3.1.2
English Paper 2 (101/2)
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
Developers’ bulldozers have been leveling thousands of acres of rain forest every day in recent years to make way for human habitation. As a result, one plant or animal species a day is added to the list of those that have become extinct on this planet. This destruction must stop.
Rain forests must be protected because they offer the human race many irreplaceable resources. Rain forests are a special category of forests found only in the tropical regions of the world, usually close to the equator.
True to their name, rain averages 80 inches a year in these forests. This rain, coupled with the warm tropical temperatures, creates dense lush vegetation. Little light gets through to the ground, but on the canopy and immediately below on the trees, plant and insect life abounds and is rich with benefits for humanity.
One major use of rain forests is biomedical. The plants and animals found there are a source of many rare compounds used by pharmaceutical companies. it is the products of such companies that sufferers of Parkinson’s disease and certain mental conditions have to thank.
And the discoveries have just begun. Scientists say that rain forests contain over a thousand plants that have great anticancer potential. To destroy life forms in these forests is to deprive the human race of further medical advance.
Another reason for saving rain forests is the crucial role they play in maintaining the global natural balance. Living organisms exist with each other, meaning that when one is eliminated, another can over-multiply to the detriment of the environment.
For example, when developers clear forested areas to make way for “civilization”, birds lose their nesting sites and no longer eat the insects there. These insects flourish and attack farm crops. The subsequent destruction of agriculture causes a serious food shortage and as we know, a hungry nation cannot develop. Most important, rain forests must be protected because their trees regulate the planet’s oxygen supply.
They help to balance atmospheric conditions by manufacturing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide creates what is called the “greenhouse” effect, a process that is responsible for global warming which in turn could lead to the sub-merging of coastal regions and islands. Can you imagine waking up one morning to the announcement that Mombasa, Malindi, Lamu and Rusinga Islands are no more? Also, rain forests regulate the climate. If they are destroyed, the greenhouse effect could change rainfall patterns so that areas formally used for agriculture become deserts.
We may not be there yet, but are we not already contending with uncharacteristic long dry spells that bring about famine‘?
In future, the pressure on rain forests will become worse, not better, given that the human population keeps growing. The pessimist believes nothing can be done. The optimist, on the other hand, strongly believes that people can work together to slow, even reverse, the pace of destruction. Stand up to be counted.
Adapted from Handbook for Writers by Lynn Quitman Troyka.
Published by Prentice Hall lnc. (1987).
(a)Referring to the first paragraph, say Why the destruction of the rain forests must be stopped. (2 marks)
(b)Why are the forests described in the passage called rain forests? (2 marks)
(c)Rewrite the following sentence beginning “So close The huge evergreen trees are so close together that their branches overlap and form an enormous towering canopy. (1 mark)
(d)How will medical advance be affected by the destruction of rain forests? (3 marks)
(e)Explain why the author has put the word “civilization” between quotation marks. (2 marks)
(f)In not more than 40 words, summarize the effects of the greenhouse effect. (4 marks)
Rough copy
Fair copy
(g)What kind of pressure do you think the author is talking about in the last paragraph? (2 marks)
(h)Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the passage: (4 marks)
(i) deprive; …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ..
(ii) detriment; ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ..
(m) contending with; ……………………………………………………………………………………….. ..
(iv) Stand up to be counted. ……………………………………………………………………………… ..
2.Read the excerpt below and then answer the questions that follow.
The day finally arrived and it was a day as full of beauty as the day in which Owuor Kembo ofSakwa, in full battle regalia and a leopard skin loin piece had come to pay suit to the great Chief Odero Gogni of Yimbo for the hand of his daughter Akoko Obanda.
Yet some things were different. A stone’s throw away was the church with its tall steeple bearing a cross at the top — a symbol of the new and different Way of life, yet in some ways reminiscent of the reverence once paid to Were — the god of the eye of the rising sun who had guided the people.
Further along was the school — the place of learning without which one was as a blind man in a strange house. All round was evidence of the rule of the white people who were good administrators but often unjust and unheeding to the pleas and aspirations of their black subjects.
Indeed in the Central Province and in Nairobi especially among the Kikuyu, there were rumors of mass uprising against the colonial powers. Oloo the son of Sigu, otherwise known as Mark Anthony, arrived with his entourage of six including his uncle, at mid-moming.
Aware of the importance and the impact of presence and carriage he arrived in his military fatigues, a colobus monkey headdress and a spear in his hand.
He was after all a soldier. It was an intriguing combination of the old and the new. Anyone else might have looked odd but Oloo looked dashing. His complexion was deceptively light and it drew questioning glances from his hosts and hostesses.
Had their daughter decided to marry a ja-mwa — a foreigner? Apart from Akoko who must have left her mother’s womb with a broad outlook, all of them were strictly parochial and marriage to even a Luhya from across the border was considered a catastrophe.
it was therefore a relief when the suitors broke into pure Luo with the dialect of the middle region of Ramogi. Their daughter was a prize, a beacon, a source of pride for the entire clan. They simply could not bear giving her away to a stranger.
