Sample Question 1:Based on one of the novels you have read, choose a character that you admire. Give reasons for your choice.

Sample Answer:

I refer to the novel The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit. Among all the characters in the novel, the character I admire the most is the old gentleman because he is kind, helpful and generous. He travels regularly on the morning train and sees the children waving to him. He opens up to them readily when they need help. When Bobbie writes to him for help to get better food for their sick mother, he gives generously.Again, when Bobbie approaches him for help to investigate the truth about her father, he tells her that he will do his best and he has high hopes that things will turn out well because he believes in her fathers innocence. In the end he is also rewarded when his only grandson, who is injured during a paper-chase, is rescued from the train tunnel by thechildren.When he learns of this, his generosity ensures that the children have a comfortable life with their mother. He gets the family a housemaid and a cook while his grandson stays with the family. He eventually helps to get the childrens father released.

Sample Question 2:

Based on one of the novels that you have chosen, write about an event that has taught you a very important lesson.

Sample Answer 2:I refer to the novel The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit. An event which has taught me a lesson is the rescue of the hound in the red shirt. Upon realising that the boy has gone into the train tunnel and has not emerged while all the others have, Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis immediately run into the tunnel to search for him. They brave an oncoming train passing through the tunnel. They finally find the boy, hurt and unconscious. They manage to wake him up. Peter and Phyllis run off to get help while Bobbie bravely accompanies the boy in the dark and tries to make him as comfortable as possible. Bobbie then firmly decides that they will take the boy, Jim home to their mother.This event has taught me a very good lesson about taking initiative. The children are very observant when they notice that Jim has not emerged from the train tunnel. They act immediately to look for him in case he is lying injured somewhere. They find him and naturally take him home to be nursed by their mother.3

Sample Question 3:Based on one of the novels that you have chosen, write about your favourite theme.

Sample Answer:I refer to the novel The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit. My favourite theme is about showing initiative. First of all, as Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis realise that things are different for them now after their father is taken away, they try to make life easier for their mother by being good. The first thing they do is to get up early the first morning in their countryside house to prepare breakfast for her.They are quick-thinking and always take the initiative to solve a problem or crisis when it arises. They try to stop an approaching train by themselves when they realise that there will be a disaster if the train is not warned about the landslide by the railway track. They run quickly Into the tunnel when they realise that the hound in red shirt has not emerged from the tunnel during the paper-chase. The children also discover that Perks has never celebrated his birthday and they get the villagers to participate in their birthday plan for Perks.The children take to their new environment in the countryside because they are energetic, spirited and have a lot of initiative. They do not need to be told how to behave. They are proactive.

Sample Question 4:

Based on one of the novels that you have learned, write about the relationship between two characters. Give evidence from the novel to support your answer.

Sample Answer:I refer to the novel The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit. I would to describe the relationship between Bobbie and her mother. Bobbie is the eldest child and feels responsible for her mother and her siblings. She is always sensitive to her mothers needs and she senses that her mother must be lonely because she has no one to talk to about their troubles. When they first wake up in the morning in their new countryside home, she is eager to make life easier for her mother by getting everything in order in the house. Bobbie acts like an adult when their mother is sick. She looks after her during the day and night. Bobbie and her mother have a special relationship. When she reads about her father being jailed, she confides in her mother and says nothing to her siblings. Bobbie shares a rather special relationship with her mother because she is the eldest and feels the responsibility of being the eldest child.4

Based on " THE RAILWAY CHILDREN " by EDITH NESBIT, write about the synopsis of the novel.

ROBERTA ( also known as BOBBIE ), PETER, PHYLLIS lived a comfortable home in London with a wonderful mother and father as well as a maid.

One day, their father left home with two men. He was actually taken away to prison but the children did not know this at first. When he left and did not come back, they had to move to a poor cottage in the country (rural area) near a railway station. The children became familiar with the passing trains, the workers at the train station and signal-box, and life in a small town while their mother struggled to make ends meet by writing stories.

They learnt to live with what little they had and they got used to be poor. They also learnt not a steal coal from the railway station; even they had so little to keep warm. They had various adventures - stopping a train when a landside covered, the tracks , finding an injured boy in the train tunnel and getting help, while dealing with the mystery of their father disappearance. Sometimes they argued and had crises , but in the time they made many new friend.

They also experienced amusing adventures aplenty which happened near the railway and the canal. The children develop the habits of waving to the train as it went past and sometimes the people in the coaches waved back. Their friendly gestures forged a special friendly with one person in particular, who went by in the train. He eventually got to know them, and helped them out in various ways. Then, one day a train called at the station and the children were pleasantly surprised to see their father. They were finally re-united.

SAMPLE (2) ANSWER FOR THE NOVEL : THE RAILWAY CHILDREN BY EDITH NESBIT

Based on " THE RAILWAY CHILDREN " by EDITH NESBIT, write about the place that you like the most in the novel.

