English Paper 2 Questions and Answers - Achievers Joint Mock Exams 2023

Instructions to candidates

• Answer all the questions in this paper.
• Candidates should answer the questions in English.

QUESTIONS

Comprehension (20 Marks)

1. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
Drugs: So what are you curious about?
This, my friend, is about you, and it is about me. It is about every sensible man or woman who has not gone down the drain. And, believe you me, many have gone down the drain. Who have gone down the drain, you may wonder, and which drain? Just think for a moment.
Diego Maradona, one of the most talented footballers of all time, turned out in his later years to be a human wreck, continuously in and out of drug rehabilitation centers. Another famous sportsman who ended up in disgrace is Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson. He won a gold medal and set a world record in the 100-metre sprint at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. But it was soon discovered that he had been using banned drugs. He was stripped of his gold medal, his record was erased from the books and he was eventually banned from competitive athletics for life.
First star Marilyn Monroe was in her time considered to be the most beautiful woman in Hollywood. One day she was found dead in her apartment, having taken an overdose of drugs called barbiturates. Elvis Presley, one of the greatest performers in the history of rock music, died of an overdose of drugs. In addition, Whitney Houston, an American singer and artist, accidentally drowned in a bathtub after suspected cocaine abuse in 2012. These are famous people who have gone down the drain of drug addiction and substance abuse.
Now, of course, we get to hear of these people’s tales of woe because they are famous and high-profile victims. However, there are millions of us ordinary people who are at risk. We all know of alcoholic wrecks in our villages and estates or, even sadly, within our own families. We know of bhang junkies roaming our streets looking like demented ghosts. We may have khat-chewing neighbors whose jaws are in constant grinding motion, like goats chewing the cud. A recent school survey revealed that thousands of secondary school students in Kenya are drug addicts! Some time back, it was discovered that a kiosk owner in an upmarket Nairobi suburb was selling marijuana to pupils in a primary school next to his kiosk. The problem is right here with us and the first thing we need to do is to admit that it does exist.
How does this problem start? Why do perfectly intelligent and normal people, many of them highly educated and specially talented, get themselves into this mess? The reasons can be summed up in three words. Since they all happen to begin with the letter ‘c’, we shall call them the ‘three Cs’. These are company, curiosity and coping.
“Oh, come on, be a sport!” This is the commonest bait our so-called friends use to lure us into drug abuse and substance abuse. It is also called peer pressure. The depraved group may be puffing away at ‘grass’ cigarettes or knocking back tots of chang’aa behind the school hedge, and they invite you to join them- for company of course. If you hesitate, they start teasing you, calling you a coward, a ‘softie’, a spoilsport and all sorts of names. After all, they will tell you, everybody is doing it. If you eventually give in- mostly because you don’t want to be the odd girl or odd boy out- and take your first puff at a marijuana fag or down a tot of chang’aa, there will be a tremendous cheer from that demented crowd of your ‘friends’.
Don’t be deceived. They are not cheering you. They are only congratulating themselves on having pulled down to their level one more pretentious, self-righteous little snob who thought he or she was an angel. No one is going to pay any more attention to you once you’re down there, groveling in substance abuse. The rest is your shauri. So, next time anyone tries to tell you that you should indulge in drug, tobacco or alcohol consumption because ‘everyone is doing it’ , tell them that you will not do it, for the very good reason that you are not everybody. You are you, and you want your mind, your life and your future to remain clean.
Nor should you succumb to curiosity. A lot of young people fall into the drug and substance abuse trap simply because they want to find out what it feels like to be ‘high’ on these things. They use the impressive sounding euphemism, ‘experience’. The truth of the matter is that being drunk or being intoxicated with drugs is not a worthwhile experience. We have all seen drunks and we know how disgustingly they behave. Why should anyone want to go staggering along the streets, slobbering, vomiting or even peeing on themselves, among a host of other silly kinds of behavior, in the name of experience?
How many people have, in a state of drunkenness, done things or got themselves into situations which they have lived to regret for the rest of their lives? Some people have committed murder, others have maimed themselves in road accidents while others have found themselves pregnant or infected with HIV after engaging in drunken orgies. These surely are not experiences to be particularly curious about!
The worst part of this ‘experience’ of drug consumption is that it is addictive. Once you start the habit, it becomes more difficult to abandon. Addicts become so dependent on these substances that they will do anything in order to get hold of them to satisfy their craving. Many young people drift into crime in order to get money to buy heroin or cocaine. Some even take to prostitution. A drug or alcohol addict simply must have his or her ‘fix’.
The saddest group of addicts comprises those who start on these poisons in the false belief that the drugs will help them to cope with life. There are people who are naturally shy. Others are in competitive sport. Yet others are performers in fields such as drama and music. Such people are sometimes deceived into believing that consuming substances like alcohol or the so-called ‘performance-enhancing drugs’ will make them ‘brave’ and strong. Indeed, some drugs boost physical power, as in the case of Ben Johnson. That is cheating and sports authorities crack down very hard on such behavior. As for musicians and other performers, drugs are no good at all. Artistic performance requires control and discipline. Since drugs invariably weaken a person’s power of judgment, a drugged artist’s performance can hardly be expected to be satisfactory.
Moreover, all these substances are poisonous. They harm and ruin the bodies and minds of those who use them. The damage may not be immediately noticeable but drugs users invariably end up as human wrecks. The more the performers take to drugs, the sadder their world becomes, littered with ruined talents, broken relationships and, at times, suicide.
Those of us who are not hooked on drugs should struggle to remain clean. For those who are may have started consuming those dangerous substances, the time to stop is NOW!
QUESTIONS