“Brothers, we greet you and bring you many greetings from the people of Seme. My nephew, Oloo, son of my late brother Sigu, came to me and said: ‘Father, l have found a girl and l want to get married’.
Now l am a reasonable man and l know the ways of Chik, so l asked him: ‘Son, one does not just find a girl in the air. One sends ajawan ’gy0 to go and spy a girl and find out her antecedents and character. ls she a thief or a witch? ls she lazy or shiftless? Might there be consanguinity between you and her? Who is her mother and father?’ l tell you my brothers, that I was flabbergasted to hear that none of these things had ever crossed his mind.
He knew that her mother’s name was Maria and her grandmother’s name was Akoko and that was all. You will therefore forgive us brothers because we do not know you and you do not know us. We only came because we had faith in our son who has always been a reasonable man.
We therefore Wish to introduce ourselves before we go on. I am Semo Rakula of Seme, our village is near that strange rock — upon — a — rock, Kit-Mikai. We are the descendants of that great warrior, Nyagudi Kogambi.
Oloo and these young men are my sons and a nephew. Oloo is a man of learning and What is more, a soldier who has fought for the white man in distant lands. Now he is a clerk with a big Kambi (company) in Nakuru, where he gets a good salary. So should this suit be acceptable to all you need have no fear that your daughter will starve.
I tell you these things because there are things a jawan ’gyo would have found out for you. Thank you brothers”. A pot of kong ’o was moved near him and he drew a long refreshing drought.
Some things never change — a spokesman always needs to irrigate his throat.
(a)What role had Akoko played in preparation for this day? (2 marks)
(b)What feelings does this day arouse in Akoko? Explain your answer. (3 marks)
(c)Why was Christianity not so strange after all in this community? (3 marks)
(d)How can we tell that the narrator has a positive attitude towards schools? (2 marks)
(e)Make notes on what we learn about Oloo from this excerpt. (5 marks)
(f)What concerns should be addressed before a man and a woman are allowed to marry? (3 marks)
(g)Why do you think Oloo’s uncle says what he says in his speech? (3 marks)
(h)“Their daughter was a prize, a beacon, a source of pride for the entire clan”. (Rewrite the sentence beginning: Not only……..). (1 mark)
(i)Explain the meaning of the following expressions as they are used in the passage: (3 marks)
(i) unheeding ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ..
(ii) intriguing …………………………………………………………………………………………………. ..
(m) parochial ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ..
3.Read the song below and then answer the questions that follow.
Listen! Dear Bride
Oh my sister, listen!
From this day, you won’t go dancing,
From this day, you won’t go to the dance,
From this day, you won’t go dancing,
You’ll dance only on the path to the river.
My sister, will you listen?
From this day, you won’t sit chatting,
From this day, you Won’t sit to chat,
From this day, you won’t sit chatting,
You’ll only chat on the path to the farm.
Daughter of my mother listen!
From this day, you won’t enjoy teasing,
From this day, you won’t enjoy to tease,
From this day, you won’t enjoy teasing,
You’ll only tease the baby on your lap.
Listen my dear sister!
You’ll,dance only on the path to the river.
You’ll chat only on the path to the farm.
You’ll tease only the baby on your lap.
From this day, life will change.
Have you heard, daughter of my mother?
You will not go dancing, dance today.
You will not sit chatting, chat today.
You will not enjoy teasing, tease today.
From this day, life will change.
Kenyan Wedding Song
(a) Who do you think are the singers of this song? Give reasons for your answer. (3 marks)
(b) identify two features which qualify this text as a song. (4 marks)
(c) Briefly explain what the society’s expectations of a married woman are, according to this song. (3 marks)
(d) Give two purposes that this song can serve. (4 marks)
(e) How do you think a bride responds when this song is sung during a wedding? (3 marks)
(f) What is the relationship between the fourth stanza and the stanzas that come before it? (2 marks)
(g) Explain the effect of using the phrase “daughter of my mother” instead of “my sister”. (1 mark)
4 (a) Rewrite the following sentences as instructed. (4 marks)
(i) l would gladly have helped them were it not for the shortage of funds at the time.
(Begin: But …)
(ii) What we need are such ideas. (Begin: It is …)
(m) The Board of Governors has been looking into the matter. (End: Board of Governors.)
(iv) “How often do you come here?” Mathenge asked his friend.
(Rewrite in indirect speech
(b) Rewrite the following sentences, correcting the error in each. (5 marks)
(i) Most people prefer playing football than hockey.
(ii) Emachar is the most highest paid employee in this company.
(iii) I demand to know what is this.
(iv) The fact that you cannot be able to do it does not mean it is impossible.
(V) “My names are John Kamau Mwangi,” the little boy murmured.
(c) Use the correct form of the word in brackets in the sentences that follow. (4 marks)
(i) Each category of verbs (behave) in a different way.
(ii) I wonder why the bell is being (ring) this early.
(iii) I could not remember the (define) of the word.
(iv) The (enormous) of the crisis was shocking.
(d) Rewrite the sentences below, replacing the underlined idiomatic expression with words of similar meaning. (2 marks)
(i) There are some who will try to rock the boat during the meeting.
(ii) Can we stop flogging a dead horse and instead move on to something more useful?
