11+ English

Ages 10-11
For GL Assessment

50 minutes

Instructions
• Do not open this booklet until you are told to do so.
• This is a multiple-choice test.
• You should use a pencil to complete this test.
• Mark your answer to each question within the separate answer sheet.
• To mark your answer, draw a neat horizontal line through the correct box.
• If you make a mistake, rub it out and mark your new answer clearly.
• Attempt as many questions as you can.
• If you get stuck, mark the answer that you think is most likely to be correct
and move on to the next question.
• All workings and notes should be completed on a separate piece of paper.
• Work as quickly and as carefully as you can.

© Exam Ninja 2023

 Comprehension 1: The Metal Chamber of Intrigue
Although she had been warned, Hayley still wanted to look inside. She knew that the risks were high,
and that others had fallen foul to the perils that lay within, yet she couldn’t help herself. The mystery
of its contents was far too alluring for her, and Hayley had spent many an hour lying awake in bed
wondering what was to be found. All she longed for was to open the door. The desire to do so was
overwhelming and Hayley was struggling to ignore the urges any longer.

There had been a few opportunities earlier in the day, but others had been around and there was
a strong sense of watchful eyes when she plucked up the courage to do it. So the plans had been
abandoned, and now Hayley’s decision was whether to go through with it in darkness. She thought it
through:

What if she needed help, but there was no one there?

What if she called and was heard but no one could see her in the blackness?
What if she froze with horror and couldn’t escape?

Hayley continued her considerations, and supressed her concerns. She would do it; yes.

And so out of the house Hayley crept, taking light footsteps across the wooden floor so as not to wake
anyone from their slumber. She closed the front door slowly enough to stop it creaking, touched her
pocket to feel the key inside, and closed it gently until the lock clicked in place.

The air was chilly with a slight breeze against her. If she’d read into the metaphor, she might have
thought that even the wind was trying to persuade her not to go, just as her conscience was doing.
Hayley continued to ignore them both, and walked up the hill toward the great magnet which had
occupied her mind.

There it was: a large, grey, metal chamber of intrigue. The warning sign on the door had been faded by
the sun, but its message was clear enough. Yet Hayley tightly grasped her hand around the handle and
pulled it towards her.

A loud grinding sound echoed through the houses, but Hayley - startled and anxious - looked around.
Only a cat could be seen several houses away in the dimly-lit street. She was truly alone now.

Hayley continued to pull the door open, and inside a dead and shrivelled spider hung off a dusty thread
of yesteryear. She looked beyond the dangling corpse and onto a large panel covered in plugs and cables
and switches. She secretly gasped in delight and took out the little torch from her pocket.

“If I’m to truly be secretive, I mustn’t let the torch light shine out,” she thought. And so, without
hesitation, Hayley stepped inside the danger zone and as she did, the wind suddenly whipped up to a
great speed, slamming the door shut behind her.

GL 11+ English Paper 1 (Ages 10-11) © Exam Ninja 2023

 1 At the start of the story, Hayley was:
A deflated
B curious
C adjacent
D troubled

2 What was Hayley interested in?

A Looking inside the box
B Having a key to the box
C  Making sure no one could take the contents of the box
D Trying to find the box

3 Which of these statements is false?

A Hayley had trouble sleeping
B Hayley did not think there were any risks
C Hayley saw the warning signs
D Hayley didn’t want anyone to see her

4  Does Hayley believe she is good in a difficult situation?

A Yes
B No
C We cannot tell from the information given
D The text does not give any information at all

5 ‘A strong sense of watchful eyes’ means:

A There are lots of cats’ eyes along the road
B The people there are wearing glasses
C A number of people have spoken to her
D She thinks people are observing

6 At what point in the day does Hayley take action?

A Early morning
B Early afternoon
C Before bedtime
D After dusk

GL 11+ English Paper 1 (Ages 10-11) © Exam Ninja 2023

 7 What is the weather like when she leaves the house?
A Warm and sunny
B Cold and still
C Cool with unsettled air
D Raining and blustery

8 ‘The great magnet which had occupied her mind’ uses which language technique?
A alliteration
B hyperbole
C simile
D metaphor

