English Exam Preparation
Speaking Component
Memorization
1. Recite ‘Ozymandias’
2. Recite ‘A Magic Moment I Remember’
Spoken English
3. Read out the following passage with clear diction, accurate expression, and correct
pronunciation:
‘I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I
remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near
the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned,
about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have
been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.’
From The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Reading Component
Poetry
1. What is an iamb?
2. What is a trochee?
3. What is iambic pentameter? You must include the following terms in your definition:
a. Syllable
b. Stressed
c. Unstressed
d. Foot
4. Give an example – one line of a poem (it can be from a poem you have studied)
5. What metre is tetrameter?
6. What is anacrusis?
7. What is hypercatalexis?
8. What is another term for hypercatalexis?
9. Give an example – one line of a poem (it can be from a poem you have studied)
10. What are the metres of these poems? Annotate a line of each to show your working.
a. On a day, alack a day,
Love whose month is ever May,
Spied a blossom passing fair,
Playing wanton in the air.
b. Bent double like old beggars under sacks,
Knock kneed, couching like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
c. She sits in the tawny vapor,
That the city lanes have uprolled,
Behind whose webby fold on fold,
Like a waning taper,
The street-lamp glimmers cold.
11. What is a stanza?
12. Define enjambment with an example.
13. Define caesura with an example.
14. Define end-stopped with an example.
15. Annotate where you find enjambment, caesura, and an end-stopped line in the following stanza:
‘Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!’ An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time.
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime. ‘
Grammar
For the following three questions, use these key terms in your answers:
a.
b.
c.
d.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Clause
Dependent
Independent
Conjunction
What is a simple sentence? Give an example.
What is a compound sentence? Give an example.
What is a complex sentence? Give an example.
Label the sentence types in this extract, including the types of clause:
The weight of the cricketer was 51.40kg; her BMI was in the standard range at 20.0. Being so
healthy, she was able to continue to play her favorite sport long into her forties. She played for
England against Pakistan when she was twenty-one and she scored a double century on her
debut, before bowling out seven for forty-five. She was inspired by the inimitable Sobhana
Mostary.
Punctuation
5. What is an ellipsis?
6. For which two reasons is an ellipsis used?
7. Put the colon in the following sentence:
The goal was scored for three reasons poor defense, magnificent footwork, and a dreadful
goalie.
8. Put the semi-colon in the following sentence:
Several students had done well in class they had earned many Gold Awards for hard work.
9. Put the punctuation in the following extract, which contains direct speech:
Maths science and English are important subjects said Mr Simon but we should not neglect the
creative arts which have been a part of human culture and expression for thousands of years
Spelling
1. Ubiquitous – found everywhere
2. Penumbral – partial shadow, like the light around a planet
3. Onomatopoeia – when a word sounds like the sound it describes
4. Erudition – sounding well-educated or well-read
5. Inconsequential – of no consequence
6. Accommodation – living space
7. Recessive – going backward/needing two alleles to manifest a genetic trait
8. Leisure – not at work
9. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia – fear of long words
10. Honorificabilitudinitatibus – worthy of honour
Definitions
1. What do the following loanwords mean:
a. Mea culpa
b. Carpe diem
c. Per se
d. Ad infinitum
e. Blitzkrieg
f. Doppelganger
g. Zeitgeist
h. Per capita
i. Schadenfreude
j. Deja-vu
2. What kind of sensory imagery are the following:
a. Gustatory
b. Olfactory
c. Visual
d. Tactile
e. Aural
3. What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor?
4. What is the difference between personification and zoomorphism?
Genre
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Define genre.
Name three genres.
List three typical features of the Gothic genre.
List three features of the Adventure genre.
List is the differences between prose and drama?
Writing Component
1. Write a description inspired by the following image:
2. Write a narrative using the following prompt:
An unforgettable moment.
Use Freytag’s Pyramid to plan your answer.
3. Write a letter to the school governors requesting that they make changes to the school in the
best interests of the students.