New Curriculum Third Term English Language examination for SS 1

Class: SS 1
Term: Third Term
Subject: English Language
Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Marks: 70

SECTION A: OBJECTIVES (50 Marks)
Instruction: Answer all 50 questions. Each question carries 1 mark.

READING COMPREHENSION — Questions 1–12

Read the passage carefully before answering the questions. Use evidence from the text where relevant.

The students responsible for their school’s online noticeboard had long thought of passwords as private matters. Each editor created one, memorised it and began posting announcements. There was no agreed procedure for checking information or responding when an account behaved strangely. That arrangement appeared harmless until a message announcing the postponement of examinations appeared under the editor-in-chief’s username.

Within an hour, several students had cancelled study sessions. A teacher noticed that the announcement contradicted the examination timetable and contacted the editorial team. The editor-in-chief denied posting it, but she had recently entered her password on a page that looked almost identical to the school login site. The page had arrived through a message urging her to “confirm your account immediately or lose access”.

The team first wanted to delete the announcement and forget the incident. Their ICT teacher argued that removal alone would leave the underlying weakness unresolved. He advised the students to preserve relevant evidence, alert the school administrator, change compromised credentials and review account access. He also explained that the incident was not proof that digital communication itself was dangerous; it demonstrated the consequences of using it without safeguards.

At the review meeting, some students blamed the editor-in-chief, while others insisted that the entire system needed improvement. A member observed that a convincing imitation of a trusted website could deceive a careful person, especially under pressure. Nevertheless, he added, caution was possible: users could check addresses, avoid unsolicited links and confirm urgent requests through a known channel. The team adopted two-step verification and stopped sharing editorial passwords.

The school issued a correction through its verified channels. It did not claim that the false message had caused no harm; instead, the statement acknowledged the confusion and explained what had changed. Several pupils praised its directness, although others thought the apology should have come sooner.

A month later, the editorial team published a guide to safe communication. Rather than fill it with frightening warnings, the writers explained each risk and paired it with a practical response. They also distinguished the protection of personal information from the responsible use of material created by others. The editor-in-chief wrote the introduction: “Trust is not preserved by pretending mistakes never occur. It is rebuilt when people investigate them and act on what they discover.” The guide became part of the school’s induction programme for new students.

