LESHAU BOYS HIGH SCHOOL

FORM II
ENGLISH EXAM
TOTAL (80 mks)

Section A: Writing
You have won a scholarship to study in Canada at the university of Toronto. Design a card inviting your friends to
attend the farewell party. There will be a guest speaker during the party. (10 mks)
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Section B: Oral skills, cloze test, reading comprehension and grammar
I. Oral skills (25 mks)
a) Read through the following song and then answer the questions that follow;
Oh, I am gone,
Oh, I am gone,
Call my father that I may say farewell to him,
Oh, I am gone.
Father has already sold me,
Mother has received a high price for me,
Oh, I am gone.
From oral literature in Africa by ruth Finnegan
i. Who is the singer of this song? On what occasion do you think the song would have been sung? (2mks)

ii. Identify and illustrate two features of a song in the above composition. (4mks)

iii. What is the tone of the song? Support your answer. (2mks)

iv. What reaction would the song evoke from an audience? (2mks)

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 b) For each letter below, provide a word in which the letter is silent. (4mks)
i. B
ii. G
iii. R
iv. W
(c)for each word below, provide another word which is spelt different but pronounced in a similar way.
(5mks)
i. Your
ii. Profit
iii. Bore
iv. Key
v. Passed
(d)Should Siza’s shoes slightly slip; she’ll cease to seize Siza’s shoulder.
i. In what genre does the item below fit (2mks)

ii. State two characteristics of the genre above (2mks)

iii. State two functions of the genre (2mks)

II. CLOZE TEST (10MKS)
Fill in the gaps in the passage below using the most suitable words.
Some parents prefer day schools ………….1…………boarding schools for their children. They say that boarding
schools do not give them a ……………2…………… to know the teachers of their children …………3…………... These
parents also feel that boarding schools lock them ………….4………… of their children’s learning. This is
…….5……………. in some boarding schools ………….6…………. parents to visit their children ……………7………. once a
term . They say …………8…. a day school provides ………….9………… times for parents to monitor ……………10……….
children’s learning.

III.READING COMPREHENSION (20MKS)

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

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The word of life
African children are brought up on the spoken word. Songs are sung to celebrate their birth and their naming.
Mothers and nurses or ayahs sing lullabies to babies to soothe them when they are agitated and to lull them to
sleep. The babies enjoy the sweet melodies and the lively rhythms of the lullabies, but of course they are too
young to Understand the words. Indeed, although they are sung to them, a lot of the words in lullabies are not
addressed to the babies. They are often an expression of the mother's or the nanny's feelings about her situation
and about the people around her. Lullabies composed and sung by mothers usually dwell on the pride and joy of
motherhood, hopes of greatness for the baby and awareness of the jealousy of neighbors and even some
members of the family.

The nannies' songs are different. They are often harsh and critical of the baby, its mother and the whole family.
Sometimes they even threaten the baby. This is not surprising. Nannies are often young girls and they find the
task of looking after a baby quite difficult and tedious. Also, quite often these young nannies are distant relatives
of the mother or father of the baby, and they may not be treated very kindly by the baby's parents. They will,
therefore, let out their anger and their frustration in the songs they sing to the baby in their care.

As the children grow older, they are introduced to the world of play. Even as they struggle to master the basic
skills of standing upright and walking, older children and adults recite little snatches of verse to encourage them.
The first few times a Mugando child stands up on its own are greeted by all around with rhythmic clapping and
the chant:
Tengerere, tengerere (All on his own, all on his own)
Omwana ayımiridde. (Baby is standing up)
This often so excites the baby that it starts dancing on its shaky legs. The dance does not last long as the baby
flops onto the ground almost immediately. But the enthusiasm of the onlookers will inspire it to try again soon.
As the child takes its first tottering steps, an older child or an adult will stand a few paces ahead of it, facing it
and urging it on with the recitation:
Olitambula ddi? (When will you learn to walk?)
Jjo jjunzi (Tomorrow, or the day after.)

Again, the baby responds enthusiastically to this challenge and it is not long before it masters the skills of two-
legged locomotion.
As the child progressively learns the arts of listening and speech, his or her activities with words will become
varied. This is the stage at which children begin to listen to stories, especially of the short, amusing variety, with
animals as characters. They will also be striving to improve their fluency, and adults may help them by them
tongue-twisters like the following from the Agikuyu community: suggesting t
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Kana ka Nikora kona kora kora, nako kora kona kana ka Nikora kora

Nikora's little child sees a little frog and runs away, and the little frog sees Nikora’s little child and also runs away.

The point of the tongue-twister is that the child should be able to utter it without hesitation or stumbling over
the tricky sounds. Among themselves, the children all learn the various little songs which accompany the games
they play. Many of these are very simple and light-hearted, and they are valued more for their melody and beats
than for their meaning.

