WELSH JOINT EDUCATION COMMITTEE
CYD-BWYLLGOR ADDYSG CYMRU
General Certificate of Secondary Education
Tystysgrif Gyffredinol Addysg Uwchradd
150/05
ENGLISH
HIGHER TIER
PAPER 1
A.M. THURSDAY, 30 May 2002
(2 Hours)
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
Answer all questions in Section A and two questions in Section B.
Write your answers in the separate answer book provided.
You are advised to spend your time as follows:
Section A
– about 40 minutes
Section B
Q. B1
– about 30 minutes
Q. B2
– about 50 minutes
INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES
Section A (Reading): 30 marks.
Section B (Writing): 60 marks.
The number of marks is given in brackets at the end of each question or part-question.
OD/AM * (X150/4)
Turn over.
2
SECTION A: 30 marks
Read carefully the story below, which is set in New York. Then answer all the questions which follow it.
RAYMOND’S RUN
I don’t have much work to do around the house like some girls. My mother does that. And
anything else that’s got to get done, my father does. All I have to do is mind my brother Raymond,
which is enough.
10
Sometimes I slip and say my little brother Raymond. But as any fool can see he’s much bigger
than me and he’s older too. He needs looking after because he’s not quite right and a lot of smart
mouths got lots to say about that. But if anybody has anything to say about Raymond, they have to
come by me. And I don’t believe in standing around with somebody in my face doing a lot of
talking. I’d much rather just knock you down, even if I am a little girl with skinny arms and a
squeaky voice, which is how I got the name Squeaky. And if things get too rough, I run. And as
anybody can tell you, I’m the fastest thing on two feet.
15
There is no track meeting that I don’t win the first-place medal. The big kids call me Mercury
because I’m the swiftest thing in the neighbourhood. I’m the fastest and that goes for Gretchen,
too, who has put out the tale that she is going to win this year. Ridiculous. In the second place,
she’s got short legs. In the third place, she’s got freckles. In the first place, no-one can beat me and
that’s all there is to it.
5
20
25
I’m about to take a stroll down Broadway so I can practise my breathing exercises and I’ve got
Raymond walking on the inside, close to the buildings, because sometimes he starts thinking he’s
a circus performer and that the kerb is a tightrope in the air. Sometimes he’ll dash across traffic to
the island in the middle of Broadway and give the pigeons a fit. Then I have to apologise to all the
old people getting upset with the pigeons fluttering around them, scattering their newspapers and
spilling their lunches in their laps. So I keep Raymond inside me and he plays like he’s driving a
stagecoach which is O.K. by me so long as he doesn’t run me over or interrupt my breathing
exercises. I’m serious about my running.
So I’m strolling down Broadway and here comes Gretchen and her sidekick, Mary-Louise, who
has a big mouth where Raymond is concerned and is too stupid to know there is not much
difference between herself and Raymond and that she can’t afford to throw stones.
“You signing up for the May Day races?” smiles Mary-Louise, only it’s not a smile at all.
“I don’t think you’re going to win this time.”
30
35
40
“I always win because I’m the best,” I say straight at Gretchen. She smiles, but it’s not a smile,
and I’m thinking that girls never really smile at each other.
**************
I take my time getting to the park on May Day because the race is last on the programme. The
biggest thing on the programme is the May Pole dancing, which I can do without, even if my
mother thinks it’s a shame I don’t take part and act like a girl for a change. You’d think she’d be
glad her daughter ain’t out there prancing around getting her new clothes all dirty and sweaty and
trying to act like a fairy or a flower or whatever you’re supposed to be when you should be trying
to be yourself, whatever that is, which is, as far as I’m concerned, someone who can’t afford to
buy shoes and a dress you only wear once in a lifetime because it won’t fit next year.
I was once a strawberry in a Hansel and Gretel pageant in nursery school and I didn’t have no
better sense than to dance around on tiptoe with my arms in a circle over my head and being a
perfect fool just so my parents could come dressed up and clap. You’d think they’d know better
than to encourage that kind of nonsense. I am not a strawberry. I do not dance on my toes. I run.
