CSEC English A Paper 2 May/June 2015 - Free CXC Past Paper with Answers

Read the following magazine article carefully and then write a summary of it in NOT MORE THAN 120 words. If this limit is exceeded, only the first 120 words of your answer will be read and assessed. As far as possible, use your own words. Your summary must be in continuous prose.

In your answer you will be assessed on how well you

were able to identify the main ideas and opinions in the extract
organized and expressed these ideas and opinions
used appropriate grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation.

Carifesta and Caribbean Diversity

Despite their geographical closeness and their common history, the countries of the Caribbean have richly diverse and take pride in their diversity. Cricket is popularly seen as the activity that brings them together, but the cultural festival, Carifesta, is just as effective in a different way. The main purpose of Carifesta is to gather artists, musicians and authors and to exhibit the folk-lore and artistic manifestations of the Caribbean and Latin American region, in an international multicultural event organized on a periodic basis by the countries of the Caribbean.

The idea of a Caribbean arts festival was first proposed at a convention of writers and artists held in 1970 in Guyana. It involved a vision of the region's peoples with roots deep in Asia, Europe and Africa, coming together to share their art forms, literature inspired by the Caribbean's own peculiar temperament, paintings drawn from the awe inspiring tropical ecology and the visionary inheritance of our forefathers.

Two years later, Carifesta I was billed as a grand cultural exposition and was held in Guyana with almost 1 000 participants from 30 countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America. It was originally hoped that Carifesta would be held every two years in a different country, but the second festival, in Jamaica, did not take place until 1976. It was followed by a Cuban Carifesta in 1979, then Carifesta IV in Barbados in 1981. Various problems prevented the staging of other festivals until 1992. Jamaica was due to host the fifth Carifesta in 1988 but economic problems and the ravages of Hurricane Gilbert made it impossible. The islands of Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda offered to co-host the festival in 1988, but the idea was not practicable. Subsequent festivals were hosted in Trinidad, St Kitts and Nevis, Suriname and The Bahamas.

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

When he had resolved the threatening conflict in his stomach, Paul stood up and placed his ear against the door. All sounds seemed to be coming from the front of the house. He inched the door open gingerly, and seeing that nobody was in the vicinity, with hands outstretched for support from the walls on both sides of the passage, he began feeling his way towards the room in which they were dancing.

Bright-eyed young people spun and writhed before him in a confusion of movement and colour, while the older, more sedate couples glided effortlessly between the revolving figures, lost in the smoothness of their rhythm. Then, suddenly, it was not only the dancers who were moving; grey streaks like heavy rain shot across his vision, and the music receded in the background and was replaced by a monotonous, low humming in his ears. Then the whole room began to turn around and around, and around and around, his head seemed to be revolving with rapidly increasing momentum through a narrowing tunnel of sound in every tightening spirals — faster, faster, faster. Where to? He fought the down the mounting pangs of nausea and pushed his head back hard against the wall, fixing his eyes on the illuminated text opposite him. God is the Heart of this House, it was as if he was staring in a constantly shaken kaleidoscope. And then slowly, it gained control over his own internal movement, and he was able to separate the stationary objects from the dancers who continued to move, swaying and twisting.

As Paul watched, he noticed that some dancers glanced occasionally in his direction and then turned and whispered to their partners, who looked at him with furtive, suppressed smiles. But, although these smiles were directed at him, they did not invite his participation. He inspected his clothing, but could find no possible cause for mirth. But then they were not quite smiles of mirth. They were rather the sort that set him apart ... that isolated him. As he watched, he longed to participate, to be accepted as one of them.

Adapted from A. Warmbaugh, An Anthology of African and Caribbean Writing in English, J.J. Figuera (Ed.), Heinemann Educational Books, 1982, pp. 24–25.

What problem had Paul been experiencing according to the words “When he had resolved the threatening conflict in his stomach” (line 1)?

What does the word “gingerly” (line 3) suggest about Paul’s actions?

Explain, in your own words, the contrast described in lines 6–8.

