briefly explain what Hovstad and Billing were talking about before Dr. Stockmann entered.

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(2 marks)

(b) "You may go ahead and print". What had made Dr. Stockmann delay the printing of the article?
(2 marks)

(c) Briefly state what the content of the article is. (4 marks)

(d) " In that case we may venture to print it". What do these words tell us about Aslaksen's attitude
towards the article? (3 marks)

(e) "There is going to be a right in town". Outline the losses incurred by Dr. Stockmann.
his family and friends as a result of the fight. (6 marks)

(l) "Now they must take what they get". To whom does 'they' refer? (1 mark)

(g) Why doesn't Aslaken want the baths to be pulled down? (2 marks)

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(h) Hovstad and Aslaksen's decision on whether to publish the article changes twice after this

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incident. What does this reveal about their character. (2 marks)

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(i) What is the irony in Dr. Stockmann asking Aslaksen to supervise the printing of the article
himself? (2 marks)

(j) " I have been threatened with all sorts of things." Rewrite using "me" instead of "I."
(1 mark)

Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow.

Once upon a time, there lived a boy called Nzoko. He liked two things more than anything else: the forest
and mitsic. Scarcely did a moment pass before he sang or quietly whistled a little tune to himself.

The boy's father kept goats, and when Nzoko returned from school, he always took them out to graze in the
forest. Once there, he would begin singing, first repeating all the songs he knew and then trying out a few
new ones. The murmuring of the river, the rustle of the wind in the trees, even the hum of the bumble bees,
all made little tunes for him. One day, he cut a short piece of wood from a willow trees, whittled it down,
pierced holes into it and made a flute. On his flute, the tunes sounded lovelier than ever before-One warm
day. Nzoko heard something moving in the bushes around him. On looking up, and to his amazement, he
saw a little fairy man. "Do you know what I have come for? the fairy asked. "No", I'm ... I'm ve..jy so..rry
but don't," answered the boy.

"Well.” the fairy said, " the spirits of the forest have been long listening to your flute and they are con-vinced
only the fairy piper can play as well as you do. So I have come to hear for myself and I will reward you
well if you impress me too."

Nzoko did not need telling twice. He was quite at ease with the little man now, and he began to play music
so sweet that it entranced the fairy, making him stay on until the moon rose over the distant hills. Before
leaving, he asked Nzoko what reward he desired most. "The fairy fiddle, please. For 1 have heard it said
that it is the finest in the whole wide world," the boy replied expectantly.

"'The fairy fiddle!" exclaimed the fairy, greatly astonished. "That is the most precious gift, and onlone who
fulfils these three conditions will obtain it. Now listen carefully, Nzoko: your playing must be so enchanting
that it will charm the birds into stopping their own music to listen; your music must make animals stop their
fighting and finally, your tunes must heal the sick. Take this ring, and when you have worked hard enough,
and only then, turn it and it will bring you the fairy fiddle," the fairy said and then vanished.

In the following days. Nzoko played every song over and over, trying to make each better and better. He
tried to silence the music of a blackbird with his own but to no avail. However, he didn't give up and one
sunny afternoon, there suddenly gathered a wide circle of birds: robins and wrens, finches and blackbirds,
cuckoos and wagtails. And they listened. Could this be the first condition fulfilled?

Several days later, he heard a great din coming from a farm. On checking, he saw a fox running after
cackling hens, wanting to turn them into a meal. Without realizing it, Nzoko started playing his flute
loudly and as if by magic, the fox melted away. Thus, the second condition was fulfilled.

On yet another day. as he drove the goats home, he heard a child cry weakly in agony. He peeped through
the window of the cottage and saw a little girl lying in bed, pale and worn. The mother must have gone to
look for herbs. Nzoko's eyes welled with tears, and as if driven by some force beyond him, he started
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playing a merry tune on his flute, then a merrier one still. And, slowly, very slowly, colour began to creep

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Nzoko leapt for joy and turned the ring, and there, right there in front of him, was the most wonderful
fiddle there ever was.

