English-literacy
2009 School Certificate Test mock-up
General Instructions
Total marks – 90
■
Reading time: 10 minutes
Section 1 — Reading/Viewing
■
Working time: 2 hours
Pages 2–14
■
Write using black or blue pen
■
Attempt ALL questions
■
Do NOT write in pencil
60 marks
Allow about 1 hour and 20 minutes for
this section
■
Detach the Stimulus Booklet
provided at the end of this paper,
and use it to answer
Questions 1–52
Questions 1–45
Questions 46–52
■
Write your Centre Number and
Student Number at the top of
pages 13, 15 and 17
Section 2 — Writing
45 marks
15 marks
Pages 15–19
30 marks
Allow about 40 minutes for this section
This section has TWO questions
Question 53
10 marks
Question 54
20 marks
S6
Section 1 — Reading/Viewing
60 marks
Allow about 1 hour and 20 minutes for this section
Questions 1–45
Questions 46–52
45 marks
15 marks
Use the Section 1 Answer Sheet for Questions 1–45
Instructions for answering multiple-choice questions
■
Select the alternative A, B, C or D that best answers the question. Fill in the
response oval completely.
Sample:
2+4=
(A) 2
A
■
(C) 8
B
C
(D) 9
D
If you think you have made a mistake, put a cross through the incorrect
answer and fill in the new answer.
A
■
(B) 6
B
C
D
If you change your mind and have crossed out what you consider to be the
correct answer, then indicate the correct answer by writing the word correct
and drawing an arrow as follows.
correct
A
B
C
– 2 –
D
Text 1 — Poem
Read Text 1 ‘Queensland Day, Queensland Night’ on page 1 of the Stimulus Booklet
and answer Questions 1–10.
1
‘With its ankles wet in summer’ (line 3) is an example of which language feature?
(A) Cliché
(B) Explanation
(C) Personification
(D) Symbolism
2
Why does Mum hang out the washing ‘By touch’ (lines 16–17)?
(A) Because it is night time
(B) Because she is on her own
(C) To tell if it is dry
(D) To feel for spiders
3
Why does the poet use expressions such as ‘(Y-u-c-k!)’ in line 27, and ‘(Oh great!)’
in line 36?
(A) To demonstrate delight
(B) To demonstrate distress
(C) To demonstrate the poem’s location
(D) To demonstrate a more personal voice
4
Which language feature is used in ‘cane-fields blaze/Like distant circus lights’
(lines 28–29)?
(A) Antonym
(B) Exposition
(C) Metaphor
(D) Simile
5
Which word is an example of onomatopoeia?
(A) Cicadas (line 9)
(B) Wiggle (line 12)
(C) Popping (line 26)
(D) Strutting (line 53)
– 3 –
6
To which senses does the poet most appeal in lines 31–43?
(A) Smell and taste
(B) Smell and touch
(C) Sight and taste
(D) Sight and touch
7
What is the effect of using the colours ‘black’ (line 52) and ‘flaming orange’
(line 55) in the poem?
(A) It creates a contrast between the birds.
(B) It creates a vivid image of the cockatoos.
(C) It shows the variety of bird life.
(D) It shows the poet’s knowledge of Queensland.
8
What is suggested by the description ‘Like strutting winged warriors’ (line 53)?
(A) The birds are passive.
(B) The birds are decorative.
(C) The birds are aggressive.
(D) The birds are camouflaged.
9
Which words best describe the style of writing used in this poem?
(A) Objective and reflective
(B) Objective and analytical
(C) Conversational and personal
(D) Conversational and impersonal
10
What does the poet celebrate about his home?
(A) Its culture
(B) Its diversity
(C) Its insects
(D) Its weather
– 4 –
Text 2 — Extract from a picture book
Read Text 2 ‘The Shaggy Gully Times’ on pages 2–3 of the Stimulus Booklet and
answer Questions 11–20.
In the introduction to her picture book, Jackie French says,
A country town’s weekly newspaper is the heart of its community.
The captions might be mixed up, the spelling erratic, and there may even be handwritten
corrections.
