The passage below, taken from Charles Dickensโ novel Bleak House, is typical of the material set on the English papers for admission to U.K. schools.
๐ฟ๐ค๐๐จ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง? The passage: As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill. Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots, making a soft black drizzle, with flakes of soot in it as big as full-grown snowflakesโgone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun. Dogs, undistinguishable in mire. Horses, scarcely better; splashed to their very blinkers.
๐๐ค๐จ๐จ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐ช๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ 1. Use your own words to explain the meaning of the following words (3). a) drizzle b) mourning c) undistinguishable 2. Using your own words explain what the writer is suggesting with the phrase โas if the waters had but newly retiredโ. (3) 3. How does Dickens present the town in this extract? Use short quotations to support your answer. (6)
๐ผ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐ Does your child have sufficient experience of such questions to achieve his or her potential on these papers? Minerva Tuitionโs experienced teachers have extensive experience of preparing pupils for entrance examinations for the UKโs leading schools.
