Name………………………………………… Index No……………………………

School……………………………………. Center No………………………………

Subject: English Language

Republic of South Sudan

Ministry of Education, Science & Technology
South Sudan National Examinations Council
Secondary School Certificate, 2015

Subject: English Language Time: 3 Hours

Important Directives

1. Write your name, index no, school and center number in the appropriate space provided.
2. All rough and final work must be done in the space provided.
3. No answer booklet will be provided and no supplementary papers must accompany this
paper
4. In no circumstance must this paper, used or unused, be removed from the examinations
room by candidates
5. You are asked to choose either language or literature in question (5).

Question Marks Marks obtained Marked by Checked by

Q1. Composition 15
Q2. Comprehension 30
Q3. Summary 10
Q4. Grammar A= 05
B= 05
C= 05
D= 05
Q5. Language or literature 25
(Optional)
Total 100

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 DO NOT WRITE IN THIS RECTANGLE

QUESTION ONE: COMPOSITION (15 Marks)

Remember that marks will be awarded for correct grammar, punctuation, spelling,
tidy and neat presentation.

Write a composition of about 250 – 300 words on the topic: The Picnic.

Your composition should contain the under-listed points or ideas. However, you
may add other ideas to them if you like.

- Details of the picnic – date, distance (near of far)

- Number of people – many, few, several
- Means of travelling - bus, car, boat, on foot
- Things taken for the picnic – food, fruits, drums, cooking pots, plates, soft
drinks
- Time of returning – evening, midday, night
- Picnic enjoyable – nice, bad, not really enjoyable
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QUESTION TWO: COMPREHENSION (30 Marks)

Read the passage below carefully and then answer the questions that follow it.

Education
Education, more than ever before, has become an important issue all over the
world. If a country wants to develop, it must take education seriously. But what do
we mean by education? Education simply means acquiring the skills and
knowledge that will help a person to develop him, earn a living, and contribute to
the development and prosperity of a society.

According to the definition given, education helps us to know things (knowledge)

and to be able to make things (skills). The reasons for education are to help us
develop as people, to earn money for ourselves and for our families and also to
help people around us.

Many people think of education as formal education – that is going to secondary

school, university education institutions which is generally true. The importance of
formal education cannot be overemphasized. In our modern society, we need
people with specialist skills such as engineers, scientists, doctors and technicians.
The fastest and simplest way for these people to get their knowledge is through
formal education.

Yet even today, many people, both young and old do not go to school or
university. We have to remember that a lot of knowledge and many skills are
passed on from one person to another informally.

A) Provide short answers to the following questions ( 10 Marks)

1) Where is education an important issue?
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2) What must a country do to develop?
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 3) Mention two things that education does for people
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4) Why is formal education important?
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5) How do many people acquire skills?
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B) Put a circle around letter of the correct alternative answer (10 Marks)

1) Education means
a) Acquiring skills for a living
b) Acquiring knowledge to help others
c) Acquiring knowledge and skills to earn living and to help others

2) Education today is
a) Very important
b) Not really important
c) Considered unnecessarily

3) The word informally means

a) Through schooling
b) Through experience
c) Through either a or b
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 4) Today, many people do not
a) Go to school
b) Go to the university
c) Go to school or university

5) The word specialist means

a) Have many skills
b) Has knowledge in different fields
c) Has knowledge in a particular field
6) Many people think of education as
a) Formal
b) Informal
c) Acquiring skills

7) The word prosperity means

a) knowledge
b) skills
c) progress
8) In modern society, people need
a) Formal education
b) Informal education
c) Specialist skills
9) Education in our time is
a) More important
b) Less important
c) Somehow important

10) An engineer is a
a) Skillful worker
b) A practitioner
c) A specialist

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QUESTION THREE SUMMARIES (10 Marks)

Read the passage below carefully. Look for main ideas and in your own words,
as far as possible, write summaries as guided in question A & B listed after the
passage. Your summary should be a connected piece of writing.