(Adapted from Your Ora! Literature by Henry Mbarwa (1989). Nairobi: Kijabe Printing Press)
(a) From the second paragraph, what inspired Nzoko to create new tunes? (2 marks)

(b) Why do you think the boy's reply to the fairy is broken with dots? (3 marks)

(c) How do we know that Nzoko was very eager to play the flute for the fairy man? (2 marks)

(d) Give two reasons why you think the fairy set conditions for Nzoko before he could get the fairy
fiddle. (4 marks)

(e) Why do you think the narrator mentions six different kinds of birds? (2 marks)

(f) With an illustration for each, describe any two character traits of Nzoko. (4 marks)

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(g) What can we learn about the values of this community? (3 marks)

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(a) Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. (3 marks)

(i) Aisha asked Tom to return her key the following day. Rewrite
in direct speech)
(ill The teacher asked them where they had been the previous Friday. {Rewrite in direct speech)

(iii) It is a pleasant surprise to meet you again after all these years. (Rewrite beginning: What ...)

(bi Complete the sentences below with the correct form of the verb. (2 marks)

( i ) Each of the boys............................................. given a present.

( i i ) Either Joyce or her daughters ...................................... coming.

( c ) Briefly explain the difference between the following pairs of sentences. (4 marks)

I (i) They collected all the money they needed.

(ii) They needed all the money they collected.

II. (i) Four of those students were admitted to the university, (ii)
Those four students were admitted to the university

(d) For each of the following sentences, provide the appropriate noun formed from the word 'break'
to fill the blank space. (3 marks)

example

The story of the .................................... of prisoners from the maximum security prison was
carried by all the dailies.

Answer: breakout

(i) Scientists have been working hard to find a cure for HIV-AIDS without a major

(ii) The ........................................ of their friendship was caused by unfaithfulness.

(iii) The business has operated for quite sometime but is yet to reach the
........................................point.

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(e) For each of the following sentences, use the correct form of the word in brackets to fill in the blank

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space. (3 marks)

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(i) Once the sun has .................................... I cannot sleep any more, (rise)

(ii) How long have you ................................... here? (dwell)

(iii) It is advisable that we ................................... forgive those who wrong us. (condition)

PAPER 3
2011
Answer three questions only.

Imaginative Composition (Compulsory) (20 marks)

Either
(a) "Both boys and girls have equal rights to their parents' inheritance."
Write a composition, supporting or opposing this statement.

Or
(b) Imagine that a friend has invited you to an occasion. Initially you were reluctant to
attend but a sibling persuaded you to go and you really enjoyed yourself. Describe
what the occasion was and why you felt so fulfilled.

The compulsory Set Text (20 marks)

Ngugi wa Thiongo, The River Between

Write an essay on cultural conflict, citing examples from Ngugi Wa Thiongo's novel: The River
Between.

The Optional Set Texts (20 marks)

Answer any one of the following three questions.

Either

(a) The Short Story

Macmillan (Ed.), Haifa Day and Other Stories

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and women out of boys and girls, respectively."

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Illustrate your answer with references from the short story, 'Half a Day' by Naguib
Mahfouz.

Or
(b) Drama

John Ruganda, Shreds of Tenderness

Using illustrations from John Ruganda's play, Shreds of Tenderness, write an essay
entitled: "The Truth Shall Set You Free"

Or
(c) The Novel

Velma Pollard, Homestretch

"Difficulties in life strengthen one's character."

Using Brenda's experiences in the United States, in England and in Jamaica, write an
essay supporting this statement.

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K.C.S.E ENGLISH P1

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ENGLISH P2
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ENGLISH PAPER 3

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KCSE 2013

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PAPER 1 ENGLISH

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1 (a) Imagine that you are the caretaker of Fahari Children's Home in Bahati. There is a
heavy storm one evening. After the storm you discover that one of the children is
missing. The child is hearing impaired (deaf). Write a notice appealing to the public for
help to trace the child. There will be a handsome reward for information that will help
locate the child. (10 marks)
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(b) Three days later, you receive a telephone call from the local police station informing
you that the child has been found. Write a thank you note to the person who found and
brought the child to the police station, giving details of how he/she will receive the
reward.
(10 marks)
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2. Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word.
(10 marks)
When people hurt you, should you lash out at them 1............................ give them a
piece of
your 2............................? There are those that argue that 3............................ your
emotions is much better than suppressing them. Perhaps the 4............................ lies in
between.
What most people would readily agree 5............................ is the fact that it is
6:........................
to run away from the cause of your hurt because 7.................... is likely to breed
resentment.
Imagine that your cubemate in the dormitory has 8............................ damaged your
reputation
by telling blatant lies about you. instead of 9............................ him or her to settle the
matter,
you move to the 10............................ cubicle. You may feel better for some time, but
what if the
teacher puts the two of you in a discussion group?

3. (a) Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.

