Question 2

1. (a)Read this extract from the text: 'I'd probably feel more sad about this if there wasn't one huge question pounding my brain. I whisper it to Mila who doesn't answer at first. "Maybe,” she finally says.' (lines 47–50) What does the writer want to suggest to the reader about what Mila and Laura are about to do?[1]
2. (b)Explain why the writer uses the word 'each' rather than ‘both' in the expression 'But we each have to decide whether we think these animals are worth it.' (lines 50–51)[1]
3. (c)What two impressions does the writer want to convey to the reader about the puma in the sentence: 'But then her long tail whips and I glimpse the only parts of her that stand out: her eyes, as green as the paddle-shaped plants surrounding us, and her nose, pink as the tip of a sunset.' (lines 53-55)?[2]
4. (d)Read this sentence from the text: 'A real-life Wayra has materialised in the doorway.' (line 57) What effect does the writer suggest about Wayra by using the word 'materialised' to describe the way she has moved?[2]
5. (e)Identify one example of how the writer uses language effectively to describe Wayra in this extract from the text: 'I stay very, very still, transfixed by her bristling tail, the tense snake of her spine, her low growl. A pause. Then – she's away! Erupting from the cage. "Come!" Mila grabs my hand. "We go in front – to protect her." Protect her? Wayra turns, shooting me a look of disgust. There's tension on the rope; she's reached as far as she can get. Her growl has got louder, an engine deep in her belly. It was an illusion before – her size, thinking she wasn't big. I realise she hadn't looked small in the cage; she'd looked squashed. Now, outside, she's expanded. Princess Wayra.' (lines 58–65) Explain the impression the writer creates in the example you have identified.[3]