1. What does ‘to go down the drain’ mean? ( 1 Mk)
2. Why do we get to hear of the drug problems of people like Diego Maradona, Ben Johnson and Elvis Presley? ( 1Mk)
3. Name three substances easily abused by ordinary people. ( 3 Mks)
4. Why are addicts happy when a new person joins them? ( 1 Mk)
5. What can one do to avoid getting influenced by friends to take drugs? ( 2 Mks)
6. Which embarrassing behaviors results from drug abuse? ( 2Mks)
7. Why is addiction said to be the worst ‘experience’ of drug consumption? ( 2Mks)
8. What three situations in life can make people turn to drugs for solutions? ( 3 Mks)
9. Which of the three attractions – company, curiosity and coping- do you think affects the youth most? Why? ( 2 Mks)
10. ‘Nor should you succumb to curiosity.’ Rewrite beginning: You …. (Do not change the meaning.) ( 1Mks)
11. Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage. ( 2 Mks)
    1. Pretentious…………………………………………………………………………………
    2. Depraved……………………………………………………………………………………

2. Read the excerpt below and answer the questions that follow. ( 25 Mks) A Doll’s House.
Mrs Linde : (smiles sadly and strokes her hair) It sometimes happens, Nora.
Nora : So you’re quite alone. How dreadfully sad that must be. I have three lovely children. You can’t see them just now, for they are out with their nurse. But now you must tell me all about it.
Mrs Linde : No, you must begin. I mustn’t be selfish today; today I must only think of you’re affairs. But there is one thing I must tell you. Do you know we have just had a great piece of good luck?
Mrs Linde : No, what is it?
Nora : Just fancy, my husband has been made manager of the bank!
Mrs Linde : Your husband? What good luck!
Nora : Yes, tremendous! A barrister’s profession is such an uncertain thing, especially if he won’t undertake unsavory cases; and naturally Torvald has never been willing to do that, and I quite agree with him. You may imagine how pleased we are! He is to take up his work in the bank at the New Year, and then he will have a big salary and lots of commissions. For the future we can live quite differently- we can do just as we like. I feel so relieved and so happy, Christine! It will be splendid to have heaps of money and not need to have an anxiety, won’t it?
Mrs Linde : Yes, anyhow I think it would be delightful to have what one needs.
Nora : No, not only what one needs, but heaps and heaps of money.
Mrs Linde : (smiling) Nora, Nora, haven’t you learned sense yet? In our school days, you were a great spendthrift.
Nora : (laughing) Yes, that is what Torvald says now (wags her finger at her). But “Nora, Nora” is not so silly as you think. We have not been in a position for me to waste money. We have both had to work .
Mrs Linde : You too?
Nora : Yes; odds and ends, needlework, crotchet-work, embroidery, and that kind of thing. (dropping her voice) And other things and well. You know Torvald left his office when we were married? There was no prospect of promotion there, and he had to try and earn more than before. But during the first year he overworked himself dreadfully. You see he had to make money every way he could, and he worked early and late; but he couldn’t stand it, and he fell dreadfully ill, and the doctors said it was necessary for him to go south.
Mrs Linde : You spent a whole year in Italy, didn’t you?
QUESTIONS

