CSEC English A Paper 1 May/June 2013 - Free CXC Past Paper with Answers

The tourist brochure gave <ins>verbose</ins> accounts of the carnival festivities of last year.

We found her <ins>appreciative</ins> of the help that we had given to her on this matter.

As a result of the need for trained staff, the firm had to <ins>dismiss</ins> several workers.

The headgear worn by the factory worker is made from <ins>artificial</ins> material.

The old lady enjoyed making <ins>malicious</ins> remarks to everyone she met.

Instructions: Each sentence has either one or two words missing. Choose from the four options the word or pair of words which BEST completes the meaning of the sentence. Mark your choice on the answer sheet.

......... people are likely to be afraid to take risks in life.

When parents display a ........ for one child, the others are likely to feel ......... .

concern ... unsympathetic

dislike ... indifferent

preference ... jealous

An attack on someone when that person is most vulnerable may be .......... but is always ......... .

inappropriate ......... thoughtful

rewarding ......... satisfying

destructive ......... distressing

effective ......... unkind

While the Committee members ......... insults across the floor, the Chairman tried in vain to ......... order.

hurled ......... restore

spoke ......... impose

gave ......... maintain

exchanged ......... conserve

Are you trying to ......... that all along he knew of the plot to oust the committee?

Instructions: Each sentence in this section is followed by four sentences A, B, C and D. Choose the one NEAREST IN MEANING to the original sentence.

Recent floods have made the route impassable.

People are unable to travel because of the floods.

The road cannot be used as a result of the floods.

Because of heavy showers, commuters were forced to detour.

Travelling has been brought to a standstill because of floods.

An interest in their nation's development plans should be displayed by its young people.

Young people should take an interest in plans for national development.

National development is dependent upon the youth.

Young people ought to be aware of plans for the purpose of national development.

The nation will advance through plans proposed by its young people.

The accident may have been due to the wetness of the road and not necessarily to careless driving.

The wetness of the road and the careless driving caused the accident.

The accident was caused more by the wet road than by the driver's unnecessary carelessness.

Careless driving had nothing to do with the accident which occurred on the wet road.

The driver was involved in the accident not necessarily because he was careless but probably because the road was wet.

At one time or another every one of us succumbs to the common cold.

Some of us are sure to catch the cold.

Very few of us will ever catch the cold.

All of us eventually will contract the cold.

All of us will be able to resist the cold eventually.

You have become tardy in your preparations for your examination during the last two months, so you must burn the candle at both ends during this week if you want to succeed.

If the candles are not burnt at both ends, as you prepare for your examinations this week, you will fail because you have been tardy during the last two months.

During this week if you want to succeed you must burn two candles in preparing for your examination, since you were tardy during the last two months.

If you want to pass your examination during this week, you must work doubly hard, since you were tardy during the last two months.

Since you have not done much preparation for your examinations during the last two months, this week you must work doubly hard if you want to succeed.

The $\underline{\text{secretary}}$ had made up a $\underline{\text{calender}}$ of events but there was not enough $\underline{\text{stationery}}$ to give each member a copy. $\underline{\text{No error}}$

After $\underline{\text{embarrassing}}$ his $\underline{\text{colleague}}$ his $\underline{\text{concience}}$ bothered him and he eventually apologised. $\underline{\text{No error}}$

After the $\underline{\text{incident}}$ the boys $\underline{\text{travelled}}$ a $\underline{\text{diffrent}}$ route back to school. $\underline{\text{No error}}$

His $\underline{\text{intelligence}}$ rather than his $\underline{\text{hieght}}$ was the $\underline{\text{deciding}}$ factor when considering him for the job. $\underline{\text{No error}}$

The $\underline{\text{receipt}}$ of his letter assured me that such an $\underline{\text{occurence}}$ would not be $\underline{\text{experienced}}$ . $\underline{\text{No error}}$

Instructions: Read the following extract carefully and then answer items 21-28 on the basis of what is stated or implied.

The Oceans

To the prejudiced eyes of land-bound humans the oceans seem like one continuous mass as homogeneous as outer space. To some extent they are, and some marine creatures treat the whole maritime world as their oyster. Some of the great whales, for instance, lunge from the surface to the depths as a matter of course, and divide their feeding and breeding between the poles and the tropics.

Equally striking to the marine scientist, however, is the variousness of the oceans. Each sea embraces several or indeed many distinct environments, each of which occupies a discrete zone. Some of these zones also vary markedly with time — through the day; with the tides, and therefore with the phases of the moon; by season; and sometimes in cycles of several years. And superimposed on all these variations in space and time are the more erratic influences of currents and of the influx of rivers.

In short, patchiness, in space and time, is as much a feature of the oceans as it is of land; indeed, 'patchiness' is a great principle in ecology — though it is rarely singled out as such. Each oceanic zone has its characteristic creatures — sometimes a huge variety of different types, and sometimes only a few; but many creatures, of all kinds, spend part of their lives in one kind of environment, and part in another. And because there are so many different ways of making a living in the oceans — so many permutations of habitats — there is a correspondingly huge variety of creatures; and many creatures take quite different forms, and live in quite different ways, at different stages of their lives. There are far fewer species in the oceans than on land, however, because there are no marine equivalents of the forest trees; and it is the trees that provide such a myriad of habitats for land-based creatures.

