Get premium membership and access questions with answers, video lessons as well as revision papers.
FUNCTIONAL WRITING. (20 MARKS)
Points of Interpretation.
- Takes the format of an official letter.
- It should have two addresses
Sender's address: Sarova Group of Hotels ½ Mk
Date: ½ Mk
Receiver?s address: Serena Hotel ½ Mk
- Salutation: Dear Sir. ½ Mk
- Heading/Reference: should have name of applicant. 1 Mk
- Introduction: The duration of Sammy's stay at Sarova Group of Hotels ½ Mk
- How he performed his duties. ½ Mk
BODY.
- Professional training: College attended. (1 Mk)
- Qualifications: His achievement in sec. school (1 Mk)
: What he achieved in College (1 Mk)
- Reasons for transfer: at least 2 reasons each 1 Mk (2 Mks)
- An aspect of weakness in character. (1 Mk)
- Experience. (1 Mk)
- Interests/Hobbies (1 Mk)
- Recommendations eg I strongly recommend…. (1 Mk)
- Yours faithfully, ½ Mk
- Signature. ½ Mk
- Name of officer. ½ Mk
- Designation. ½ Mk
Language: 01.05
05 - Very Good 04 - Good
03 - Fair 02 - Weak 01 - Weak
marto answered the question on April 8, 2019 at 12:03
- I don't think I need any man's favour to succeed. (supply a question tag)(Solved)
I don't think I need any man's favour to succeed. (supply a question tag)
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Use the correct preposition in the blanks in the sentences below(Solved)
Use the correct preposition in the blanks in the sentences below.
i) You chose him_______me.
ii) He is notorious ____________ noise making.
iii) They sat ___________ the shade of that tree
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Explain the meaning of the underlined idioms as used in the sentences below(Solved)
Explain the meaning of the underlined idioms as used in the sentences below.
i) Misappropriation of public funds was happening right under the nose of the cabinet secretary.
ii) The principal said he would get to the bottom of indiscipline in the school
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Choose the correct word from those in brackets to complete the sentences below.(Solved)
Choose the correct word from those in brackets to complete the sentences below.
i) You should not ___________ the content of an official document without express consent, (alter/altar)
ii) Unless my mother is careful, she will ____________ all her friends, (loose/lose)
iii) Mwita __________ the pictures onto the wall, (hung/hanged)
iv) This project cannot begin yet; I have __________ money, (a little/ little)
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Rewrite the following sentences according to instructions given after each. Had John not quickly intervened.....(Solved)
Rewrite the following sentences according to instructions given after each.
i) Had John not quickly intervened, the situation would have worsened. (Begin: But....)
ii) If he arrives on time, we will leave for the party. (Rewrite using: should) iii) Ben was too weak to stand for the rest of the presentation. (Begin: So ... .)
iv) The mourners sang a sad song. (Begin: A sad ...)
v) 'Is there any pending issue for discussion?' asked the chairperson. (Rewrite in reported speech.
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow(Solved)
Problem drinkers and alcoholics pay severe penalties for their drinking. It has been estimated that alcoholics are likely to die ten to twelve years sooner than non-alcoholics and half die before the age of fifty, which is one reason there are so few elderly alcoholics. The mortality rate (that is, the number of persons per 100,000 who die each year) among alcoholics is more than two and a half times higher than that of the general population.
Alcoholics often die under violent circumstances; serious accidents, homicide, and suicide are not uncommon. This, together with the physical deterioration accompanying alcoholism, helps explain the limits on life expectancy. No one really knows how many deaths are directly attributed to drinking, and all such statistics are estimates. One reason for our limited knowledge is that many physicians do not report alcoholism as the main cause of death out of concern for the feelings of the family of the deceased.
Research on the physiological effects of alcoholism has increased in the last few years. Heavy drinking is known to be
associated with various types of cancer, particularly among persons who also use tobacco. Alcohol abuse also increases the
probability of hypertension, stroke and coronary heart disease. Alcoholics frequently suffer illness and death from cirrhosis of the liver, a disease in which the liver becomes fatty, scarred and incapable of functioning normally. In large urban areas, cirrhosis is the fourth most common cause of death among men aged twenty -five to forty -five.
Alcohol affects the brain, often permanently damaging the mental functioning of alcoholics. Drinking may reduce the number of living cells in the brain. Since brain cells do not grow back, alcoholics may suffer from organic psychosis (a mental illness traceable to brain damages), loss of memory, and poor physical and mental coordination. One out of four persons who are admitted to mental hospitals are diagnosed as alcoholics and 40 percent of all admissions are alcohol related.
