8. 4 5 6 Uncle Awang provided the next painful lesson in suicide by cigarette. No, cancer didn’t claim him, fatigue did. I was in Standard 5 when my Uncle Yatim called one day to speak to my father. In hushed tones, my father next spoke with my mother and then rushed off to the capital. Awang’s boss who had wanted to know why Awang hadn’t shown up at work for three days had called Uncle Yatim. Uncle Yatim, a fisherman, went to my Uncle Awang’s house. From the road, the house looked normal. Upon closer inspection there were no curtains in the windows. Everything appeared pitch-dark inside. Uncle Yatim was a seasoned fisherman. He’d been through many bad experiences while fighting fires. He had seen some of his colleagues drop to their deaths when the roof of the warehouse they were in collapsed as they tried to douse the flames of a big fire. Yet nothing in his professional career had prepared him for the sight he found when he finally managed to get into his brother’s house. A forensic fire examiner later determined that Uncle Awang had been watching television in this favourite armchair after a hard day at work. He had fallen asleep while smoking. The cigarette had fallen from his hand and started a fire in his armchair. Awakened by the fire, my uncle had panicked and, in trying to escape the fire, had become overpowered by smoke. He had lost his way and had stumbled into the toilet where he had died of smoke inhalation. 25 30 35 40
10. Questions 26-30 Answer all questions. You are advised to answer them in the order set. 26 When did the writer feel the pressure to start smoking? 27 (a) What do you understand by the phrase ‘goody two-shoes’? (b) Which word in paragraph 2 tells you that the other boys were trying to force the writer to smoke too? 28 (a) Where did the writer last see his Aunt Salmah? (b) Why could the writer not forget his last memory of her? 29 (a) Which phrase in paragraph 4 tells you that the writer’s uncle had something serious to tell the writer’s father? (b) How did the fire in Uncle Awang’s house start? 30 In your own words state what had actually caused Uncle Awang to die?
18. From the text X Questions 26-30 Answer all questions. You are advised to answer them in the order set. 26. When did the writer feel the pressure to start smoking? Answer 1 I was in standard six and many kids were smoking . Answer 2 He was in standard six and many kids were smoking . Answer 3 The writer feel pressure to smoke when he was in standard six . [2 marks]
19. X Questions 27 (a) What do you understand by the phrase ‘goody two-shoes’? self righteous person [1 mark] (b) Which word in paragraph 2 tells you that the other boys were trying to force the writer to smoke too? ` Answer 1 Why were the boys so concerned when I didn’t join them behind the school for a ‘cig’ during break time? Answer 2 concerned [1 mark]
20. X Questions 28 (a) Where did the writer last see his Aunt Salmah? Answer 1 My last and, indelibly-inked memory of Aunt Salmah was seeing her in the ward of the government hospital in the state capital. Answer 2 His last and, indelibly-inked memory of Aunt Salmah was seeing her in the ward of the government hospital in the state capital. Answer 3 The writer last seeing her in the ward of the government hospital in the state capital. Answer 4 in the ward of the government hospital in the state capital.
21. X Questions 28 (b) Why could the writer not forget his last memory of her? Answer 1 The thing that really sticks in my mind is how she couldn’t, even then, at that late hour in her life, stop smoking Answer 2 The thing that really sticks in HIS mind is how she couldn’t, even then, at that late hour in her life, stop smoking
22. X X Questions 29 (a) Which phrase in paragraph 4 tells you that the writer’s uncle had something serious to tell the writer’s father? Answer 1 In hushed tones, my father next spoke with my mother and then rushed off to the capital. Answer 2 In hushed tones, his father next spoke with his mother and then rushed off to the capital. Answer 3 In hushed tones
