2. Read the extract from When the Mountains Roared
Give one word from lines 1–3 that means ‘trapped’.
Answer:
• ‘cornered’
3. What does ‘My heart leaps’ (line 4) tell you about how the
narrator is feeling?
Answer:
It tells you she is feeling excited / happy / a sudden positive emotion.
4. ‘A click, and then the crack of their guns.’ (line 6)
What is the effect of the aural imagery used in this sentence?
Answer:
‘Click’ then ‘crack’ indicate there were two stages that followed
quickly on from one another / the word ‘crack’ shows the
suddenness/loudness/shocking nature of the noise.
5. ‘And it’s too late. There’s nothing I can do. The beautiful leopard thuds to
the ground. I collapse against a tree. And the mountain roars with me.’
(lines 9–10)
Give an example of personification from these lines and explain its effect.
• Answer:
• Example: ‘the mountain roars with me’
• Effect: Her anger or unhappiness is magnified/exaggerated / it shows the
unnaturalness of the leopard’s death or that shooting it was a crime against
nature / it shows that the mountain is angry too.
6. • Explain, using your own words, how the writer uses contrast in
the description of the leopard in lines 11–13.
• Answer:
• The contrast between ‘velvet sheen’ and ‘the bullet wound in its
side’ makes the injury/death shocking.
7. What is the effect of ‘The men tower over it’ (line 14)?
• Answer:
• It makes the men seem powerful/dominant, or makes the
leopard seem powerless/weak.
8. • Explain, using your own words, what the narrator means by
saying the leopard’s death ‘can’t be in vain’ (line 17).
• Answer:
• The leopard’s death must not be for nothing / must lead to justice /
some good must come from it.
9. • How does the writer use structure to build tension in the last
four lines of the extract (lines 21–24)? Choose one example
and explain its effect.
• Answer:
One-word sentence ‘Click.’: builds tension / creates a sound.
Short sentence ‘I forgot about the flash.’: explains what has come
before and ends on a cliff-hanger.
The structure of the short sentences in the last four lines of the
extract builds the tension (by using aural and visual effects).
10. Section B: Writing
Write the first three paragraphs of a story about someone
acting bravely.
You could:
describe the setting of the story
include an event involving one or two characters
• explain how it feels to be scared but act bravely.
