Week 43 · English Practice Paper

Reading Passage

This story is a fantasy, set in the village of Wrenfold Hollow, where old Tamsin Applecross is celebrating her hundredth birthday with a party for the whole village. At this moment in the story, the fireworks provided by Pip Thistlewood, the village's resident firework-maker, are just finishing, and Tamsin is about to begin her speech.

The Hundredth Birthday

There were rockets that burst into shoals of silver fish, swimming away across the dark in shining trails. There were fountains of green sparks that rose and curled over like the fronds of some vast underwater fern, and trees of gold fire whose branches dropped slowly, hissing, into the mill pond below. There was a whistling flight of tiny blue lanterns that spiralled upward like a flock of startled swifts, and a great booming star that unfolded, layer after layer, into the shape of an enormous opening rose.

And then, as the very last surprise, and entirely in honour of Tamsin, every lantern in the square went dark at once. A hush fell, and out of the blackness rose a coil of green smoke that thickened, and glowed, and slowly took on the unmistakable shape of an immense silver bird. Sparks streamed from its outstretched wings as it climbed higher and higher above the rooftops; it let out a single piercing shriek that echoed off the church tower, then dived, trailing fire, straight towards the crowd. Several people shrieked and threw themselves flat into the grass before it curved sharply upward at the last possible moment and burst apart into a shower of falling gold that drifted gently down over the whole square like snow.

"That's quite enough excitement for one evening!" called Tamsin, and the fright dissolved at once into delighted laughter as everyone climbed to their feet and brushed the grass from their clothes. There was a magnificent supper laid out under the long marquee, and the villagers made their way towards the tables in a cheerful, jostling crowd. The invitations, everyone agreed, had been unusually handsome this year, written on thick cream paper in curling silver ink, and sent not only to Tamsin's enormous scattering of cousins but to a handful of unrelated friends besides — among them Pip Thistlewood himself, the schoolmistress, and the woman who kept the bees on the hill.

All two hundred and six guests arrived expecting an excellent feast, though most of them privately dreaded the speech that traditionally followed it. They were not disappointed by the food, at least: it was rich and plentiful, and seemed to arrive from the kitchen in an endless, good-natured procession. By the time the plates were cleared, most of the company had reached that comfortable, forgiving stage of the evening at which they were prepared to applaud almost anything.

"My dear neighbours," began Tamsin, rising unsteadily onto a hay bale that had been dragged over for the purpose.

"Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!" came the answering roar, as the long tables were thumped and rattled in appreciation.

Tamsin climbed properly onto the hay bale and stood beneath the lantern-strung apple tree, waving one hand slowly above her head, the other resting on her walking stick. The lantern light caught the beads sewn into her ancient green shawl and made them glitter like a hundred tiny eyes. Everyone could see her now, swaying gently but cheerfully, entirely delighted with the whole evening. "I am so pleased to see every single one of you here tonight," she said. "A hundred years is really not nearly long enough to spend among such very good neighbours, and tonight I have three things I should like to tell you."

A tremendous burst of clapping went round the marquee, which delighted Tamsin greatly and encouraged her to continue.

Option 1: The extract finishes with Tamsin having announced that she has three things to reveal to her guests. Continue Tamsin's speech, in which she reveals what you think she wants to tell the villagers.

• The way in which the villagers respond.
• A description of the setting.
• How excited or nervous Tamsin is.
• Both dialogue and description.
• Why these three revelations matter to the story.