1. What does Mrs Linde refer to when she says, “It sometimes happens, Nora”? ( 3 Mks)
2. Identify any two stylistic devices used in the extract and state their effectiveness. ( 4Mks)
3. “But ‘Nora, Nora’ is not so silly as you think.” What proves that Nora has not been as silly as she was thought to be by many? Refer to elsewhere in the novel. (3 Mks)
4. Identify and explain the dominant theme in the excerpt. (2 Mks)
5. What character traits of Nora and Mrs Linde are brought out in the excerpt? (4 Mks)
6. Why did the family spend a whole year in Italy? (1Mk)
7. So, you are quite alone. ( Add a question tag) ( 1 Mk)
8. What is the meaning of the following words as used in the excerpt? ( 3 Mks)
   1. Barrister………………………………………………………………………………………..
   2. Dreadfully………………………………………………………………………………………
   3. Necessary………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Oral literature
Read the oral piece below and answer the questions that follow. (20 Mks)
Blood iron and trumpets
Blood iron and trumpets
Forward we march
(Others fall on the way)
Blood iron and trumpets
We shall hack kill and cure
Blood iron and trumpets
Singers of the datsun blue
Forward we drove breaking the records
Blood iron and trumpets
Let bullets find their targets and the earth be softened
Blood iron and trumpets
Let the dogs of war rejoice
And the carrion birds feed
We are reducing population explosion
Blood iron and trumpet
The uniformed machines are around
Put on your helmet iron and rest
Blood iron and trumpets
Only through fire can be baptized to mean business
So once again
Blood iron and trumpets
We shall always march along
Blood iron and trumpets
Blood iron and trumpets
Blood alone
QUESTIONS

1. With reasons, classify the above oral piece. ( 2 Mks)
2. Identify the functions of the above oral piece. ( 2 Mks)
3. Identify and illustrate two features of oral poetry evident in the above oral item. ( 4 Mks)
4. Briefly explain any two issues that the above oral poem is talking about. ( 4 Mks)
5. Identify one social and one economic activity of the community from which the oral poem is taken. ( 2 Mks)
6. Who would be the most suitable audience for the oral poem? Give reasons for your answer.( 2 Mks)
7. “The uniformed machines are around” Give the meaning of this statement. (2 Mks)
8. What is the mood of the poem? (2 Mks)

4. GRAMMAR ( 15 MKS)

1. Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Do not change the meaning. (3 Mks)
   1. We would have not succeeded if James had not helped us.
      (Begin: Were…………….)
   2. You should not leave your house unlocked at any time. (Begin: …………….)
   3. If we had more time, we would have stayed there. (Begin: Had………………...)
2. Fill in the blanks with the correct preposition. ( 3 Mks)
   1. Jane has a special liking ………………………………..Mathematics.
   2. Her performance was amazing………………………………………any standards.
   3. Since he no longer runs the business, he has been reduced ……………………begging.
3. Use the words in brackets to complete the following sentences with the most appropriate phrasal verb. ( 3 Mks)
   1. The new students could not ………………………………………………their way to the dormitory. ( make)
   2. The man agreed to………………………………………the role of the manager. (take)
   3. It is not easy to ………………………………………..a debt of more than one thousand shillings. ( write)
4. Fill in the blank spaces with the correct forms of the words given in brackets. ( 4 Mks)
   1. She may consider helping the orphan on ……………………………………………… (human) grounds.
   2. Ndeko still wants more food even after clearing a whole plateful of Ugali. His appetite is simply …………………………………………………..( satisfy)
   3. His ……………………………………………………..(mediocre) can only be compared to that of his great grandfather.
   4. After the inferno, the Roche’s had to buy new ………………………………………. (furnish) for their house.
5. Appropriately punctuate the following sentences to indicate parenthesis. ( 2 Mks)
   1. When we meet next and I am not sure when a lot of things will have changed.
   2. Any information you have including minor details should be submitted to the office.

