Practice paper 1: Y7 English

What helps Meggie get to sleep after a bad dream?

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Answer explanation

Award 1 mark for one of the following points:

• Mo’s calm breathing / being with Mo / her father

• the sound of the pages turning / hearing Mo reading a book / her dad turning the pages as he reads.

Accept quotations, paraphrases or explanations.

'But the figure outside the house was no dream.' (line 6) What effect does the writer create by using this single-sentence paragraph?

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Answer explanation

Award 1 mark for an answer which recognises that the single-sentence paragraph creates a feeling of tension, e.g.:

• it makes the story exciting

• you know it’s a dramatic moment

• it creates a feeling of fear / suspense in the reader.

Do not accept generic answers such as ‘it emphasises the paragraph’ or ‘it makes you want to read on’.

Explain in your own words how Meggie’s father looks when his reading is interrupted.

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Answer explanation

Award 1 mark for an answer that explains he looks as if his mind is elsewhere, e.g.:

• Meggie’s father’s face appears blank

• he looks as if he has been lost in the book

• he seems a long way away.

Do not accept a quotation from the text without an explanation.

'Books on the TV set and in the wardrobe, small piles of books, tall piles of books, books thick and thin, books old and new.' (lines 22–24)

Give one way these lines emphasise how many books Mo and Meggie have.

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Answer explanation

Award 1 mark for one of the following ways: • repetition (of the word ‘books’)

• use of list / lists all the different kinds of books

• use of noun phrases to describe all the different books

• use of contrasts / adjectives, e.g. ‘old’ and ‘new’

• describes the books without a verb.

Look at the phrase ‘Stacks of books were piled high all over the house’ (lines 19–20).

(i) Write one quotation from the text that shows a problem caused by the books.

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Answer explanation

Award 1 mark for one of the following quotations:

• (‘sometimes you) fell over them’ • (‘he) stubbed his toe (on a pile of books’.)

‘Has he got a hairy face? If so, he could be a werewolf.’ (line 27) What does this quotation suggest about Mo’s character?

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Answer explanation

Award 1 mark for an answer that recognises that the quotation shows Mo has a sense of humour, e.g.:

• he is funny

• he likes to tease people

• he is jokey

How does the mood change when Mo sees the figure standing in the rain (line 31)?

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Answer explanation

Award 1 mark for an answer that recognises the mood becomes serious, e.g.:

• it becomes grim

• it feels anxious / worrying

• it’s no longer light-hearted

Which two features from this text suggest that it is from a mystery story?

• a first person narrator

• a night-time setting

• the use of dialogue

• the use of flashbacks

• the withholding of information

What two things do we learn about the past relationship between Mo and Dustfinger?

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Answer explanation

Award 1 mark for each of the following, up to a maximum of two marks:

• they knew each other a long/very long time ago •

they were involved in something that meant they had special names / something mysterious / something Meggie doesn’t know about.

'. . . except for the rain falling, murmuring as if the night had found its voice.’ (lines 45–46) What is the underlined phrase an example of?

• alliteration

• hyperbole

• metaphor

• personification