I’ve been a devoted reader of country newspapers for decades and I hope that you will enjoy
‘The Shaggy Gully Times’ just as much.
11
Which common newspaper features are shown on of this extract from
‘The Shaggy Gully Times’?
(A) Columns, letters, recipes
(B) Letters, crosswords, opinion pieces
(C) Headlines, advertisements, weather
(D) Opinion pieces, advertisements, columns
12
‘Shaun’s Sheep Salon’ (page 2) is an example of which language feature?
(A) Alliteration
(B) Assonance
(C) Repetition
(D) Rhyme
13
Which of the following in Column 2 on page 2 is an example of slang?
(A) Gaga
(B) Gully
(C) Salons
(D) Baa-baa
– 5 –
14
What is the author’s purpose in including the article ‘Why did the chicken cross
the road?’ (page 2)?
(A) To satirise politicians
(B) To satirise walking
(C) To satirise a well-known joke
(D) To satirise human driving behaviour
15
What is revealed about the animals on page 3?
(A) They like silence.
(B) They dislike dancing.
(C) They disagree about noise.
(D) They agree about when to sleep.
16
What tone is created by Jackie French through the corrections in red on page 3?
(A) Approving
(B) Humorous
(C) Negative
(D) Serious
17
What visual effect is used to create humour in the optometrist advertisement
(page 3)?
(A) The colours are pale.
(B) The sheep is wearing sunglasses.
(C) The word ‘EWE’ is in capital letters.
(D) The coffee cup stains represent eye glasses.
– 6 –
18
Why is colour used in all the advertisements?
(A) To show that animals wear clothing
(B) To emphasise the variety of news items
(C) To emphasise businesses and community events
(D) To show the new services offered by the beauty salon
19
What aspects of this text indicate that it is based on country newspapers?
(A) It has advertisements and an editorial.
(B) It has local news items and community references.
(C) It has local and national news items.
(D) It has columns and an editorial.
20
What does this extract show to be the main purpose of this picture book,
‘The Shaggy Gully Times’?
(A) To persuade people to use local businesses
(B) To provide information about country newspapers
(C) To celebrate the uniqueness of country newspapers
(D) To encourage people to be more involved in their local community
– 7 –
Text 3 — Feature article
Read Text 3 ‘Beep in touch’ on pages 4–5 of the Stimulus Booklet and answer
Questions 21–30.
21
Why does the author use statistics in the article?
(A) To break up the written text
(B)
To show the author is numerate
(C) To provide equity to the argument
(D) To add credibility to the argument
22
What is the meaning of ‘tech-savvy’ as used in line 8?
(A) Knowledgeable about electronic devices
(B)
Knowledgeable about the expense of electronic devices
(C) Knowledgeable about the ownership of electronic devices
(D) Knowledgeable about the popularity of electronic devices
23
Which quotation is an example of colloquial language?
(A) ‘whizzbang functions’ (line 1)
(B)
‘relative embarrassment’ (line 7)
(C) ‘eager for innovation’ (line 16)
(D) ‘chagrin of operators’ (line 33)
24
What does the word ‘lucrative’ mean as used in line 35?
(A) Economical
(B)
Inexpensive
(C) Productive
(D) Profitable
25
Why are teenagers avoiding new functions such as MMS (picture messaging)?
(A) MMS is too slow.
(B)
MMS is too expensive.
(C) Teenagers do not like having their photo taken.
(D) Teenagers do not like their parents’ prying eyes.
– 8 –
26
How does the cartoon support the ideas expressed in the article?
(A) It shows that technology is expensive.
(B) It raises awareness of the dangers of mobile phones.
(C) It demonstrates parental approval of mobile phones.
(D) It represents that youth communication has changed.
27
What is meant by text messaging being described as ‘immediate and within their
control’ (lines 52–53)?
(A) It is direct and inefficient.
(B) It is expensive and unique.
(C) It is quick and manageable.
(D) It is modern and fashionable.
28
‘Txtspk’ (line 56) is an example of which language feature?