There is, however, a kind of play or song which is of considerable practical importance. This is the counting sang.
In nearly all of our societies, we find short poems, songs or recitations which teach children how to count,
usually from one to ten These vary a great deal in both form and content. Some are practically nonsensical, while
others make some serious comments about nature and society.

Life is not, however, all fun and games for the growing child. From the age of five, children are introduced to the
world of work, and here the separation of roles begins. Little girls join their mothers and elder sisters in womanly
chores like childcare, cooking, fetching water and firewood, tending crops, and weaving mats and baskets. The
boys accompany their fathers and elder brothers in occupations like tending livestock, hunting, fishing,
carpentry, metalwork, building and the making of barkcloth All these activities, the men's as well as the
women's, have beliefs, sayings, stories and songs which go with them. Thus, the children learn not only the
technical skills of the various occupations but also the rich lore or oral literature associated with them.
Fishermen rowing a boat on the lake may, for example, sing a song such as the following, to help them paddle in
harmony:
SOLO: The waters of the lake
CHORUS: Are waves
SOLO: When I cut them like this
CHORUS: They flow freely.
The young boy accompanying his elders will learn not only how to paddle but also how to sing such songs. By
associating and working with their elders, young people also learn the art of conversation: how to listen and to
reply appropriately to Their agemates and their elders, how to discuss and debate points, and how to use
proverbs and sayings.

Meanwhile, in the cold of the evening, when the long day's work is done, there ore storytelling sessions and
riddling sessions. At first, the young people are only listeners at these sessions. However, it is not long before
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they are confident enough to tell their own domestic, romantic, heroic, trickster, ogre, dilemma and aetiological
tales, as they have heard them from the elders. They may even want to try their hand at the myths and legends
of the community. Long hours of careful listening will have made them adept riddlers, able to compete with the
best. During communal ceremonies and celebrations, the young people learn the adult recitations, songs and
dances of their people. Those who apply themselves seriously to these performances become experts or even
professional artists. So, by the time an African child reaches adolescence, he or she will be quite conversant with
the oral literature of his or her community. Oral literature influences the young people's world view, and their
behavior towards one another and towards all the members of their community.
Questions

1. Give two reasons from the passage why mothers and nannies sing lullabies. (2 marks)

2. Why are nannies' lullabies often harsh? (1 mark)

3. What happens when a Muganda child struggles to master the skill of standing upright and walking? (2 marks)

4. Mention two ways, from the passage, in which a child's listening and speaking skills are enhanced. (2 marks)

5. How long do boys and girls play together before the separation of roles? (1 mark)

6. State two chores that a young girl, according to the passage, would not be expected to undertake. (2 marks)

7. What, according to the passage, is the end-result of exposure to oral literature? (2 marks)

8. Why do fishermen sing as they paddle their boats? (1 mark)

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9. Explain the meanings of the following expressions as used in the passage. (3 marks)
(a) soothe

(b) two-legged locomotion

(c) light-hearted

10. Life is not, however, all fun and games for the growing child. (Rewrite, beginning: For the growing child...)
(1 mark)

11. Make notes on what children learn about the art of conversation when they associate and work with their
elders. (3 marks

IV. Grammar (15 mks)

1. Fill in the blanks with the correct auxiliary verbs from the brackets. (3 marks)
(a)I …………………… away from school last week. (were, was)
(b) The security personnel …………………. not allow students to leave the compound without written permission
from the teacher on duty. (does, do)
(c) Parliament ……………………. resolved to abolish fees in public schools. (has, have)

2. Complete the following sentences using the correct form of the verbs in the brackets. (4mks)

(a) We ………………... for two hours when she arrived. (sing)

(b) Nafula ………………... to the shamba with me yesterday. (come)
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(c) We …………………... along Kwetu Street when we met him. (walk)
(d) I will …………………. reading the book by suppertime tomorrow (finish)

3. Complete the following paragraph by using the correct form of the words in the brackets. (2 marks)

The other day when I was travelling by plane, a ………………... (high) excited old lady demanded to see the pilot.
The pilot spoke to her………………………(tact) and calmed her down. He agreed that the lady had been
…………………………. (absolute) right to send for him. She had wanted to find out if the pilot's license had been
renewed……………………… (Great) relieved, the pilot reassured her and the flight continued.

4. Join each of the following pairs of sentences into one sentence using the word given in brackets. (3 marks)
(a) Mdoe met the woman. Mdoe wanted to marry the woman's daughter. (whose)

(b) The woman read a newspaper. The man prepared a meal. (while)

(c) You cannot enter the showground. You need to have a ticket. (unless)

5. Fill in the gaps in the following sentences by using the correct form of the word in the brackets. (3 marks)
(a) Kiptanul has enrolled for an ………………………………. course. (account)
(b) Many students in my class complained that the set targets were so high as to be ……………………………. (achieve)
(c) Mrembo handed in her ……………………………… letter this morning. (resign)