O-LevelEnglish LanguageReading for Meaning1123/21 · Oct/Nov 2014 · Q75 Marks

From paragraph 3

(a)Explain exactly why the sky was dark.[1]
(b)Why do you think the birds were 'excited'?[1]
(c)Previously the farm had 'managed somehow' to survive. What does this tell us about how the family had been affected by locust swarms in the past?[1]
(d)The children were ‘sent out to make a racket'. Explain fully in your own words the purpose of this racket.[2]

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2014). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

[1] (a) the sun / light was blotted out / covered by locusts // locusts were covering the sun / acted as a screen
[1] (b) they were going to feed on / eat the locusts // the locusts would provide food / they ate locusts
[1] (c) They came close to being destroyed / not surviving // they had to work hard to survive // they had survived with difficulty // they had barely survived // it had not been easy to survive
[1] (c) Inferences such as 'the farm nearly had to close' / 'they were almost driven into poverty' / 'they had suffered great loss
[1] (d) UNSETTLE: disturb / disorganise / fluster / confuse / interrupt / upset / disrupt / frighten / scare / startle / make restless / distract
[1] (d) DETER: stop / prevent / put off / discourage / disallow

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