That is what I am all about.
I put Raymond in the little swings, which is a tight squeeze this year, and the man on the
3
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
loudspeaker is announcing the fifty-yard dash, although he might just as well be giving out a
recipe for angel food cake because you can hardly make out what he is saying. Then I see
Gretchen on the starting line. I take off my tracksuit and, as I get into place, I see that Raymond is
in line on the other side of the fence, bending down with his fingers on the ground just like he
knew what he was doing. I was going to yell at him but I didn’t. It burns up your energy.
Every time, just before I take off in a race, I feel like I’m in a dream, but once I spread my
fingers in the dirt I am telling myself, Squeaky you must win, you must win, you are the fastest
thing in the world. The pistol shot explodes in my blood and I am flying past the other runners, my
arms pumping up and down and the whole world is quiet except for the crunch as I zoom over the
gravel in the track. I glance to my left and there is no one. To my right, a blurred Gretchen. And
on the other side of the fence is Raymond, running in his very own style, and it’s the first time I
ever saw that and I almost stop to watch him on his first run. But the white ribbon is bouncing
towards me and I tear past it, racing into the distance. I lean down to catch my breath and here
comes Gretchen with her hands on her hips, breathing in steady time like a real pro. I sort of like
her for the first time. We both wondering just who did win. It was close and I can hear the judges
arguing about what the stopwatches say. Then I hear Raymond yanking at the fence like a gorilla
in a cage and calling me, but then like a dancer climbing nice and easy but very fast. And it occurs
to me, remembering how he looked running and watching how smoothly he climbs, that Raymond
would make a very fine runner. Doesn’t he always keep up with me? And I’m smiling because if
I’ve lost this race, or even if I’ve won, I can retire and begin a whole new career as a coach with
Raymond as my champion. After all, I could get piano lessons and become a star. And I’ve got a
big reputation as the baddest thing around. But what has Raymond got to call his own?
I stand there with my new plans, laughing out loud as Raymond runs over. I’m so glad to see
him – my brother, a great runner in the family tradition. The judges have finally got themselves
together and are announcing, “In first place – Miss Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker.” (Dig that.)
“In second place – Miss Gretchen P. Lewis.” And I wonder what the ‘P’ stands for. And I smile.
Because she’s good, no doubt about it. Maybe she’d like to help coach Raymond; she obviously is
serious about running, as any fool can see. She nods to congratulate me and then she smiles. And I
smile. We stand there with this big smile of respect between us. It’s about as real a smile as girls
can do for each other, you know, because maybe we are too busy being flowers or fairies or
strawberries instead of something honest and worthy of respect . . . you know . . . like being
people.
(TONI CADE BAMBARA)
Read lines 1-30.
A1. What do you learn about Squeaky in these lines?
You must use the text to support your answer.
[10]
Read lines 31-48.
A2. What thoughts and feelings does Squeaky experience in this part of the story? How does the writer
convey those thoughts and feelings?
You must refer closely to the text in your answer.
[10]
To answer this question you will need to concentrate on lines 49-75 but you may refer to the
passage as a whole.
A3. What happens during and after the race? How does what happens change Squeaky?
Make sure that you answer both parts of the question.
[10]
Turn over.
4
SECTION B: 60 marks
Answer Question B1 and Question B2.
In this section you will be assessed for your writing skills, including the presentation
of your work.
Take special care with handwriting, spelling and punctuation.
A guide to the amount you should write is given for each question.
B1. Describe the scene in a large department store or shop on the first day of the January sales.
[20]
You should write about a page in your answer book.
Remember that this is a test of your ability to write descriptively.
B2. Choose one of the following titles for your writing.
[40]
The quality of your writing is more important than its length. You should write about two pages in
your answer book.
Either,
(a)
The Accident.
Or,
(b)
Write about an incident which taught you the value of money.
Or,
(c)
Continue the following:
‘I had never liked mobile phones and now I knew why . . . .’
Or,
(d)
A Time for Celebration.
Or,
(e)
Write a short story which ends with the following:
‘. . . . and now it really was clear that you could not trust anyone, least of all your
friends.’