The novel that i chosen is " The Railway Children " by EDITH NESBIT. The place that i like the most in the story is the railway station. There are many interesting things there.

Besides the shinning railway lines, telegraph wires and signals, seeing trains that use coal for their engines is really interesting.

It is also fascinating to see the railway leading towards the ' dark opening of the tunnel '. This is because when the railway lines begin ' to shake ' a train will come ' screaming out of the tunnel '. According to BOOBIE, when the train is gone, it is ' like a great wild animal going by '.

Just like BOOBIE, PETER and PHYLLIS, I like this place as it is their place of ' hope '. This is the place where the 9.15 train went to London. They believed that this train was a magic train and it send their love to their father.

The railway station and the lines that lead to it made this the most interesting place for children. I wish I can be there with them to experience all the adventures around the railway children.

SAMPLE (3) ANSWER FOR THE NOVEL : THE RAILWAY CHILDREN BY EDITH NESBIT

Based on 'The Railway Children' by Edith Nesbit, the character I admire is PETER. PETER is only 10 years but he has many positive qualities. We see these qualities in what he says and does.

PETER clever and quick to stop the 11.29 train from crashing into a landslide. He cuts his sister red petticoats into six pieces. Then, he and his sister make six flags with them and some sticks. They wave the flags and stop the train. They save the train and its passengers.

PETER also observant and confident that many people in the village will give PERKS presents because he is nice to everybody. He plans to give PERKS, the porter at the station, a nice birthday. He has a clever idea to collect presents from the village for PERKS. The children collect the present and give them to PERKS. Because of PETERS kindness and clever idea, PERKS has the best birthday and the best birthday presents in his life. He is very happy.

I admire PETER because he is alert and brave too. For examples, during a paper-chase, JIM, the old gentlemans grandson does not come out of the tunnel for a long time. PETER says that JIM is in danger and goes into the dark and dangerous tunnel to look for him with his sisters.

PETER is also like a scout. He has things like a candle, penknife and matches with him. They are useful in the tunnel. The children find JIM beside the railway lines. He has broken his leg. BOBBIE cuts his boot with the penknife. Then PETER and PHYLLIS get some farm workers to carry JIM to their house.

One more reason I admire PETER is because he is brave to steal coal to keep the family warm. When Station Master catches PETER, he tells him that his sisters do not know anything about the coal to save them. He is mature and protective of them. He does not want them to get into trouble. He wants to be responsible for his action himself.

I admire PETER because he has many positive qualities.

SAMPLE (4) ANSWER FOR THE NOVEL : THE RAILWAY CHILDREN BY EDITH NESBIT

Based on " THE RAILWAY CHILDREN " by EDITH NESBIT, write about the moral values of the novel.

The moral values responsibility is highlighted in the novel " The Railway Children ". The story concerns a family who fell upon hard times after the father was taken away for being spy. Forced to move to a small house in the country, the family unit was held together by the childrens mother. She earned a living by writing stories to sell to magazines.

She is a responsible person. When they became poor, she worked hard to make ends meet to look after the welfare of her children. If spite of a difficult life, she put up a brave front and did not neglect her children. She was able to shoulder the sole responsibility of caring for them. She provided them with basic needs such as food and clothing.

The childrens mother is also responsible in looking after JIM, the grandson of the old gentleman. JIM took part in a paper-chase game and broke his leg while running in a tunnel. The childrens mother let him stay at her house to recuperate. She was willing to care for him.

Question:Thoughtfulness is the key to happiness. Based on the novel you have learnt, describe an event that shows thoughtfulness.

Model Answer I read the novel, "The Railway Children" by Edith Nesbitt. In this novel, there are many events which show thoughtfulness. One of them is when the childrenasked to have cakes on Thursday. They wanted to make a birthday tea for Perks. Peter wanted to ask everybody in the village to help them give Perks a nice birthday.On Thursday, the children went around to collect presents the people had promised. At three oclock, the children took the presents and the pram to Perks house. When Perks came home and saw the pram and the presents, he was angry. He thought people would laugh at him for being poor and needing their things. Bobbie explained that the people wanted to give him the presents because they liked him. Perks calmed down. He was glad that his neighbors thought so kindly of him. By being thoughtful, the children had made Perks happy. In this event, Bobbie and her siblings had made Mrs Ransomed happy. They found out that Mrs Ransome was not happy because no one remembered her birthday and she did not want to join them and give Perks a birthday present.The next day, Bobbie and Phyllis gave Mrs. Ransome roses and a handkerchief for her birthday.Old Mrs Ransome thanked them for the roses. She gave them apples for Perks. By being thoughtful, the children had made a lot of people happy and this definitely proves that 'thoughtfulness is the key to happiness.