2015_english_olevel_nov_paper2IN

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General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level

ENGLISH LANGUAGE 1122/2
PAPER 2 INSERT

NOVEMBER 2015 SESSION 2 hours

Comprehension passage insert
The insert should not be posted to ZIMSEC with the answer booklet.
Allow candidates 5 minutes to count pages before the examination.

TIME 2 hours
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

Check ifthe booklet has all the pages and ask the invigilator for a replacement if there are duplicate or
missing pages.

Read the following passage very carefully before you attempt any question.

Answer all questions in the spaces provided using black or blue pens.
Shape all your letters very clearly.

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.
You are advised to spend | hour 30 minutes on Section A and 30 minutes on Section B.
Mistakes in spelling, punctuation and grammar may be penalised in any part of the paper.

This insert consists of 4 printed pages.

Copyright: Zimbabwe School Examinations Council, N2015.

©ZIMSEC N2015 [Turn over

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Read the following passage very carefully before you attempt any questions.

Answer all the questions. You are advised to answer them in the order set.

Mistakes in spelling, punctuation and grammar may be penalised in any part of the paper.

1 To the north of the main watershed in the reserve, the country is hilly, composed of
sandstone, grass and many water-courses, nearly all of which dry up soon after the
rains. At three places, there were small springs which dried up only in the worst years.
Dams had been built at all those sites. The earth dam on the Deteema River was no
sooner completed than a good rain storm increased the volume of water in it, but when 5
the next storm came, before the dam had filled, it burst, leaving a great gap right at the
highest part of the wall. Nothing daunted, we repaired the breach, only to have it burst
again with the first flood of another rainy season.

2 There was a lapse of time, some years in fact, before any further repair work was done.
The breached dam wall was an eyesore to my staff and I. For the third time, the whole 10
wall was rebuilt and again it stood for only a short time after filling before it gave way.

3 The next time we dealt with that hoodoo dam of ours, we repaired it with the addition
of concrete, and after that it held and is today one of the best game spots in the area.
No sooner had that dam held back some water, even before it burst the first time, 15
than quite a big crocodile put in an appearance. That was strange as the nearest
water where crocodiles were known was the Deka River, not less than eight kilometres
away. I was not aware until then that crocodiles wandered so far from permanent water
and so early in the wet season, but more surprises were to come.

4 The next dam was built on the Mandavu River which was on Sinamatela Ranch, one of 20
the blocks of land bought and added to the reserve. That dam, also an earth dam, burst
before it was full, leaving a small pool instead of what should have been a good big
stretch of water. Much to my surprise, there was a crocodile in the pool. Where the
creature had come from, heaven only knows. The Mandavu River flowed into the
Lukosi River, which in turn flowed into the Gwaai River. Except for one small pool 25
about twenty-four kilometres below the dam, there was no water all the way to the
Gwaai River which was at least forty-eight kilometres away.

5 When repair work was begun on the breach, we found a hole in the wall which had
evidently been made by a crocodile. The sides were worn smooth where the creature’s
body had scraped along the hole, while its spoor was clearly seen on the muddy bottom 30
of the hole. There, then, was the answer to our dam failures: in every case, a crocodile
had obviously bored a hole into the soft earth bank below the water level, thus causing
a burst when the dam finally filled.

6 The Deteema Dam had burst three times and now it was full again. We were confident

that crocodiles had been responsible for the breaching of the wall. We, therefore, 35
decided to try and rid that dam of those creatures before they damaged the wall again.

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Accompanied by my two sons, Rodney aged twelve and Gerald ten, I camped at the

dam and after dark set out in a small home-made metal rowing boat, armed with a

shot-gun and a torch. We were all aware that there were at least two crocodiles.

