1. Passage 1 - Boy
1. Explain in your own words what ‘spurred on’ means. 2. ‘The engine roared’ is an example of what technique? 3a) Identify the imagery used to describe how the driver clutched the steering wheel? b) What does this show you about how she held on? 4. Which words show that the ‘ancient sister’ panicked when she went round the bend in the road? 5. Comment on the writer’s use of sentence structure in lines In your own words, why do they crash into a hedge? 7. What words or phrases does the writer use to make the description of the crash and what happens to the passengers funny? 8. What expression shows it was surprising nobody was hurt? 9. In your own words, what happens to the narrator’s nose? 10. Identify three example of onomatopoeia from the passage.

2. Passage 2 – History of China
1. Which adjective describes China’s civilization? 2. In your own words, how did the China develop over time? From….to…. 3. Who is the oldest hominoid in China? 4. a) What is China’s oldest dynasty? b) From the context surrounding it, what does ‘dynasty’ mean? 5. a) From the context surrounding it, what do you think ‘eminent’ means? b) Name two of these ‘eminent people’. 6. In your own words, what have these people done for China’s culture? 7. What is the effect of the list at the end of paragraph 2? 8. Name two of China’s five major stages. 9. What forms a thread through Chinese history? 10. Using you own words as far as possible, what happened on October 1st 1949? * hominoid – A family of animals that includes all modern apes and humans

3. Passage 3 – The Vile Village
1. What does ‘minga’ mean? 2. In your own words, where are the children being held? 3. What are they using to try and escape? 4. Comment on the writer’s use of onomatopoeia in paragraph What appears after the wall has been hit? 6. In your own words, what do painters not do? 7. In your own words, what do film directors rarely do? 8. In your own words, what has the narrator’s research shown? 9. What do the children stop to listen to? 10. a) Identify the writer’s tone at the start of paragraph 2. b) How does the writer achieve this?