Passage 1<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Question 1.<\/span><\/strong> The morning stretched calm, beautiful, and warm. Who is the narrator of this journal entry? What does this entry record?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 2.<\/span><\/strong> The morning stretched calm, beautiful, and warm. Describe the scene as noted by the narrator before seeing the flashes of light.<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 3.<\/span><\/strong> The morning stretched calm, beautiful, and warm. What startled the narrator? Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 4.<\/span><\/strong> The morning stretched calm, beautiful, and warm. Which part of speech is most used in this extract and to what effect?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Passage 2<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Question 1.<\/span><\/strong> Magnesium flares? While I debated it, Why does the poet use hyphens in the second last line of the extract?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 2.<\/span><\/strong> Magnesium flares? While I debated it, What do the words ‘Magnesium flares’ refer to? Why did the narrator mention them?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 3.<\/span><\/strong> Magnesium flares? While I debated it, What happened while the narrator processed everything and debated on what to do next?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 4.<\/span><\/strong> Magnesium flares? While I debated it, What was weirder than the flashes of light and the collapsing of buildings? Why does the poet call it ‘weird’?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Passage 3<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Question 1.<\/span><\/strong> A splinter jutted from my mangled thigh. Describe the narrator’s appearance after the flashes of light. How did the narrator’s wife look when she emerged?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 2.<\/span><\/strong> A splinter jutted from my mangled thigh. Why did the narrator not understand what had come to pass?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 3.<\/span><\/strong> A splinter jutted from my mangled thigh. How do the adjectives for fear used in the stanza portray the narrator? The narrator mentions being scared for his life, why then does he calls out to his wife?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 4.<\/span><\/strong> A splinter jutted from my mangled thigh. What words did the narrator use to console his wife? Was she the only one being consoled?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 5.<\/span><\/strong> A splinter jutted from my mangled thigh. Evaluate the narrator’s relation with his wife based on the extract given above.<\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Passage 4<\/strong><\/p>\n Question 1.<\/span><\/strong> ‘Let’s get out quickly.’ Stumbling to the street What did the narrator stumble over on his way out?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 2.<\/span><\/strong> ‘Let’s get out quickly.’ Stumbling to the street What effect did it have on him and his wife?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 3.<\/span><\/strong> ‘Let’s get out quickly.’ Stumbling to the street What dawned on the narrator when they were on the street?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 4.<\/span><\/strong> ‘Let’s get out quickly.’ Stumbling to the street Why does the narrator use the word ‘dawned’?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 5.<\/span><\/strong> ‘Let’s get out quickly.’ Stumbling to the street What was going on around the narrator and his wife as they walked about looking for safety?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Passage 5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Question 1.<\/span><\/strong> \u2026(Though this made What did the shock of the blasts do to the narrator?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 2.<\/span><\/strong> \u2026(Though this made Why do you think the narrator felt no shame although he was naked?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 3.<\/span><\/strong> \u2026(Though this made What thought disturbed the narrator? When did it subside?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 4.<\/span><\/strong> \u2026(Though this made Why are the soldier and the other people in the poem silent?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 5.<\/span><\/strong> \u2026(Though this made How much time must have passed since the attack? Are there indications of time passing in the extract?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Passage 6<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Question 1.<\/span><\/strong> \u2026I said What did the narrator instruct his wife to do? What reason did he have for such a request?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 2.<\/span><\/strong> \u2026I said Why did the narrator’s wife not want to leave? What did the narrator feel when his wife left him?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 3.<\/span><\/strong> \u2026I said Why does the narrator say that his body did not keep up with his mind?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/strong> Question 4.<\/span><\/strong> \u2026I said
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSprawling half clad, I gazed out at the form
\nOf shimmering leaves and shadows. Suddenly
\nA strong flash, then another, startled me.
\nI saw the old stone lantern brightly lit.<\/p>\n
\nThe narrator of the journal entry is a doctor who lives with his wife in Hiroshima. It records the horrific aftermath of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6th of August 1945, during WW II.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSprawling half clad, I gazed out at the form
\nOf shimmering leaves and shadows. Suddenly
\nA strong flash, then another, startled me.
\nI saw the old stone lantern brightly lit.<\/p>\n
\nBefore seeing the flashes of light, the day began with a calm morning. The narrator describes the day as beautiful and warm. The sun was up and the narrator gazed at the shimmering leaves and shadows before him.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSprawling half clad, I gazed out at the form
\nOf shimmering leaves and shadows. Suddenly
\nA strong flash, then another, startled me.
\nI saw the old stone lantern brightly lit.<\/p>\n
\nThe narrator’s peaceful morning was disrupted by two sudden strong flashes of light. The sudden flares startled the narrator because he did not know what caused them and suddenly the old stone lantern before him was up in flames.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSprawling half clad, I gazed out at the form
\nOf shimmering leaves and shadows. Suddenly
\nA strong flash, then another, startled me.