(A) Jargon
(B) Tautology
(C) Homonym
(D) Oxymoron
29
Which of the following quotations is an example of irony?
(A) ‘passing e-notes in class’ (line 5)
(B) ‘old-fashioned text message’ (lines 9–10)
(C) ‘faster and trendier functions’ (lines 14–15)
(D) ‘parents often don’t understand’ (lines 54–55)
30
What language feature is used in the title ‘Beep in touch’?
(A) Analogy
(B) Consonance
(C) Hyperbole
(D) Pun
– 9 –
Text 4 — Magazine article
Read Text 4 ‘Aqua Cops’ on pages 6–8 of the Stimulus Booklet and answer
Questions 31–45.
31
What is the meaning of ‘It’s anything but a pleasure cruise’ as used in line 2?
(A) The job is competitive.
(B) The job is difficult.
(C) The job is glamorous.
(D) The job is satisfying.
32
What atmosphere is created in lines 3–5?
(A) Claustrophobic
(B) Melodramatic
(C) Pensive
(D) Suspenseful
33
Which of the following is an example of an understatement?
(A) ‘rusting vessel remaining under 24-hour guard’ (lines 9–10)
(B) ‘not quite a normal day’ (line 13)
(C) ‘use boats instead of police cars’ (line 18)
(D) ‘sometimes their work is immensely rewarding’ (line 31)
34
What is meant by ‘the water police were once regarded as the “NRMA of the
Harbour”’ (lines 15–16)?
(A) They helped boats in trouble.
(B) They helped out in wet weather.
(C) They helped teach people to drive boats.
(D) They helped boat owners with insurance.
35
What does the word ‘coveted’ mean as used in line 19?
(A) Confused
(B) Controlled
(C) Desired
(D) Despised
– 10 –
36
What is the purpose of the rhetorical question ‘So what is life like for the water
police’ (line 26)?
(A) To encourage the readers to be safe on the water
(B) To encourage the readers to join the water police
(C) To encourage the readers to read the rest of the article
(D) To encourage the readers to provide answers themselves
37
What suggestion is made about the job of the water police by using the words
‘stricken’ and ‘plucked’ (line 31)?
(A) They protect naval vessels from protesters.
(B) They rescue people in dangerous situations.
(C) They rescue people who do not have lifejackets.
(D) They fine people who do not have boat licences.
38
Why does Ellen Connolly believe that few women join the water police
(lines 41–44)?
(A) Because of the great physical demands
(B) Because there are few female naval officers
(C) Because it is a job that requires long hours
(D) Because it involves too many unpleasant tasks
39
Which expression best indicates that the action is about to change pace?
(A) ‘It is an awesome sight’ (line 48).
(B) ‘Perhaps a bit too smoothly’ (line 49).
(C) ‘Robinson is far from impressed’ (line 57).
(D) ‘The escort continues, uninterrupted’ (lines 58–59).
40
Which word best describes the type of language used in ‘a quick cuppa’ (line 61)?
(A) Colloquial
(B) Journalese
(C) Satirical
(D) Technical
– 11 –
41
Why did the water police need to change their headquarters (lines 63–68)?
(A) Squatters had taken over.
(B) They needed expanded premises.
(C) The old headquarters had termites.
(D) They needed to be closer to the water.
42
What type of relationship between the police officer and the fishermen is
indicated by the dialogue in lines 76–78?
(A) Hostile, angry and tense
(B) Relaxed, wary and distant
(C) Jovial, anxious and formal
(D) Easygoing, friendly and casual
43
What is emphasised by the repetition of ‘no’ in lines 81–82?
(A) The fishermen’s foolish behaviour
(B) The fishermen’s radical behaviour
(C) The policeman’s apathetic attitude
(D) The policeman’s aggressive attitude
44
What attitude does the writer display by using the word ‘Oops’ in line 95?
(A) Assertion
(B) Conceit
(C) Empathy
(D) Sympathy
45
What is the intended function of the sub-headings?
