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English Comprehension Test
A Candle in the Dark, by Adèle Geras
This is part of a story set in Germany 1938, during the time Hitler was in power. It
takes place during ‘Kristalnacht,’ or ‘The Night of the Broken Glass’ a night when all
the Jews in Germany were attacked at the same time. Jewish shops and houses, and
all their contents, were smashed and destroyed.
Clara could see how white her mother's face was, how tightly her lips were
clamped together, and how her hands trembled as she poured out the coffee. She
could hear, in the distance, a rhythmic pounding that was coming nearer and nearer. I
know that sound, she thought. I've heard it before. It's ‘Them,’ marching. 'They' were
the Nazis. Clara tried not to say that word, even to her self. It was an ugly, black
little word that buzzed in her head and reminded her of spiders; the spider-symbol of
the Swastika which was on every flag now, and on every street, made her feel a little
ill. Nothing was the same any more, not since Herr Hitler had become Chancellor.
Everything had changed. Clara remembered the first time she had read a notice on a
shop window: 'Jews are not wanted as customers in this shop.' She had turned to her
mother in horror.
'But this is Tante Trude's drapery! We always come here.'
'From now on,' said Lotte, 'If Trude serves us it will cause trouble for her.'
'She likes me,' Clara said. 'I know she likes me. Last time we were in the shop,
she gave me nearly half a metre of pink ribbon for Angelika's petticoat. Real satin
ribbon.'
'Poor Angelika!' Lotte tried to make light of it. 'Soon she will cease to be the
best-dressed doll in town. Come, we will try to find a draper somewhere else.'
Everything was different. Elsa, who had been coming to the flat since Clara
was a baby to help with the cleaning and the cooking, didn't come any longer.
Working for Jewish families was frowned upon, and Clara had heard her father say,
sadly, that soon even Nussbaum and Sons, the furniture store that had been in the
family for years and years, would be theirs no longer. No Jew would be allowed to
own anything.
Losing her best friend, though - that was the very worst of all. At first, when
Marianne moved from her usual place in the classroom to sit beside Monika, Clara
couldn't understand why.
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'My father told me I mustn't sit next to you any longer,' Marianne said. 'So I
can't!'
Clara walked home from school that day all by herself for the first time. A fog
of tears had filled her eyes, so that she could hardly find her way. Now she went to a
Jewish school and hardly ever saw Marianne. Only once, in the street, the person
whom she had loved best in the world after Mama and Papa and Maxi had crossed
over to the other pavement to avoid her.
'Try not to cry when such things happen,' Clara's mother had told her. 'I know
how much it must have hurt you, but don't give her the satisfaction. Pretend you don't
care.'
Clara thought of these things as the noises grew louder and louder, outside in the
street. Inside, there was nothing but silence. Suddenly, Mitzi, the new black-andwhite-kitten, raced out from behind Maxi's bedroom door and fled across the floor.
She squeezed herself into the tiny gap between the bottom of the bookcase and the
floor. Maxi came chasing into the salon after her, dressed in his nightclothes.
'Mama, there's shouting! Mitzi is frightened . . . she ran away . . .'
'Come and sit here next to me, Maxi, and keep very quiet till the noise is
finished. Mitzi is under the bookcase. She is quite safe, liebling.'
'But why are they shouting? What are they doing? Will they come here?'
'Sssh! Sit quietly and maybe they will go soon,' said Lotte.
Questions:
1. Explain the following words in the context of the story:
(5 marks)
a) ‘clamped’ (line 1)
b) ‘buzzed’ (line 6)
c) ‘frowned upon’ (line 21)
2. What do you think the following phrases mean?
(4 marks)
a) ‘It was an ugly, black little word’ (line 5)
b) ‘the furniture store that had been in the family for years and years’
(line 22)
c) ‘her usual place’ (line 26)
d) ‘a fog of tears’
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3. How do you think Clara felt when she realised that there were shops her family
were no longer allowed in? Whose shop will she miss the most?
(5 marks)
4. Describe in your own words and give reasons why Clara’s mother was so
scared.
(4 marks)
5. Why do you think Marianne moves away from Clara? Is it really because she
doesn’t like her any more?
