English Questions and Answers - Class 8 Opener Exams Term 1 2022

Questions

Fill the gaps

Have you ever seen a vehicle     1    gases      2   .Vehicle      3     fuels such as petrol     4    diesel to power their engines.The combustion of     5      fuels in the engines of vehicles     6     harmful gases such as carbon dioxide    7      carbon monoxide and other gases. The exhaust gases produced by vehicles     8     poisonous which    9      the air.

The    10      of global warming    11      already causing havoc     12     the world.Floods are causing untold suffering to communities ;famine and food    13      associated    14      the effectsof climate change is hounding the region.Kenya and    15       government must adapt to changes happening.

Answer the following question according to the instructions given.

16. Write in direct speech
    My elder brother said that he didn’t understand why people smoke
    
    1. “I didn’t understand why people smoked,” My elder brother said.
    2. “He doesn’t understand why people smoke,” My elder brother says.
    3.  “I don’t understand why people smoke,” My elder brother said.
    4.  “Why do people smoke? I don’t understand!” My elder brother said.
    
    In questions 17 and 18 choose the best alternative that best completes the sentence
    
    
17. Dan pays school fees for his daughters, _____?
    
    1.  doesn’t he
    2. did he
    3. does he
    4. didn’t he
18. The guests have not gone home, ________?
    
    1.  is it
    2. haven’t they
    3. isn’t it
    4. have they 
    
    For question 19 choose the alternative that means the same as the given sentence
    
    
19. Neither Mary nor his best friend attended the prize giving.
    
    1. Both of them attended the prize giving
    2. Mary attended the prize giving
    3. None of them attended the prize giving
    4. His best friend attended the prize giving
    
    Choose the correct alternative to complete the sentence below.
    
    
20. Cate bought a _______ skirt.
    1. circular, silk, short
    2. short, circular, silk
    3. silk, short, circular
    4. circular, short, silk
21. Mary, ____ house collapsed was not hurt.
    
    •  who
    • who’s
    • whose
    • which
    
    For questions 22 to 24, select the alternative that best completes the sentences
    
    
22. I don’t think I can tolerate his behavior much longer
    
    1. put up with 
    2. put out with
    3. put down with
    4. put off with
23.  He is as tall as ____
    
    1. me
    2. I am
    3.  I
    4. am I
24. Dan chose to play football ___ he is good at it.
    
    1. though
    2. and
    3. but
    4. because
25. Choose the correct sentence
    1. Don’t come late; if you do, you will miss the fun
    2. Mary bought apples, oranges and pears.
    3. Ken gave us chocolates; buns; sweets
    4. Dan made, the cake, we decorated.

Read the following passage carefully and then answer questions 26-38.

I started school late, at the age of eight years because my father was not keen on taking me to school. My mother was very keen on insisting that little education did no harm. By then I was ten years old. I was the last born in a family of four children; two boys and two girls. My brothers had finished their secondary education and were now working in the capital city. My sister got married at the age of eleven. From the time she married, I never saw her happy. Her face always looked sad and weary but not once did I hear her complain.

The journey to and from school took two hours. At 3.30pm the lower classes were released while the rest of the school stayed on until 4.30pm. We sat on tree trunks for we did not have desks. Two of the classrooms’ walls had gaping holes. The roof of the classroom was no more than thatch grass that was laid over rafters. It was badly built. On this particular day, Naitula’s book was missing and I found her searching for it everywhere. Then she found one of our classmates under a tree copying notes from it. Without uttering a single word, she forcefully snatched the book from him and after staring at him with a stern face, she waved at me to join her and we left for home. This caught the boy by surprise and he was left staring at us.

It was a rainy season and various wild flowers had bloomed. There were blue, yellow, red and white flowers. Wild fruits had ripened and birds feasted on them. One of my favorite fruits was the wild berry and these two were in plenty. We always spent some time on the way home picking them and also playing with the butterflies that had invaded the country. The path we took every day was so muddy that we kept wiping our feet on the wet grass. From where we were, we could see herds of cattle grazing on the plains in the distance. My father’s herd was grazing near our home.

