English Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing Year 5 Primary Specimen Paper Page 1 of 12

DIRECTORATE FOR QUALITY AND STANDARDS IN EDUCATION

Department for Curriculum Management and eLearning
Educational Assessment Unit

Specimen Examinations for Primary Schools - 2012
___________________________________________________________________________________

Year 5 ENGLISH Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

(Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Name: _____________________________________ Class: _______________



Total: 60 marks


























Page 2 of 12 English Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing Year 5 Primary Specimen Paper
A. Reading Comprehension (20 marks)
Read the following passage carefully.

The Griffin

Oliver sat on the back step of the old house in the sunshine. He looked up the garden
hoping to see something interesting. It was a large garden and there was a high
crumbly old wall round it. (paragraph 1)

At the bottom of the garden there was a little wooden door. Oliver looked at the little
wooden door in the high crumbly old wall. He got up slowly and wandered down the
garden pretending to swat flies. (paragraph 2)

When he reached the little wooden door, Oliver turned and looked
at the house to make sure no one was watching while he fiddled
with the big round handle behind his back. He tugged at the
handle. He wanted to have a look inside. The door creaked and
groaned and opened a crack, and Oliver looked through. He was
disappointed. There was nothing there but long grass and weeds.
Or so he thought. (paragraph 3)


Hello? said a very deep, very old voice.
Oliver jumped. He looked harder. However, there was still nothing to see but long
grass and weeds. (paragraph 4)

Whos that? asked Oliver. He was curious to find out who it was. (paragraph 5)

Oh, Im nobody, the deep old voice replied. Cant be, or I wouldnt have been left
alone out here all these years, talking to myself. The voice seemed to come from a
small hill some way into the wild garden. Oliver swished towards it. (paragraph 6)

Oliver tugged at some of the grass and weeds that covered the small hill. Underneath
he found something ancient and bumpy, and surprisingly cold to the touch for such a
warm day. It was a large grey wing. (paragraph 7)

Oliver went round the other side and uncovered the second wing.
It fluttered a little, even though it was made of stone. Then, Oliver
cleared the grass and weeds away from a grey stone head with a
great curved beak. A large eye blinked at him. (paragraph 8)


What are you? Oliver tried to guess. An eagle? (paragraph 9)

The stone creature looked offended. I am definitely not an eagle. An eagle is a mere
bird, while I A feathery stone chest lifted a little from the weeds. I am a griffin.
(paragraph 10)

Whats a griffin? asked Oliver. He had never heard of it before and he was curious.
(paragraph 11)

The griffin raised his head proudly. A griffin is a Guardian of Hidden Treasure.
(paragraph 12)

(Adapted from The Griffin and Oliver Pie by Michael Lawrence)

English Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing Year 5 Primary Specimen Paper Page 3 of 12
1. Tick ( ) to show the correct answer.

Where did Oliver sit? (1 mark)

a) on a bench a)
b) on a step b)
c) on a wall c)
d) on a chair d)


2. Tick ( ) to show whether each sentence is True or False. (3 marks)


True False
a) A low wall surrounded the garden.
b) Oliver hit a fly.
c) Oliver opened the little wooden door.
d) He saw an overgrown garden.
e) The grass and the weeds hid the griffin.
f) The griffin was silent.


3. Answer the following questions.

a) What did Oliver hope to see?

He hoped to see ___________________________________________________.

(2 marks)

b) Why did Oliver turn and look at the house?

He did so because __________________________________________________.

(2 marks)

c) Why did the door creak and groan before it opened?

__________________________________________________________________

(2 marks)

Page 4 of 12 English Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing Year 5 Primary Specimen Paper
d) Oliver jumped. (paragraph 4)
What startled Oliver?

__________________________________________________________________

(3 marks)

e) Why was the griffin offended?