9 Why did Hayley leave the house quietly?

A She didn’t want anyone to notice her
B The family were snoring
C So the door would creak more quietly
D The wooden floor had just been polished

10 ‘A large, grey, metal chamber’ is:

A A main clause
B An adverbial phrase
C A subordinate clause
D A noun phrase

11 Why is the dead spider important in the story?

A It shows how deadly the chamber was
B  It indicates how long it has been since the door was opened
C The spider had died after eating its last victim
D There were lots of spiders but only one was dead

12 Why did Hayley go inside?

A She wanted to see the spider close up
B  She didn’t want to startle the cat several houses away
C  She didn’t want the torchlight to shine in the darkness
D She was mesmerised by the shiny electrical switches

GL 11+ English Paper 1 (Ages 10-11) © Exam Ninja 2023

 Comprehension 2: The Navy-Blue Pinstriped Suit
The doors were almost closing, and a beeping sound could be heard, when a head of greying hair
became visible in the lower part of the window. It was bobbing up and down as it travelled from right
to left, hair flapping with each landing on his feet. I rose a little from my seat and realised the man was
trying to get through the doors in time. One of the passengers near the open door was doing her best to
hold one side back; with a little bit of luck and a huge leap, he boarded just in time and gave a huge sigh
of relief.

The woman smiled at him, and he smiled back. There was no exchange of words but her friendly eyes
gave much admiration for his gymnastic-like routine. She wondered how often he had almost made it,
and whether there had ever been a disaster such as person – in, but briefcase – out.

The man glanced around, looking for a seat. There happened to be one opposite me, on the other side of
the table. So I signalled with one hand by pointing above the open space, and he gave an acknowledging
nod in return. As he approached, I realised he was wearing a navy-blue pinstriped suit. It reminded me
of the day my brother took his vows, although this gentleman was not wearing a top hat to match. His
shoes were very shiny though, and it seemed to me as though he had never strayed from the concrete
paths, and always taken the ‘Keep off the Grass’ signs quite literally.

He lifted his briefcase onto the edge of the seat, unwound the scarf from his neck, unbuttoned the top
of his jacket, and sat down in a way which indicated he could finally now relax.

I knew that the accepted etiquette on public transport was to say very little to your fellow passengers,
and if you did, it should only last a short time. ‘Not everyone wants to hear your endless monologue,’ my
mother would say whenever I wanted to be sociable, and so I decided to return to my book and leave the
man alone with his own thoughts.

However, it was not long before his mobile rang and he answered with a warm Scottish accent. I could
see he was listening intently, giving occasional ‘Aye,’ and ‘Aye ok,’ responses, but in retort he said very
little. It wasn’t long until his phone call had finished, and the carriage was quiet again. I was dying to
ask him, but as my mother’s voice echoed around my head once more, I decided to keep schtum.

GL 11+ English Paper 1 (Ages 10-11) © Exam Ninja 2023

 13 Where is the narrator?
A Waiting for a bus
B Sitting on a train
C Hailing a taxi
D Registering at reception

14 What time of year is it?

A Winter
B Spring
C Summer
D We cannot tell from the text

15 What do we know about the narrator?

A She has a sister
B She is friendly
C She likes to write books
D She is quite shy

16 To what does ‘took his vows’ refer?

A Getting engaged
B Joining the army
C Giving evidence in court
D Getting married

17 What do the man’s shoes infer?

A He does not like grass
B He does not like concrete paths
C He thinks that grass is not for walking on
D He has no patience for walking on grass

18 Why did the narrator rise from her seat?

A To let the man sit down
B To make herself look taller
C To observe more clearly
D She needed to stretch her legs

GL 11+ English Paper 1 (Ages 10-11) © Exam Ninja 2023

 19 What is significant about the description of the man’s hair
A It shows his intentions
B It shows his movements
C It shows his age
D It shows his style

20 ‘Her friendly eyes gave much admiration for his gymnastic-like routine’ contains:
A A metaphor then a simile
B Two metaphors
C Personification then a metaphor
D Only one metaphor

21 What is meant by ‘accepted etiquette’?

A The way we think we should behave
B The way we expect others to speak
C The way that some people sound more posh
D The way that we want to behave but cannot