DAY SEVENTEEN
FEBRUARY 6, 2009_____
i find myself
looking at Black men
with different eyes

thinking things like

Act right fool, don't you know
we got a Black president!

i take Barack's
success & failure
personally

somehow i
feel as if

i represent him as much as

he does me

From Auction Block to Oval Office: 100 Poems in 100 Days of Obama's
Presidency by Kahlil Almustafa. New York: MVMT Publishing, 2009.

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(i) Identify one instance of alliteration in this poem.

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……………………………………………………………………………… (1 mark)

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(ii) Give two examples of assonance in this poem.
…………………………………………………………………………….. (2 marks)

(iii) How would you perform the lines in italics? (4 marks)

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(iv) Pronouns such as "him" and "me" are usually not stressed. Explain why you
would stress them in the last stanza. (1 mark)

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(b) Identify any jive pairs of words that are pronounced the same from the list below.
(5 marks)
phloem mad

floors flaws

berry coarse

clause mud

course cause

close cloze

bold bald

floss flame

phlegm bury
(i)…………………………………….. …………………………………….

(ii)…………………………………….. ………………………………………..

(iii) …………………………………… ………………………………………..

(iv) ………………………………….. ………………………………………..

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(v) …………………………………….. …………………………………………

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(c) For each of the following words, underline the part that is stressed
col.league
re.gis.ter (verb)
ap.proach (noun)
a.larm (noun)
a.buse (noun)
(5 marks)
(d) Your school has organized a farewell party for the form four students. You have been
asked at short notice to move a vote of thanks. This will take the form of an impromptu
speech. List the elements of your speech in the order in which they will appear.
(6 marks)
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(e) Read the dialogue below and then answer the questions that follow.
REHEMA: Good morning, Aisha.

AISHA: Good morning.

REHEMA: (frowning) You don't look happy... What's the matter?

AISHA: I have just received a call from home, and...

REHEMA: Ah, these fellows from home are always calling. My mother also called
me.

AISHA: Well, in my case, it is bad news. My brother...

REHEMA: As I was saying, my mother called me, and all she wanted to tell me is
that they're fine, (shaking her head absentmindedly)

AISHA: My brother was involved in a car accident. But you're not listening... -

REHEMA: What did you say?

AISHA: (despairingly) I give up.

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(i) What kind of listener is Rehema? Illustrate your answer. (4

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marks)

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(ii) What should Rehema do to improve her listening skills? (2
marks)

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2013 ENGLISH PAPER 2

1. Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow. (20 marks)

To understand garbage, both industrial and domestic, you have to touch it, feel it and smell it. You have
to pick through hundreds of tons of it, counting and weighing all the daily newspapers, the directories,
the soiled diapers, the lipstick cylinders coated with grease, the medicine vials still encasing brightly
coloured pills, the forsaken toys, and cigarette butts. You have to sort and weigh the volume of all the
organic matter, discards from thousands of plates: rice; ugali; fish heads to which justice has hardly been
done; rotting water melons bleeding from gaping holes; the half eaten bananas, mostly still within their
peels, black and incomparably sweet in the embrace of the final decay.

To understand garbage, you need thick gloves, a mask and a vibrant immune system. However, the
knowledge harvested from a dumpsite makes up for the grim working conditions. To an archaeologist,
ancient garbage pits are among the happiest finds. Every archaeologist dreams of discovering
spectacular objects - but the bread and butter work of archaeology involves the most common and
routine kinds of discards. .

Interestingly, much conventional wisdom about garbage and its disposal consists of myths and
assertions that turn out, upon investigation, to be misleading or dead wrong. For example, plastics are
assumed to constitute the highest quantity of waste matter. For the record, the item most frequently
encountered in a dumpsite is plain old paper. At one point, there was a lot of talk about how technology,
computers in- particular, would bring about "paperless office" - a risky prediction, given the way things
have turned out. Personal computers and printers grace many offices and homes today. Consequently,
where the creation of paper waste is concerned, technology is proving to be a fertility drug rather than a
contraceptive.

Concerning plastics, it is true that the number of plastic objects has been increasing over the years.
Nevertheless, the proportion of space they take up in a dumpsite has hardly changed. The explanation
appears to be the result of what is called "light-weighting" - making objects in such a way that they retain
all their functional characteristics but require the use of less resin. These days, even the plastic in
disposable diapers ensures that they enter the house very light but leave it much heavier than ever
before. The result is that many more plastic items can be squeezed into a given volume.

