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FIRST TERM MOCK EXAMINATIONS - NOVEMBER 2023
Name: Grade: Division: Roll No:
7
SUBJECT: English Language
DURATION: 1 hour 30 minutes
MAXIMUM MARKS: 50
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INSTRUCTIONS
● Answer all questions.
● Write your name in the space at the top of this page.
● Write in dark blue or black pen.
● Dictionaries are not allowed.
● You must answer on the question paper.
● No additional materials are needed.
● The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question
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This document consists of 6 printed pages
[Turn over]
For Examiner’s Use
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Section A-Reading
I. Read the extract and answer the questions that follow:
Text for Section A, an extract from ‘Just in Case’ by Meg Rosoff
The extract is about David Case and his one-year-old brother, Charlie.
***
David Case’s baby brother had recently learned to walk but he wasn’t what you would call an
expert. He toddled past his brother to the large open window of the older brother’s room. There,
with great effort, he pulled himself onto the windowsill, scrunched up like a caterpillar, pushed
into a crouch and stood, teetering precariously, his gaze fixed solemnly on the church tower a
quarter-mile away. 5
He tipped forward slightly towards the void, just as a large black bird swooped past. It paused
and turned an intelligent red eye to meet the children.
‘Why not fly?’ suggested the bird, and the boy’s eyes widened in delight.
Seduced by the fact that a bird had spoken to him, the boy threw out his arms and thought,
yes! Fly! 10
David did not hear his brother think ‘fly’. Something else made him look up. A voice. A finger on
his shoulder. The brush of lips against his ear.
In the instant of looking up, David took the measure of the situation, shouted ‘Charlie!’ and
lunged across the room. He grabbed the child by the cape of his Batman pajamas, wrapped his
arms around him with enough force to flatten his ribs, and sank to the floor, squashing the boy’s
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face into the safe hollow beneath his chin.
Charlie squeaked with outrage, but David barely heard. Panting, he unpinned him, gripping the child
at arm’s length.
‘What were you doing?’ He was shouting. ‘What on earth did you think you were doing?’
Well, said Charlie, I was bored just playing with my toys and you weren’t paying attention to me 20
so I thought I would get a better look at the world. I climbed up on the window which wasn’t
easy and once I managed to do that, I felt strange and happy with nothing but sky all around
me and all of a sudden, a bird flew past and looked at me and said I could fly and a bird hasn’t
ever talked to me before and I figured a bird would know what he was talking about when it 25
came to flying so I thought he must be right.
The little boy explained all this slowly, so as not to be misunderstood.
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‘Bir-dee fly,’ were the words which came out of his mouth.
David turned away, heart pounding. It was useless trying to communicate with a one-year-old,
David thought. If I had been two seconds slower, he’d be dead. He pulled his brother close, 30
tucking him in against his body, pressed his lips to the child’s face.
What if …?
He became enmired in what if. The weight of it wrapped itself around his ankles and dragged
him under.
A year earlier, David’s father had woken him with a shout. 35
‘David, your mother’s home! Aren’t you interested in seeing the baby?’
Not really, David thought, burying his head in his pillow. I know what a baby looks like.
But then they were in his room, grinning and making inane noises in the direction of a small, serene-
looking creature with jet-black eyes. David sat up with a groan and peered at his new brother. Ok,
seen him, he thought.
David was about to go back to sleep; he noticed the new baby gazing at him with 40
peculiar expression of calm authority.
I’m Charlie, said the new baby’s eyes, as clearly as if he had spoken the words out loud. Who are
you?
David stared.
His brother repeated the question slowly, politely. Who, exactly, are you?
David frowned. 45
The baby inclined his head. Such a simple question, he thought. But if his brother knew the answer,
he gave no sign.
This disturbed Charlie. Over the next few months, he tried approaching his parents for answers, but
his father was always at work and his mother seemed strangely ill-informed on the subject of her
older son. And when she caught Charlie staring at David, she merely thought, how sweet. They’re
bonding. 50
But they weren’t bonding. Charlie was comparing the David he knew with the Davids he saw
displayed around the house in family pictures. The younger Davids looked cheerful and serene; they
held books or bikes or ice creams and gazed at the camera with expressions of trust.
The younger Davids kicked balls, swung from trees, blew out candles on birthday cakes. They had
clear edges and cloudless eyes.
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But the David that Charlie knew now was watery and fizzy with nerves.
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Charlie had spent a good deal of his short life worrying about his older brother. Now he paused
in the middle of playing to gather his thoughts. He saw that his recent attempt to fly had been
mistake. It seemed to have nudged his brother past some invisible tipping point, and this filled
him with remorse.
Spend 40 minutes on this section.
Read the Text in the Insert and then answer questions 1–15.
1 Give one word from the first paragraph which shows that Charlie walks unsteadily. [1]
2 Look at paragraph one.
a. Identify a word or phrase that suggests that someone was moving back and forth
dangerously.[1]
b. What was baby Charlie’s gaze fixed at?
[1]
c. ‘Scrunched up like a caterpillar,’ identify the figure of speech in this phrase.
[1]
3 What does the word void (line 6) suggest about Charlie’s situation?
Tick (✔) one box. [1]
He doesn’t know what is outside the room.
There is nothing to catch him if he falls.
The other buildings seem far away.
He wants to catch the black bird.
4 Explain briefly in your own words two ways in which the black bird behaves like a person [2]
5 Look at lines 1–15. [2]
Give two short quotations which show how Charlie’s way of looking at things indicates his
feelings.
5. Look at lines 11–12.
What effect is created by the writer in this paragraph?
Tick (✔) one box.
adventure
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humour
amazement
mystery [1]
6. Look at lines 13–16.
What two things does the writer’s use of language in this paragraph tell us about the way
David acts? [2]
7. Look at the sentences in lines 26–28.
Explain in your own words the contrast between the brothers that the writer is trying to show in these
two sentences. [4]
8. The writer uses irony by saying David thinks ‘it was useless trying to communicate with a
one-year-old …’ (line 28). Explain in your own words why this is ironic.
[2]
9. Look at lines 31–33.
Explain in your own words how David feels at this point in the extract.[2]
10. The writer uses the technique of flashback to describe events that have previously happened
in the extract.
Give one short quotation that shows this. [2]
11. Look at lines 34–39.
(a) Which of David’s actions suggest that he does not want to see his new brother?
Give two examples from the text. [4]
(b) Give one short quotation from the text which suggests that David is
embarrassed by his parents.
[2]
12. Look at this sentence: ‘This disturbed Charlie.’
(Line 47) What does this refer to?
Tick (✔) one box.
David’s apparent tiredness
David’s lack of response
David’s facial expressions
David’s feelings of irritation [1]
13. Explain in your own words how the David that Charlie can see in the family
pictures seems different from the David that Charlie knows.
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[2]
14. Look at lines 49–62. Note-making
Make notes to show that Charlie does not seem to think like a one-year-old. [4]
Section B: Writing
Spend 40 minutes on this section.
Imagine you managed to stop something that could have been dangerous to people from happening.
Write a diary entry in 120 words. [15]
You should consider:
● what the situation was
● what could have happened
● what you did to get out of the situation
● how you felt about the entire process
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