Week 24 · English Practice Paper

Reading Passage

This extract is from the opening chapter of a story about an eleven-year-old girl called Priya, who is being troubled by a group of older kids from the next street over.

The Long Way Home

A screen door slammed three houses down the block. A skateboard clattered into the Petersons' hedge, its wheels still spinning. Then came Priya.

She was running hard and fast. At the corner she stopped, glanced both ways, saw that the street was empty, and kept going. A scrawny ginger cat shot out from under a porch and caught her fear the way a struck match catches a fuse, tearing along beside her for half a block before peeling off into an alley. Priya didn't even notice it was there. She had dropped her bag of sunflower seeds two driveways back, and she didn't notice that either.

Suddenly she slowed, cut up the Alvarez's driveway, and let herself in through the side gate. She stood a moment at the bottom of the porch steps, sensing that the danger had passed. Then, cautiously, she looked back the way she had come.

Inside the house, Priya was still moving fast. She took the stairs two at a time, pulled herself up by the banister, and did not stop until she was safely inside her own apartment. Then she sagged against the door, breathing hard.

Her grandmother was sitting at the kitchen table, going over a stack of order forms for the church craft fair, a pen tucked behind one ear. Priya waited for her to look up and ask what had happened. She thought Nana ought to be able to hear that something was wrong just from the way she was breathing. 'Nana,' she said. 'Just a second, I'm nearly through counting these,' said her grandmother, without looking up, turning to the next page. 'Nana.' 'Almost done. There's a mistake somewhere on this sheet —' 'Never mind,' said Priya. She walked heavily through the hall and threw herself down onto the daybed in the den.

Her grandmother called after her, 'I said I'm nearly through, Priya.' 'I said never mind,' Priya repeated, and looked up at the ceiling. There, in the corner above the window, was an old brown water stain shaped, if you squinted, exactly like a rocket. A month ago she had climbed onto a chair and drawn an arrow to it in marker, labelling it MISSION CONTROL: DO NOT DISTURB. It was still there.

She closed her eyes. Her chest was still heaving. 'Priya, come back here,' her grandmother called. 'I want to talk to you.' She got up slowly and went back into the kitchen. Her grandmother had stacked the order forms neatly to one side. 'Sit down. Tell me what's wrong.' Priya hesitated, then sat down at the table across from her. Her grandmother waited, and then asked again, 'What's wrong?'

Priya didn't answer right away. She looked out of the window, where she could see the yard next door. A grey squirrel sat on the fence, watching the bird feeder. Finally she said, in a low voice, 'Some kids are gonna get me.' 'Nobody's going to get you, Priya —' her grandmother began. Priya looked up quickly. 'Well, how am I supposed to know what they're planning?' she said, suddenly angry. 'When it's Denny Okafor and Curtis Vale and some kid in a red cap chasing you three blocks, you don't exactly stop to ask, "So, are we talking broken arm or just my bike this time?"' 'What did you do to these boys?' 'What did I do? Nothing! You think I'd do something to Denny Okafor? He's basically in middle school already.' 'I know you did something. I can always tell. Now, what happened?' 'Nothing, Nana. I didn't do anything.' She looked down at her sneakers and dragged one toe through a crack in the linoleum.

'Look at me, Priya.' Without looking up she said, 'Nana — just listen to what Denny did to this kid at school one time —' 'What I want to know is what happened today, Priya.' 'Just listen. This kid was standing at his locker, minding his own business, and Denny comes up to him and —' 'Priya. What happened today?' She hesitated. There was a loose thread on the hem of her t-shirt, and she wound it tightly around one finger. 'Nothing.' 'Priya —' 'Nothing happened.' Her grandmother sighed, then abruptly looked up. 'The biscuits!' She got up and went to the stove, and Priya lay back and closed her eyes.

'Priya?' Her grandmother was leaning around the kitchen doorway. 'Why don't you go watch some TV, take your mind off things? It always helps me.' 'It won't help.' 'Well, let's just see what's on.' She came back in and turned on the television. Priya kept her eyes closed. She already knew there was nothing on that could hold her attention today.

Option 1: Write a story in which fire plays an important part.

• Think about how to start your story, how to keep it interesting, and how to conclude it.
• Use planning space to organise your ideas before you begin writing.

Option 2: Write a story which involves a character travelling somewhere they have never been before.

• Show clearly how the character feels about the unfamiliar place.
• Give your story a clear beginning, middle and end.