Candidate’s Name:…………………………………………………………Stream…………
112/1
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
2025
2HOURS
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UGANDA CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION
Pre-Registration Examination 2025
S4 ENGLISH 112/1
Paper1
2Hours
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:
This paper consists of two sections: A and B. It has four examination Items.
Answer one item from section B
Answer three examination items in all.
Answer to section A must be written in the space provided.
Answer to section A must be written in the answer booklets provided.
Any additional items will not be scored.
For Examiner’s Use only
Section Score Examiner’s signature and No.
A
B
TOTAL
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1. Read the text below.
Low productivity is one of the biggest challenges facing Uganda’s maize industry. The reason
for this is that, as most maize farmers are small holders, their use of agricultural technology,
such as fertilizer and improved seed, is very limited. There are also concerns that changes in
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temperature and rainfall–specifically increases in temperature a decreases in rainfall–will further
affect maize production.
To address these challenges, in 1991 Uganda released improved maize varieties with drought
tolerance. Although it depends on the conditions of the maize growing areas, studies indicated
that compared with local varieties, drought–tolerant maize can increase yields by 15%. It also
reduced the probability of crop failure by 30%.
But, even after 30 years, drought-tolerant maize has yet to be widely adopted by small holders.
In one study, which covered 1,000 households, just 14% used the modified seed in their fields. I
set out to understand why small l holders did or didn’t plant drought tolerant maize. To do this I
used available literature, policy documents and reports. I found that the constraints to adoption
include: different farmer characteristics such as wealth or education level; a lack of information
or understanding about the seeds; the attributes of the seeds themselves and whether they meet
the farmers’ needs; and counterfeit seed and fertilizer in markets.
Most maize farmers in Uganda are resource-constrained small holders. Thus, their decision to
adopt he drought–tolerant maize may be influenced by perceived economic risks. The seeds of
the local maize varieties that farmers use are ones that they’ve saved from previous harvests, and
may cost them nothing. In 2015, modified maize seed could cost up to Ush 6,000 per kilo (about
US$1.60) depending on the variety, while the local seed cost nothing.
However, a study calculating the costs and benefits of modified seed found that the drought-
tolerant maize could be more economically beneficial. For instance, local maize could require
more labour costs due to less resistance, if any, to pests, weeds and diseases. Also, the higher
yield of the improved maize could compensate for the higher seed and fertilizer costs. This
suggested that the reason for low adoption by small holders may not be financial.
Farmers need information on how the seeds work, and will decide whether or not to use them
based on this. Weather a farmer has relevant information is based on the farmers’ network,
specifically, contact with extension services, NGOs or cooperative memberships. Their
understanding is also affected by levels of education or faming experiences. If the farmer
decides to cultivate the new seed, it must be physically available, accessible, and affordable.
One of the reasons for this is because farmers prefer traditional varieties. This could be because
the traditional varieties may be more resistant to pests, taste more familiar or mature faster.
There’s also evidence that some drought tolerant varieties don’t suit certain local conditions.
Counterfeit seeds are another issue. Between 30% and 40% of seeds traded in Uganda are
thought to be counterfeit. Farmers will be likely to take the risk of using modified seeds if they
believe they might be counterfeit.
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Task:
You have been selected by the National Agricultural Research Institute(NARO) to address
maize growers in Kakumiro District. Using the text, write a paragraph of not more than 150
words about the factors affecting the increase of maize productivity in Uganda.
Rough Copy
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2. Read the text below
A nostalgic Experience
School holidays were always occasions we looked forward to. Like everywhere else in
the country, we had three sets of holidays in a year. Each of these holidays coincided with a
particular season and particular activities in the village. The first term holidays usually ran
from late April to mid-May. This was the season of mushrooms and mangoes. These Cond
term holidays ran from mid-August to mid-September. This was the season of white ants.
And finally, the longer third term holidays which ran from early December to late January
came with Christmas and these Cond season of mangoes.
We always looked forward to these holidays when we would indulge ourselves in the
various activities that came with the seasons. It was always a joy to roam the bushes picking
mushrooms, climbing trees to devour and collect juicy mangoes, and above all, the exciting
experience of trapping white ants. Most of these seasons started during the term and so it was
only in the holidays that we had a full experience of them.
The best time for collecting mushrooms was in the morning, when they were likely to be
still fresh and also before other intruders found them. We used to wake up very early in the
morning and head out in to the surrounding bushes. The mushrooms could be found in the
gardens, along the paths and even deep in to the uncultivated bushes. They were the brown
type and were fairy big. This was unlike the small white ones that were mostly to be found
around ant hills. We would pluck the mushrooms from the ground and skew them up on a
stick. When the stick got full, we found another. We competed to see who would come up
with the highest number of skews.