Cows and goats are our main source of livelihood and a man’s worth is judged by the number of livestock one has. Women, children and animals are a man’s property. Woman’s work is to take care of the man, his children and his animals. My friend Naitula and I parted at the spot where the road branches to our different Manyattas.

On arriving home, I found my father with visitors and they were drinking a traditional brew from horns. Four were seated on his left side while one was on his right. I entered the hut and found a strange woman seated there so I greeted her. My mother, without looking at me asked, “Are you hungry?” “Yes, I have taken nothing the whole day.” She pointed to where a guard of milk was kept. She seemed to be avoiding my eyes and I asked her, “Why do you look sad today mother?”

The visitor smiled exposing her white teeth. She did not answer but said,” Go out and check on the goats and at dusk bring them home.

26. Why was the writer late to start school?
    1. He was too old to start school
    2. The school was far from their home
    3. His father wasn’t keen on taking him to school
    4. He was too young to start school.
27. Which of these sentences is false?
    1. The writer hadn’t started school at the age of eight
    2. The writer’s mother was keen on education
    3. The writer was the last born of his family
    4. The writer’s brothers were illiterate
28. Where were the writer’s siblings
    1. In the village
    2. In school too
    3. Away in town
    4. In different cities
29. The word weary as used in the passage means:-
    1. very thin
    2. well dressed
    3. poorly dressed
    4. very tired
30. Which of these sentences best describes the writer’s school?
    
    1. Logs for desks, mud walls, thatched roof
    2. Logs for walls, thatched roof, wooden desks
    3. Thatched roof, mud walls, wooden desks
    4.  Mud walls, logs for desks and logs for walls
31. What was Naitula looking for?
    
    1. Her classmates
    2. A place to sit
    3. Her note book
    4. Her brother
32. Why was the boy surprised?
    
    1. He had been talked to harshly.
    2. When Naitula forcefully snatched the book from him.
    3. He had taken his friends book.
    4. He was copying notes.
33. Which of the following did not happen when the rainy season came?
    
    1. Plants germinated.
    2. Fruits ripened.
    3. Birds had enough to feed on.
    4. Flowers blossomed.
34.  From the passage we learn that the writer :-
    
    1. disliked wild berries
    2. never wore shoes
    3. had never seen butterflies
    4. hardly stopped on the way
35. What could the writer see at a distance?
    
    1. Goats and cows grazing
    2. his father grazing
    3. herds of cattle grazing
    4.  his father driving cattle home
36. Which of the following shows a man’s worth? Number of
    
    1. manyatta
    2. children
    3. women
    4. livestock
37. According to the passage
    
    1. Four visitors were seated to the right side
    2. the writer had had nothing all day
    3. there were some strange women seated
    4. writer’s mother looked happy that day

Read the following passage carefully and then answer question 38-50.

The old man found the children gathered at the same place. As soon as they saw him they asked him to tell them another story. The children were becoming a regular part of the old man’s daily life.

Without them in the evening he felt lonely. The evenings seemed long and boring. It is funny how habits develop, he thought. At first he could easily pass an evening all by himself and feel quite happy. Now he needed the company of the children for the evening to feel complete.

Funny, he thought to himself as he sat down on his favorite chair. It is just like that nasty habit of taking snuff that he had developed. At first he did it as a joke, just for fun. He felt he could stop the habit if and when he wanted to, but in time he found he had to have some snuff every few hours. If he did not, he would get all nervous and shaky. Now he was getting hooked on to being with the children.

“Oh well,” he said to himself, “at least that is a good habit to catch. It cannot make you lose your senses like Mzee Okong’o did”. He had spoken aloud without realizing it. “What happened to Mzee Okongo?” The children asked, all together. The old man let out a short laugh. He had been caught off guard by the children and he knew he had to tell them the story of Mzee Okong’o.