The commonest traditional dress in South Sudan is the laawo. It is fashionable for
both men and women. The different is that men usually wear a plain or white
laawo while women wear decorated laawo. Another different is that men tie the
knots over their left shoulder so that the right hand can move freely if they are
attached by an enemy. Women tie the knot on their right should.

A) In not more than 20 words, summarize what a laawo is (5 marks).

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B) In not more than 20 words, summarize the differences between the laawo
worn by men and that worn by women ( 5 marks)
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QUESTION FOUR GRAMMARS (20 Marks)

A) Put the verbs in bracket in their correct forms to complete the sentences
(5 Marks)

1) My mother (be)……………….sleeping when the train arrived.

2) Listen! Mary (be)……………………..in the room.
3) The teacher (let)……………………….me go to the church on Sunday.
4) Would you mind (open)…………………that window.
5) We (be) …………………in Yei for two years.

B) Complete sentence (B) so that it has a similar meaning with sentence

(A) using the words underlined (5 marks)

1) (A). The book was so interesting that I read it twice.

Such (B) it…………….…………………….that I read it twice

2) (A). “Move that table John”

Order (B) He ……………..……………….to move the table

3) (A). I wish I could stop smoking

Give (B) I wish I could………………………..smoking.

4) (A). They haven’t caused any serious damage.

Do (B) No serious damage…………………………..

5) (A). John is milking the cows

Being (B) The cows…………………………by John

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 C) Add the following suffixes to the words in brackets to form words that
fit in the given space (5 Marks)
………..ion ………..ful …………………ous ……..ment …………….able

1) Diseases like Malaria need proper………………… (treat)

2) He is still looking for a …………………….gift for his wife (suit)
3) She enjoyed the party. She had a ………………….time there (wonder)
4) The government will take ………………..against the rebels (act)
5) Some drugs are very…………………(poison)

D) Choose the correct preposition from the list below to fit in the blank
spaces of the questions that follow ( 5 Marks)

Into for across towards under

1) The boy ran ………………………………his mother.

2) A dog entered…………………………..the classroom.
3) The cows are ……………………..the tree.
4) We came…………………….. a serious accident.
5) I bought the car…………………..ten thousand South Sudanese Pounds.

QUESTIONS FIVE: Choose either Part (A): language or Part (B): Literature

Part (A): Language

Question 1: Application Writing (7 Marks)

Your name is name is Lino or Lina. You have read an advertisement on the Public
notice board in the Ministry of Health, Juba which says that a secretary is required
to work in the office of the Director General, Ministry of Health, Juba.

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Write a letter to the Director General, Ministry of Health, juba applying for this
job. Write about yourself, qualifications, experiences and other skills.

DO NOT WRITE YOUR ADDRESS OR REAL NAME

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Question 2: Complete sentence (B) so that it has a similar meaning with
sentence (A) using the words underlined (5 Marks)

1. (A). Paul is so nice that he gave me fifty South Sudanese Ponds.

Such (B). Paul is……………………that he gave me fifty South
Sudanese Pounds

2. (A).The doctor said to the patient “are you feeling well?”

Asked (B). The doctor ……………….the patient was feeling well.

3. (A). my uncle, “in London there are trains that travel underground.
Told (B). My uncle………………………………………..in London,
there are trains that travel underground.

4. (A). “After sunset the sun is below the horizon”, said the teacher.
Indicated (B). The teacher………………………..the sun was below the
horizon after sunset.

5. (A). John is a poor man, he cannot buy a car.

So (B). John is …………………that he cannot buy a car.

Question 3. Choose the correct preposition from the list to fill the space below
(5 Marks).

Of below at over under

1) Oil and gold are found…………….the ground

2) You cannot go to school if you are ………………..seven years old.
3) The thief jumped ……………..the fence.
4) Water boils…………………50 degrees centigrade.
5) The policemen accused him ………………stealing.

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Question4. Summary (8 Marks)

Read the following text carefully and in your own words as far as possible,
write a summary.