MARKING SCHEME

1. COMPREHENSION
   Questions
   1. What does ‘to go down the drain’ mean? ( 1 Mk)
      It means to be to be totally wasted by drug addiction.
   2. Why do we get to hear of the drug problems of people like Diego Maradona, Ben Johnson and Elvis Presley? ( 1Mk)
      These are famous people who have gone down the drain of drug addiction and substance abuse.
   3. Name three substances easily abused by ordinary people. ( 3 MKs)
      They include alcohol, bhang and khat. (Award 1mk per drug abused)
   4. Why are addicts happy when a new person joins them? ( 1 Mk)
      They are only congratulating themselves on having pulled down to their level one more pretentious, self-righteous little snob who thought he or she was an angel.
   5. What can one do to avoid getting influenced by friends to take drugs? ( 2 Mks)
      Tell them that you will not do it, for the good reason that you are not everybody. You are you, and you want your mind, your life and your future to remain clean.
   6. Which embarrassing behaviors results from drug abuse? ( 2Mks)
      They include staggering along the streets, slobbering, vomiting or even one peeing on themselves.
   7. Why is addiction said to be the worst ‘experience’ of drug consumption ? ( 2Mks)
      This is because it is addictive and once you start the habit, it becomes more and more difficult to abandon it.
   8. What three situations in life can make people turn to drugs for solutions? ( 3 Mks)
      They include situations where some have the false belief that the drugs will help them cope with life. Others who are in competitive sport are sometimes deceived into believing that consuming the so-called ‘performance-enhancing drugs’ will make them ‘brave’ and strong.
   9. Which of the three attractions – company, curiosity and coping- do you think affects the youth most? Why? ( 2 Mks)
      (This is an open question. Award if the candidate identifies one of the Cs and gives a reasonable explanation)
   10. ‘Nor should you succumb to curiosity.’ Rewrite beginning: You …. (Do not change the meaning.) ( 1Mks)
       You should not succumb to curiosity.
   11. Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage. ( 2 Mks)
       1. Pretentious-faking concern for another person for selfish reasons
       2. Depraved- warped-minded or unprincipled people/wicked people
2.  Excerpt. ( 25 Mks) A Doll’s House.
   Questions
   1. What does Mrs Linde refer to when she says, “It sometimes happens, Nora”? ( 3 Mks)
      She is referring to her suffering. Her husband died and left her nothing. She does not have children or grief to live upon.
   2.  Identify any two stylistic devices used in the extract and state their effectiveness. ( 4Mks)
      Flashback- “You know Torvald left his office when we were……and the doctors said it was necessary for him to go south.” The flashback has been used to enhance the plot. It also shows the character trait of Torvald as hardworking.
      Symbolism- “New Year” is a symbol of change. Torvald will start his new job as he has been promoted hence more money. Money is a symbol of power/ authority. It enhances the theme of materialism.
      (Award ½ marks for identification, ½ mark for illustration and 1 mark for stating the effectiveness.)
   3. “But ‘Nora, Nora’ is not so silly as you think.” What proves that Nora has not been as silly as she was thought to be by many? Refer to elsewhere in the novel. ( 3 Mks)
      Nora went against societal norms and acquired a loan in order to help Helmer to recuperate in Italy. She works and comes up with ways of repaying the debt she owes Krogstad. She sees the selfishness of Helmer when he fails to defend her and decides to leave her home- something that is totally unexpected of her and women in general. (Award any other valid point)
   4. Identify and explain the dominant theme in the excerpt. ( 2 Mks)
      Materialism- “No, not only what one needs, but heaps and heaps of money.”
      Nora mentions Torvalds’s job promotion from a barrister to a bank manager. He will now have lots of money.
   5. What character traits of Nora and Mrs Linde are brought out in the excerpt? ( 4 Mks)
      Nora: Hardworking- “We have both had to work”