(A) To make the information easier to locate
(B) To show the tedious nature of the work
(C) To reflect the variety of tasks in one day
(D) To emphasise the personal reflection of the writer
– 12 –
© Board of Studies NSW 2008
2009 School Certificate Test mock-up
English-literacy
Centre Number
Section 1 (continued)
Student Number
Text 5 — Extract from a short story
Read Text 5 ‘Tanners End‘ on pages 9–10 of the Stimulus Booklet and answer
Questions 46–52 in the spaces provided.
46
Why did Jessica walk from ‘room to room’?
1
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47
How do readers know that Tanners End is a successful property?
1
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48
Identify the technique used in ‘a stubborn trickle’ (line 17) and explain
what it suggests about the creek.
2
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49
What effect is created by the imagery in lines 18–22? Support your
answer with references from the extract.
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S7
– 13 –
3
50
What characteristics of the Bushranger drew Jessica ‘like a magnet’
(lines 40–44)?
2
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51
Identify one example of contrast and explain how it is created.
3
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52
Other than contrast, how is the mysterious nature of the Bushranger
established by the author in the extract? Provide specific references from
the text.
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– 14 –
© Board of Studies NSW 2008
3
2009 School Certificate Test mock-up
English-literacy
Centre Number
Section 2 — Writing
Student Number
30 Marks
Allow about 40 minutes for this section
This section has TWO questions
Question 53
Question 54
10 marks
20 marks
Answer the questions in the spaces provided.
Writing Task 1 — Letter to the Editor
Allow about 15 minutes to answer this question
Answer the question in the space provided.
In your answer you will be assessed on how well you:
■ express your opinion in the form of a letter to the Editor using language and
structure appropriate to audience and purpose
■ use spelling, punctuation, grammar and paragraphing appropriate to the task
Question 53 (10 marks)
Write a letter to the editor of a magazine aimed at parents. Your letter is in response to
a series of articles about the different ways teenagers communicate.
In this letter, express your opinion on the issue of teenage communication. You may
write from the point of view of either a parent or a teenager.
Write your letter on the lines provided on page 16.
S8
– 15 –
Dear Editor,
In response to your recent articles about teenage communication, I would
like to say that
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Yours faithfully
M. C. Person
End of Question 53
– 16 –
© Board of Studies NSW 2008
2009 School Certificate Test mock-up
English-literacy
Centre Number
Section 2 (continued)
Student Number
Allow about 25 minutes for this question
Answer the question in the space provided.
In your answer you will be assessed on how well you:
■ organise, develop and sustain your ideas
■ present your ideas in a form appropriate to the task
■ use language appropriate to audience, purpose and context
■ use spelling, punctuation, grammar and paragraphing appropriate to the task
Question 54 (20 marks)
Choose ONE of the following sentences as your FIRST sentence in a short story.
Kathy arrived home clutching her prize.
OR
Lee waited for the phone to ring.
OR
A high wall and an iron gate protected the house.
OR
Sometimes at night a street seems much longer, and things not noticed during
the day are much more apparent.
Write your short story on the lines provided on pages 18 and 19.
S9
– 17 –
Question 54 (continued)
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Question 54 continues on page 19
– 18 –
Question 54 (continued)
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End of test
– 19 –
BLANK PAGE
– 20 –
© Board of Studies NSW 2008
2009 School Certificate Test mock-up
English-literacy
Stimulus Booklet
Detach this Stimulus Booklet and use it where required during the test.
Text 1 – Poem
Queensland Day, Queensland Night
5
10
15
20
25
Our house
Stands tall in the treetops
With its ankles wet in summer;
And fans push the air
Like helicopters landing
In every room.
The night reaches in
Through wide-open windows
Full of crickets, cicadas
And the flash of starlight.
Geckoes
Wiggle on the walls,
Haunting the house
And calling to each other,
Sounding half insect, half bird.
Mum hangs out the washing
By touch, in the dark
When it’s cooler.
But when I put out the bins,
My sister holds a torch
Just in case of aliens.
(That’s better!)
When we drive at night
If it rains
We hear toads under the tyres
Popping like blown-up paper bags.