1. The false announcement spread quickly chiefly because … (a) the teacher had warned every class beforehand   (b) the editor published a correction immediately   (c) pupils trusted a familiar school account   (d) the official examination timetable was deleted
2. What evidence made the announcement suspicious? (a) It contradicted the established examination timetable   (b) It was read by students outside the newsroom   (c) It appeared on a website rather than paper   (d) It included a date and named the school
3. The editor most likely encountered a phishing attempt when she … (a) memorised her original password   (b) contacted a teacher about the timetable   (c) wrote a school announcement herself   (d) entered her password on an imitation login page
4. The ICT teacher opposed simply deleting the post because … (a) the timetable was itself a private document   (b) the compromised access and related risks would remain   (c) deletion would automatically reveal every password   (d) school announcements could no longer be corrected
5. Which response demonstrates responsible incident handling? (a) Preserve evidence, alert administrators and secure affected accounts   (b) Forward the suspicious link to every school group   (c) Accuse the editor publicly without investigating   (d) Publish all account passwords to prove openness
6. The statement “a careful person” could still be deceived primarily acknowledges … (a) that checking website addresses never helps   (b) that an account must be shared to be trusted   (c) that online communication should end permanently   (d) how convincing impersonation and urgency can affect judgment
7. The writer’s attitude to the editorial team is best described as … (a) contemptuous of every pupil involved   (b) enthusiastic about the false announcement   (c) dismissive of the reported confusion   (d) critical of weak procedures but supportive of improvement
8. Which inference is best supported by the school’s correction? (a) Responsible communication requires withholding all facts   (b) A prompt correction guarantees that nobody was affected   (c) Acknowledging harm can help restore public confidence   (d) Public trust is restored only by remaining silent
9. All these measures were adopted or recommended except … (a) confirming urgent requests through a known channel   (b) checking a site’s address before entering credentials   (c) using two-step verification   (d) posting passwords publicly for transparency
10. The final quotation suggests that trust is rebuilt through … (a) deleting criticism without examining it   (b) denying that any error occurred   (c) investigation, accountability and corrective action   (d) blaming a single person in every case
11. The passage’s main purpose is to … (a) prove students should never use electronic noticeboards   (b) compare the price of different school devices   (c) explain how a school learned from a digital-security incident   (d) advertise a particular commercial login service
12. By contrasting “frightening warnings” with “practical responses”, the writer emphasises … (a) the need for longer password lists in public   (b) useful guidance over fear-based messaging   (c) the importance of making notices more dramatic   (d) the uselessness of all cybersecurity advice
13. In “The editorial team issued a correction,” “correction” is formed from … (a) corrective through comparative inflection   (b) correct through nominalisation   (c) corrected through plural suffixation   (d) correcting through negation
14. ________ is the noun derived from the verb “decide”. (a) undecided   (b) decidingly   (c) decisive   (d) decision
15. Which affix changes “possible” to its negative opposite? (a) -ly   (b) im-   (c) -ment   (d) re-
16. The prefix “re-” in “recheck” signifies … (a) repetition of an action   (b) a past-tense ending   (c) the absence of an action   (d) a person performing an action
17. The ________ in “carelessness” forms an abstract noun from the adjective “careless”. (a) plural marker -s   (b) suffix -ed   (c) prefix un-   (d) suffix -ness
18. In the pair “teach” and “teacher,” the ending -er is … (a) derivational because it forms a new noun   (b) inflectional because it makes the verb past tense   (c) inflectional because it marks plurality   (d) a prefix because it appears at the beginning
19. Which word contains an inflectional rather than a derivational suffix? (a) movement   (b) walked   (c) careful   (d) kindness
20. Nominalisation improves the formal style of “We investigated the matter” by producing … (a) “The matter is investigate.”   (b) “Investigatingly, the matter happened.”   (c) “The matter investigated the investigator.”   (d) “An investigation of the matter was conducted.”
21. All these expressions are noun phrases except ________. (a) the carefully prepared report   (b) those three school administrators   (c) after the meeting ended   (d) several confidential accounts
22. The head noun in “three confidential school reports” is … (a) three   (b) confidential   (c) school   (d) reports
23. The clause “What the editor discovered” in “What the editor discovered surprised everyone” is a … (a) noun clause functioning as the subject   (b) sentence fragment with no finite verb   (c) coordinating conjunction joining equal clauses   (d) prepositional phrase functioning as a modifier
24. Which sentence contains a dependent relative clause? (a) “The message that misled pupils has been withdrawn.”   (b) “The team updated the page.”   (c) “The message misled pupils.”   (d) “The school issued an apology.”
25. The expression “during the review meeting” is a … (a) independent clause   (b) direct speech clause   (c) prepositional phrase   (d) finite interrogative sentence