Colin Tudge, "The Oceans", The Museum of Natural History, 1991.

The writer's MAIN purpose in this passage is to

show that the ocean is very diverse

convince the reader to visit the ocean

describe the beauty of the ocean to humans

discuss the different creatures that live in the ocean

The word "prejudiced" (line 1) is NEAREST in meaning to

The writer says that prejudiced eyes see the oceans as being "as homogeneous as outer space" (lines 1–2). This description suggests that the oceans seem to be

full of shiny objects

full of different zones

the same continuous stretch of water

The statement "some marine creatures treat the whole maritime world as their oyster" (lines 2–3) suggests that they

stay in one part of the ocean

move freely throughout the oceans

According to the passage, 'patchiness' (line 13) refers to

Which of the following BEST describes the type of writing in this passage?

According to the passage, which of the following statements is FALSE?

There are more species in the ocean than on land.

There are more species on land than in the ocean.

Many ocean creatures divide their time in different parts of the ocean.

Many sea creatures take different forms at different stages of their lives.

The clause "there are so many different ways of making a living in the oceans" (lines 16–17) refers to

Which of the following phrases is used in (lines 1-15) to compare the chimpanzees with professional acrobats?

Young and nimble (lines 2-3)

Over-anxious ... expression (lines 3-4)

Exaggerated and over-emphatic tumbling (line 7)

Wrapped... in intricate patterns (lines 13-14)

When the author says that he "came to feel very warmly about the apes" (lines 18–19) he means that he

developed a genuine liking for the chimpanzees

became enthusiastic about the chimpanzees' interest in writing

grew embarrassed by the chimpanzees' close observation of him

became unhappy because the chimpanzees constantly watched him with sorrowful eyes

The "genuinely startling moment" referred to in (lines 27–28) was caused by the

monkeys' tuneful drumming on the floor

imitation of the writer's typing by the monkeys

interruption of the writer's typing by the monkeys

writer's discovery of the monkeys sitting in a row in the doorway

"A ragged tattoo" (line 33) means the same as

a rhythmical tapping

an irregular drumming

When the author says that the monkeys showed interest in the "mechanics of writing" (line 36) he means that they

looked at the way the typewriter worked

were curious about how things are put on paper

took away his pens, pencils and crayons

examined the various parts of the typewriter

As used in line 39, "questing" means the same as

The writer surrendered the crayons to the chimpanzee because he

had completed his own drawing

felt that the chimpanzee could do no worse than himself

knew that the effect would be exciting

sensed that the chimpanzee might be able to draw quite well

We can infer from, "The effect was gripping" (line 44) that the author was

amazed at the drawings created by the chimpanzee

interested in finding out what the chimpanzee would do next

afraid that the chimpanzee might become engaged in a futile exercise

impressed by the chimpanzee's uncontrollable darting and slashing at the paper

The passage can best be described as

The activity described in the poem is

'She' in the poem is MOST likely

Line 3 of the poem is an example of

"She crowds the card table ..." (line 5) suggests that

the card table is packed

there are many card tables

she sits close to the card table

many people sit around the card table

The comparison between the paper casings and homemade sausages (lines 14–15) is a reference to

The "crawlspace" (line 19) MOST likely refers to

the foundation of the house

The money is being saved to

package in paper casing

place in the bank downtown

safeguard against need in winter

The phrase "solid as any foundation" (lines 19–20) suggests

how fragile the jars were

what a huge fortune was buried

how secure it made the owners feel

that the foundations needed reinforcement

The words, "I just can't take it anymore" (line 1), imply that the writer is

The repetition of "I" in the first paragraph can be BEST interpreted as highlighting the writer's

Which of the following devices does the writer use in paragraph 2 to explain her plight?

The rhetorical question

Which of the following words BEST conveys the emotion that the writer is seeking to arouse in the reader?

The following sentence "I work hard and every report so far indicates that I am an above-average student" (line 5) suggests that the writer

wants to sustain this

is about to fail her exams

"...jumping up and down as if the place is haunted"(line 12) is an example of which of the following devices?

What effect does the writer achieve when she says "Can you imagine my mother and her 16-year-old daughter going to this place in the midst of riotous drinking..." (lines 19-20)?

Admiration from the reader for the women's courage

Shock from the reader that the women should consider going there

Criticism for their actions in going to a bar

Scorn for the women's behaviour in going into a bar

The last line of the passage expresses the view that

Carnival will be more festive

the writer's mother will quarrel with the restaurant owner

the writer will become hysterical

the noisy atmosphere will become worse

This kind of writing is BEST classified as

What is the birth name of the author?

According to the chronology, when did the author's publishing career start?

What was the author's first job in the United States?

In what year did the author return to Antigua?

According to the chronology, how many years separated the author's two children?

Under which name did the author publish the book The Autobiography of My Mother?

CSEC English A Paper 1 May/June 2013 - Free CXC Past Paper with Answers

CSEC English A Paper 1 May/June 2013 Questions