(Y-u-c-k!)
And we see cane-fields blaze
Like distant circus lights.
30
35
40
45
50
55
In the day
We find red-backs in our bikes
And clouds of mossies
In the grass.
Bities get up inside our clothes
In embarrassing places.
(Oh great!)
Our feet act as prickle-detectors
As we run across the lawn.
Ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch!
There’s green ants in the tree house —
Mum battles them with a hose
Like in my computer games
(Except they win.)
There’s cracks in the earth,
And we eat what we grow.
There’s roos, foxes and rabbits.
Except the rabbits don’t know
That they’re not allowed
In Queensland.
(Nobody told them,
I guess.)
We see black cockatoos
Like strutting winged warriors,
Fierce-some
In their flaming orange head-dresses.
Or teeny-tiny sun-birds
Like bits of flying mango.
Martin Thompson
age 14
S10
–1–
Text 2 – Extract from ‘The Shaggy Gully Times’
WHY DID THE
CHICKEN CROSS
THE ROAD?
LAST WEEK poor Edith
‘Clucker’
Chicken
was
tragically run over trying to
cross the highway.
Humans must slow down
where animals live. We need
wildlife tunnels or bridges and
lots more driver education too!
Write to your member of
parliament today — even if
they ARE human!
GULLY GOES GAGA
OVER BALLET AND
BAA-BAA
SOME PEOPLE in Shaggy
Gully (not mentioning any
names) think that there
have been just too many
changes lately to our good
old-fashioned way of life.
We never had this ballet
stuff when I was at school,
and as for baa-baa salons
Once a chicken
crossed the road,
Just to reach her own abode.
Then there was a screech,
a splatt,
And poor dear Clucker
was quite flat.
Sadly missed by all her
friends at the CWA.
(Chickens’ Walking
Association)
– 2 –
… well, a good short, back,
front, bum, ears and sides
should be good enough for
any wombat. And that goes
for sheep and hippos too.
I can remember a time
when there wasn’t a single
TV set in any gum tree or
wombat hole in Shaggy Gully.
It’s time we got back to
traditional Shoddy Grunty
values, like digging holes,
scratching
and
eating
carrots!
Text 2 – (continued)
E
Dear Editor,
How can a possum get a good
night’s sleep around here?
A possum’s life isn’t just
hanging about. We work hard
every night running our Boot
and Thumper Roof-Top Tap
Dance Studio. But as soon as
we get to sleep there’s Dawn
and her blasted Chorus.
Chorus? A racket I call it. Not
one of those birds knows how
to sing in tune with the others!
And as soon as one lot stops
there’s another bird ‘singing’
E
O
all day long. Parrots, rosellas,
kookooburras …
Look, you lot. Learn to sing
together — or go to bed at dawn,
like any sensible creature!
Yours Sincerely,
Hit and Bithered
and loudest singers in Shaggy
Gully! But as soon as night
falls those blasted possums
are tapping and rapping
again! Why can’t they do a
nice quiet waltz or ballet?
Look, you lot. Learn to tiptoe
— or go to sleep at dusk, like
Dear Madmam,
How can a lorikeet get a
good night’s sleep around
here?
Our Chorus isn’t some
fly-by-night mob of amateurs
you know! We have the best
any sensible creature!
Yours sincerely,
Bleepy
Adapted from ‘The Shaggy Gully Times’
by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley
–3–
Text 3 – Feature article
Beep in touch
The latest mobiles are stuffed with whizzbang functions, but for
teenagers nothing says it like a text, writes NATALIE HANMAN.
more lucrative functions such as
picture messaging (MMS), mobile
music and mobile internet –
teenagers are keeping things simple,
and cheap. Brown says: ‘One of the
40 problems with the industry is it
believes faster is better and that isn’t
always the case.’
It’s good to talk but, for teenagers, it’s
even better to text. From swapping
5 gossip, passing e-notes in class and
forging friendships without the
relative embarrassment of actually
having to talk, tech-savvy teens love
nothing more than sending an old10 fashioned text message.
