Bishop Challoner School

English
Sample Questions for Year 7 (11+)
(Current Year 6)

Instructions:
• Write your name clearly on the top of each sheet of paper
• You must start Section B on a new sheet of paper
• Answer ONE question in Section A and ONE question in Section B
• There are 25 marks available for Section A and 25 marks for Section B
• You are reminded of the need for good English and clear presentation in your
answers
• Write in black or blue pen.

Advice:
• You are advised to spend 30 minutes on Section A and 30 minutes on Section B
• Remember: we are interested in reading imaginative and engaging responses as well as the
accuracy of your spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Section A (25 marks)
This is your reading comprehension section.

'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' was JK Rowling's debut novel, first published in 1997. The
plot follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage as he makes close
friends and a few enemies in his first year at the 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'. Read
the extract below (which is the opening of the book) and answer the questions which follow. Look
carefully at how many marks each question is worth as this will give you an indication of how much
you should write.

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly
normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything
strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.
Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man
with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde
and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her
time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. The Dursleys had a small son called
Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.
The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that
somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the
Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs.
Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were
as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would
say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but
they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they
didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.
When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing
about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening
all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs.
Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.
None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.
At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to
kiss Dudley good-bye but missed because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal
at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed
out of number four's drive.
It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar -- a cat reading a
map. For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen -- then he jerked his head around to
look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet
Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick
of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the
corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet
Drive -- no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little
shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large
order of drills he was hoping to get that day.
But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual
morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people
about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes -- the getups
you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers
on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They
were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't
young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The
nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt -- these people
were obviously collecting for something...yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few
minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.
Answer ALL of the following 10 questions, based on the extract:

1. Give three pieces of information from the text to describe Mr Dursley.

2. What is about Mrs Dursley that makes her feel ashamed? Give a quotation to support
your answer.
(2 marks)

3. In detail, describe what an ordinary morning involved in the Dursley household.

4. What is the first strange action of the cat?

5. Describe, in your own words, the strange occurrences of that morning.

6. By the end of the extract, what does Mr Dursley decide is the reason for all the oddity?
(1 mark)

7. What is the adjective used to describe Mr Dursley's anger when he sees that some of
the people whispering are old?
(1 mark)

8. What is the first line of the Dursleys' address?

9. What verb is used in the text to describe the owl's movement? Give another verb that
could replace it.
(2 marks)

10. What, in your opinion, makes this a good opening to a children's book?
(3 marks)
SECTION B (25 marks)

This section tests your creative skills and accuracy in spelling, grammar and punctuation. We are keen
to read engaging responses that show real care when developing character, place and mood.

When marking your work, we will be interested to see whether you can:
• Use words (i.e. verbs, adjectives, adverbs) to create mood and atmosphere
• Punctuate and paragraph your writing correctly.
• Vary the length and range of your sentences.
Do NOT try to develop a huge plot in such a short period of time. It is far better to work on the three
components bullet-pointed above.

Select ONE of the tasks below:

1. Read the following extract in which the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, makes an announcement at his
111th birthday party, and continue the story in any way you like. We will be most impressed if
you can develop a sense of mood and emotion through your description of what happens next. Be
as creative as possible.

' “I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT.” He spoke this last word so loudly and suddenly that
everyone sat up who still could. “I regret to announce that – though, as I said, eleventy-one years is
far too short a time to spend among you – this is the END. I am going. I am leaving NOW. GOOD-
BYE!”
He stepped down and vanished. There was a blinding flash of light, and the guests all blinked.
When they opened their eyes Bilbo was nowhere to be seen. One hundred and forty-four
flabbergasted hobbits sat back speechless.'

OR

2. Using the image below as a prompt, write a description of a person and a significant moment in
his/her life. Focus on using emotive language and gripping the reader's attention.