26. The noun phrase “the inaccurate announcement” functions as the object in … (a) “The inaccurate announcement was corrected.”   (b) “The teacher corrected the inaccurate announcement.”   (c) “The inaccurate announcement appeared unexpectedly.”   (d) “The inaccurate announcement confused pupils.”
27. To place emphasis on “NOT the account owner” during speech, a speaker should stress … (a) only the last consonant of “owner”   (b) the first letter of “account”   (c) the contrastive word “not”   (d) every unstressed article equally
28. In “She DID send the correction,” unusual stress on DID communicates … (a) emphasis that counters a possible denial   (b) the end of a list of alternatives   (c) a request to change the past tense   (d) that the speaker is asking a yes/no question
29. The typical stress in “photograph” falls on … (a) the third syllable   (b) the first syllable   (c) the second syllable   (d) the final consonant
30. In “photography,” the stressed syllable is normally … (a) the fourth syllable   (b) the second syllable   (c) the final consonant   (d) the first syllable
31. Which word is stressed primarily on its second syllable in common pronunciation? (a) hospital   (b) cinema   (c) committee   (d) family
32. The four-syllable word “education” commonly has primary stress on … (a) its second syllable   (b) its third syllable   (c) its first syllable   (d) its fourth syllable
33. A rising intonation at the end of “Are you certain?” commonly signals … (a) a completed warning with no question   (b) a yes/no question seeking confirmation   (c) a final command delivered as certainty   (d) the end of a declarative list
34. Which utterance would usually take falling intonation? (a) “Is the editor available?”   (b) “Did the meeting end?”   (c) “The meeting has ended.”   (d) “Have you verified the message?”
35. The closest synonym of “misleading” in context is … (a) trustworthy   (b) harmless   (c) transparent   (d) deceptive
36. The antonym of “confidential” in “confidential credentials” is … (a) public   (b) restricted   (c) secret   (d) private
37. A risk described as “avoidable” is NOT … (a) preventable   (b) reducible   (c) manageable   (d) inevitable
38. The correct step after receiving an urgent password-reset link is to … (a) forward the link to every classmate   (b) verify the request through the service’s known official channel   (c) open the link and share the password immediately   (d) ask a stranger to use the link first
39. Which sentence clearly distinguishes a fact from an inference? (a) “The post appeared at 8 a.m.; the account may have been compromised.”   (b) “A link was sent; it must be from the principal.”   (c) “A correction was issued; thus no one was confused.”   (d) “A post appeared; therefore every editor is dishonest.”
40. An effective online-safety speech should … (a) display an example student’s real password   (b) promise that no mistake can ever occur   (c) explain a specific risk and the action that reduces it   (d) rely entirely on alarming slogans
41. Which editing decision improves clarity without changing meaning? (a) Remove the subject and verb from every sentence   (b) Add multiple contradictory dates to the announcement   (c) Replace “It was carried out by them” with “The team carried it out.”   (d) Replace every ordinary noun with a vague pronoun
42. The noun phrase “the newly appointed school editor” contains … (a) a head noun with premodifiers   (b) a subordinating conjunction as its head   (c) two independent main clauses   (d) a finite verb as its only head
43. The main reason for using evidence in a cyber-safety report is … (a) to distinguish what happened from assumptions about responsibility   (b) to prevent pupils from asking questions   (c) to avoid issuing any correction   (d) to guarantee a culprit can be named immediately
44. Which sentence has an appropriate official tone? (a) “All rumours are definitely true.”   (b) “Oops, exams maybe not, lol.”   (c) “Anybody confused should blame themselves.”   (d) “We regret the inaccurate notice and confirm that examinations remain scheduled.”
45. The implied meaning of “rebuilding trust” is … (a) constructing a new school building   (b) restoring confidence after it has been damaged   (c) restricting access to the noticeboard forever   (d) writing the timetable from the beginning
46. A summary of the incident should retain … (a) every unrelated conversation that week   (b) only the most dramatic insult on a group chat   (c) a speculative claim about all pupils   (d) the false notice, discovered cause, response and lessons learned
47. Which clause contains the main assertion in “Although the mistake was serious, the team corrected it”? (a) the team corrected it   (b) serious, the team   (c) Although the mistake   (d) Although the mistake was serious
48. The public notice ends “Please check the verified timetable.” Its imperative mood functions mainly to … (a) direct readers towards a reliable action   (b) ask for the number of pupils   (c) express an imagined condition   (d) narrate a past event
49. Which revision best maintains a clear relationship between an incident and the action it prompted? (a) “Because credentials therefore incident account.”   (b) “Because the account was compromised, the team changed its credentials.”   (c) “The account and the team because changed.”   (d) “The team, although however, compromised.”
50. An intonation pattern can affect meaning because … (a) the alphabet changes whenever a speaker pauses   (b) a rising pitch always indicates anger   (c) the same words may convey certainty, surprise or a question   (d) intonation replaces grammar in every context