Many of the alcoholic inmates are unlikely to recover.
The unborn children of female alcoholics are subject to harm from drinking in what is called foetal alcohol
syndrome. Because alcohol tends to be a substitute for a balanced diet, alcoholics are often malnourished.
Consequently, the infants of alcoholic women are likely to be less healthy and less well developed than other babies.
Moreover, when a pregnant woman drinks, so, in effect, does her foetus. The new born children of alcoholic women may die shortly after birth unless they are medically treated from the shock to their systems for suddenly being cut off from alcohol. Furthermore, the impact of alcohol on the woman and her foetus is a major cause of birth defects and organically based mental deficiency among the newborn. The effects of foetal alcohol syndrome on the children of female alcoholics are usually chronic and may be permanently disabling. Clearly, it is not too much of an exaggeration to say that alcohol kills and maims people. When abused, alcohol is a highly dangerous drug.
a) Why are there so few elderly alcoholics ? (2 mks)
b) Outline two major factors limiting life expectancy among alcoholics according to the passage (2 mks)
c) Mention any four physiological effects of alcoholism (2 mks)
d) What reason makes physician find difficulty in reporting alcoholic related death? (2 mks)
e) Many of the alcoholic inmates are unlikely to recover. Rewrite beginning 'Recovery...' (1 mk)
f) Explain what the following sentence means:
'Alcohol tends to be a substitute for a balanced diet'
g) In not more than 70 words, summarize the effects of alcohol on the unborn babies. (5 mks)
h) Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases as used in the passage (4 mks)
i) mortality
ii) deterioration iii) diagnosed iv) cut off
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Identify the silent letters in the following words(Solved)
Identify the silent letters in the following words
i) History.
ii) Hymn.
iii) align.
iv) islet
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the conversation below and answer the questions that follows(Solved)
Read the conversation below and answer the questions that follows
Student: Excuse,
Teacher: Yes, how can I help you?
student: I want to go out.
Teacher: What do you mean? That is impolite!
Student: I am in a hurry. I must go!
Teacher: Not unless you explain first.
Student: When I get back.
Teacher: You are rude!
Student: You are delaying me!
Teacher: What an insolent student you are! How dare you!
Explain the shortcomings in the student's conversation.
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Imagine you have been chosen to represent your school in the Great Debaters Contest. Explain how you would deal with
stage fright.(Solved)
Imagine you have been chosen to represent your school in the Great Debaters Contest. Explain how you would deal with
stage fright.
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- State whether you would use a rising or a failing intonation in the following sentences
i) Let me have your attention.
ii) Mary lost a very...(Solved)
State whether you would use a rising or a failing intonation in the following sentences .
i) Let me have your attention.
ii) Mary lost a very well paying job.
iii) The following student have passed: John, Mueni, Owino and Chacha.
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Imagine you are giving a speech to your fellow students on how to pass exams. Explain how eye contact would enhance your
speech delivery.(Solved)
Imagine you are giving a speech to your fellow students on how to pass exams. Explain how eye contact would enhance your
speech delivery.
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Provide a word which sounds the same as each of the following (i) beer (ii) lessen (iii) mettle(Solved)
Provide a word which sounds the same as each of the following
i) beer -
ii) lessen -
iii) mettle -
iv) heir -
v) quire
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word: Some scientists have been(Solved)
Read the passage below and fill in each blank space with an appropriate word
Some scientists have been (1)________that the continuing destruction of our environment (2)_________that at some point, the earth will not be able to (3)________ even a quarter of us. This does not come as a (4)________at all. In the beginning, God created the earth beautiful and green (5)_______ with time, our stubbornness, has ruined it all. With all the (6)________ God has given us, we should be able to look (7)_______ our environment better. I am sure God feels (8)________ when .He sees this destruction. My roommate and (9)_______ have come up with an ambitious programme (10)_______ to as Save the Earth to help the government tackle or address the problem.
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and then answer the question that follow. Africa my Africa....(Solved)
Read the poem below and then answer the question that follow
AFRICA
Africa my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in the ancestral savannah's Africa my grandmother sings of
Beside her distant river
I have never seen you.
But my gaze is full of your blood. Your black spilt over the field. The blood of your sweat The sweat of your toil The toil of slavery
The slavery of your children. Africa, tell me Africa, Are you the back that bends.
Lies down under the weight of humbleness? The trembling back stripped red.
That says yes to the whips on the road of noon? Solemnly a voice answers me
“Impetuous child, that young and sturdy tree. That tree that grows.
