This morning, in sympathy with the little ones, I continue my attempt to pass the 11-Plus exam the children of Barbados just sat. I’m hoping to do better in this, last year’s actual English paper, than I did in the maths, but chances are I won’t do as well as my son, who sat this very paper last year. (He scored 98 in the maths paper; last week, I completed an aggregate family century.)
Section A: Write the correct form of the adjective in brackets.
Question 3: John occupied the (comfortable) chair in the room. If it’s the most comfortable chair we can be sure it’s John in it, or Chris, or even Owen or Mia; but if Freundel is in it, the chair looks very uncomfortable.
Section A II: Underline the word in brackets that correctly completes each sentence.
Q7: The tailor had to (altar/alter) the bridegroom’s suit. Altar, obviously; this is Barbados, where the opening statement in any discussion must be an admission that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour; test the proposition by this sentence: the nation will sacrifice reason on the altar of faith rather than alter its skewed view of Barbados being a Christian nation; yes, obviously correct.
Section IV: Write the simple present tense of the verb in brackets.
Q16: Joyce (danced) at the community club. Joyce must have been at the Music Factory all day yesterday, wukking-up waist and getting the pastors worked up over not keeping the Sabbath holy (don’t mind the Sabbath is really Saturday).
Q19: The dogs (were) in the kennel. No, the dogs were straying and left to fend for themselves, but better free in Ballantyne than chained in the rain in Sergeants Village.
Section V: Underline the correct word in brackets.
Q22: Many tourists (visit/visits) our island from January to May. No, sorry, not right in English, maths or the essay. Now, if the sentence read, “Many tourists used to (visit/visits) our island. . . .
Q25: The teacher and the principal (admire/admires) the students. Obviously not The Alexandra School, or it would read “Either the teachers or the principal” and so on. Skip on.
Section VI: Correct the error by inserting the most suitable punctuation mark.
Q28: The hawker sold oranges mangoes plums and grapes. We must insert a phrase, not a word, at the end: “none of which were grown in Barbados”. We could add, “The supermarket sold its entire inventory, nothing of which came from Barbados” or “The car dealership/hardware store/offshore bank” and so on.
Section X: Rewrite the sentences in the passive voice.
Q53: The two boys share the prize. A misprint. It should read, “The election will be lost by the two boys fighting over the prize”. So, at least, the polls suggest.
Section XIII: Write the appropriate form of the bracketed word.
Q65: Rihanna is also known for her (fashion) outfits. Rihanna is also known for wearing a necklace with the C-word around her neck in church, but isn’t she lovely in Battleship?
That’s enough English. Next week we do all the essays.
