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ENGLISH LANGUAGE
112/1
2 hours
PRE-MOCK ASSESSMENT 2024
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
PAPER 1
INSTRUCTIONS
Attempt both items in Section A
Choose one item in Section B
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SECTION A
Item 1
Read the text below and respond as required.
We are headed into the long awaited Easter holiday. It is four days that can easily create a
dent in your month’s budget if you throw all care to the wind. It might be a little late to tell you
about planning for such holidays, but there is still time to talk about keeping expenses low.
One, you will need a budget. Once the budget is agreed upon with members of your family
where applicable, you can then determine whether you should stay at home or go to the countryside
– if you are a city resident. Remember, involving family in planning for every celebration will help
with managing expectations and keeping costs realistic.
Once in agreement, you can choose on an action plan in terms of whether you should host or
be a guest. Other alternatives are to embark on local or foreign travel destinations – which should
be booked in advance to benefit from discounts. It is advisable not to borrow for such activities. If
you cannot afford, there is no harm in keeping the celebrations decent, but memorable. To keep
with the old age tradition of exchanging gifts, innovation can be at play if you wish to avoid going
over the top. Having children involved or using the internet to get some gift ideas can work
perfectly. Concentrate on gifts where you can add a personal touch. Such gifts will be appreciated
more because of the thoughts attached to the process of making them. The advantage with
discussions and planning for such items is that you can generate innovative ideas well in advance
and implement them early enough.
If you decide to travel, planning for activities for your destination can build up anticipation
for the Easter break. Uganda is a true gem when it comes to tourist destinations. Do your research
early enough to find out the tourism sites that fit within your expectations. It is anticipated that to
support local tourism, some service providers have announced discounts, which will enable you to
make more savings. However, if you did not budget for this item, this should not be a big deal.
Volunteering for a good cause can be a worthwhile activity during the Easter weekend.
Choose a charity or a good cause to contribute to as a family. Most of us have a lot of stuff at home
that could make a difference in the lives of other people. Encourage your children to participate in
collecting apparel and toys to donate, if it is a children’s home. For example, a visit to a home that
needs support, so as to share your love and support, will be a lesson in humility and gratitude for
your family members. If you have children that suffer from an entitlement mentality, you will be
sure that tantrums demanding for stuff will be minimized after volunteering for a good cause.
Ultimately, it will be appreciated more than any party you can ever throw or stuff that money can
buy.
All in all, irrespective of activity you choose, it is important to keep expenses in line with
the budget and the available funds. If you cannot afford, keep the celebrations simple and fun. It is
not worth borrowing to throw a lavish bash, just because you want to keep up appearances.
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(Adapted with minor changes: The New Vision, Thursday April 13, 3017, p30)
Task:
You have come across important information from a trusted newspaper and consider it useful to
your friends and family members. Prepare for them all the relevant advice in brief on how they
should spend their Easter season on a budget. Use about 100 words.
ROUGH COPY
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FAIR COPY
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Item 2
At the age of 27, I have been to every continent except Antarctica, visited over 30 countries
and lived in five. Extensive travel as a tourist has given me a broad overview of the cultural
diversity the Earth offers. I have learned what makes a country memorable, seen what brings a
country’s nationals together and experienced a wide range of cultures.
Travel, for me, is not about beaches and entertainment so much as a search for culture and
an opportunity to meet people. As a result, quite naturally, part of my first African experience
living here in Uganda was to ask the Ugandans I met, ‘What is Uganda?’ By that, I meant: what is
your identity? What makes your country unique? Before I came, like most foreigners, the only
things I associated with Uganda were war and Idi Amin. However, that was a long time ago and I
soon realised I was doing this beautiful country an injustice, so I was determined to find out more.
Bafflingly, Ugandans themselves have not been very helpful in answering the question and
I guess that is my first clue. I ask and there is silence, hesitation and then, invariably, a smile,
followed by the answer: the Pearl of Africa! This is like saying that France equals the Eiffel Tower
or the sun is hot. After the few months I have spent in Uganda, I think the title is certainly justified
but it does not tell me much.
Clearly, there is a lot more to say about a country with so much potential. A recent article,
internationally published, stated that Uganda had the biggest young population in Africa, which is
pretty much the same as saying in the world. That makes this country’s future. The question is:
what future can its youth have if they do not know who they are? How do you build and represent
a country you cannot describe and a nation of which you have no ownership?
I worked with an education NGO here and spent some time with senior classes, Five and Six,
those students who are about to head out into the big world. As routine, we asked them to introduce
themselves and, invariably, the first concept they used to qualify themselves was their clan. There
seems to be real shame for those who cannot identify with a specific clan and I have yet to hear
anyone start with a proud “I am a Ugandan!”
Don’t get me wrong, cultural diversity is a beautiful thing: traditions, languages and so on
should be preserved and kept alive. But what defines Uganda in the absence of a strong cultural
identity and a national sense of unity? A collection of borders, memories of old rivalries, and badly-
healed battle scars?
Why does Uganda need a national identity? One may ask. Why the need for sustainable
solutions when each day seems the same as the previous one? What does Uganda want for its
future?
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(Slightly adapted: Ella Rychlewski, The Independent, November 30, 2010)
Now respond to the following tasks in complete sentences.
(a) It might be stated that every individual who tours regions of the world has some particular
goal. What has been the writer’s goal in travelling across continents?
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(b) “A nation’s identity resides in the hearts and in the souls of its people.” How is this saying
appropriate to Uganda as described in the above article?
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(c) The writer is a tourist. If the tourist in this story is your friend whose conversations you
always listen to, what kind of person would you describe him as?
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(d) The article above is not only a story of disappointment but also a message of hope. What
clues in the article show that there is hope for Uganda?
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(e) Why does Uganda need a national identity? One may ask. (Combine the two clauses into
one sentence)
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(f) Does this story make you feel proud of your country? What else does it make you feel?
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(g) When the national football team played in the recent African cup of nations, players
communicated normally in a local language identical to most but not all of them instead of
English the official language. The coach was also not able to effectively communicate with
them being a non-Ugandan. What did you learn from this incident about our country?
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SECTION B
Choose one item
Either 3:
At a street junction, the traffic lights have turned red and all cars have stopped. The
walkway lights have turned green and the pedestrians are crossing the road. A man with a
child walks smartly from one side of the street to another. When they reach halfway the
road, the child’s hat is blown off his head and it falls down. The man stops to pick it up.
He is composed. The lights at the junction suddenly turn green for traffic to move. A
vehicle whose driver has noticed the problem does not move to enable the father and his
son walk across the street. An impatience driver overtakes the waiting car and speeds off
quickly, knocking the man and his child down.
You witnessed the accident, write to the traffic officer.
Or 4:
As she vigorously rubs away, the yelling continues, and the room full of. Your classmate,
Mary, has dropped out of school because her parents have lost their jobs during the COVID19
lock down. Her uncle picks her up, promising to give her the care she needs. The uncle
operates a bar and orders the girl to work in the bar as a barmaid. Life becomes unbearable
for her and she requests your mother to talk to her uncle so that he can abandon the idea of
forcing her to work in a bar and allow her to return to school.
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Write a dialogue your mother would hold with Mary’s uncle, convincing him to
retract/reconsider his idea and return Mary to school.