(3 marks)
6. What was Clara’s reaction to what Marianne does to her?
(2 marks)
7. Lotte, Clara’s mother says that ‘maybe they will go soon.’ Write in your own
words who ‘they’ are, and if they really will go away soon.
(5 marks)
8.
Who is Maxi? Using the text, describe how he acts and how he must be feeling
about what is happening.
(4 marks)
9. Imagine you are Clara, sitting, scared, with Lotte. Continue the story from the
end of the passage, writing about what you maybe feeling and what happens
next. You should try and write about 10 lines.
(8 marks)
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Section A: Reading Comprehension
Spend up to 20 minutes on this section. Read the passage carefully
and then answer the questions that follow.
In this extract, which is at the beginning of a novel, Ralph has just finished watching a play at the
Palace Theatre.
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The hush in the theatre was electric. Even as the curtain hit the stage there was still a dumb
silence and then it was broken suddenly by great waves of applause. Looking down at the
audience from the gallery, his hands smarting with the ferocity of his clapping, Ralph could
see people hurriedly wiping away their tears. The curtain sprang up revealing the cast in
their Victorian costumes, holding hands. There was only one man, Basil Duke. He had
played Albert Feathers, the blackmailing scoundrel of a nephew.
From below Ralph could hear cheering. He applauded with even more vigour, yelling with
them. It was one of the most magical moments in the Palace Theatre for months.
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Elspeth Harding, who had played the murderess, Ellen Creed, stepped forward and the
audience roared their appreciation. The women in the box office had been right, thought
Ralph. She did have star quality.
Basil Duke had star quality too. But of a different kind. He was the actor that Ralph most
wanted to be like. He was totally different in each part he played, almost unrecognisable at
times.
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The actress, smiling with pleasure, indicated the cast and they all bowed again to
tumultuous applause. She lifted her hand and gradually the auditorium grew quiet. ‘Ladies
and gentlemen, on behalf of myself and the entire company,’ she began in her deep husky
voice, ‘we thank you for the way you have received our play tonight.’
The Billy Dixon Trio in the pit began to play the introductory notes of ‘God save the King’
and four hundred and fifty seats slammed noisily back as everyone stood for the National
Anthem.
As soon as it had finished the curtain came down and the theatre was buzzing with chatter.
Down in the pit the three musicians had disappeared with their usual speed. Ralph stayed
leaning over the railing, drinking in the red, cream and gilt of the Edwardian theatre, the
nymphs and shepherdesses on the ceiling, the chandeliers, the endless rows of shabby red
velvet-coloured chairs. He was conscious that it might be his last Friday night here if he
couldn’t find a job.
He made up his mind there and then to knock on one of those doors that night while he
had some courage left.
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He drew away from the railing and leapt up the steps to the swing doorway. Pausing for a
moment he took a last glance back down the stage now hidden by an immense red and
gold curtain.
‘One night,’ he muttered with determination, ‘one night I’ll be playing here.’ And he pushed
the doors open and headed for the next flight of stairs.
Now answer each of the following questions in full sentences.
You will be awarded marks for your spelling, punctuation and grammar, so
check your answers once you have finished.
1. Name two of the characters in the play that the actors are performing. [2 marks]
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2. Re-read the first paragraph (lines 1-6). In your own words, explain how the
audience reacted to the play.
[3 marks]
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3. Look closely at lines 19-27. How does the author make the theatre seem exciting
and interesting? In your answer, refer to two examples from the text and explain
their effect. You can use quotations if you wish.
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4. Explain the meanings of the following words, which are in bold in the passage. You
do not need to write in full sentences.
[3 marks]
a. tumultuous (line 16)
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b. conscious (line 26)
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c. immense (line 31)
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5. In the following extract you will find several mistakes in spelling and punctuation.
Copy out the extract, putting in the correct punctuation and spelling.
[5 marks]
ralph relly wants to be a actor and its his dream to spend his Life in the theeter, he is
going try to get a job their
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Section B: Composition
Spend up to 25 minutes on this section.
Answer the following question:
Write at least two more paragraphs, describing what happens next to Ralph.
You do not have to finish the story – just include some interesting details
about what he does next and how he feels about it.
 Use interesting descriptions and details in your writing.
 Pay close attention to your spelling, punctuation and grammar.