The traffic policeman said that in his position, bicycles are safer to control than
scooters. This is because the young people learned to ride them as young children.
Nevertheless, bicycles too are not very safe in cities these days. This is because
there are more cars and drivers often do not pay attention to bicycles. In addition,
many cyclists do not know the rules of the road.

In not more than 20 words, summarize the reasons why bicycles are not easier
and safer to control now.

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Part (B): Literature

Question1. Treasure Island (10 Marks)

A) Answer the following questions (3 Marks)

1) What is the name of the first story teller?
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2) Who opened the door when the old Sailor knocked loudly on the inns
doors?
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3) How was Tom Killed by Long John Silver?

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 B) Draw a circle around the correct answers ( (4 Marks)

1. Dr. Livesey and Squire John Trelawney found in a leather Packet

a) A pistol
b) Some money
c) The map of an island
d) The photo of Captain Flint

2. When the Captain chased and swung his cutlass at Black Dog’s
head
a) The cutlass hit the wooden sign above the inn’s door
b) The cutlass did not hit Black Dog’s head
c) The cutlass fell from the Captain’s hand
d) The cutlass missed hitting any target

3. Long John Silver came to the stockade with a white flag

a) To show that fighting is about to begin
b) To call off fighting for some times
c) To show that he was a brave man
d) To prepare the ground for more fighting

4. The man who was marooned on treasure Island for three years is
call
a) Long John Silver
b) Ben Gunn
c) Tom Brown
d) Captain Flint

C) Decide whether the following statements are true or false. Write (T)
for true statements and (F) for false ones (3 Marks)

1. Captain Smallest discovered that treasure was buried by captain Flint

on the Island ( )
2. The people who traveled on the ship failed to locate where the
treasure was buried. ( )

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 3. The pirates were frightened when they saw captain Flint. ( )
4. Jim Hawkins refused to go on Treasure Island when the ship arrived
on the Island. ( )
5. Captain Smallest and his friends divided the treasure equally among
themselves. ( )

Part (B) Literature

Question 2. Things Fall Apart

A) Giver short answers to the following questions. ( 5 Marks)

1) How did Ikemefuna come into the household of Okonkwo?
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2) Why was Okonkwo exiled from his father homeland?
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3) For how long was Okonkwo kept in exile?

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4) Why were the people of Umuofia very happy when the locusts began to
land in their fields?
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5) Why was Okonkwo ashamed of his father, Unoka?
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 B) Put a circle around the letter of the correct answer. ( 5 Marks)

1) Okonkwo did not eat any food

a) For three days after the death of Ikemefuna
b) For two days before the death of Ikemefuna
c) For five days before the death of Ikemefuna
d) For seven days after the death of Ikemefuna

2) As soon as Okonkwo walked out into the house that night

a) Nwoye cried bitterly
b) Nwoye become angry with his father
c) Nwoye felt and knew that Ikemefuna had been killed
d) Nwoye felt something deep up inside him that seems to break his
heart.
3) The week of peace is…………………………………….
a) a period in which you don’t fight
b) a period in which peace is not maintained
c) husbands are not allowed to beat their wives
d) Husbands are not allowed to eat with their wives.
4) Nwoye used to enjoy listening to stories about
a) Masculine adventurous stories.
b) Girls going to parties.
c) Old women quarreling young boys.
d) The evil spirit living in the evil forest

5) When the district commissioner sent his sweet tongued messengers to the
leaders of Umuofia asking them to see him in his headquarters
a) He wanted them to pay for the destruction they had done to the church
b) He wanted them to go and pray in the church
c) He wanted to thank them for his reception
d) He wanted to let them tell citizens about his returns.

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 C) Write (T) between the brackets of the statement if the statement is true
or (F) if the statement is false.
1) Okonkwo was not a famous man in Umuofia ( )
2) After the death of Ikemefuna, Nwoye’s life became miserable. ( )
3) Maduka is the son of Obierieka ( )
4) Ezinma was very much loved by her father ( )
5) Wrestling matches in Umuofia were not all that popular ( )

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