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ST VENERA BOYS’ SECONDARY SCHOOL
HALF-YEARLY EXAMINATIONS 2014~15
Form 3 English Track 1
Time: 2 hours
Name:_____________________________
Class:___________
Oral Listening Grammar Reading Literature Writing Total
/10 /10 /25 /20 /15 /20 /100
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Section A: GRAMMAR (25 marks)
Answer all the questions in this section
A. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate word from the box below. You can use the same
word more than once. (10 marks)
By From Of In
About With On to
For At
1. When I was younger, I was always so afraid ___________ going to the dentist’s.
2. Your mother is looking forward ______________ going on that trip to Australia, isn’t
she?
3. The police were not convinced ____________ the man’s honesty and charged him.
4. I would rather go ____________ the cinema than stay home.
5. I’m not surprised he took that job. He has always been keen ___________ computers.
6. But I am surprised ___________ how much they want to pay him!
7. Mary isn’t ready yet. She is in the kitchen looking _____________ his car keys.
8. Instead ___________ sitting here complaining about having nothing to do, go and do
something!
9. Are you really happy ____________ the life you have in Malta?
10. Tell me ______________ the new job you started today.
B. Fill in the blanks with 'will' or 'going to'. The first one has been done for you.
(10 marks)
1.
Mark: What are you doing with those scissors?
Beth: I (cut) am going to cut that picture of the ocean out of the travel magazine.
Mark: What (do) _________________ with it?
Beth: I (paint)______________________a watercolour of the ocean for my art class, and I
thought I could use this photograph as a model.
2.
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Mark: (you, do) ____________________me a favour, Sam?
Sam: Sure, what do you want me to do?
Mark: I (change) _____________________the broken light bulb in the lamp above the
dining room table. I need someone to hold the ladder for me while I am up there.
Sam: No problem, I (hold) ___________________it for you.
3.
John: Wow, it's freezing out there.
Jane: I (make) ________________some coffee to warm us up. Do you want a piece of pie as
well?
John: Coffee sounds great! But I (have) ______________ dinner with some friends later, so
I'd better skip the pie.
Jane: I (eat) ________________at a restaurant tonight too, but I'm having a piece of pie
anyway.
John: Is Alison (be) ___________________ there? If so, can you tell her to call me as soon
as she can?
Jane: Ok. I (tell) _______________ her.
C. Circle the correct answer. (5 marks)
a. A rock is heavier / heaviest than a leaf.
b. Our house is bigger / biggest than yours.
c. The princess is more beautiful / the most beautiful than the witch
d. Tom is a better / goodest student than Mary.
e. Bicycles are more safer / safer than motorcycles.
f. July is hottest / hotter than January.
g. A lion is the most dangerous / more dangerous than a cat.
h. Helen is happyier / happier than Mary.
i. Computers are more expensive / the most expensive than telephones.
j. I think golf is most boring / the most boring sport ever!
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SECTION B: COMPREHENSION (20 marks)
Read the following passage carefully, then answer the questions on this paper.
In addition to being one of the strangest and most beautiful creatures in nature, the octopus
can defend itself in many ways. The octopus has a store of tricks even though it does not have
any teeth, jaws or claws.
The octopus is well known for its ability to squirt ink into the water. Some octopuses
use this cloud of ink as cover, so that they hide themselves in the ink. Other octopuses use the
ink cloud as a distraction. Some sneaky octopuses will release the ink cloud in one direction
and scurry away in another direction, leaving the attacker with nothing but a mouthful of ink.
In addition to confusing predators’ sense of sight, these ink clouds also confuse their sense of
smell. If an octopus cannot be seen or smelled, it has a much higher chance of escaping an
attack.
Another way for the octopus to defend itself is changing colour, like a chameleon.
While most animals are always the same colour, some species of octopuses can control the
amount of each colour pigment in their skin cells, allowing them to change colour. Some
poisonous octopuses, when provoked, will change their skin to a bright, eye-catching colour
to warn predators that they are dangerous and ready to strike. Other octopuses use this ability
to change their skin to the colour and texture of seaweed or coral, allowing them to blend in
with their environment. Finally, some octopuses—such as the mimic octopus—use this
colour-changing ability to imitate another type of animal. The body of an octopus is highly
flexible, and some species can combine this flexibility with their colour-changing skills to
make themselves resemble more dangerous animals such as sea snakes or eels.
