HSSC ENGLISH PAPER 2 2008

THE GIRL: But this town! The children just don’t seem to care about anything–whether they get good
grades or bad, whether they pass or fail, or anything else. On top of that, almost all of them are unruly.
The only thing they seem to be interested in is either games or the sea. That’s why I’m on my way to the
beach now. I thought if I could watch them on a Saturday I might understand them better.
HARRY: Yes, that’s a thought.
THE GIRL: Nobody seems to have any sensible ambition. It’s all fun and play. How can I teach
children like that? What can I teach them?
HARRY: English.
THE GIRL: Of course.
HARRY (drying his face): Singing, dancing, cooking.
THE GIRL: Cooking?
HARRY: The question is, shall you stay, or shall you go back to San Francisco?
THE GIRL: Yes.
HARRY: The answer is, go back while the going’s good.
THE GIRL: Why?
HARRY (after a pause): You’re too good for a town like this; too young and too intelligent.

a. Which play are these lines from? (1 Mark)
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b. Write THREE sentences in your own words, describing the children of the town. (3 Marks)
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c. Why did Harry seem non-serious about the unruly behaviour of the children? (1 Mark)
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d. Describe the teacher’s problem and the solution given by Harry. (4 Marks)
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e. Why did Harry suggest to the girl to leave the town? (1 Mark)
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The Feed
Holding a grain of millet in her beak
The mother sparrow has come to feed.
The young ones are so tiny and small
From head to toe they are beaks
When they cry.
One grain to be fed to the ten young ones.
To whom the mother sparrow should feed?
Conjoining beak with beak
With whom should she solace?
Fissuring the atom,
You have learnt to weep and wail in a loud tone,
Splitting the grain,
You have learnt to set life on foot
Could you split the grain?
One grain to be fed to ten young ones.
(Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi)
O Where are You Going?
“O Where are you going?” said reader to rider,
“That valley is fatal when furnaces burn,
Yonder’s the midden whose odours will madden,
That gap is the rave where the tall return.
“O do you imagine,” said the fearer to farer,
“That dusk will delay on your path to the pass,
Your diligent looking discover the lacking,
Your footsteps feel from granite to grass?”
“O what was that bird,” said horror to hearer,
“Did you see that shape in the twisted trees?
Behind you swiftly the figure comes softly,
The spot on your skin is shocking disease.”
“Out of this house”– said rider to reader,
“You never will”– said farer to fearer,
“They’re looking for you”– said hearer to horror,
As he left them there, as he left them there.
(W. H. Auden)

a. What does the phrase ‘Fissuring the atom’ in line 10 mean? (1 Mark)
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b. What does the reader tell about the valley? (1 Mark)
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c. Compare the difficult situation faced by the mother sparrow and the rider. (4 Marks)
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d. Compare the role of the rider and reader in the poem “O Where are You Going?” (2 Marks)
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e. Write any TWO positive attributes EITHER of mother sparrow OR the rider.
(2 Marks)
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The ability to read English with understanding is the skill which will be needed most by our
students in their future life – while acquiring education as well as in practical life. However, asking
the students ____________ read aloud is of little value ____________ helping them become
efficient readers of ____________ , because normally, reading is a silent ____________ individual
activity. Nevertheless a teacher ____________ English needs a high level of ____________ in
reading aloud clearly, since he/she ____________ to provide a good model of ____________
spoken language ____________ his/her learners. Most of the exposure___________ English
language in our school takes place through the reading of texts. Nearly all new learning takes place
while the pupil is reading. Therefore, the quantity and quality of reading are of first importance. The
textbooks of English must provide the situations and the context in which learning takes place.

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Reaching the skies can be difficult, exploring the planets can be impractical, living in a fantasy can
be impossible but still dreams make the thinking easy and facing difficulties possible.
Write an essay discussing what role dreams play in your life.
OR
b. Some people believe that what is good for one person can be good for all.
Write a story describing the innocence of a person who suffers because of this belief.
OR
c. Responsibility for preserving the natural environment ultimately belongs to each individual and not
to the government alone.
Express your own views and support them with reasons and examples from your own experience,
observation or reading.