\nI saw the old stone lantern brightly lit.<\/p>\n
\nThis extract uses adjectives and verbs to describe the calm morning as experienced by the narrator before the blast took place.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nThe roof, the walls and, as it seemed, the world
\nCollapsed in timber and debris, dust swirled
\nAround me – in the garden now – and, weird,
\nMy drawers and undershirt disappeared.<\/p>\n
\nThe poet uses hyphens for poetic effect in the second last line of the extract. They are pauses which reflect the disorientation caused by the sudden flashes of light.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nThe roof, the walls and, as it seemed, the world
\nCollapsed in timber and debris, dust swirled
\nAround me – in the garden now – and, weird,
\nMy drawers and undershirt disappeared.<\/p>\n
\nThe poem is set during the time of Second World War. In this war, magnesium was commonly used in explosives. Therefore, the sudden flashes of light prompted the narrator to think that they were caused by magnesium.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nThe roof, the walls and, as it seemed, the world
\nCollapsed in timber and debris, dust swirled
\nAround me – in the garden now – and, weird,
\nMy drawers and undershirt disappeared.<\/p>\n
\nAs the narrator debated on what to do next everything around him began to crumble and fall. He saw the roof and the walls of his house collapse into debris. By the time he stepped out and reached the garden, he could see dust all around him.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nThe roof, the walls and, as it seemed, the world
\nCollapsed in timber and debris, dust swirled
\nAround me – in the garden now – and, weird,
\nMy drawers and undershirt disappeared.<\/p>\n
\nThe disappearance of the narrator’s drawers and undershirt was weirder than the flashes of light and the collapsing of buildings. The poet calls it weird because the narrator could not come up with any logical explanation for such a thing to happen.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMy right side bled, my cheek was torn, and I
\nDislodged, detachedly, a piece of glass,
\nAll the time wondering what had come to pass.
\nWhere was my wife? Alarmed, I gave a shout,
\n‘Where are you, Yecko-san?’ My blood gushed out.
\nThe artery in my neck? Scared for my life,
\nI called out, panic-stricken, to my wife.
\nPale, bloodstained, frightened, Yecko-san emerged,
\nHolding her elbow. ‘We’ll be fine,’ I urged –<\/p>\n
\nAfter the flashes of light, the narrator was covered with wounds, dust and blood, and his clothes had disappeared. A splinter jutted from his mangled thigh. There was blood on his right side and his cheek was torn. The narrator’s wife looked pale and frightened and was bloodstained when she emerged. She was also holding her elbow which was an indication that she too was injured.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMy right side bled, my cheek was torn, and I
\nDislodged, detachedly, a piece of glass,
\nAll the time wondering what had come to pass.
\nWhere was my wife? Alarmed, I gave a shout,
\n‘Where are you, Yecko-san?’ My blood gushed out.
\nThe artery in my neck? Scared for my life,
\nI called out, panic-stricken, to my wife.
\nPale, bloodstained, frightened, Yecko-san emerged,
\nHolding her elbow. ‘We’ll be fine,’ I urged –<\/p>\n
\nThe flashes of light and the destruction that followed all happened so soon that the narrator did not understand what had come to pass.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMy right side bled, my cheek was torn, and I
\nDislodged, detachedly, a piece of glass,
\nAll the time wondering what had come to pass.
\nWhere was my wife? Alarmed, I gave a shout,
\n‘Where are you, Yecko-san?’ My blood gushed out.
\nThe artery in my neck? Scared for my life,
\nI called out, panic-stricken, to my wife.
\nPale, bloodstained, frightened, Yecko-san emerged,
\nHolding her elbow. ‘We’ll be fine,’ I urged –<\/p>\n
\nWords such as ‘alarmed’, ‘scared’ and ‘panic-stricken’ have been employed in the extract to describe the narrator’s fear. In the lines before these words the narrator clearly describes his own condition but when he cannot understand the cause of the explosion and is unable to find his wife, he panics further. This shows that he loves and cares for his wife dearly.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMy right side bled, my cheek was torn, and I
\nDislodged, detachedly, a piece of glass,
\nAll the time wondering what had come to pass.
\nWhere was my wife? Alarmed, I gave a shout,
\n‘Where are you, Yecko-san?’ My blood gushed out.
\nThe artery in my neck? Scared for my life,
\nI called out, panic-stricken, to my wife.
\nPale, bloodstained, frightened, Yecko-san emerged,
\nHolding her elbow. ‘We’ll be fine,’ I urged –<\/p>\n
\nThe narrator used the words ‘We’ll be fine,’ to console his wife. When the narrator used these words he realised that he was consoling himself more than her by doing this.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMy right side bled, my cheek was torn, and I
\nDislodged, detachedly, a piece of glass,
\nAll the time wondering what had come to pass.