35
Texting has always been a popular
pastime for young mobile-phone
owners, but its steadfast staying
power in the face of newer, faster and
15 trendier functions is confounding an
industry eager for innovation. It is
now the favoured form of youth
communication, according to the
Wireless World Forum (W2F)
20 mobileYouth 2005 report, the result of
a five-year study into how young
people around the world use their
mobile phones.
In the US, for example, young viewers
of the latest series of the television
45 talent show American Idol registered
more votes by text message than over
the telephone. In Britain, teenagers are
sending more text messages every
year, reaching a projected total this
50 year of about 22 billion.
‘Despite all the technologies that
25 have launched in the last five years,
SMS [short message service] is still
the leader,’ says Graham Brown,
chief executive of W2F. ‘We still see
pockets of users where younger
30 people are sending up to 50 text
messages a day. It fulfils all their
needs and it is very easy to use.’
Much to the chagrin* of operators
keen to see mobile users hooked on
*chagrin — disappointment
– 4 –
‘It’s not just cost,’ Brown says.
‘Texting is something immediate and
within their control.’ It is also
something that teenagers’ parents
Text 3 – (continued)
often don’t understand, because
most (70 per cent) use ‘txtspk’
instead of fully worded predictive
text. It’s quicker and, it seems, easier
to disguise from those prying
60 parental eyes.
55
After texting, the next most popular
mobile tool for teenagers –
particularly girls in their mid-teens –
is taking photographs. But instead of
65 sharing these photos by sending a
picture message (MMS), young girls
prefer the cheaper option of
comparing them in person. ‘There
was a strong desire to take photos of
70 friends and show them to their
friends, [but] they weren’t actually
sending them,’ says Brown, probably
because most teens have a prepaid
mobile that they largely fund
75 themselves, usually from their
pocket money or by doing chores
around the house.
80
85
90
95
– 5 –
Another very popular function was
mobile music (ringtones and fulltrack downloads), although their
mobile is not about to replace their
iPod or MP3 player. ‘The industry
tells us that the mobile phone is
going to be the next music player,
but young people seem to think the
opposite,’ Brown says. ‘They are
happy having two separate devices.’
Mobile phone operators, therefore,
are encouraging teenagers to use
their phones and their varied
functions more often, while parents
and teachers are questioning the
validity of technologies such as
MMS, and are calling for bans on
mobile phones in schools. It is a
technological tug of war that teens,
no doubt, are texting each other
about as we speak.
Text 4 – Magazine Article
Aqua Cops
Ellen Connolly spends a day on the job with the Sydney water police and
discovers it’s anything but a pleasure cruise.
Eight-metre seas almost engulf them. The wind is gusting up to 45 knots
(85kmh). For three days, there is no respite for the crew aboard police launches
5 Nemesis and Alert. But they keep up the chase, edging closer to their prey.
The dramatic chase of the Pong Su ended just after dawn, 120 kilometres north­
east of Sydney, when it was intercepted by the water police and a navy ship,
enabling special forces to board it and arrest the 30-man crew. The ship’s captain
and six others have been committed to stand trial early next year, their rusting
10 vessel remaining under 24-hour guard at Snails Bay in Sydney Harbour – a
floating white elephant.1
The successful operation, which earned the crew a Police Commissioner’s
commendation, was not quite a normal day in the life of Sydney’s water police.
But it does illustrate their changing role and capabilities.
15
Detective Superintendent Terry Dalton says that the water police were once
regarded as the ‘NRMA2 of the Harbour’, but today they are much more focused
on fighting crime. ‘Assaults, drugs, murders, fraud,’ he says. ‘We just use boats
instead of police cars.’
A job in the water police is a coveted role, but not everybody’s cup of tea, Dalton
20 says. Applicants must complete a six-week trial, and some will fail. The
demanding physical requirements include the ability to pull a body from the
water, a 50-metre swim towing a person, holding your breath underwater, rope
work, climbing a ship’s ladder and rowing. ‘Some people then decide they don’t
like it or sometimes we decide they’re not suitable for the job,’ says Leading
25 Senior Constable Robinson, who waited four years to get a transfer.
So what is life like for the water police? We joined a typical patrol to find out
what this elite force does.