Plastics are the Great Satan: gaudy, cheap, a convenient scapegoat for people who claim we waste and
consume too much. Although it is paper more than anything else that is filling up the dumpsites, in its
defense one frequently hears the claim that paper biodegrades while plastic remains inert and will take
up space until the end of time.
Not really.

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The reality is that the dynamics of a modern dumpsite are very nearly the opposite of what most people

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think. Biologically and chemically, a dumpsite is much more static than we commonly assume. For some

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kinds of garbage, bio degradation goes on for a while and then slows down to a virtual standstill. For

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other kinds, bio degradation never gets underway at all.

[Adapted from "Five Major Myths about Garbage , and Why they Are Wrong" by
William Rathje and Cullen Murphy, appearing in The Presence of Others (1994).
New York: St Martins Press]

(a) From paragraph one, name two examples of industrial waste and two examples of
domestic waste. (1 mark)

(b) According to the passage, how does a banana change as it rots? (2

marks)

(c) Why do you think a vibrant immune systern is said to be important in

understanding
garbage? (2 marks)

(a)In the following sentence, replace the underlined expression with one word.
(1 mark)
However, the knowledge harvested from a dumpsite makes up for the grim
working conditions.
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(e) Why do you think the author puts the words "paperless office" in quotation
marks?
(2 marks)

(f) Explain how technology has become a fertility drug rather than a contraceptive.
(3
marks)

(g) What can we infer about resin? (2 marks)

(h) In point form, summarize the reasons why the author feels paper waste poses
a greater danger to the environment than plastics. (4 marks)

Rough Copy

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Fair Copy

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(i) Explain the meaning of each of the following expressions as used in the
passage.
(3
marks) bread and butter work;

static;

gets underway.

Read the excerpt below and then answer the questions that follow.

PETER STOCKMANN: By the way, Hovstad was telling me he was going to print another of your articles.

DR. STOCKMANN: One of my articles?

PETER STOCKMANN: Yes, about the Baths. An article you apparently wrote during the
winter.

DR. STOCKMANN: Oh, that one! No I wouldn't want that to appear now.

PETER STOCKMANN: Why not? I should have thought that this would be the most
opportune moment.

DR. STOCKMANN: Yes, very likely - under normal conditions.

(crosses the room.) .

PETER STOCKMANN (following him with his eyes): Is there anything extraordinary about
the present conditions?
DR. STOCKMANN (standing still): To tell you the truth, Peter, I can't tell you just at
this moment - at least not tonight. There may be much that is very abnormal about the present
conditions - and it is possible there may be nothing extraordinary about them at all. It might
very well be just my imagination.

PETER STOCKMANN: I must say it all sounds most mysterious. Is there something going on that I am not
supposed to know? I should have imagined that I, as Chairman of the governing body of the
Baths ...
DR. STOCKMANN:And I should have imagined that I ... Oh, come, don't let us fly off the handle at one another,
Peter.

PETER STOCKMANN: Heaven forbid! I am not in the habit of flying off the handle, as
you call it. But I am entitled to request most emphatically that all arrangements shall be made
in a businesslike manner, through the proper channels and shall be dealt with by the
proper authorities. I can allow no dubious or underhand methods.

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DR. STOCKMANN: Have I ever at any time used dubious or underhand methods?

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PETER STOCKMANN: You have an ingrained tendency to take things into your own hands, at least; and, that is

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almost equally inadmissible in a well-ordered community. The individual ought
undoubtedly to subordinate himself or herself to the community - or, to be more
accurate, to the authorities who have the care of the community's welfare.

DR. STOCKMANN: Very likely. But what the devil has all this got to do with me?

PETER STOCKMANN: That is exactly what you never seem to learn my dear Thomas. But,
mark my words, some day you will have to suffer for it - sooner or later.

(a) Explain why the brothers, Peter and Thomas Stockmann, differ over the timing of
publication of the article mentioned in this excerpt. (2 marks)

(b) Give two reasons why Dr. Stockmann is reluctant to discuss the "present conditions" of
the Baths with the mayor. (2 marks)

(c) Identify and illustrate three character traits of Peter Stockmann evident in this
excerpt.
(6 marks)
(d) In the light of what happens later in the play, say to what extent each of the two
brothers has got "the care of the community's welfare". (4 marks)
(e) What is it that Dr. Stockmann "never seems to learn" according to the mayor? (2
marks)

(f) "Have I ever at any time used dubious or underhand methods?"