\nWhere was my wife? Alarmed, I gave a shout,
\n‘Where are you, Yecko-san?’ My blood gushed out.
\nThe artery in my neck? Scared for my life,
\nI called out, panic-stricken, to my wife.
\nPale, bloodstained, frightened, Yecko-san emerged,
\nHolding her elbow. ‘We’ll be fine,’ I urged –<\/p>\n
\nThe narrator shares a close bond with his wife. This is evident when he nervously searches for her all around amidst the dust and the debris. When she finally emerges out of the dust, he notices her frightfully pale face and tries to console her. When he remembers that he has to do his duty as a doctor, his first thought is to send his wife to a safe place. He instructs her to go ahead without him and tells her that he will join her later. We don’t know if the two reunite since the widespread devastation caused by the atomic explosion left almost everyone shattered and lost. However, the poet clearly explains to the readers that even in those trying times, the doctor chooses to look for his wife instead of fleeing to a safer location.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWe fell, tripped by something at our feet.
\nI gasped out, when I saw it was a head:
\n‘Excuse me, please excuse me -‘ He was dead:
\nA gate had crushed him. There we stood, afraid.
\nA house standing before us tilted, swayed,
\nToppled, and crashed. Fire sprang up in the dust,
\nSpread by the wind. It dawned on us we must
\nGet to the hospital: we needed aid –
\nAnd I should help my staff too. \u2026<\/p>\n
\nOn his way out the narrator stumbled over the head of a dead man who had been crushed by a gate.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWe fell, tripped by something at our feet.
\nI gasped out, when I saw it was a head:
\n‘Excuse me, please excuse me -‘ He was dead:
\nA gate had crushed him. There we stood, afraid.
\nA house standing before us tilted, swayed,
\nToppled, and crashed. Fire sprang up in the dust,
\nSpread by the wind. It dawned on us we must
\nGet to the hospital: we needed aid –
\nAnd I should help my staff too. \u2026<\/p>\n
\nThe narrator and his wife were shocked and distressed to see the mangled remains of the dead man.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWe fell, tripped by something at our feet.
\nI gasped out, when I saw it was a head:
\n‘Excuse me, please excuse me -‘ He was dead:
\nA gate had crushed him. There we stood, afraid.
\nA house standing before us tilted, swayed,
\nToppled, and crashed. Fire sprang up in the dust,
\nSpread by the wind. It dawned on us we must
\nGet to the hospital: we needed aid –
\nAnd I should help my staff too. \u2026<\/p>\n
\nWhen they reached the street, it dawned on the narrator that they had to get to the hospital. They needed medical help but more urgently the narrator, who was a doctor, had to assist his staff at the hospital in looking after the casualties.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWe fell, tripped by something at our feet.
\nI gasped out, when I saw it was a head:
\n‘Excuse me, please excuse me -‘ He was dead:
\nA gate had crushed him. There we stood, afraid.
\nA house standing before us tilted, swayed,
\nToppled, and crashed. Fire sprang up in the dust,
\nSpread by the wind. It dawned on us we must
\nGet to the hospital: we needed aid –
\nAnd I should help my staff too. \u2026<\/p>\n
\nThe narrator uses the word ‘dawned’ for two things; firstly to indicate that he was too shaken by the blast to remember that his and his wife’s injuries needed medical attention. Secondly, as he saw people marching towards the hospital, he suddenly realised that he was a doctor who should be at the hospital treating the injured people.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWe fell, tripped by something at our feet.
\nI gasped out, when I saw it was a head:
\n‘Excuse me, please excuse me -‘ He was dead:
\nA gate had crushed him. There we stood, afraid.
\nA house standing before us tilted, swayed,
\nToppled, and crashed. Fire sprang up in the dust,
\nSpread by the wind. It dawned on us we must
\nGet to the hospital: we needed aid –
\nAnd I should help my staff too. \u2026<\/p>\n
\nAs the narrator and his wife looked for safety they saw a house which was standing before them tilt, sway, topple, and crash to the earth. Then there was fire which sprang up from the dust and was quickly spreading by the wind.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSense to me then, I wonder how I could)
\nMy legs gave way. I sat down on the ground.
\nThirst seized me, but no water could be found.
\nMy breath was short, but bit by bit my strength
\nSeemed to revive, and I got up at length.
\nI was still naked, but I felt no shame.
\nThis thought disturbed me somewhat, till I came
\nUpon a soldier, standing silently,
\nWho gave the towel round his neck to me
\nMy legs, stiff with dried blood, rebelled. \u2026<\/p>\n
\nThe shock of the blasts paralysed the narrator in his spot. His legs gave way and brought him down to the ground. He felt thirsty and his breath quickened for a while.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSense to me then, I wonder how I could)
\nMy legs gave way. I sat down on the ground.