7am: Balmain Headquarters
Inside the marine search and rescue co-ordination centre at the Balmain
30 headquarters, Dalton is briefing his staff on this morning’s special operation.
Sometimes their work is immensely rewarding, as stricken sailors are plucked to
safety. Other times the searches prove futile and people are lost to the sea. In 2002
there was the voyage of the racing yacht Excalibur, which lost its keel 110
kilometres off Port Stephens and flipped over.
1. Floating white elephant — boat no longer being used
2. NRMA — National Roads and Motorists Association, well known for providing road side assistance to motorists
– 6 –
Text 4 – (Continued)
35 8am: Escort duty, Sydney Harbour
We’ll be escorting the Australian warship HMAS Stuart into the harbour after its
tour of duty in the Gulf.
On our crew is Senior Constable Belinda Keevers, 27, one of only a handful of
female officers in the force. ‘I’ve always wanted to do it because I love the
40 outdoors and this is a pretty good environment to work in every day,’ she says.
Few women are attracted to the water police, possibly due to the physical
demands – handling boating equipment and pulling bodies from the water
requires great upper-body strength. ‘It’s pretty blokey but I do everything they
do,’ says Keevers.
45 9:30am: HMAS Stuart sighted
Our vessel takes up its position at the warship’s bow. We glide beside it, close
enough to see the excited faces of the sailors who are lining the deck, and within
earshot of the bagpipes being played. It is an awesome sight. Everything seems
to be going smoothly. Perhaps a bit too smoothly.
50
Suddenly two kayakers bob up, paddling in the direct path of the ship. It spells
danger. ‘Water police 52. We have got two possible protesters ahead,’ Constable
Smith radios.
Within seconds – and with the towering warship fast approaching – the unit
speeds up, covering 100 metres in moments, and stopping just short of running
55 them down. ‘We’re not protesters,’ plead the two startled paddlers as they
almost topple over. ‘Honestly we’re not.’
Robinson is far from impressed, and radios back: ‘They’re not demonstrators,
just paddlers out here. They have been suitably told.’ The escort continues,
uninterrupted. HMAS Stuart is delivered safely home to Garden Island.
60 10:30am: Back to base
We return to the base for a quick cuppa. The water police run a slick operation
these days.
The new headquarters at Cameron Cove, Balmain, are smart and modern, a far
cry from the previous site at Pyrmont, which consisted of a series of
65 demountables and rotting piers. ‘We were there for 17 years and when we left,
the derelicts moved in,’ says Robinson.
The new building has facilities for divers, detectives, general duties officers, as
well as a coordination centre for major marine search-and-rescue operations.
–7–
Text 4 – (Continued)
11:20am: Patrolling Pyrmont
70
We pull into Johnstons Bay, Pyrmont, home to fishing boats, trawlers and the
Sydney Fish Market, and our presence is immediately felt – not that different
from drivers ducking for cover when they see a police car.
‘It’s so funny when you guys come around. You see people running and fixing
things,’ Dwayne Wood says. Fishermen are used to random police checks for
75 illegal or unsecured firearms (used to shoot tuna) and fisheries inspections.
On board the trawler Jody Ann, owner Garrie Henness, of Padstow, is fixing a net
when we approach. ‘Can we come on, mate, and have a look around?’ Keevers
asks. ‘Go for your life,’ Henness answers.
2pm: Rego check outside the Heads
John, 31, and his mate, Peter, 30, are fishing in a runabout just past the Heads. It’s
a new boat and, as we soon discover, ill-equipped. There are no lifejackets, no
paddles and no bailing bucket. ‘It’s not very responsible at all,’ Robinson says,
dressing them down. John says he left his licence at home. Robinson is not
satisfied. He wants it faxed to him as soon as they get to land. A registration
85 check is also done on the boat to ensure it is not stolen. ‘You tend to find people
have two lifejackets when there are five people on board,’ says Robinson. Last
year, the Waterways Authority found 95 per cent of the people killed on the
water over the previous 12 months had not been wearing lifejackets. Twenty-two
people died in boating accidents during the same period – almost three-quarters
90 of them in recreational vessels.