__________________________________________________________________

(3 marks)

4. Fill in.

a) Name the thing to which Oliver gave a quick strong pull. (paragraph 3)

the ____________________________ (1 mark)

b) The word definitely in paragraph 10 means ___________________________ .
(2 marks)

c) He had never heard of it (paragraph 11)

it refers to a ___________________________________ (1 mark)


____________________________________________________________________

B. Language (10 marks)

B. 1. Read paragraph 7 of The Griffin.

Oliver tugged at some of the grass and weeds that covered the small hill. Underneath
he found something ancient and bumpy, and surprisingly cold to the touch for such a
warm day. It was a large grey wing. (paragraph 7)


Write the FIVE WORDS that describe the wing. (5 marks)



______________


______________


______________


______________


______________




English Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing Year 5 Primary Specimen Paper Page 5 of 12
B. 2. Read about how Pam travels every week.








Fill in each blank with a suitable word.
Use each of the given words ONCE. (5 marks)



always

never sometimes usually often


Pam _______________ walks to school. She _______________ rides a bus in the
morning. Pam visits places in the afternoon very _______________.
_______________, she visits her grandmother. She _______________ walks to
the places she visits.





Page 6 of 12 English Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing Year 5 Primary Specimen Paper
C. Writing (30 marks)

C. 1. Read the poster.






















Complete the newspaper article.
Fill in each blank with ONE suitable word from the poster. (4 marks)

The Fun Palace will open
on Saturday, 20
th
November.


The Fun Palace will be open for

all the _______________. It will

have a _______________ where

people can see plays and a

_______________ where people can

see films. In the Fun Palace garden

there will be a _______________
with ducks. There will be a football

_______________ and a volleyball

court.


A _______________ will serve a

variety of dishes. There will

also be a toy _______________.


The _______________ will open

the Fun Palace at ten oclock.

The mayor will open the Fun Palace
at 10 oclock a.m.
Saturday 20
th
November.
restaurant
shop
pond
garden
theatre football pitch cinema volleyball court
Come and have fun with all the family.

English Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing Year 5 Primary Specimen Paper Page 7 of 12
C. 2. Write the missing sentences to complete the email. (6 marks)
The first* one has been done for you.

Use the following notes:

























Dear Mum,
Weve seen many exciting things in London this week!
First we saw some huge dinosaur bones at the museum*.
The next day we ____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
On Wednesday we __________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
Yesterday we ______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
Today were going to visit the big wheel. Ill tell you all about it tomorrow.
Ive had a great time staying at Aunties house, but I miss you.
Love,
Bob

Page 8 of 12 English Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing Year 5 Primary Specimen Paper
C. 3. Composition (20 marks)


In not less than 120 words write a composition on ONE of the following:


1. At the restaurant
Describe the place and write about the food you ate the last time you went to a
restaurant. Who did you go with? What did you talk about?




2. Write a letter to your friend about what you are going to do during the weekend.




3. The place where I live
Write about the village or town or city where you live. Which places do you like to
visit? Why? You may write about special events or important people who live or
have lived there.



4. Picture Composition: Sammys Cake
Look at the pictures.
Write about what happened and finish the story with a suitable ending.

The following words and phrases may help you:
butter, bowl, wooden spoon, recipe book, added eggs, mixed together
1 2 3 4
5 7 6


How did the story end?
8

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Title Number: ________

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END OF PAPER

Page 12 of 12 English Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing Year 5 Primary Specimen Paper








English Reading Comprehension, Language and Writing Year 5 Primary - Marking Scheme Page 1 of 3
DIRECTORATE FOR QUALITY AND STANDARDS IN EDUCATION
Department for Curriculum Management and eLearning
Educational Assessment Unit
Specimen Examinations for Primary Schools - 2012

Year 5 ENGLISH MARKING SCHEME
(Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing)

A. Reading Comprehension (20 marks)

1. Tick () to show the correct answer. (1 mark)

b) on a step b)

2. Tick () to show whether each sentence is True or False. (6 x mark = 3 marks)

True False
a) A low wall surrounded the garden.
b) Oliver hit a fly.
c) Oliver opened the little wooden door.
d) He saw an overgrown garden.
e) The grass and the weeds hid the griffin.
f) The griffin was silent.

3. Answer the following questions.

Award marks for comprehension.
No marks are to be deducted for punctuation, spelling and tense mistakes in questions a to e.
Deduct mark for every incomplete answer and incorrect syntax. (Not more than mark
per sentence is to be deducted.)

a) What did Oliver hope to see?

He hoped to see something interesting. (2 marks)

b) Why did Oliver turn and look at the house?

