You are advised to spend about 30 minutes on this section.

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.

      We believed that the teacher would not be home that weekend. My father had strictly warned us not to go out at night since recent happenings had shown that it was unsafe. However, the thought of those mouth-watering fruits in the teacher's compound made us spend many sleepless nights. We decided that fateful night to sneak out and get some delicious mangoes to feast on.

      Towards midnight, my two cousins and I crept stealthily out of the house. The fresh air invigorated us. The moon shone with unusual brightness and that enabled us to see our way clearly and the ripe mangoes as well. We soon reached the teacher's house, a stone's throw from ours. We climbed over the wall, as nimbly as monkeys. Since I was skilled in climbing, my cousins asked me to go up the tree which was laden with ripe mangoes. In no time. I reached the branch which appeared to be most heavy with fruits. I shook it and many juicy mangoes fell to the ground. My cousins gathered them into their bags and we blessed our stars for this windfall.

      Suddenly, the powerful headlights of an approaching car warned us of impending danger. To our amazement. it was the teacher and he had already spotted us. In my haste to get down, I lost my balance and fell heavily, injuring my arm. My cousins ran like the wind and escaped, leaving me to my fate. I attempted to run away but could not. I lay on the ground groaning in pain.

      The teacher raised an instant alarm and the neighbours came rushing to the scene. I pleaded with them not to harm me. The teacher and another man lifted me up and brought me to my father's house. The teacher called my father to open the door but he did not answer.

“We have your son here and he is wounded,” the teacher explained. 

“My son is sleeping peacefully in his room,” my father retorted.

      My mother, who had been awake all this while and listening to these exchanges, went into our room to verify the truth. My cousins pretended to be fast asleep. When she discovered my absence, she gave a heart-rending cry which at last brought my father out. He took the whole scene in at a glance and stood speechless, gazing at me in shock and disbelief. He thanked the teacher profusely. After my mother had bandaged my arm, my father sat me down and rained abuses on me. I broke down in tears and made a clean confession. This softened him but did not prevent him from giving my cousins the spanking of their lives.

(a) Why did the writer's father warn the boys against going out at night?

(b) Quote a phrase in the second paragraph which shows that the teacher's house was not far from the writer's own.

(c) What enabled the teacher to discover the boys? (d) Describe what led to the writer's injury. (e) Why did the writer's father refuse to open the door?

(f) ...an instant alarm... (i) What is the grammatical name given to this expression as it is used in the passage? (ii) What is its function?

(g) ...like the wind.. (i) What figure of speech is contained in this expression'? (ii) What does it mean?

(h) For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage: (i) recent; (ii) delicious; (iii) stealthily; (iv) approaching; (v) spotted; (vi) verify.