READING COMPREHENSION PRACTICE 2- POETRY

Read the following poem carefully and and answer the questions which follow it.

	Growing pains
	My child-eyes cried for chocolate treats And sticky sweets 'Twill rot yu' teet'!
	Tinkly silver wrapper hides
5	Germs Worms Decay How can a child-eye see?
	This child-heart cried for mid-teen love
10	A blow, a shove Study yuh' book! Leather jacket Football boots Are not the most sought-after truths
15	How can a child-heart know? So watch the young-girl-heart take wing! Watch her groove And watch her swing She's old enough
20	She's strong and tough She'll see beneath the silver wrapper Beneath the flashy football boots She'll find the great sought-after truth That child-eye tears are not as sad
25	And child-heart pain is not as bad As grown-up tears and grown-up pain Oh Christ, what do we have to gain From growing up For throwing up
30	Our childlike ways For dim Disastrous Grown-up days. ANITA

Question
(a)(i)Who is likely to have said the following lines:

'Twill rot yu' teet'! (line 3) and Study yu' book! (line 11) (ii)What effect is the writer trying to create by using them?                                                                                                        (3 marks) 

(b) In what ways is the content of the first two stanzas (lines 1 - 15) similar?
                                                                                                                          (3 marks)

(c) Why does the poet refer to leather jacket (line 12) and ;football boots (line 13)?   (2 marks) 

(d) Comment on the poet's choice of the following words:

(i)Tinkly (line 4)(ii)dim (line 31)                                                                                                         (2 marks) 

(e) What do the following lines,

She'll see beneath the silver wrapper

Beneath the flashy football boots ... (lines 21 - 22) tell us about the young girl?
(2 marks) 

(f)What is suggested by the poet in the last seven lines (lines 27 - 33) of the poem? (2 marks) 

Total 14 marks

Reading Comprehension PRACTICE 1

Read the following extract carefully and then answer all the questions set on it.

Pita panicked. There was nothing he could do. He was trapped. Trapped with hundreds of others. The monster had come and was slowly, surely dragging them from the deep. He swam through the excited crowd to try the bottom. Then he tried the top again. The great monster had encircled them completely. There were millions of holes in its great hands, but none large enough. If only they were a little larger. Pita tried to push himself through one of the holes again. He squeezed and squeezed. Great tails lashed around him. Not only he but against his eyes. If only his head could get through. He pushed again, hard, and the pain quivered through his body.

There was nothing he could do. He heard the breakers roaring above now. That meant they were nearing the shore. Pita whipped his tail in fury. The monster was gradually closing its hands. There were cries now above the surface. Below, the monster grated on sand. The shore! They had reached the shore! Frantically, Pita flung himself against one of the tiny holes. He gave a cry as the scales tore from his back - then a cry of joy. He was free! Free!

He lunged forward below the surface. Down he sped, rejoicing in his tinyness. If he was only a little bigger, he would have been dying on the shore now. The fateful shore! There had been those who had actually come back from that world. This was one of the great mysteries. But some said they had been there, and had talked of that awesome place.

There was no more blood now. Down he swam. Deep, deep until the sound of the breakers was only a bitter memory, and the sea was not sandy but blue and clear, and until, far, far away in the distance, green with fern and the tender moss, he saw the rocks of home.


a) To whom or what does 'he' refer? (1 mark)

b) What effect is the author trying to create by using short sentences in the passage? (2 marks)

c) State ONE word which could describe Pita's feelings when he realised, There were millions of holes ... but none large enough. (2 marks)

d) Why does the author repeat 'squeezed' in line 6? (3 marks)

e) Who or what does the 'monster' refer to? (2 marks)

f) Why does the writer use 'fateful' to describe the shore? (2 marks)

g) Why does Pita utter a cry of joy? (1 mark)

h) Why was 'the sound of the breakers' a bitter memory? (2 marks)


CHECK BACK LATER FOR THE SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS.

COMPREHENSION PASSAGE PRACTICE 1 -MODEL ANSWERS

Question
a) To whom or what does 'he' refer? (1 mark) 
Suggested answer
a) 'He' refers to the fish or Pita

Question
b) What effect is the author trying to create by using short sentences in the passage?(2 marks)
Suggested answer
b) The writer is trying to create suspense/tension/fast-moving action.

Question
c) State ONE word which could describe Pita's feelings when he realised, There were millions of holes ... but none large enough. (2 marks) 
c) Alarm/anxiety/frustration/desperation.

Question
d) Why does the author repeat 'squeezed' in line 6? (3 marks) 
Suggested answer
d) The word is repeated to show the tremendous effort the fish is making in its bid to escape.

Question
e) Who or what does the 'monster' refer to? (2 marks) 
Suggested answer
e) The 'monster' is the net

Question
f) Why does the writer use 'fateful' to describe the shore? (2 marks)
Suggested answer
f) The word is used because that is where the fate of the fish was decided/where death took place.

Question
g) Why does Pita utter a cry of joy? (1 mark)
Suggested answer
g) Pita utters a cry of joy as he was now free.

Question
h) Why was 'the sound of the breakers' a bitter memory? (2 marks) 
Suggested answer
h) It was the sound of the place where he would have died.

MODEL RESPONSE- PRACTICE QUESTION 2

Computers and Education in America

Dudley Erskine Devlin writes his own commentary of computer technology on the rise in "Computers and Education in America." While all the optimists out there push the movement of Websites and constantly flash e-mail addresses on all advertising promising simplicity for our hectic lives and education for our children, Devlin retorts by saying, "In short, the much balleyhooed promise of computers for education has yet to be realized." He believes that finding information and retrieving it from the Internet is long and tedious. The Internet is cluttered by commercialism, claims Devlin. He also points out how the information might be false when found. He believes claims that the Internet is democratic are false. The personal computer eats money and that plus the cost of Internet bills is too much for families. Although the Internet has nearly 20 million sites, there are not enough mentoring programs to lead students through the Internet. Besides, according to Devlin, kids will always prefer the TV and their friends over cyberspace. Even if kids were on the Internet they would be surrounded by commercialism and pornography. Finally, in the words of Dudley Erskine Devlin, "The cult of computers is still an empty promise for most students."