DPS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

SUBJECT: English
TOPIC: Writer’s Effect and Article (Practice Test 1)
Name: Total: 25 marks
Grade: 10 IGCSE Prepared by: Rita
Banerji

A window on the world – my years with chimpanzees

This text is part of a longer account. The narrator, Jane Goodall, is a scientist and expert in
primate behaviour as well as an animal rights campaigner. She has recently returned to the
jungle.

I woke before the alarm. Breakfast – banana and coffee – was soon finished. Minutes later,
pockets stuffed with camera, notebook, pencil, and a handful of raisins for lunch, I headed for the
place where the evening before I’d watched 18 chimpanzees settle down for the night, and
waited.

Rustling of leaves above signalled that the group was waking. Peering into the tree where Fifi
had made a nest for herself and infant Flossi, I saw their silhouettes. Moments later eight-year-
old daughter Fanni climbed up from her nest nearby, a small fluffy shape against the sky. Fifi’s
other two offspring, adult Freud and adolescent Frodo, had nested further up the slope.

In the trees, other chimpanzees of the group moved about, preparing for their day. Some began
to feed. I remained still, aware that pandemonium might yet break out, but utterly content to be
here after months away – long weeks of lectures and lobbying in the USA and Europe. This was
my first day back with the chimps. I planned to enjoy getting reacquainted with my old friends,
taking pictures and getting my climbing legs back.

It was Greybeard who led off, 30 minutes later, pausing twice to make sure the rest were
following. We headed north, then plunged into the valley and with frequent pauses for feeding,
made our way up the opposite slope. By the time the eastern sky grew brighter, we were high
above the lake. The chimps stopped and groomed for a while, enjoying the warm morning
sunshine.

From where I sat, I could look over the valley at the grassy ridge that in the early days was my
vantage point before the chimps had learned to trust this human and I’d learned how to avoid
trouble. From there I’d watched the chimpanzees through my binoculars. A surge of memories
flooded back. Gradually in those days I’d pieced together fragments from their daily lives, feeding
habits, travel routes and social structure. Thinking back I relived the thrill of watching Greybeard
fishing for termites with stems of grass – picking a wide blade of grass and trimming it carefully
so it could be poked into the narrow passage of the termite mound. What a discovery – humans
weren’t the only tool-making animals! Nor were chimpanzees the placid vegetarians people
supposed. I shuddered, remembering grim years when the males of the community had waged
war against a neighbouring chimp group.

My attention jerked back to the present with a sudden outbreak of chimpanzee calls. Looking up
through the canopy I saw a grey, heavy sky. Growing darkness brought stillness, punctuated only
by distant drumming of thunder. Then the rain began. As the rain got heavier Frodo started
leaping about in the tree tops above, swinging vigorously from one branch to the next, becoming
wilder and more daring as fatter, faster drops found their way through the dense canopy.
Suddenly, heralded by a thunderclap that shook the mountains and growled on and on, bouncing
from peak to peak, the clouds released such torrential rain that sky and earth seemed joined by
moving water. Frodo stopped playing and he, like the others, sat hunched and still, close to the
trunk of a tree.

It must have taken about an hour before the rain eased off and the heart of the storm swept
away. The chimps climbed down and moved off through the soaked, dripping vegetation. I
followed awkwardly, my cold wet clothes hindering movement. A pale watery sun had appeared.
Its light caught the raindrops so that the world seemed hung with diamonds. I crouched low to
avoid destroying a spider’s web that stretched, exquisite and fragile, across the trail. The leaves
were brilliant, vivid, veined greens in the soft sunlight; wet trunks and branches gleamed like
ebony; the black coats of the chimps were shot with flashes of coppery-brown. I stayed until the
chimps nested.

How much we still have to learn …

Read the Text, A window on the world – my years with chimpanzees, and then answer
Questions 2(a)–2(d) on this question paper.

Question 2 (To be done on 23rd January in class)

2 a) Identify a word or phrase from the text which suggests the same idea as the words
underlined:

i. The writer knew that although the chimps’ day had begun quietly this could change to

a chaotic, noisy situation.

……………………………………………………………………………………….…………… [1]

ii. The chimps made regular stops to eat.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….… [1]

iii. The grassy ridge provided a place from which to observe the chimps.

………………………………………………………………………………………….………… [1]

iv. People thought that chimps were calm, even-tempered animals who did not eat meat.

………………………………………………………………………………………….………… [1]

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 b) Using your own words explain what the writer means by each of the words underlined.

A surge of memories flooded back. Gradually in those days I’d pieced together fragments
from their daily lives, feeding habits, travel routes and social structure. Thinking back I relived
the thrill of watching Greybeard fishing for termites with stems of grass – picking a wide blade
of grass and trimming it carefully so it could be poked into the narrow passage of the termite
mound. What a discovery – humans weren’t the only tool-making animals!

i. habits: ………………………….…………………………………………………… ………………… [1]

ii. picking: …………………………….…………………………………….…………….………….… [1]

iii. trimming : ……………………………………………………………...…...…….……..…………... [1]

c) Use one example from the text below to explain how the writer conveys the attitude of
Sacha about the road trip.

Use your own words in your explanation.

A surge of memories flooded back. Gradually in those days I’d pieced together fragments from
their daily lives, feeding habits, travel routes and social structure. Thinking back I relived the thrill
of watching Greybeard fishing for termites with stems of grass – picking a wide blade of grass
and trimming it carefully so it could be poked into the narrow passage of the termite mound. What
a discovery – humans weren’t the only tool-making animals!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [3

d) Re-read paragraphs 6 and 7.

Paragraph 6 begins ‘My attention …’ and is about the rainstorm and Frodo’s reaction to it.

Paragraph 7 begins ‘It must have taken …’ and describes the scene after the storm has
passed

Explain how the writer uses language to convey meaning and to create effect in these
paragraphs. Choose three examples of words or phrases from each paragraph to support
your answer. Your choices should include the use of imagery.

Write about 200 to 300 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer.

Question 3 (To be done on 24th January in class)

Re-read the Text, A window on the world – my years with chimpanzees, in the insert and then
answer Question 3.

You are a journalist writing a magazine article about Jane Goodall’s work. In your magazine
article you should:

• explain what Jane’s work involves and the challenges it presents

Write the words of the magazine article. Base your magazine article on what you have read in the
Text , but be careful to use your own words. Address each of the three bullets points.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 10 marks for the
quality of your writing.

Question 2d, and 3 you will do in your note book