2016 English Form3.Pdf

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES, TERTIARY EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH MAURITIUS EXAMINATIONS SYNDICATE NATIONAL ASSESSMENT AT FORM III NAME SCHOOL NAME CLASS/SECTION ENGLISH October 2016 1 hour 45 mins Students answer on the Question Paper. READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your name, the name of your school and your class/section in the spaces provided above. Write in dark blue or black ink. Do not use correction fluid. There are 9 questions in this paper. Check that this document consists of 13 printed pages and 3 blank pages. Any discrepancy in the document must be immediately notified to the responsible officer in your school. Answer all questions in both Section A and Section B. All answers must be written in the spaces provided. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. The total of the marks for this paper is 100. © MoE&HR, TE&SR & MES 2016 1 Please turn over this page SECTION A: READING (40 Marks) 1. Read the following text. This is the story of a French pirate who turned to piracy for fun and left behind a mystery – perhaps even a treasure – that lasts to this day. 1 Olivier Levasseur was born in the town of Calais, in northern France, in 1689. His family was wealthy and he was sent to the best schools in France. After receiving an excellent education, he became an officer in the French Navy. During the war of Spanish succession (1701 – 1714), he got his own ship and he became a privateer, someone whose job is to capture enemy ships and keep a percentage of their goods. Levasseur did not need the 5 money, but he enjoyed the excitement of hunting and catching ships. When the war ended, he was ordered to return home with his ship, but he ignored the order and became a pirate. 2 In 1716, Olivier Levasseur became the captain of a pirate ship named ‘Postillion’. He attacked ships in the Atlantic Ocean, near Cuba. He soon earned the nickname of “La Buse” (the Buzzard), a bird of prey, because of the speed and ruthlessness with which he attacked 10 his enemies. 3 In the years that followed, La Buse teamed with other pirates as they attacked ships along the coast of South America. In 1717, he was made captain of a new pirate ship, with a crew of 200 men. No one knows what he did after that, but in 1718, he lost his ship after being attacked by Francis Hume, the British Captain of the ‘HMS Scarborough’. La Buse managed 15 to escape with only sixty of his crew. 4 Throughout 1719 and 1720, he started pirating in the Indian Ocean. In April 1721, he perpetrated one of piracy’s greatest exploits: the capture of the Portuguese galleon ‘Our Lady of the Cape’. This ship was travelling from Goa in India and was returning home to Lisbon in Portugal. It was full of treasures – bars of gold and silver, dozens of boxes of gold 20 coins, diamonds, pearls, silk and more spectacularly, the Flaming cross of Goa – a cross made of pure gold, inlaid with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, which was so heavy that three men were needed to carry it. 5 Despite gaining incredible wealth from looting the ‘Lady of the Cape’, Levasseur continued to sail, looking for more adventures. Eventually, in 1730, he was captured by the French 25 authorities near Fort Dauphin in Madagascar and brought to St Denis in Réunion Island. He was found guilty of piracy and sentenced to death. Legend has it that just before he was hanged on 7 July 1730, he removed his necklace and threw it in the crowd, shouting, “Find my treasure, the one who may understand it.” The necklace contained a 17-line cryptogram – a message written in code. 30 6 Many treasure hunters have tried to find La Buse’s treasure and there are many myths surrounding it. Some believe it is buried in Trou d’Argent in Rodrigues. Others think that it could be found on the island of Mahé, in Seychelles. An even more intriguing possibility is that the treasure could be found in Mauritius itself. Not far from the village of Poudre d’Or there is a bunch of rocks in the sea. One of the rocks is strangely shaped like a boot and 35 some people believe that it could be showing the direction of the treasure. Could this fascinating pirate really have left one of the biggest treasures in pirate history so close to us? [Adapted from ‘The Pirate Empire’, by T. S Rhodes] © MoE&HR, TE&SR & MES 2016 2 Answer the following questions. (a) Say whether the following statements are True or False and pick out the extract from the passage which justifies your answer. [2] (i) Olivier Levasseur did not get a good education. ______________________________________________________________________ (ii) Olivier Levasseur was forced to become a pirate. ______________________________________________________________________ (b) Arrange the following events in the order they happened in the life