 Use the lines printed on the exam paper for your writing.
[20 marks]
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Section A: Reading Comprehension
Spend up to 20 minutes on this section. Read the passage carefully
and then answer the questions that follow.
In this extract, which is from the opening to a novel, Meshak and his father, Otis, are travelling to
Gloucester.
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Meshak tightened the straps round the mule’s belly. He ignored the faint kitten-like wails
which came from the sacks and tried not to look at the sneering face of the man he called
his father. From his driving seat Otis peered round the covered wagon and flicked his whip
at him. Jester, the brown scraggy lurcher, shadowed Meshak among the mules as the boy
tried to compensate for his negligence by meticulously checking all the panniers. The
other dogs, tied to the wagon by bits of string, barked their heads off and leapt and twisted
in a frenzied bid to pull free. They didn’t calm down till Meshak and Jester were back on
the wagon.
Meshak was an awkward lad. At fourteen he was taller than his father and growing. But he
looked as if he had been put together all wrong; his body was all over the place, his head
too large, his ears too sticking out, his lips never quite closing. There seemed always to be a
sleeve at his runny nose. His arms and legs dangled from his body, uncoordinated and
clumsy; he dropped things, tripped over things, fumbled and stumbled. All this meant that
people – especially his father – shouted at him, cuffed him, jeered and sneered at him, so his
whole look was that of a cowering dog. If he had had a tail, it would have always been
between his legs, as he slunk by waiting for the next kick. He had a vulnerable, infantile look,
with his pale-freckled face beneath a stack of wild red hair, and his large, watery, blue eyes,
which often stared round at the world with incomprehension. But no one ever saw him cry
or laugh. People called him a simpleton – a loon – and wondered why his father hadn’t
abandoned him years ago. People assumed that he was nothing but an empty vessel, lacking
in all substance, feeling or emotion; neither able to love nor in need of being loved.
How could Meshak speak of his terrors? There was no one to tell except Jester. He saw
trolls and witches; evil creatures crouching in shadows, lingering round trees, hanging in the
sky; demons with hairless heads and glinting teeth. He never knew when they would come
to poke and prod him, to torment his sleep and rampage through his head. Even now, the
darkness of the forest they had just left behind seemed to be creeping down the road after
them, gobbling up their tracks, soon to consume them too.
His father was mean with the lamps and only kept one up in front for the road ahead, so
Meshak hated being out on the highway at night. He was afraid of the dark. It was not just
the spirit world which frightened him, but the real world of robbers and highwaymen,
especially near the forest. And then there were the wild animals. He hated the green eyes
which glimmered in the dense undergrowth, and the scufflings and gruntings of unseen
creatures stalking among the trees.
Now answer each of the following questions in full sentences.
You will be awarded marks for your spelling, punctuation and grammar, so
check your answers once you have finished.
1. In your own words, describe Meshak’s physical appearance.
[2 marks]
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2. Explain, in your own words, what each of the following sentences shows about
Meshak.
a. “If he had had a tail, it would have always been between his legs” (line 15-16)
[2 marks]
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b. “his large, watery, blue eyes […] stared round at the world with
incomprehension” (line 17-18)
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3. Look closely at lines 22-27. How does the author show Meshak’s fears? Refer to at
least two details from the paragraph.
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4. Explain the meanings of the following two words, which are in bold in the passage.
You do not need to write in full sentences.
[2 marks]
a. negligence (line 5)
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b. frenzied (line 7)
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5. In the following extract you will find several mistakes in spelling and punctuation.
Copy out the extract, putting in the correct punctuation and spelling.
[5 marks]
meeshak and his father are travelling toogeter, their going to catch a ferrie witch will
take them too gloucester and there they will trie to find someware to stay.
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Mark for SPaG
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Total mark for
Section A
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Please turn over for Section B
Section B: Composition
Spend up to 25 minutes on this section.
Answer the following question:
Continue the story, describing the rest of Meshak’s journey. You do not have
to finish the story – just include some interesting details about where he goes
next and how he feels about it.
 Remember to plan the events carefully so that your story is wellstructured.
 Use interesting descriptions and details in your writing.
 Pay close attention to your spelling, punctuation and grammar.
 Use the lines printed on the exam paper for your writing.
[20 marks]
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