For Mzee Okong’o it had all started like a joke. It was during the wedding of his daughter many years before. During such ceremonies, the bride was required to give her father a horn of beer in front of friends and relatives. Having given her father the beer, the father would ask; “My daughter, are you asking me to drink this beer brought by these people? Are you telling me before,this crowd, that you will never ask me to vomit it”? This was meant to confirm in public whether the girl had completely made up her mind to marry the man. As her sign of agreeing to get married to the man whose family had brought the beer the girl would answer: “Yes, my father. I am asking you to drink it and I will never ask you to vomit it.”

If the father drank the beer, it showed he had agreed that his daughter could get married to the man who asked for her hand in marriage. Mzee Okong’o had thus made his first contact with alcohol after a very long time. He felt good and light headed after the first horn full and he asked for another second horn full more than the first.

In time, he was into his fifth and sixth horn of beer. Thereafter, he had lost count and slipped into a coma. He did not know when and how his guests had gone home. He could not remember what happened or what he might have said or done. Did he behave well? Did he abuse people in his speech? Did he pass urine in public? Did he fall or break wind loudly?

38. From the first paragraph, we can tell that the old man
    
    1. found the children playing
    2. never needed the children’s presence
    3. hardly felt lonely at all
    4. enjoyed narrating stories now and then.
39. Without them in the evening he felt lonely.....”them” refers to
    
    1. his daughters
    2. the children
    3. his family
    4. the villagers
40. What made the old man’s evening complete?
    
    1. the long and boring evenings
    2. the practice he had started
    3. the gathering of children
    4. the funny habits he had developed
41. “Snuff” is an example of
    1. clinical medicine
    2. herbal medicine
    3. hard drug
    4. traditional medicine
42. The old man felt nervous and shaky before taking snuff. This means
    1. he was sick
    2. he felt cold
    3. he was excited
    4. he was an addict
43. The old man started the nasty habit.........
    1. as a way of letting out his anger
    2. to attract more customers
    3. as a way of passing time
    4. to impress the children
44. Why did the old man chuckle?
    1. He knew he had to narrate a story
    2. He had been day-dreaming
    3. The children had made a joke
    4. He had taken too much snuff
45. During the wedding the bride was supposed to do all the following except?
    1. She had to give her father a horn of beer
    2. The giving out of beer was witnessed by relatives
    3. Issuing of beer was in front of neighbors and relatives
    4. The horn of beer was given infront of friends
46. What did Mzee Okong’o do during his daughter’s wedding?
    1. He vomited the beer he had taken
    2. He gave his daughter a hornfull of beer
    3. He narrated a story to his guest
    4. He took six hornfills of beer.
47. By vomiting the beer this meant that
    1. the girl had agreed partially to wed the man
    2. the father didn’t want the girl wed
    3. the girl had not agreed to become a wife
    4. the man had sensed that was not well
48. The beer had been brought by the man’s family, this can be compared to
    1. wealth 
    2. dowry
    3. poverty
    4. thanks-giving
49. How many horn-fills of beer did Okong’o have?
    1. Two
    2. six
    3. uncountable
    4. seven
50. The last paragraph tells us that the old man slipped into a “coma” this means?
    1. He became unconscious.
    2. He fell into deep sleep.
    3. He was conscious.
    4. He was completely drank.

Marking Scheme

1. C
2. D
3. A
4. C
5. B
6. A
7. A
8. D
9. B
10. A
11. B
12. C
13. B
14. C
15. D
16. C
17. A
18. D
19. C
20. B
21. C
22. A
23. B
24. D
25. B
26. C
27. D
28. C
29. D
30. A
31. C
32. B
33. A
34. B
35. C
36. D
37. B
38. D
39. B
40. B
41. C
42. D
43. C
44. B
45. D
46. D
47. B
48. B
49. C
50. D