CXC CSEC English A — Paper 02, Practice Paper A

Total marks: 105 · Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes

Instructions to candidates

• This paper has FOUR sections, A, B, C and D.
• Answer the ONE question in Section A, the ONE question in Section B, ONE of the TWO questions in Section C, and the ONE question in Section D.
• Section A is worth 25 marks, Section B 30 marks, Section C 25 marks and Section D 25 marks.
• In the January 2027 sitting this paper is "hybrid": you read the questions on screen and write your answers in the answer booklet.
• Plan your answers before you write. Leave time to read through and correct your work.
• You are advised to spend about 30 minutes on Section A, 40 minutes on Section B, 45 minutes on Section C and 40 minutes on Section D, leaving a few minutes to check.
• All the passages and stimulus material in this paper were written for Kramizo practice and are not taken from published works. People and figures in them are invented.

Paper

Section A — Summary (25 marks)

Question 1

Read the following passage carefully. Then answer the question that follows.

Saving Our Reefs

The coral reefs that ring our islands are often called the "rainforests of the sea". They shelter roughly a quarter of all marine species, support the fishermen who supply our markets, and draw the divers and snorkellers on whom much of our tourism depends. They also act as natural breakwaters, absorbing the force of waves before they reach the shore, which matters more with every hurricane season.

Yet the reefs are in serious trouble. The greatest threat is the warming of the sea. When the water stays too warm for too long, corals expel the tiny algae that live in their tissues and give them both their colour and most of their food. The bleached coral turns white and, if the heat continues, starves and dies. In recent years, long spells of unusually warm water have bleached reefs across the region.

Human activity close to home adds to the damage. Boats drop anchors straight onto living coral, smashing growth that took decades to form. Hotels and houses built near the shore send soil washing into the sea, where it clouds the water and smothers the reef. Sewage, and fertiliser washed off farms, feed seaweed that grows over the coral and chokes it. Overfishing removes parrotfish, which graze on that seaweed and keep the reef clean.

Communities are fighting back. On one Barbadian coast, volunteers have learned to grow fragments of healthy coral in underwater nurseries and to transplant them onto damaged reefs. "We are racing against time," says the marine biologist who trains them. "If we lose our reefs, we lose our fish, our beaches and the incomes of thousands of families."

Governments are acting too. Some have banned anchoring on reefs and installed mooring buoys for boats instead, while others have limited building within a set distance of the shoreline. Several countries now protect parrotfish.

Environmental groups welcome these steps but warn that no island can save its reefs alone. Ocean currents carry coral larvae, pollution and disease from one territory to the next, so a reef protected in one country can still be damaged by neglect in another. Only regional cooperation, they argue, will be enough.

In not more than 120 words, summarise the threats facing Caribbean coral reefs AND the actions being taken to protect them. Use your own words as far as possible, and write in continuous prose (not note form). (25 marks)

Section B — Exposition (30 marks)

Question 2

You are the student representative on your school's Sports Committee. After an inspection of the school's sporting facilities, the committee asked you to write a report for the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), which has $30,000 available this year for repairs.

Use the notes below to write the report.

Notes from the inspection

• Football field: grass uneven; goalposts rusted
• Basketball court: cracks in the surface; one hoop missing its net
• Changing rooms: lockers broken; showers not working
• Gymnasium: equipment outdated; roof leaks when it rains (water on the floor under the climbing frame)
• Track: lane markings faded; two starting blocks damaged

Survey of 120 students who play school sport

• 94 say they cannot train properly at school
• 71 say they have slipped or nearly slipped in the gymnasium after rain
• 58 have stopped using the changing rooms

Other information

• The school withdrew from hosting two inter-school football matches this term because of the state of the field.

Estimated repair costs (from the Ministry's maintenance officer)

Write a report to the PTA that explains the condition of the facilities and its effects on students, and recommends how the $30,000 should be spent. Your report should be between 250 and 300 words. Use an appropriate format and a formal register. (30 marks)

Section C — Short Story (25 marks)

Answer ONE question from this section.

Question 3

Write a story that begins:

"We had filled forty bags with rubbish from the beach before anyone noticed the turtle."

Your story should be between 400 and 450 words. (25 marks)

Question 4

Write a story that ends:

"... and that was the day I finally understood why my grandmother never threw anything away."

Your story should be between 400 and 450 words. (25 marks)

Section D — Argument (25 marks)

Question 5

"Young people today spend too much time on social media and not enough time talking face to face. This has seriously damaged their ability to build real relationships."

Write an essay for your school magazine in which you argue EITHER for OR against this view. Your essay should be between 300 and 350 words and should present a clear, well-supported argument. (25 marks)