We soon located one of them. Rod had no difficulty in putting a shot into its head 40
at quite close range. The body floated and we hauled it into the boat. We then rowed
slowly up the dam in search of the other crocodile, when suddenly, the one we had in

the boat showed obvious signs of life. We could not put another shot into it as that

would have put a hole in the bottom of the boat. The crocodile, two metres in size,

became rather too lively for our liking and I abandoned the rowing seat and we all 45
took up positions in the prow and stern of the boat, with our feet dangling over the

side.

In that position, we started to paddle for the bank, the side of which nearest us was

steep, with deep water right up to the shore line, which was heavily wooded. Gerrie

kept the torch shining on the crocodile while Rod and I paddled up to what we knew 50
was a bare gravelly beach. Just as the boat was about to ground, we were greeted by

a deep growl. Gerrie flicked up the torch and revealed four lions within about twenty
metres of us. For a moment, we did not know what to do; however, we decided to try

and drive the lions away, so we shouted at them and they made off into a patch of thick

long grass. They, however, did not go far as we could still see their eyes reflecting the 55
light of our torch.

I was out-voted when I suggested that we land and get rid of our crocodile, so I tried

to despatch it by jabbing it on the head with a paddle, but that served only to bring it to
instant life. It started thrashing about and uttering a low snarling sound. That seemed

to attract the lions which came back to the gravel verge, approaching to within fifty 60
metres ofus. Shouting had no effect on them that time and Rod fired a shot over their
heads. The shot startled them but they did not make off; they merely lay down.

Faced with a crocodile if we took to the water and the lions if we took to the shore, we

were uncertain of what to do when the matter was decided for us by two of the lions

starting up a full-throated roar. We began paddling madly for the opposite bank. 65
Our crocodile lay still for a time and we made good progress but then the beast started
crawling about the bottom of the boat which upset our balance as at one time all its

weight was on one side and then on the other. In our precarious position, we were

unable to shift our weight to counterbalance the crocodile’s change in position and it
looked, at times, as if our boat would capsize. Ifthe crocodile had tried to climb out 70
over the side, I am sure we would have capsized.

All that time, the lions were indulging in full-throated roars at intervals of about five
minutes, but they were at least getting a little farther away each time. At last, we

reached the bank and had to turn the boat stern first. With both Gerrie and I on the

stern with our legs over the side and the crocodile at our end, we would have foundered 75
if Rod had been the first out, leaving all the weight at the back of the boat. We

managed to make it to the shore while Rod walked tight-rope-wise along the side of

the boat to safety.

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After a breather, we pitched the boat over, landing our crocodile on the bank. Rod
then gave it another shot which put paid to it. That ended our crocodile hunting for
the night and we rowed back to camp. The next day we managed to bag the other
crocodile and hoped we had cleared the dam. It was some time before another —
much smaller one — put up an appearance, but by then we hoped the dam wall had
consolidated sufficiently to stand up to the crocodile’s digging activities.

I am doubtful now if the crocodiles did, in fact, come from downstream. In each case,
there was a small spring near the site of those dams with plenty of water during the
rains. Although it has never been proved, we are now inclined to believe that those
creatures lived in those areas and aestivated in some concealed spot during the dry
season. Possibly they had excavated a hole in the deep damp soil near the spring.

The entrance to such a hole would soon be trampled in by elephants and become

quite invisible.

One year, a crocodile about two metres long found its way into the pan at Shumba.
Where it came from, no one knows, and where it went to is equally mysterious, for it
just disappeared during the wet season, and never appeared at any of the other pans
on those parts. That was all the more remarkable because there was usually no water
at Shumba during the dry season, until a borehole was sunk there.

Although crocodiles were far more widespread in that dry country than one would
expect, it was a strange fact that there were none in the Nata or Makarakari drainage
system. There was enough water and fish for them to live happily in that river system,
but I never saw a sign of them there and the local people were emphatic that they did
not exist in that area.

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Adapted from Wankie: The Story of a Great Game Reserve, by Ted Davison, Published by

Regal Publishers 1973.

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