(Rewrite in reported speech) (1 mark)

(g) Identify and explain three aspects of foregrounding the author uses in this excerpt.
(6 marks)

(h) Pick out a phrase in this excerpt that may suggest that Peter Stockmann
exaggerates or even falsely accuses Dr. Stockmann of insubordination. Explain your
answer.
(2 marks)

3. Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

OUT- CAST
They met by accident
He proposed the idea
She gave her consent
All the way to the altar

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The casualty was male

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And his pigment was pale

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Unlike his alleged sire
Who was black with ire

The recourse was legitimate

He disclaimed responsibility
So they had to separate
The boy remains illegitimate

Last month, not long ago

They both took their go
Coincidentally by accident
No will, no estate Nothing to inherit

The poor boy is hardly ten

And knows no next-of-kin
He roams the streets of town
Like a wind-sown out-cast

G. Gathemia
(From:. Boundless Voices)..
Edited by Arthur I. Luvai

(a) Briefly explain what the poem is about. (4 marks)

(b) Describe two character traits of the mother in the poem.

(4 marks)
(c) Explain the meaning of the following as used in the poem. (3 marks)

(i) disclaimed

(ii) unlike his alleged sire who was black with ire

(d) Identify and explain one instance of irony in the poem. (3

marks)

(e) What is the persona's attitude towards the boy in the poem? (3
marks)

(f) Rewrite the following in your own words.

('They both took their go') (1
mark)

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(g) Give a proverb which appropriately summarizes this poem. (2

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marks)

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4 .(a) Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions after each. (4
marks)

(i) It was difficult but we completed the task.

(Begin: Difficult...)
(ii) He said that he had not insulted me.
(Use: 'denied'...)

(iii) I will not at any cost support your evil plans. (Begin: At no cost...)

(iv) She is renovating her house so that she may sell it. (Rewrite using: 'with a
view'...)

(b) Explain the difference in meaning of each of the following pairs of sentences.
(2 marks)

(i) I. Even I attended the ceremony.

II. I even attended the ceremony.

(ii) I. Bring an umbrella if it rains.

II. Bring an umbrella in case it rains.

(c) Replace each of the underlined words with a phrasal verb.

(3 marks)

(i) The meeting was postponed to a later date.

.............................................................

(ii) After consultations the man agreed to assume the role of manager.

(iii) The number of smokers has decreased because of the cancer awareness
campaign.

(d) Fill in each of the blank spaces with the appropriate form of the word in
brackets.
(3 marks)
(i) The chairman expressed doubts about the ............................................ of
showing the film on children's television, (suit)

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(ii) We could not understand him. His actions were completely

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................................... (explain).

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(iii) Wearing a mask, he was totally ................................................(recognize)

(e) Fill in each of the blank spaces with the appropriate form of the word in
brackets.
(3 marks)
(i) If they had worked hard, they ......................................... the
examination, (pass)

(ii) If the athlete had maintained the pace, she

.............................................................. (overtake)

(iii) Unless the ambulance arrives in time, his life

......................................................... (save)

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KCSE ENGLISH PAPER 3

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Answer THREE questions only.

1. Imaginative Composition (compulsory) (20 marks)

Either

(a) Write a story to illustrate the saying: "A stitch in time saves nine."
or

(b) Write a story ending with:

...This is when i realised that it is noble to have and keep friends.

2. The Compulsory Set Text (20 marks)

Ngugi wa Thiong'o, The River Between

"Although change is inevitable, it comes with a lot of challenges."

Drawing illustrations from the novel The River Between, write an essay illustrating the
truth of this statement.

3 The Optional Set Texts (20 marks)

Answer any ONE of the following questions.
Either
(a) The Short Story
Ilieva and Olembo (Ed.), When the Sun Goes Down and Other Stories
With illustrations from Haruki Murakami's short story "The Mirror"., explain the
problem of superstition in human life.
or
(b) Drama
John Ruganda, Shreds of Tenderness
"In the opening section of the play Shreds of Tenderness, Odie engages in a one-
sided dialogue with His Highness, The King of Termites. Much of it is diversionary,
even verging on a 'madman's' gimmick. Yet it makes its contribution to the play."

Write an essay on the use Ruganda makes of these episodes both as a prologue to
the play and as a commentary on the situation depicted in the play Shreds of
Tenderness.
or
(c) The Novel
Witi Ihimaera, The Whale Rider
"A seedling that will grow into a big tree can be spotted early."
Using examples from the character of Kahu in the novel The Whale Rider, write a
composition in support of this statement.

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