      Mrs Linde: Inquisitive- “No, what is it?” (after Nora tells her that they have just had a great piece of good luck)
   6. Why did the family spend a whole year in Italy?
      This is because Helmer had fallen ill as a result of overworking himself. The doctors suggested to Nora that they go had to go south in order for Helmer to recuperate.
   7. So, you are quite alone. ( Add a question tag) ( 1 Mk)
      So, you are quite alone, aren’t you? (The candidate MUST rewrite the sentence)
   8. What is the meaning of the following words as used in the excerpt? ( 3 Mks)
      1. Barrister- a lawyer
      2. Dreadfully-terribly, awfully
      3. Necessary- imperative, essential
3. Oral literature (20 Mks)
   Questions
   1. With reasons, classify the above oral piece. ( 2 Mks)
      War song- We shall kick, hack and cure
   2. Identify the functions of the above oral piece. ( 2 Mks)
      • Used to encourage warriors as they prepare to leave for war: Forward we march
      • To praise warriors as they go to war: the uniformed machines
      • Used to intimidate the enemy: repetition of ‘blood iron and trumpets
        (Award any two illustrated functions)
   3. Identify and illustrate two features of oral poetry evident in the above oral item. ( 4 Mks)
      • Repetition- Blood iron and trumpets
      • Direct translation- “let the bullets find their targets”
   4. Briefly explain any two issues that the above oral poem is talking about. ( 4 Mks)
      • War- “Let the dogs we drive breaking records”
      • Violence- “We shall hack kill and cure”
      • “We are reducing population explosion”
   5. Identify one social and one economic activity of the community from which the oral poem is taken. ( 2 Mks)
      Social activity: Going to war- ‘dogs of war’
      Economic activity: Blacksmithing - ‘Blood iron trumpets
   6. Who would be the most suitable audience for the oral poem? Give reasons for your answer. ( 2 Mks)
      Warriors preparing for war as the song is sang to inspire them. (Award 1mk for identification1 for reason)
   7. “The uniformed machines are around” Give the meaning of this statement. ( 2 Mks)
      This statement means that the army which is as efficient as a machine is around.
   8. What is the mood of the poem? ( 2 Mks)
      Tense/anxious- ‘Only through fire can be baptized to mean business’
4. GRAMMAR ( 15 MKS)
   1. Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Do not change the meaning. ( 3 Mks)
      1. 1. We would have not succeeded if James had not helped us
            (Begin: Were…………….)
            Were it not for James’ help, we would not have succeeded. (Comma is compulsory)
         2. You should not leave your house unlocked at any time. (Begin: At………………..)
            At no time should you leave your house unlocked.
         3. If we had more time, we would have stayed there. (Begin: Had………………...)
            Had we more time, we would have stayed there.
   2. Fill in the blanks with the correct preposition. ( 3 Mks)
      1. Jane has a special liking for Mathematics.
      2. Her performance was amazing by any standards.
      3. Since he no longer runs the business, he has been reduced to begging.
   3. Use the words in brackets to complete the following sentences with the most appropriate phrasal verb. ( 3 Mks)
      1. The new students could not make out their way to the dormitory. ( make)
      2. The man agreed to take up the role of the manager. (take)
      3. It is not easy to write off a debt of more than one thousand shillings. ( write)
   4. Fill in the blank spaces with the correct forms of the words given in brackets. ( 4 Mks)
      1. She may consider helping the orphan on humanitarian (human) grounds.
      2. Ndeko still wants more food even after clearing a whole plateful of Ugali. His appetite is simply insatiable ( satisfy)
      3. His mediocrity (mediocre) can only be compared to that of his great grandfather.
      4. After the inferno, the Roche’s had to buy new furnishings (furnish) for their house.
   5. Appropriately punctuate the following sentences to indicate parenthesis. ( 2 Mks)
      1. When we meet next (and I am not sure when) a lot of things will have changed.
      2. Any information you have (including minor details) should be submitted to the office.