Sample Passages of Primary 4 English Papers (2013)

        “Come on!” yelled Mum, “Your tea is ready.”
        I was not interested in tea. I was not interested in anything except this fantastic remote control. It seemed to be able to make animals and insects freeze or go fast forward. I looked through the kitchen door at Dad. He had already started eating. Long pieces of spaghetti dangled from his mouth. He was chewing and sucking at the same time. Now do not get me wrong. I love Dad. I always have. He is a terrific person. However, one thing that he did really irritated me. It was the way he ate spaghetti. He sort of made slurping noises and the meat sauce gathered around his lips as he suck, used to get on my nerves. I believed that was why I did what I did. I knew it was a weak excuse. I shivered. Then I pointed the control at him and hit the `pause’ button
        Dad stopped eating. He turned rock solid and just sat there with the fork halfway up to his lips. His mouth was wide open. His eyes stared. The spaghetti hung from his fork like worms of concrete. He did not blink. He did not move. He was as stiff as a tree trunk.
       Mum, looked at him, laughed and said that Arthur would do anything for a laugh. Dad did not move. Mum said that that was enough and that he was setting a bad example for Mathew by fooling around with his food in that way.

        My frozen father never so much as moved an eyeball. Mum gave him a friendly push on the shoulder and he started to topple. Over he went. He looked just like a statue that had been pushed of its mount. Crash! He lay on the ground. His hand still halfway up to his mouth. The solid spaghetti hung in the same position. Only now it stretched out sideways pointing at his toes. 

        Mum gave a little scream and rushed over to him. Quick as a flash, pointed the remote control at him and pressed 'forward’. The spaghetti dangled downwards. Dad sat up, rubbed his head and asked what had happened. Mum said in a concerned voice that he had fainted.
        “You had better go down to the hospital and have a check-up. I’ll get the car. Matthew, you stay here and finish your tea. We won't be long,” Mum said.
        I was going to tell them about the remote control but something made me stop. I had a thought. If I told them about it, they would take it off me. It was the last I would see it for sure.

Answer in complete sentences.

Why did Mathew think that the remote control was fantastic?
The remote control seemed to be able to make animals and insects freeze or go fast forward.

Why was Matthew annoyed with his father?
Matthew’s father ate spaghetti in a way that got on Matthew’s nerves as he did not like the way his father ate spaghetti.

Write down the sentence that tells you that Matthew does not have a good reason to use the remote control.
The sentence is “I knew it was a week excuse.”

Why was Mum not worried when Dad first became frozen while eating spaghetti?
Mum thought that Dad was trying to be funny.

Write down. the word from the passage which has a similar meaning to: (a) hung loosely (b) faIl over. Answer is: a) Dangled b) toppled.

P407 CA2 PC

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