Cameroon GCE A/L June 2018 English Language

Cameroon GCE A/L June 2018 English Language

Cameroon GCE A/L June 2018 English Language

SECTION A
SUMMARY AND TEXT RECONSTRUCTION (30 Marks)
QUESTION 1: SUMMARY (15 marks)
Read the following text on the gorilla and summarize it in not more than two paragraphs of 150 words

The gorilla is -something of a paradox in the African scene. People think they know him well. for hundreds of years or more he has been killed, captured and imprisoned in zoos. His bones have been mounted in natural history museums everywhere, and he has always exerted a strong fascination to many scientists and romantics.
Yet, the fact is, we know very little about gorillas. No really satisfactory photograph has ever been taken of one in a wild state; no zoologist has been able to keep the animal under close and constant observation in the dark jungles in which it lives. Even the American naturalist Carl Akeley was unable to discover how long the gorilla lives, or how or why it dies. Neither was he able to define the exact social. pattern of the family group.
The little that is known about gorillas certainly makes you want to know more. Sir Julian Huxley has recorded that thrice in the London Zoo, he saw the eighteen -month-old specimen trace the outline of its own shadow with its finger. No similar artistic initiative has been recorded for any other anthropoid. Huxley speaks too of a traveler seeing a male gorilla help a female up a steep- rock-step and gallantry of that kind is certainly not normal among animals.
According to some observers, he courts and makes love in the same way as humans do. Once the family is established, it clings together. It feeds in groups in the thick bamboo jungles on the mountains in the day time, each animal making a tidy pile of its food and squatting down to eat it, and by night each member of the family makes its own bed by bending over and interlacing the bamboo fronts so as to form a kind of oval-shaped nest which is as comfortable and springy as a mattress. The father tends to make his bed just a foot or two from the ground; the mother a little higher, and the children are safely lodged in the branches up above
When he walks, the gorilla takes the main weight on his short legs and rests lightly on the knuckles
of his hands at the end of his very long arms. When he stands upright a full-grown male rise to six feet. His strength is incredible — certainly great enough to take a man in his arms and wrench his head off.
Gorillas appear to talk to one another in high voices not unlike those of women, or by smacking their lips or striking their cheeks, and the female, if alarmed, will scream. The male is capable of making frightening demonstrations in the face of danger. He stays behind while his family gets away, rising to his feet and uttering a terrifying roar. Sometimes, he will drum on his chest and shake the trees around him with every appearance of uncontrollable fury. In extremity, he will charge.

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                                                 QUESTION 2: TEXT RECONSTRUCTION (15 marks)

Read the following email received by Levi. Then copy and complete the reconstructed form of the letter that follows by filling the blanks with the correct words or expressions.
Dear Levi,
Sony! I haven’t communicated with you since I got to Europe. I was told the phone I had in Cameroon may not function as soon as I leave the country, so I gave it to my younger sister as a parting gift. I regret having no phone but my sister has promised to get one for me in due course. I also promise that as soon as I get one, we shall communicate on Facebook and WhatsApp; and I’ll brief you on every happening here.
I am having a nice time though. I accompany my sister to all the supermarkets to buy groceries for the family and I am attending parties and making new friends.
My school is still to resume but I have visited it twice already and my new friends are helping me to know my way around; getting a bus to school and to various parts of the town, and going shopping. I am also learning to live on pack meals and hamburgers for I’ve been told that once school starts, I’ll have to live on “fast food” most of the time.
Can you send me Ako’s email address? Please, greet Gerald, Marie and the others. Tell them I’ll get in touch with them as soon as possible. I miss you all a lot already.
Love,
Brandon
RECONSTRUCTED FORM

In the letter, Brandon                (1) he                (2) sorry that he            (3) with Levi since he got
to Europe. This was because he                          (4) that the phone he           (5)         (6) function as soon as he                      (7)
the country, so he gave it to              (8) younger sister as a parting gift. He                         (9) no phone but his elder sister                       (10) promised to get one for                          (11) in due course. He also                       (12) that as
soon as                              (13) one, he                                 (14) communicate on Facebook and WhatsApp and
                                   (I5) brief                                   (16) on every happening                                    (17)
Brandon                               (18) Levi that he                               (19) a nice time. He                          (20) sister to all the supermarkets to buy groceries for the family and he                         (21) attending parties and making new friends.
His school                                 (22) still to resume, but he                                  (23) visited it twice already and his new friends                    (24) helping                          (25) to know his way around. He                                     (26) also learning to live on pack
meals and hamburgers for he                           (27) that once school                          (28) he                        (29) have to live on
fast food most of the time.
He                                  (30) greetings to Gerald, Marie and the others and said he would get in touch with them as
soon as possible.

                                                                                               SECTION B
                                                                                     COMPOSITION (20 Marks)
MARK DISTRIBUTION:
Content and Organization                 (06 marks)
Expression               (08 marks)
Accuracy              (06 marks)

Choose ONE topic to write about from the list below. You are advised to write clearly and effectively,
to spell and punctuate correctly, and to ensure that your writing is appropriate in style and content to the topic chosen. Avoid obscene language and do not disclose your identity. You should write between 500 and 550 words.

(a) Write a story based on the proverb, “Money is the root of all evil.”
(b) Pollution.
(c) Describe a fright fill experience you had and say how it has affected you.
(d) “Beauty is merely a matter of opinion.” Do you agree?
(e) Crime wave is on an upsurge in our community. What are the reasons for this situation and what can be done to curb it?
(f) Write a story, a description or other form of composition suggested by one of the following pictures. Your composition may be directly about the subject of the picture or take some central suggestion(s) from it. There must be a clear connection between the picture and your composition.

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                                                                                                   SECTION C
                                                                                PRESCRIBED TEXT (20 Marks)
                                                                                      Answer ONE question only,

In works of arts, writers do not only point to the negative side of life but paint a positive picture of the society. Illustrate this statement using any three prescribed texts.
One of the main intentions of writers is to reform their society of its many ills. (20 marks]
Use any three texts from the prescribed texts to justify this assertion. (20 marks]
How is setting important to your understanding of any three prescribed texts? (20 marks)
Show how writers use irony to good effect in any three prescribed texts of your choice. (20 marks)