22 What do we learn about the narrator’s mother?

A She does not like listening
B She thinks that others do not like listening
C She thinks that her daughter is ill-behaved
D She assumes that only she has something interesting to say

23 Which word means to remain mute?

A retort
B monologue
C schtum
D acknowledge

24 Which word is a synonym of ‘signal’ as used in the text?

A indicated
B indication
C indicative
D indicatory

GL 11+ English Paper 1 (Ages 10-11) © Exam Ninja 2023

 Questions 25 – 40

Choose one of the five options in bold which completes the sentence in
the most sensible way. Write the answer on your answer sheet.
For example,
The cat ate its bed / dinner / sleep / laptop / fingers.
A B C D E Answer: B

I have a baby brother (25) who had / who has / whose / who will / who be just turned
A B C D E
one year old. He is quite big (26) because / on / for / yet / so his age and is very
A B C D E
healthy – it must be (27) due to / because / resulting / leading to / linked all of the
A B C D E
high-quality food he is fed.

Last week, we (28) encored / devoted / postponed / condemned / celebrated his first
A B C D E
birthday by having a small and (29) intimate / hostile / sauntering / rogue / repugnant
A B C D E
party with our close family and friends. There were three other toddlers: our cousin,

the neighbour’s daughter and my mum’s friend’s son. They were crawling on the play

mat together, enjoying themselves, until two of them wanted the same musical toy

(30) observantly / reserved by / simultaneously / compellingly / punctually. At that

A B C D E
point it (31) couldn’t / shouldn’t / want / won’t / wasn’t a happy party any longer.
A B C D E
My mum had to quickly get an (32) erosive / similar / obliging / identical / approving
A B C D E
musical toy from my room and put it on the play mat (33) to / aswell / indeed / too / two,
A B C D E
so they both had one (34) away / behind / within / until / each. The crying soon stopped
A B C D E

GL 11+ English Paper 1 (Ages 10-11) © Exam Ninja 2023

 and calm fell on the room once more. I didn’t (35) estimate / forget / knowledge / realise / translate
A B C D E
looking after toddlers took so much care and attention.

The party food mum prepared (36) will be / was / won’t / were / where so delicious.
A B C D E
We had sandwiches in star shapes, cheesy crisps, cucumber sticks and rainbow drinks.

For afters, we had banana chunks (37) drizzled / dunked / clouded / gripped / denied
A B C D E
with chocolate.

Party games (38) would of / must be / would have / might of / were been a little bit
A B C D E
tricky with such small children, so we sang happy songs sitting on the floor in a

(39) patterned / oval / linear / circle / dimension. My mum takes my baby brother to a
A B C D E
singing group (40) regularly / occasionally / every / sometimes / twice week and he
A B C D E
loves it. Maybe he will play a musical instrument when he is older.

GL 11+ English Paper 1 (Ages 10-11) © Exam Ninja 2023

 Questions 41 – 45

Find one punctuation error in each line. Give the letter whose box is under the error.

41 “I’m not so keen on snakes,” Alice explained to her dad “They don’t look very cuddly.”

A B C D

42 “Are you sure you dont like them? Look at their fantastic colours shimmering in the light.”

A B C D

43 Wouldn’t you prefer to go and see the fluffy rabbits and guinea pigs?” Alice asked, with

A B C D

44 optimism in her voice. Those were the animals she was really looking forward to seeing,

A B C D

45 “Okay, you’ve persuaded me Alice. Let’s go.”

A B C D

GL 11+ English Paper 1 (Ages 10-11) © Exam Ninja 2023

 Questions 46 – 50

Find one spelling error in each line. Give the letter whose box is under the error.

46 The children sat at their desks squinting towards the board. It was necassary to look in

A B C D

47 that direction as the demonstration of great scientific importence would be commencing

A B C D

48 imminently. Their faces grimaced as Mr Boxton moved the delapidated equipment, but

A B C D

49 to their horror, it slid down onto the floor and shattered into shards of disappointement.

A B C D

50 What had gone wrong? Mr Boxton realised the mistake. The block was entirly detached.

A B C D

GL 11+ English Paper 1 (Ages 10-11) © Exam Ninja 2023