There splendidly alone among white and faded flowers. Is Africa, your Africa. It puts forth new shoots. With patience and stubbornness pouts forth news shoots. Slowly its fruits grow to have
That bitter taste of freedom.
1. Who is the persona 2 mks
2. What is the message of the poem? 3 mks
3. Identify any three stylistic devices used in the poem. 6 mks
4. What is the tone of the poem? 3 mks
5. From the above poem, explain the meaning of the following lines?
a)' But the gaze is full of your blood. Your blood spilt over the field. 1mk
b)' Africa, my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in the ancestral Savannah 1mk
6. But my gaze is full of your blood. 1mk
(Add an appropriate question tag)
7. What is the meaning of the following words?
i) Solemnly
ii) Sturdy
iii) Toil
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the following passage and then answer the questions that follow. A journey according to my grandmother was a deliberate peril..(Solved)
Read the following passage and then answer the questions that follow.
A journey according to my grandmother was a deliberate peril. Everything contributed to fear. The clouds that came up to from nowhere to darken the land were but the face of some desperate god of personal spite. This un-lifted threat of disaster was bequeathed me by all three female generations that nursed me to manhood. They reminded me by word and act that man is never alone in his choices.
On the road we drove waiting for the next disaster, having escaped evil only one mile to the next never for good. The thanks we gave were more often for what we had missed than for what we had been given. My family could always find reasons to view a gift as a potential ticket to despair or dissolution.
My father always did the driving, although not without help from the various non-drivers such as my grandmother, who only learned how to operate an automobile after she was well into her fifties, and my great grandmother who died at age eighty- four without ever understanding the basic usage of such items as brakes, steering wheel, horn or gear shift. There is a family legend that my grandfather on my mother?s side, a red-haired gentleman named Ambrose who had a notoriously short-fused temper, tried to give Granny a driving lesson back in the green years of personal motor ownership. But she was inclined to try and control the auto as one did a horse, and ended up almost immediately in a ditch, tugging at the steering wheel and
shouting 'Whoa'. This brought on a blast of polite obscenity from her son -in law which alienated Granny from the auto forever. Nevertheless, When riding as a passenger she knew what her eyes told her, and she had an imperious kind of comment which verged on command when she espied traffic danger that my, father the driver, was apt to overlook or not sufficiently keen to acknowledge in advance.
Once on the road, my father faced other problems travel. The matter of rivers and bridges was a severe one. My grandmother didn't want to cross any bridge when the river was full because she had a theory that so much water was bound to be secretly eating away the supports. One might think, therefore, that in dry weather a bridge would be no obstacle.
My grandmother also despised night travel. Her fear was not collision with another vehicle(in fact she welcomed the sight of another car because it showed her that someone else besides her son-in-law was foolish enough to be taking this forlorn route) but from the ever present danger of unknowingly driving off the end of a demolished bridge- finding yourself and vehicle suddenly suspended in midair, thoroughly conscious that in twinkling of an eye you and yours would be plunged into eternity in the dark waters of the flood beneath you.
If I leave the impression that all my grandmothers that all my grandmothers? caution were foolish or consistently groundless, then taking the gamble, no matter whether the odds were for her or against her. As a matter of history her fears were not groundless, they just too prevalent.
Adapted from Glencoe Literature 'Tile readers choice' Published by Mc Graw Hill companies. Inc (2000)
a) Referring to the first paragraph, explain how the clouds contributed to making a journey fearful experience. 2 mks
b) From the second paragraph, explain the attitude of the narrator's family towards the journey and life in general. 2 mks
c) In which instance(s) did the narrator's granny almost command the driver. 2 mks'
d) 'The thanks we gave were more often for what we had missed than for what we had been given.” Rewrite the sentence
beginning. More often…….)
e) Make notes on the problems of travel which the narrator?s father faced. 2 mks
f) Explain how the narrator's Granny failed the driving lessons and the consequences. 3 mks
g) 'As a matter of history her fears were not groundless, they were just too prevalent.'Rewrite the sentences supplying a
question tag) 1 mk
h) Why didn't the narrator's grandmother like crossing any bridge when the river was full. 1 mark
i) Explain the reasons behind the narrator?s grandmother's dislike of night travel. 3 mks
j) Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the passage. 3 mks
i) Bequeathed-
ii) Imperious
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Use the correct alternative to complete the sentences below(Solved)
Use the correct alternative to complete the sentences below
i) Teaching ………………… (practice/practise) is not an essay job for teacher-trainees.
ii) The prophet‟s ……………(prophecy/prophesy) was misleading to his audience.
iii) He …………. (ensured/insured) his car with UAP.