\nThirst seized me, but no water could be found.
\nMy breath was short, but bit by bit my strength
\nSeemed to revive, and I got up at length.
\nI was still naked, but I felt no shame.
\nThis thought disturbed me somewhat, till I came
\nUpon a soldier, standing silently,
\nWho gave the towel round his neck to me
\nMy legs, stiff with dried blood, rebelled. \u2026<\/p>\n
\nThe narrator was not the only person who was naked. The explosion was so intense that it caused the skin and clothes of people to melt away. The narrator could see many others walking naked on the street trying to fathom what had happened.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSense to me then, I wonder how I could)
\nMy legs gave way. I sat down on the ground.
\nThirst seized me, but no water could be found.
\nMy breath was short, but bit by bit my strength
\nSeemed to revive, and I got up at length.
\nI was still naked, but I felt no shame.
\nThis thought disturbed me somewhat, till I came
\nUpon a soldier, standing silently,
\nWho gave the towel round his neck to me
\nMy legs, stiff with dried blood, rebelled. \u2026<\/p>\n
\nThe thought that he was naked and yet felt no shame disturbed the narrator. This thought subsided when the narrator met a soldier standing silently. The soldier noticed the narrator and gave him a towel that he had around his neck.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSense to me then, I wonder how I could)
\nMy legs gave way. I sat down on the ground.
\nThirst seized me, but no water could be found.
\nMy breath was short, but bit by bit my strength
\nSeemed to revive, and I got up at length.
\nI was still naked, but I felt no shame.
\nThis thought disturbed me somewhat, till I came
\nUpon a soldier, standing silently,
\nWho gave the towel round his neck to me
\nMy legs, stiff with dried blood, rebelled. \u2026<\/p>\n
\nThe atomic explosion threw the citizens into shock, which is the reason why there was silence all around. The blast took away everything that the innocent people owned; their loved ones, their houses and their jobs. Moreover, the people were injured and scarred for life. The pain of these wounds was so unbearable that the people chose to endure it silently than to add to the chaos. There was no one they could turn to for support as every single soul in the city was running for his life.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSense to me then, I wonder how I could)
\nMy legs gave way. I sat down on the ground.
\nThirst seized me, but no water could be found.
\nMy breath was short, but bit by bit my strength
\nSeemed to revive, and I got up at length.
\nI was still naked, but I felt no shame.
\nThis thought disturbed me somewhat, till I came
\nUpon a soldier, standing silently,
\nWho gave the towel round his neck to me
\nMy legs, stiff with dried blood, rebelled. \u2026<\/p>\n
\nThrough the narration, we can deduce that the narrator took some time to come out of his crumbling house and reach the open space where he is now. Apart from this there is no indication of the amount of time that passed.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nTo Yecko-san she must go on ahead.
\nShe did not wish to, but in our distress
\nWhat choice had we? A dreadful loneliness
\nCame over me when she had gone. My mind
\nRan at high speed, my body crept behind.
\nI saw the shadowy forms of people, some
\nWere ghosts, some scarecrows, all were wordless dumb –
\nArms stretched straight out, shoulder to dangling hand;
\nIt took some time for me to understand
\nThe friction on their burns caused so much pain<\/p>\n
\nThe injuries of the narrator stopped him from keeping up with Yecko-san, his wife. The narrator instructed his wife to go on ahead and find a safe place for herself. He also requested her to go ahead because he wanted to go to the hospital and look after the injured.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nTo Yecko-san she must go on ahead.
\nShe did not wish to, but in our distress
\nWhat choice had we? A dreadful loneliness
\nCame over me when she had gone. My mind
\nRan at high speed, my body crept behind.
\nI saw the shadowy forms of people, some
\nWere ghosts, some scarecrows, all were wordless dumb –
\nArms stretched straight out, shoulder to dangling hand;
\nIt took some time for me to understand
\nThe friction on their burns caused so much pain<\/p>\n
\nThe narrator’s wife did not want to leave him because she knew there was no certainty of them meeting again. When his wife finally left the narrator felt a dreadful loneliness overcome him.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nTo Yecko-san she must go on ahead.
\nShe did not wish to, but in our distress
\nWhat choice had we? A dreadful loneliness
\nCame over me when she had gone. My mind
\nRan at high speed, my body crept behind.
\nI saw the shadowy forms of people, some
\nWere ghosts, some scarecrows, all were wordless dumb –
\nArms stretched straight out, shoulder to dangling hand;
\nIt took some time for me to understand
\nThe friction on their burns caused so much pain<\/p>\n
\nThe narrator’s mind was grasping everything at full speed. However, the severity of the situation pushed the narrator’s body into inactivity. He saw and felt everything but he could not get his body to react to any of it.<\/p>\n
\nRead the extract and answer the questions that follow:<\/strong><\/p>\n