SECTION B: WRITING (20 Marks)
Instruction: Answer ONE question only. Your answer should suit its stated purpose, audience and register.

Question 1. Write an informative speech for new students explaining how phishing works, how to respond to suspicious links and how schools can rebuild trust after misinformation.

Question 2. Write a formal report about a false announcement circulated through a school account. Separate verified facts, possible causes, immediate response and longer-term prevention.

Objective Marking Scheme

Question 1 – ✅ (c) pupils trusted a familiar school account
Question 2 – ✅ (a) It contradicted the established examination timetable
Question 3 – ✅ (d) entered her password on an imitation login page
Question 4 – ✅ (b) the compromised access and related risks would remain
Question 5 – ✅ (a) Preserve evidence, alert administrators and secure affected accounts
Question 6 – ✅ (d) how convincing impersonation and urgency can affect judgment
Question 7 – ✅ (d) critical of weak procedures but supportive of improvement
Question 8 – ✅ (c) Acknowledging harm can help restore public confidence
Question 9 – ✅ (d) posting passwords publicly for transparency
Question 10 – ✅ (c) investigation, accountability and corrective action
Question 11 – ✅ (c) explain how a school learned from a digital-security incident
Question 12 – ✅ (b) useful guidance over fear-based messaging
Question 13 – ✅ (b) correct through nominalisation
Question 14 – ✅ (d) decision
Question 15 – ✅ (b) im-
Question 16 – ✅ (a) repetition of an action
Question 17 – ✅ (d) suffix -ness
Question 18 – ✅ (a) derivational because it forms a new noun
Question 19 – ✅ (b) walked
Question 20 – ✅ (d) “An investigation of the matter was conducted.”
Question 21 – ✅ (c) after the meeting ended
Question 22 – ✅ (d) reports
Question 23 – ✅ (a) noun clause functioning as the subject
Question 24 – ✅ (a) “The message that misled pupils has been withdrawn.”
Question 25 – ✅ (c) prepositional phrase
Question 26 – ✅ (b) “The teacher corrected the inaccurate announcement.”
Question 27 – ✅ (c) the contrastive word “not”
Question 28 – ✅ (a) emphasis that counters a possible denial
Question 29 – ✅ (b) the first syllable
Question 30 – ✅ (b) the second syllable
Question 31 – ✅ (c) committee
Question 32 – ✅ (b) its third syllable
Question 33 – ✅ (b) a yes/no question seeking confirmation
Question 34 – ✅ (c) “The meeting has ended.”
Question 35 – ✅ (d) deceptive
Question 36 – ✅ (a) public
Question 37 – ✅ (d) inevitable
Question 38 – ✅ (b) verify the request through the service’s known official channel
Question 39 – ✅ (a) “The post appeared at 8 a.m.; the account may have been compromised.”
Question 40 – ✅ (c) explain a specific risk and the action that reduces it
Question 41 – ✅ (c) Replace “It was carried out by them” with “The team carried it out.”
Question 42 – ✅ (a) a head noun with premodifiers
Question 43 – ✅ (a) to distinguish what happened from assumptions about responsibility
Question 44 – ✅ (d) “We regret the inaccurate notice and confirm that examinations remain scheduled.”
Question 45 – ✅ (b) restoring confidence after it has been damaged
Question 46 – ✅ (d) the false notice, discovered cause, response and lessons learned
Question 47 – ✅ (a) the team corrected it
Question 48 – ✅ (a) direct readers towards a reliable action
Question 49 – ✅ (b) “Because the account was compromised, the team changed its credentials.”
Question 50 – ✅ (c) the same words may convey certainty, surprise or a question

English Writing Marking Scheme (20 Marks)
Content and development of relevant ideas: 8 marks; Organisation, coherence and paragraphing: 5 marks; Expression, register and vocabulary: 5 marks; Spelling, grammar and punctuation: 2 marks. Award credit for sustained argument, appropriate evidence, effective narrative structure or clear formal document conventions, as demanded by the chosen task.

VERBAL APTITUDE — SEPARATE ASSESSMENT (10 Marks)
Instruction: Answer all 10 questions. These marks are assessed separately and are NOT part of English Language’s 70 marks.

1. Credential : authentication :: key : … (a) accusation   (b) hesitation   (c) access   (d) proverb
2. Prefix : word beginning :: suffix : … (a) word ending   (b) independent clause   (c) stressed vowel   (d) first consonant
3. Which word is most nearly opposite to “authenticate”? (a) falsify   (b) confirm   (c) validate   (d) verify
4. All of these help establish reliable information except … (a) independent confirmation   (b) anonymous untraceable forwarding   (c) source checking   (d) correct context
5. A correction to misinformation is to accuracy as an apology is to … (a) punctuation   (b) accountability   (c) encryption   (d) connection
6. Choose the most logical sequence after a suspected compromise. (a) accuse, publish passwords, delete evidence, delay   (b) share credentials, repost the notice, blame readers   (c) forward, ignore, deny, celebrate   (d) report, secure access, investigate, communicate findings
7. Given that some warnings are false and all official notices are checked, what necessarily follows? (a) Not every warning is necessarily an official notice   (b) Every warning is an official notice   (c) Every checked notice is false   (d) No official notice can be true
8. Which expression is most nearly equivalent to “provisional conclusion”? (a) irreversible verdict   (b) compulsory order   (c) tentative judgment   (d) final proof
9. Incident : investigation :: hypothesis : … (a) secrecy   (b) testing   (c) printing   (d) blaming
10. Complete the relationship: transparency : trust :: concealment : … (a) cooperation   (b) approval   (c) certainty   (d) suspicion

Verbal Aptitude Marking Scheme — Separate (10 Marks)

Question 1 – ✅ (c) access
Question 2 – ✅ (a) word ending
Question 3 – ✅ (a) falsify
Question 4 – ✅ (b) anonymous untraceable forwarding
Question 5 – ✅ (b) accountability
Question 6 – ✅ (d) report, secure access, investigate, communicate findings
Question 7 – ✅ (a) Not every warning is necessarily an official notice
Question 8 – ✅ (c) tentative judgment
Question 9 – ✅ (b) testing
Question 10 – ✅ (d) suspicion