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Rewrite the following in inversion.(Solved)
Rewrite the following in inversion.
i) The lioness slid down the hill.
ii) Mr. Mwiti is coming here.
iii) A big rock hung over the cave
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Rewrite the following in the passive.(Solved)
Rewrite the following in the passive.
i) My grandfather built this castle in 1900.
ii) Weru tea factory has employed more than a hundred workers.
iii) Careless driving causes many accidents
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Rewrite the following according to the instructions given after each.(Solved)
Rewrite the following according to the instructions given after each.
i) If I knew how to do it, I ……………… make a big wooden box for the safety of my belongings.
(Fill in the blank space using the most appropriate modal auxillary)
ii) Githingithia is …………….. criss-crossing the universe in pursuant of popularity.
(Use an appropriate preposition).
iii) We …………. The blind man in his benefactors abode where he ………….happily ever after.
(Fill in the blank spaces using the correct past form of live and leave).
iv) Mr. Muthama had just reached the forest edge where the elusive leopard killed him.
(Rewrite beginning: Hardly……)
v) When I arrived in the school this morning, I was very tired that I had to rest for an hour before doing anything. (Rewrite the sentence correctly)
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow. What can be more ridiculous than to be....(Solved)
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
What can be more ridiculous than to be than 47 per cent of Kenyan youth have no qualms with and admire those who acquire wealth through dubious means? Or that 40 per cent would only vote for those who bribe them? And that 30 per cent of youth think 'corruption is a profitable venture' that they would pursue to realize their dreams?
Well, that is according to the Aga Khan University's East African Institute, which commissioned a survey between 2014 and 2015, conducted in the East African states of Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. It captured some 1,854 youth aged between 18 and 35 from rural and urban centres across the county, as reflected in the Kenya Youth Report 2015.
On the hair-raising revelation that fifty per cent of Kenyan youth believe it does not matter how one makes money, so long as they stay clear of the gallows and docks, no one surmises it better than the fiery anti-corruption activist John Githongo, who comments that it isn?t surprising, since corruption has been glorified for more than 50 years.
The rule of law has been thrown to the dogs and corrupt thieves are having a field day distributing money earned dubiously in fundraisers and harambees. Don?t even mind some of the loot ends up in church coffers.
The eye-popping report further reveals that 73 per cent of youth would rather not stand up for what is right for fear of retribution and being deemed politically incorrect.
It is my wish that today?s youth stop viewing graft as acceptable and shun their vulnerability to electoral bribery as it degrades their efforts at trying to achieve better service delivery from their elected leaders.
The modern youth must understand that the Constitution grants them the right to demand proper service delivery without being at risk of any penalties and without any conditions other than being a citizen in Kenya.
Therefore, the notion that a politician can only help voters financially before being elected into office must cease henceforth.
(Alvin Abok, Maseno)
The recently published survey on the thinking of youth about life is a confirmation of how the mind of the youth has been poisoned.
This is compounded by what has come to be known as digital colonization. Most youth think the world is a place where humans are supposed to enjoy life.
The reality is opposite. Life is a struggle. Period. Whatever position, status, county you will be born or will live in, you will be struggling with one thing or another, That just how life was designed to be very fair. You will never get everything. One needs to look at what those who are driven by greed end up with.
The sad thing is that they will learn about this the hard way - through experience.
(Cornelius Oliko)
(The Daily Nation Thursday January 21, 2016)
QUESTIONS
a) And that 30 percent of youth think, 'Corruption is a Profitable Venture' that they would pursue to realize their dreams. What
is the effect of quotation marks in the above statement? (2 marks)'
b) According to the extract, where was the survey in question conducted and by who? (2 marks)
c) In note form, make a summary of the youths? precaution of life as illustrated in the passage. (4 marks)
d) Show understanding of the advice the author gives to the youth. (3 marks)
e) Life is a struggle.
i) Negate the sentence above.
ii) Supply a question tag to the sentence in (i) above, (the answer in (i). (1 mark)
f)'Most youth think the world is a place where humans are supposed to enjoy life'. What is the irony in this statement?
(2 marks)
g) Comment on the attitude of the author towards corruption. (2 marks)
h) Explain the meaning of the following words/phrases as used in the passage. (3 marks)
i) Surmises
ii) Thrown to the dogs
iii) Retribution
Date posted: April 8, 2019. Answers (1)