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Some octopuses can perform a self-amputation, of one of their tentacles and regrow it
later. Many species of skink and lizard also possess this ability, which allows them to shed
their tails when caught by a predator and therefore get away. When a predator catches a
tentacle the octopus can amputate this tentacle to release itself. Some octopuses, however, are
even cleverer. When threatened by a predator, these octopuses will shed a tentacle before
being attacked in the hope that the predator will go after the detached tentacle rather than the
octopus itself. While the octopus may not be the most vicious creature in the ocean, the way
it defends itself helps it to survive in the dangerous undersea world.
1. Mark the following as (T) True or (F) False. (3 marks)
True / False
a) The ink of an octopus confuses the attacker’s sense of smell, taste, and
vision
b) There are no poisonous octopuses in the world
c) An octopus can change colour, like a chameleon.
d) An octopus cannot change its shape
e) An octopus may cut off a tentacle to trick attackers.
2. Tick the correct answer. (2 marks)
An amputation is:
a. cutting off a limb or tentacle
b. Suicide.
c. A full attack with tentacles.
3. Tick the incorrect answer: (2 marks)
Octopuses change colour
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a. To act like other creatures
b. To look dangerous
c. To blend in with the environment
4. What is the most common way the octopus defends itself from attackers? (1 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
5. Explain why it defends itself in this way. (2 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Tick the correct sentences (more than one is correct):
(2 marks)
6. Why do octopuses change colour?
a. To make themselves look more dangerous
b. So that attackers cannot smell them
c. So that they do not catch the attacker’s eye.
7. Why do octopuses sometimes amputate a tentacle? (2 marks)
a. To be freed of the attacker.
b. To trick the attackers into leaving with just the tentacle.
c. To grow it again.
8. Find another word in the passage that means the same as: (6 marks)
a. a collection or supply of weapons (par. 1):____________________________
b. to move quickly (par. 2):__________________________________________
c. look like (par. 3):________________________________________________
d. get mixed up with the rest (par. 3): __________________________________
e. escape (par. 4):__________________________________________________
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f. fierce (par. 4):___________________________________________________
SECTION C – LITERATURE (15 marks)
Answer Part 1 and Part 2 of this section.
PART 1 – POETRY (10 marks)
Read the poem carefully and answer the questions beneath it.
The Daffodils
William Wordsworth, 1770 - 1850
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
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In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
1. How many stanzas does the poem have? (0.5 marks)
_______________________________________________________________________
2. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? (0.5 marks)
a. ABABCC
b. ABABAB
c. AABBCC
3. “I wondered lonely as a cloud”. What figure of speech is this? (1 mark)
a. Metaphor
b. Simile
c. Alliteration
4. The daffodils were “Fluttering and dancing in the breeze”. What figure of speech is this?
(1 marks)
a. Simile
b. Personification
c. metaphor
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5. Answer these questions with (T) for True and (F) for False (4 marks)
a. The poet uses wealth to compare money with the beautiful daffodils
b. These daffodils were near the seaside.
c. The waves were more beautiful than the daffodils
d. The poet feels happy when he thinks of this view
Answer the following questions about a poem you have done in class. (3 marks)
1. Name of the poem? (0.5 marks)
_______________________________________________________________________
2. Who wrote the poem? (0.5 marks)
_______________________________________________________________________
3. What is the poem about? (2 marks)
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Part II – Prose (5 marks)
Answer the following questions about a book you read in class
1. What is the name of the book? (0.5 mark)
_______________________________________________________________________
2. What is the name of the author? (0.5 mark)
_______________________________________________________________________
3. Mention two characters and write one fact about each. (4 marks)
_____________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Section D: COMPOSITION (20 marks)
Write between 150-200 words about one of the following.
1. Write a story starting with the words ''It's behind you! Hurry, before it …'
2. My favourite beach.
3. Write about the time you really helped someone and how you felt about it.
4. Write a review of one of the films you've watched recently.
5. Your best friend is coming to visit you in the Easter holidays. Write an email to give
him/her more tips on where he will be staying, what places you will be visiting, what
clothes he should bring with him, etc.. Invent both email addresses.
To:
Subject:
From:
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