80
4pm: Targeting speedboats
Time for some more patrols, now using one of the unit’s high-speed inflatable
boats: these Subaru WRXs of the water can reach speeds of 90kmh and are
designed to allow officers to board vessels while moving. Four young men in a
95 speed boat attempt to outrun us, unaware we are a police vessel. Oops. ‘I
thought you were one of those tourist jet boats,’ says the driver when eventually
pulled over.
5pm: Back at base
The boats are refuelled and cleaned and we visit the detectives.
100 7pm: Time to sign off
The night shift arrives. The handover to the four person night crew is completed.
For the next 12 hours they will conduct water patrols, investigate thefts from
vessels, and follow up investigations. ‘You just don’t know what the shift will
bring,’ says Dalton. ‘There’s always an element of risk involved.’
–8–
Text 5 – Extract from a short story
Tanners End – by Kate Stephens
It was 1929, the Great War was eleven years gone, and Jessica Tanner was a
month shy of her twenty-third birthday when first she saw the Bushranger.
It was a day when cicadas shrieked the voice of summer, and every domestic
surface in Tanners End was cloyingly warm to the touch. Jessica wandered from
5 room to room of the great sprawling house in search of coolness and occupation,
and perhaps some corner where the tortured cough of her Uncle Jack didn’t
penetrate.
After finding none of these things, she put on a broad-brimmed straw hat and
opened the wide double doors on to the back veranda. The sloping paddocks
10 beyond were dotted with grazing horses, tails swishing and satin coats twitching
ceaselessly. Tanners End was known as far as Sydney for the quality of its
horseflesh, and had been for fifty years.
Jessica’s gaze moved on, to where the bush crowded in at the foot of the hill. The
creek should still be running, she thought, and it can’t be any hotter down there.
15 Five minutes later she’d closed the last gate and was climbing over the log
blocking the entrance to the gully track.
The first of the creek’s pools she came to was full, and a stubborn trickle
persisted between it and the next. A short way downstream was a place where
the banks rose overhead, with a deep pool of pale amber where tiny fish darted.
20
Her eyes relaxed their squint as the shade slipped over them, and she sat down
on one of the boulders that littered the creek bed. Ferns sprouted sideways from
the bank, and moss gleamed wetly in the green-filtered light. For perhaps five
minutes she sat there, then, between one breath and the next, came the
knowledge that she was no longer alone. Very slowly she turned her head.
25
He was sitting on another rock at the water’s edge, an easy stone’s throw away,
elbows on his knees and hands hanging limp between them. A man of not more
than thirty, with dark hair and a matted bush of beard, and the impression of
strength in the breadth of his shoulders.
Jessica knew without having to consider it that he hadn’t been there when she
30 arrived, nor could he have walked there without her noticing, and she accepted
the obvious with the calm of shock. Even without the two antiquated pistols
–9–
Text 5 – (continued)
shoved through his belt and the hilt of a knife showing at the top of his boot, she
would have guessed he was a bushranger. There simply wasn’t anything else he
looked like.
35
She sat perfectly still, watching him, wondering why she wasn’t afraid. Lack of
dramatic touch, possibly; no windswept stormy night, nor even an air of dank
menace. Just the throbbing cicada-shrill of the noonday bush, and a man who
should not have been there.
He raised his head and looked at her.
40
Something indefinable surged through the space between them, a thrum of
reaction that she felt to the soles of her feet. There was that in his face that drew
like a magnet, something of a sadness that could never be expressed, the helpless
dignity of a beast that suffers in silence. But the eyes were human, and what
Jessica saw there made her shudder. Still not with fear, though; not quite.
45
His shoulders straightened, and he made as if to rise and come towards her. Then
he was no longer there, or she ceased to see him. She made herself sit there,
unmoving, until she was sure he would not reappear.
– 10 –
© Board of Studies NSW 2009