DEPARTMENT FOR CURRICULUM,

RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING

Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes
Educational Assessment Unit
Annual Examinations for Primary Schools 2018

Year 4 ENGLISH Time: 1h 15min

(Reading Comprehension, Language and Writing)

Name: ____________________________ Class: ___________

Total: 60 marks

English – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Year 4 – 2018 Page 1 of 12

A. Reading Comprehension 20 marks

A. 1. Read the following advertisement.

The Young Explorers

Watch amazing videos, learn interesting facts about animals and plants, see and
share photos of nature, take part in quizzes, play games and try science
experiments. These are only a few of the many activities of The Young Explorer
website. Visit the website and get started on a wonderful learning adventure.

1. Complete the sentences.

Fill in each blank with a word from the text. (2 marks)

a) Children can find information on ____________ and ____________.

b) They can take ____________ of the natural world and ____________

them online.

2. Underline the correct word. (2 marks)

a) The Young Explorers is a (book, game, website).

b) The activities offer children (different, boring, awful) ways of learning.

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A. 2. Read the following passage carefully.

The Haunted House

The school bus picked up Jimmy every morning at the side road that led up to
his aunt’s house. Every afternoon it dropped him there again. So twice a day, on
the bus, he passed the entrance to the mysterious road.

The road was full of weeds and bushes. The trees on both sides of the road
pressed so closely that the branches met overhead. It was dark and gloomy
even on bright days.

The bus driver once pointed it out. “People who go in there after dark,” he said,
“well, they usually don’t ever come out again. There’s a haunted house down
the road.”

Jimmy knew about the house. It was his grandfather’s house

and now it belonged to his Aunt Mary. She said the stories
about the house were silly nonsense and there were no such
things as ghosts.

Jimmy thought it was all very well that there were no such things as ghosts, but
nobody wanted to rent the house. The villagers said that the things that went
on there were just too queer.

Jimmy thought about the house a lot. If he could only prove that there wasn’t a
ghost, his aunt would rent it out and have enough money to buy him treats. One
Saturday, when his aunt was in the village, Jimmy took the key to the haunted
house from its hook on the kitchen door, and started out.

In the silence of the damp gloom of the old road, it seemed a good idea to find
out for himself if there were any ghosts. Nothing to be scared of, he told

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himself. But when he came out in the clearing and looked at those blank, dusty
windows, he wasn’t so sure.

“Oh, come on!” he told himself. He squared his shoulders and waded through
the long grass to the porch.

Then he stopped again. His feet did not seem to want to

go up the steps. It took him nearly five minutes to
persuade them to move. Finally, they marched up and
across the porch to the front door, and Jimmy put the
key in the keyhole. It turned with a squeak. He pushed
the door open and went in.

That was probably the bravest thing that Jimmy had ever done.

(Adapted from Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons by Walter R. Brooks)

1. Tick () the correct answer. (2 marks)

a) Jimmy waited for the school bus

next to the mysterious road.

opposite the mysterious road.

beside the old house.

b) The mysterious road had a large number of

cars.

plants.

ghosts.

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2. Match. (4 marks)

“dark and gloomy” Aunt Mary’s opinion of the villagers’ stories

“silly nonsense” Jimmy’s decision to search the old house
“too queer” the windows of the old house
“blank, dusty” the things that happened in the old house
“a good idea” the atmosphere of the mysterious road

3. Answer the following questions.

a) Why did Jimmy want to prove that the old house was not haunted?

i) ________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

ii) ________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________
(4 marks)

b) What was “probably the bravest thing Jimmy had ever done”?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

4. Put the sentences in the order of events in the passage.

The first one has been done for you.
Write the numbers 2 to 7 in the correct box. (3 marks)

He turned the key, pushed the front door open and entered.
He stopped in front of the steps to the porch.
He waded through the long grass.
He marched up and across the porch to the front door.
Jimmy took the key to the haunted house from its hook. 1
He went down the mysterious road.
He stopped outside the house and looked at the windows.

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B. Language 10 marks

B. 1. Read and complete the sentences by filling in the missing words.

Use each word in the box ONCE.
Only FIVE of the given words are correct.
The first* one is an example. (5 marks)

shut closed glowed deep open empty faded

He was in a long dark hall with closed* doors on both sides and on the

right the stairs went up. He left the door __________ behind him and the

bright light from it showed him that, except for the hat-rack and table and

chairs, the hall was __________.

Then as he stood there, listening to the bumping of his heart, gradually

the light __________, the hall grew darker, as if something huge had come up

on the porch behind him and stood there, blocking the doorway.

He drew a __________ breath. It must have been a cloud passing across

the sun. But then the door, all of itself, began to swing __________ and before

he could stop it, it closed with a bang.

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B. 2. Read and complete the sentences by writing the short form of the words
in brackets. Look at the examples*. (5 marks)

Play: That’s Funny

Scene 1: The hall

Nicky and Jerry are preparing the hall for the concert,
putting up balloons and streamers. Four children creep in
and take some balloons.

Detective Smart and Slow are in the office. Slow is reading

the paper.

Nick: Look!

Jerry: What?

Nicky: They’ve* (They have) disappeared!

Jerry: What? What’s* (What has) disappeared?

Nicky: Those balloons! Eight balloons! They’ve gone!

Jerry: Well, __________ (that is) funny! Where can they be?

Nicky: I __________ (do not) know. Call Detective Smart!

Jerry: Detective Smart. Hello. The eight balloons are gone!

Detective Smart: Eight balloons.___________ (I will) find them.

Slow: Detective Smart, look, look at this.

___________ (There is) a concert …

Detective Smart: Be quiet! ___________ (I am) thinking.

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C. Writing 30 marks

C. 1. Read about where Purdy lives.

Complete the Animal Facts chart below with details from the paragraph.
Then, write TWO sentences to describe Trudy. (6 marks)

Purdy

Purdy is a leopardess and she lives in a forest. There are many trees and bushes
in the forest. It’s cold in the forest. Purdy lives in a leap with other leopards.

Animal Facts

Purdy Trudy

animal ______________________ tigress

home ______________________ grassland

weather ______________________ hot in summer / cold in winter

family group ______________________ streak with tigers and cubs

Now write TWO sentences about Trudy.

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

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C. 2. Lily sent you an invitation card.
Write a note to:
 thank her for the invitation
 inform her that you cannot go to the party, and
 explain why you cannot go. (6 marks)

Lily’s invitation card

From: Lily
Date: 30th June 2018
Time: 6 pm
Place: 123, Main Street, Ħamrun

Your note

Dear Lily,
_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

From
_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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C. 3. Composition (18 marks)
Write ten sentences or a paragraph, between 70 and 100 words on ONE of the
following:

1. Picture Composition: An Adventure

Look at the picture carefully.
Write about the children’s adventure.

The following words may help you:

in a hot air balloon, the basket,
excited, flew across, looked down and
saw, floated down.

2. Write about Robots.

Use the given information.
Type Use Number of robots How robots help
in use people
machine in factories more than a million do hard work
quickly
computer in homes
program
in space vacuum clean or cut
the grass

3. Write about Outdoor Activities.

What do you like doing when you are outside? Describe some of the
activities and explain why you enjoy doing them.

4. Write a story with the title: The Magic Kettle

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Title Number: ________

Plan your writing in the space below.

English – Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing – Year 4 – 2018 Page 11 of 12

Title Number: __________

Use your plan to write about the title.

Write between 70 and 100 words. Write neatly and correctly.

______________________________________________________________________

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______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

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END OF PAPER

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