of Olivier Levasseur. The first one has been done for you. [4] He becomes Captain of the ‘Postillion’. He is executed by the French authorities. He is born. 1 He captures ‘Our Lady of the Cape’. He is attacked by Captain Francis Hume. (c) What could be an appropriate title for the passage? Tick () the right box. [1] - Piracy in the Indian Ocean. - Ships of the 18th Century. - Treasure in Poudre D’Or. - The life of a famous pirate. (d) According to the passage, what is the job of a privateer? [1] ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ © MoE&HR, TE&SR & MES 2016 3 Please turn over this page (e) Why was Olivier Levasseur compared to a ‘bird of prey’ (line 10)? [2] (i) ________________________________________________________________________ (ii) ________________________________________________________________________ (f) How do we know that the attack by Francis Hume was a heavy defeat for Levasseur? [2] (i) ________________________________________________________________________ (ii) ________________________________________________________________________ (g) Explain why the capture of ‘Our Lady of the Cape’ is considered to be ‘one of piracy’s greatest exploits.’ (line 18) [1] ___________________________________________________________________________ (h) ‘Legend’ has it that Levasseur threw a cryptogram in the crowd (line 27). Which word from paragraph 6 continues the idea of ‘legend’? [1] ___________________________________________________________________________ (i) (1) Circle two adjectives that best describe the character of Olivier Levasseur. [2] kind mysterious shy generous funny adventurous (2) Now say why you have chosen these two adjectives. [2] (i) ________________________________________________________________________ (ii) ________________________________________________________________________ (j) Olivier Levasseur is considered to be ‘fascinating’ (line 37). Do you agree with this description [2] of him? Why? ___________________________________________________________________________ © MoE&HR, TE&SR & MES 2016 4 2. Read the following text. 1 There was once a rich French nobleman, the Duke of Besançon. He was a charming young man who was peacefully enjoying his life when, unfortunately for him, his uncle died. The uncle, a man who had always hated spending money, left all his wealth, which amounted to a huge sum, to the Duke. When examining his uncle’s business papers, he found that he was now the owner of a house in Rue de la Victoire, in a chic neighbourhood of Paris. This 5 building brought in rents which amounted to many thousands of Francs* a year. “Too much, entirely,” thought the generous Duke. “These rents are too high. When one bears a great name like mine, one should not act as a thief. I will lower my rents and my tenants will bless me.” 2 The next morning he called for the concierge – the person who takes care of the building – 10 and told him. “Bernard, my friend,” he said. “Go at once and notify all the tenants that I lower their rents by one-third.” The word ‘lower’ fell like a brick on Bernard’s head. Surely he had heard wrongly? “Lower the rents?” he stammered, “Monsieur is joking?” “I have never been more serious in my life Bernard,” the Duke said. “I repeat it. Lower the rents.” Staggering like a drunken man, Bernard left the house. 15 3 He was so pale when he reached home that his wife immediately knew there was something wrong. When Bernard told her that the Duke had told him to lower the rents of the tenants, she looked at him sternly. “Lower the rents?” she repeated. She was certain that her husband had received this order from the bottom of a glass of wine and a long quarrel ensued. 20 4 The following day, Bernard went to announce the news to all the tenants. Ten minutes later, the building in Rue de la Victoire was in a state of great disturbance. People, who had lived on the same floor for forty years but had never spoken to each other, now gathered together and chatted eagerly. “Astounding! It must be a mistake!” Three of the tenants actually wrote to the Duke to warn him that the concierge had lost his mind. But the Duke replied, 25 confirming what Bernard had said. 5 “Why would an intelligent man deprive himself of good money?” wondered the tenants. They all thought that there had to be something sinister behind all this. But what? Was the house badly built? Did the owner intend to set fire to the house to obtain great sums of money from the insurance companies? Was the roof about to fall on their heads? 30 6 Then, they felt that strange things were happening. On the top floors, unusual noises were heard for which there was no explanation. One night, the old lady on the fourth floor was going down the stairs and was sure that she met the ghost of the dead owner, with a receipt for rent in one hand.

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