Intensive Reading
8 Grade 10 English questions on Intensive Reading, with worked marking schemes. 8 questions are available on this topic in full.
Question 1
5 marksRead the passage below and then answer the question that follows. 'The maize stood waist-high and yellow. Nothing moved in it. The sky had been the same white sky for eleven weeks, and the radio kept promising rain the way a debtor promises money.' Explain how the writer's choice of words creates a mood of hopelessness.
(5 marks)
Marking scheme
1 mark for each point that links a word choice to the mood, up to 5. (1) 'waist-high and yellow' shows a stunted, dying crop instead of tall green maize, so the harvest is already lost. (2) 'Nothing moved in it' suggests total stillness, an absence of wind, birds or life. (3) 'the same white sky' shows an unchanging, drained sky with no rain clouds at all. (4) 'for eleven weeks' gives an exact count, which stresses how long the drought has lasted and that it is still going on. (5) The comparison of the radio's promises to 'a debtor promises money' shows that even the official promise of rain is empty and cannot be trusted. Accept a point on the short, flat sentences creating a weary tone.
Question 2
1 markA villager writes in a letter to a newspaper: 'Once again we have been promised piped water by December. This will be the fourth December in a row that we have been promised it.' What is the tone of these lines?
A. Hopeful
B. Indifferent
C. Grateful
D. Sarcastic
(1 mark)
Marking scheme for this question
Create a free account to see itQuestion 3
1 markRead the sentence below. 'Wanjiru read the letter from the bank twice, folded it slowly, and pushed away the plate of food she had just served herself.' What can best be inferred from this sentence?
A. She did not like the food she had served herself
B. She was in a hurry to get back to work
C. She had already eaten enough before she sat down
D. The letter has brought her news she did not want
(1 mark)
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Create a free account to see itQuestion 4
4 marksExplain the meaning of each of the words in quotation marks as used in the sentences below.
(a) The drought had 'whittled' the herd from forty cows to nine.
(b) Ochieng gave a 'guarded' answer when he was asked about the missing funds.
(c) The teacher's praise 'buoyed' her through a difficult term.
(d) The old man's memory of the famine was still 'vivid'.
(4 marks)
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Create a free account to see itQuestion 5
1 markRead the sentence below. 'The old matatu coughed twice, sighed, and then refused to climb the hill.' Which stylistic device has the writer used?
A. Personification
B. Simile
C. Alliteration
D. Hyperbole
(1 mark)
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Create a free account to see itQuestion 6
3 marksRead the passage below and then answer the question that follows. 'Mutiso arrived for the interview twelve minutes late, his shirt clinging to his back. He apologised, then apologised again, and a third time. He sat on the very edge of the chair, as though it might be taken from him.' State Mutiso's state of mind and identify two details from the passage that support your answer.
(3 marks)
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Create a free account to see itQuestion 7
1 markRead the sentence below. 'The chief's voice was dry as he told the elders that the borehole was not his concern.' As used here, the word 'dry' suggests that the chief spoke:
A. flatly, showing no warmth or sympathy for the elders
B. loudly and angrily, so that everyone could hear him
C. as though he badly needed a drink of water
D. in a hoarse, croaking voice because of a sore throat
(1 mark)
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Create a free account to see itQuestion 8
3 marksRead the sentence below and then answer the question that follows. 'By ten o'clock the market at Kibuye was a single breathing animal: voices rising, hands reaching, feet shuffling over spilt tomatoes.' Explain what the writer suggests about the market by comparing it to 'a single breathing animal'.
(3 marks)
Marking scheme
1 mark for each point, up to 3. (1) The market is alive and in constant motion; 'breathing' suggests continuous rising and falling movement and sound. (2) The many separate traders and buyers behave as one mass or body rather than as individuals, which shows how crowded it is. (3) The image of an animal suggests something large, restless and not fully under control, so the market feels powerful and slightly unpredictable. Accept: it suggests noise and energy rather than order. Do not credit mere naming of the device without explanation.
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