Quote the specific expression from paragraph 2 which suggests that Paul’s earlier problem was not resolved.

What word or phrase can be used to replace the word “receded” in line 9?

What is the effect of the writer’s use of repetition in “Around and around and around and around” (line 11) and “faster, faster, faster” (line 12)?

How did Paul bring his problem under control?

What word can be used to describe Paul’s feeling as he saw the dancers’ smiles?

Quote TWO expressions which show that Paul understood that he would not be invited to the dance.

Read the passage below carefully and then answer all the questions that follow. Write your answer on the ruled lines provided after each question.

Formal education, commonly referred to as schooling, can be defined as a country's system of compulsory teaching and learning. But as one writer suggested, there is a difference between schooling and education. The objective of schooling is to reinforce what exists in society and this is largely influenced by what governments do through the availability of resources. Education is a broader learning activity not confined to the classrooms.

Schools, colleges and universities have long carried out the business of formal education by using the traditional 'chalk and talk' teaching methods. In recent times, however, this education has been changed by the introduction of technologies by which the students themselves are involved in acquiring knowledge. Chalk and talk approaches in front of a class with students in the same place have been replaced by the technology that allows students to participate from any location at any time.

Despite this introduction of the latest technologies, education still has to encourage students to change the way they look at the world. No matter how important formal education is and what happens in the classroom, the discovery of self and the mastery of life skills take place both inside and outside the formal classroom. Too much emphasis is placed on achieving academic success and far too often one's place in society is based on academic achievements.

Academic qualifications alone cannot satisfy an individual's need to be recognized and respected, and to develop healthy social relationships. Formal education should not only seek to satisfy qualifications for employment, but should provide the opportunities for individuals to make meaningful contributions to their communities and the wider society. Formal education means little if students cannot find a place where they can be recognized and valued in a world that is very materialistic.

Adapted from Sandra Richards, "Assessing the Role of Education in the Real World", Nex Generation, Issue No. 5, Autumn 2011, p. 24.

According to paragraph 1, what is formal education?

What word can be used to replace "objective" in line 3?

According to the passage, what are TWO advantages of using technology over "chalk and talk" (line 7)?

Apart from satisfying "qualifications for employment" (line 19), give THREE examples from the passage that highlight the writer's view of what formal education should allow students to do.

Identify TWO outcomes of formal education that the writer suggests are over-emphasized.

What is implied by the expression "not only" (line 18)?

Quote TWO examples from the final paragraph that sum up the writer's view of what individuals require from education.

What is the writer's MAIN purpose in this passage?

Write a story based on the picture below.

Your answer in this section should be approximately 400 to 450 words in length. You MUST write in Standard English. However, dialect may be used in conversation.

Write your answer on the RULED PAGES provided. You are expected to adhere to the word limit. There is a blank page for any notes you may want to make. THIS WILL NOT BE MARKED.

In your answer you will be assessed on how well you

used the stimulus provided
developed and organized the content of your essay
used language appropriate to your audience, purpose and content
used appropriate grammar, sentence structure, paragraphs, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation.

As I stepped through the front door, something felt different. The usual smell of dinner was absent and I knew something had changed.

Write a story which includes these sentences.

The sounds, sights and smells of the festival filled the air. It was going to be a new experience for me.

Describe what you saw and your thoughts and feelings.

I am tired of hearing about 'peer pressure'. I am my own person. No peer or friend can make me into who I do not want to be.

Write an essay EITHER supporting OR opposing this view.

All secondary schools should introduce Business Education into their curriculum. Too many graduates want someone to employ them when they could be taught how to start their own business.

Write an essay giving your views on this statement.

CSEC English A Paper 2 May/June 2015 Questions

Question 1 (30 marks)

Carifesta and Caribbean Diversity

Question 2 (13 marks)

Question 3 (15 marks)

Question 4 (35 marks)

Question 5 (35 marks)

Question 6 (35 marks)

Question 7 (35 marks)

Question 8 (35 marks)