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

When plants and animals die on land, they fall to the ground and lie exposed to the atmosphere. Those that die in water sink to the sand, mud, or whatever the bottom deposit may be. Most of these dead bodies will be destroyed by bacteria and fungi, or eaten by living animals, and disappear without leaving any record of their existence. A few, however, will be preserved, either completely or in part, forming fossils which are the record of past forms of life.

In very rare cases, whole animals have been preserved by being trapped in some material which prevented the body from decaying. In Siberia, for example, entire mammoths have been found embedded in ice and looking exactly as they did when alive. Insects, almost intact, have been found trapped in amber, which must have exuded from a tree as a sticky liquid that caught the unwary insect, and then set hard. Of course, preservation is seldom so complete, far more frequently, only the shells of animals, such as molluscs and echinoderms, or the skeletons of animals, such as corals and chordates, remain. Plants are normally found as fragments, and it is very difficult to decide which pieces of root, stem, leaf, and fruiting body have come from the same plant.

Of course the skeletons or the solid parts of animals, such as shells, survive unchanged long after soft parts of the body have disintegrated. Even these hard bony parts eventually break down, but in a few rare instances they become covered by some material that is forming the rock even after the structure itself has totally decayed. Such an impression, called a cast, shows the surface details of the structure, and may be all that is left of a plant or animal. At times, another mineral may have filled the cast, producing a solid mass with the details of the body impressed on the surface.

Some plants have hollow stems and others have a pith or soft central core that decomposes more quickly than the outer wall. A mineral may fill such stems before they decay and form an impression is left in the rock. This material hardens around them, and a clear impression, called a cast, shows the surface details of the structure, and may be all that is left of a plant or animal. At times, another mineral may have filled the cast, producing a solid mass with the details of the body impressed on the surface.

Some plants have hollow stems and others have a pith or soft central core that decomposes more quickly than the outer wall. A mineral may fill such stems before they decay and form an impression of the stem's internal structure. This kind of fossil is common in a group of plants which we know today as ferns and horsetails. Finally, fossils are produced when the complete chemical materials, which make up the bodies of plants and animals, are replaced after death by a different chemical material, such as silica or calcite. When this happens the body is preserved in 'stone' and it is said to be petrified. Petrified plants have their internal and external structure very well preserved. The real problem, however, is that they are not found as whole plants, but as fragments, which makes it very difficult to reconstruct the complete body

(Adopted from; The Story of life by D.H. Udall, in Practical English for the East African Certificate by Rodney Nesbuitt.)

Questions

It is your turn to write for the science column in your school magazine. You have found this article in a scientific magazine. You need to inform readers about the different types of fossils and how they are formed.

Using the information given in the article, write your summary in not more than 150 words.

2. Read the following passage and answer the questions after it

My new school was housed in a building, which had been in turn a private house, a pauper's home and a prison. Had we known at the time about all those interesting phases of the building's history, we would invent a number of private jokes about it. But we did not so we merely regarded the ungainly, thick wall structure with a deep affection and reverence. It was large, standing in its own unpaved yard. The ground floor was a few feet below the level of the surrounding yard and the middle floor. At least three times as many rats as boys slept on that floor; but in due course the two parties achieved a peaceful state of co-existence. Housemates also shared our accommodation under the corrugated roof; whilst the principal and his family lived in a house built onto the main school building and which also contained the school chapel and the school printing press.

I would have been regarded as old to start secondary education, for I must have been sixteen or seventeen at the time. We worked hard, without exception. A ruler across the knuckles was immediate penalty for obtuse in class, and expulsion for bringing up the rear in the form order. Our basic fare included Greek (which we all loved) and the mathematics, and these two subjects were also those in excelling at which we took the greatest pride. We saw very little of the principal except in the chapel, and what we saw of him made us take good care not to see more. He was tall and thin and possessed a vulture beak-nose. A punitive summons to his office was invariably followed by two or three days in sick bay tossing vainly to prevent raw buttocks from coming into contact with anything.

(Adopted from unknown source)

Questions

1) Describe the school building in not more than three sentences

2) "But in due course the two parties achieved a peaceful state of co-existence" What does the writer mean by:

i) "the two parties"

ii) "achieved a peaceful state of co-existence"

3) Why did the boys take "good care not to see the principal more often"?

4) Explain the meaning of the following as used in the passage;

i) "phases of the buildings history"

ii) "obtuseness in class"

iii) "for bringing up the rear"

iv) "basic fare"

v) "punitive summons"

5) How did the boys feel about the school building?

i) How would they have felt if they knew the history of the school building?

ii) Write an example of a joke you think the boys would have cracked if they knew the history

3. Read the passage and answer the questions

Any way you look at it, English spelling is a mess. A system which puts up with pairs like fine and sign, no and know, smile and aisle, through and cough is system that falls considerably short of perfection. It has been suggested that a reasonable spelling for the word fish would be 'ghoti'; gh as in rough, o as in women, ti as in nation. This example exaggerates the difficulties, but certainly the difficulties are serious.