We used to compete for the mushrooms with African tortoises. Apparently, mushrooms
were their favorite food too. At this time, it was very common to come across a tortoise
lumbering in the bushes. It also became a pastime to play with the tortoises. We would
tease them and loved to see them fold in to their shell for protection. They would then emit a
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foul smelling odour as they released their excrement from the safety of the shell. We would
sometimes carry them home and place them in the compound. Then we would watch from a
distance as they tried to escape.
Mushroom soup was a favorite delicacy at this time of the year. You could have it fresh,
boiled alone or with silver fish. But our mothers would also dry the mushroom we collected
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for about a week. They would then be prepared in to a stew with ground nuts paste. Fresh or
dried and pasted, mushroom was a delicacy that went down well with millet bread.
Around this time too, the mangoes would be in season. We used to reserve mango
picking for the late afternoons. Therefore, after spending the greater part of the morning
collecting mushrooms, we would head out again in the afternoon and invade the various
mango trees around the village. The trees would be sagging with appetizing yellow fruit.
Even the ground around the trees would be littered with fallen mangoes, some still fresh but
most of them already rotting. In this mix you would also find many half-eaten fruits.
Each tree would be invaded by about three or four people. Like monkeys, we would
gleefully reach for the tops, plucking at the fruits and munching away. The yellow juice
flowed down our chins, hands and on to our clothes. To avoid staining our clothes, which
would certainly fetch us a beating from our mothers, we used to remove our shirts and leave
them on the ground. This way, the sticky juice would only drop on to our chests, which we
would wash off with an ice cold bath later in the evening. However, the mango expeditions
often came with the danger of failing off trees, encountering snakes or wasps and above all,
the inevitable stomach up sets that were the result of consuming one too many mangoes.
Having eaten our fill, we would then collect several mangoes to carry home for our sisters
and the rest of the family.
The season of white ant trapping ran from July to early September. This was a time when
expert white ant trappers would collect sacks and sacks of tasty insects. There were two
types of white ants, and each had a different time of trapping them. The amagabulo types
were trapped during the day. But trapping them was no mean task. After identifying their
places of abode, we would get short thick sticks which we would hit with another to produce
a vibrating sound as we song in unison. This was believed to induce them to come out. A
structure would be constructed over the place and covered with bedsheets. As the ants came
out of their holes in hordes, they collected in a hole dug at the entrance. They were then
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scoped in to containers. Those that managed to escape flew away but attracted birds known
as obichu, which feasted on them. We also used his opportunity to trap these birds by baiting
them with live white ants stuck on a piece of grass but surrounded by an almost invisible net
of small woven sisal threads.
The other type of white ants was known as esechere. These usually came out at night.
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They were mostly to be found in ant hills. A structure similar to the one for omagabulo
trapping would be created over the ant hill. The same procedure of beating rhythmic
vibrating sounds with sticks was done earlier in the day. Then at night, the structure was
covered with bedsheets or blankets. Torches of fire would be lit and burnt over the holes of
the ant hill. This would induce the ants to come out. They would collect in the hole dug for
that purpose, and would then be scooped in to containers.
But the most interesting holidays were the December ones. These came with Christmas, a
time which everyone, young or old, looked forward to. Our parents used to buy us new
clothes every Christmas. On Christmas day, we donned our new clothes and went to church.
We never really followed the prayers, but spent most of the time outside the church, playing
and comparing our new out fits. We would then return to our homes to a sumptuous lunch.
On the menu would be chicken, rice, fish, in additional to the usual millet bread. This was a
day to eat our fill.
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The Christmas days were always marked by a two-day football tour name involving
several teams from the neighboring villages. The football ground would be filled to capacity.
The cheering crowds could be heard from as far as three kilometers away. Those who could
not access the playground spend the time in bars and restaurants around the trading Centre,
eating, drinking and making merry.
Use the text as a material to respond to the items below:
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a) School holidays were always occasions we looked forward to. Like everywhere else in
the country, we had three sets of holidays in a year. Why did the speaker always wish for
the holidays to come?
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b) East or West home is the best. Using the text, explain the meaning of this saying.
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c) If the December holiday was once extended to be holiday study time for the learners how
would this be different from the other holidays?
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d) Football is so popular and a thriller in the towns, trading centers and cities and villages
are not spared too. In your view what makes this sport so much loved?
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e) We were told they were people from the city. Others were fishermen who worked on the
islands. (Join the two sentences in to one using: Not only…………………)
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f) Replace the bolded word in the sentence with an appropriate word without changing the
meaning:
We always looked or ward to these holidays when we would indulge ourselves in the
various activities that came with the seasons.
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EITHER:
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Imagine you have visited your boyfriend at his place without informing him and you bump in to
him with another girl who happens to be your best friend. Write a descriptive essay talking
about your reaction after the shocking incident (use250_300words)
OR
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During holidays you visited your other relatives and stayed with them for two weeks. One of
the children’s birth day party took place during your stay with them. Write what took place.
(Use between 250-300 words)
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