They are not only serious but avoidable. The one thing demand of anyone who pretends to be educated is that he should be able to spell. Your arithmetic can be lousy, your knowledge of history and economics can be zero, you can be totally ignorant of the difference between a molecule and an amoeba, and still you can get along. But if you can't spell, you're in trouble every time you pick up a pencil. Of all writing errors, none stand out like mistakes in spelling. Misplace your apostrophe or mix up your pronouns, and chances are that few people will notice; but spell 'separate' and people call you illiterate.

Perhaps the trouble is that English spelling is not quite had enough. If it were a little worse, nobody could manage it and we would either reform it or all be bad spellers together. As it is, enough people can learn to spell English to make things hard for those who can't. What makes good spellers and poor spellers is hard to say. Differences in visual memory no doubt exist and they influence the way we spell. Experiences play a part; people who read and write a good deal are likely to be better spellers than those who don't. Whatever tile reasons, tile range of spelling ability in any group of people is likely to be very wide.

Poor spellers can be divided into two groups: those who try to improve and those who do not. The later are reacting in a normal way. They are up against a problem that they see no obvious way of solving, and so they find good excuses. They tell themselves; reasonably enough, that spelling after all isn't everything. Surely a person can be a poor speller and still be wise, lovable, and keenly intelligent.

Pretty soon they begin not only to confess their inability to spell but only that tile superior sort, like them can do the things really worth doing. To comfort oneself this way is all very well, but it is no real solution. You can go on and on about how unimportant spelling is and explain till you're breathless how you excel in more important matters. Still if you spell separate 'separate', people who spell it 'separate' will think you're a jerk, and don't think they won't.

(From Understanding English by Paul Roberts)

Questions

1) By the expression "English spelling is not quite bad enough." The writer means that English spelling

A. is a complete mess

B. makes people bad spellers together

C. should be reformed before it gets worse

D. is not important to learn but is difficult to perfect

2) "Difference in visual memory no doubt exists". Visual memory here means the ability to

A. see things very clearly

B. see what is n our memory

C. remember what we have seen

D. spell very well

3) The reason why some poor spellers don't try to improve their spelling is that:

A. they are reacting in a very normal way

B. they see no obvious way of doing it

C. they are capable of being wise, lovable and keenly intelligent

D. they excel in more important matters

4) The expression "any clod can learn to spell" could best be replaced by;

A. any fool can to spell

B. anybody can learn to spell

C. nobody wise needs to bother about spellings

D. nobody superior needs bother about spellings

5) We can conclude from this passage that:

A. although spelling is important, we should not go on about good and poor spellers

B. however difficult spelling is, it is important that we spell correctly

C. since spelling is so difficult , we do not all need to spell correctly

D. if spelling were not important we would have fewer illiterates

4. Rewrite as instructed without changing the meaning.

1) Mary did not know that her friend had been expelled from school.

(Rewrite using: aware of.....)

2) That boy will need to be looked after.

(Rewrite to end........looking after.)

3) "You must finish your compositions before the end of the lesson as Iam going to mark them this evening."

(Begin: The teacher.....)

4) He worked what would become of Michael's future if he didn't heed his mother's advice.

(End with: "......." he wondered.)

5) The housewife was surprised to find that all the meat had been eaten.

(Begin: Much too ............)

6) Students should be encouraged to read as much as they can outside school.

(Begin: Every encouragement...........)

7) "Gentlemen, I am sorry, but the party must come to an end." Mrs. Mubakye announced.

(Rewrite using................regretted to)

8) "I have to get some money. I want to travel to Jinja tomorrow.

(Rewrite as one sentence using: If)

9) The headmaster did not blame John for arriving at school late.

(Begin: The headmaster did not disapprove.............)

10) The headmaster allowed the sixth-form to use the library whenever they like.

(Rewrite using the actual words the headmaster used to the sixth formers)

5. Complete the sentences with the most suitable words or group of words.

1) The boy denied...............to do with theft.

A. having had anything

B. having had nothing

C. to have anything

D. to have something

2) Geckos have suction pads on their feet which enable them to..................walls and even ceilings.

A. clutch at

B. clasp

C. grab

D. cling to

3) The boxer's................landed on his opponent's nose.

A. stroke

B. slap

C. beat

D. punch

4) In a period of economic...........a country is likely to make progress.

A. depression

B. booming

C. boom

D. blooming

5) She as charged..................careless driving.

A. on

B. of

C. with

D. for

6) If you look at............hat he is wearing, you will know where he comes from.

A. the

B. his

C. a

D. what

7) "Some of us think you had another reason for coming here."

"Why .........." replied the detective.

A. so did I,

B. I did so,

C. so I did,

D. so I had,

8) Novel, Tortilla Flat is a brainchild of John Steinbeck. This means that it was

A. born by Steinbeck

B. written by Steinbeck

C. made by Steinbeck

D. printed by Steinbeck

9) He perpetually kept over the properly. "Perpetually" here means

A. Sometimes

B. often

C. always

D. occasionally

10) Choose the correctly punctuated sentence below.

A. Mr. Amanya, who is our teacher, will soon be transferred.

B. Mr. Amanya who is our teacher, will soon be transferred

C. Mr. Amanya who is our teacher will soon be transferred.