He did so because he wanted to make sure no one was watching him. (2 marks)

c) Why did the door creak and groan before it opened?

Reward answers that have the following content.

It did so because it was an old door / it had not been opened for a very long time. (2 marks)

d) Oliver jumped. (paragraph 4) What startled Oliver?

Reward answers that have the following content.

The voice startled Oliver / him. (3 marks)

Page 2 of 3 English Reading Comprehension, Language and Writing Year 5 Primary Marking Scheme
e) Why was the griffin offended?

Reward answers that have the following content.

He was offended because Oliver thought he was an eagle. (3 marks)

4. a) the handle (1 mark)

b) surely / certainly / without doubt (2 marks)

c) it refers to a griffin (1 mark)


B. Language (10 marks)

B. 1. Read paragraph 7 of The Griffin. Write FIVE WORDS that describe the wing.
(5 x 1 mark = 5 marks)

ancient, bumpy, cold, large, grey (written in any order)

B. 2. Read about how Pam travels every week. Fill in each blank with a suitable word. Use each of
the given words ONCE.
(5 x 1 mark = 5 marks)

Penalise by mark if Sometimes is not written with a capital letter.

Pam never walks to school. She usually rides a bus in the morning. Pam visits places in the
afternoon very often. Sometimes, she visits her grandmother. She always walks to the places
she visits.


C. Writing (30 marks)

C. 1. Read the poster. Complete the newspaper article. Fill in each blank with ONE suitable word
from the poster.


family, theatre, cinema, pond, pitch, restaurant, shop, mayor
(8 x mark = 4 marks)

C. 2. Write the missing sentences to complete the email.
Deduct mark for each sentence if any tense and / or syntax mistakes occur.
(Not more than 1 mark is to be deducted per sentence.)
Deduct mark overall for any spelling mistakes.
Any incomplete sentence forfeits the mark.

Reward grammatically correct sentences that use the given words meaningfully in the context.
(3 x 2 marks = 6 marks)
Examples:

The next day we visited the tower and went on a boat ride.
On Wednesday we went for a long walk in the park.
Yesterday we visited the palace and saw the old furniture.

English Reading Comprehension, Language and Writing Year 5 Primary - Marking Scheme Page 3 of 3
C. 3. Composition (20 marks)

In not less than 120 words write a composition on ONE of the following:

1. At the restaurant
Describe the place and write about the food you ate the last time you went to a restaurant.
Who did you go with? What did you talk about?


2. Write a letter to your friend about what you are going to do during the weekend.


3. The place where I live
Write about the village or town or city where you live. Which places do you like to visit?
Why? You may write about special events or important people who live or have lived there.


4. Picture Composition: Sammys Cake
Look at the pictures. Write about what happened and finish the story with a suitable ending.

The mark is to be an impression mark to check the childs ability to write correct
sentence structures and a choice and range of vocabulary. The writing should have correct spelling,
punctuation and an orderly presentation.

V
E
R
Y

G
O
O
D


Planning is detailed and relevant. The writing is constructed in an appropriately chosen form showing
the development of the theme. Detail and sequence are managed well. Ideas are organised appropriately
into paragraphs and used effectively. The writing presents confident sentence structures, choice and
range of vocabulary, style and skill in communicating. Accurate writing places the composition high up
on the band.
S
A
T
I
S
F
A
C
T
O
R
Y

Planning has some details and most of the details are relevant. The composition shows competence in
the use of language to communicate. The writing is coherent with the beginning, middle and end
suitably distinguished. Ideas or events are logically related. The approach used might not be that
exciting or original. Most sentences are correctly demarcated showing an understanding of sentence
structures and fairly valid punctuation usage. There are mistakes, perhaps occasional gross ones, but not
so many as to affect comprehension, or create incoherence.
P
O
O
R


Planning has very few details and most of the details are irrelevant. The writing shows some awareness
of the basic knowledge of composition writing, perhaps even having an opening and a conclusion, but it
contains parts that show a significant inability to communicate immediately with the reader. Capital
letters and full stops sometimes demarcate the ideas and sentences, but there are too many mistakes in
sentence structure, spelling, punctuation and idiom, making communication nearly or almost
impossible.

While correcting follow the following procedure:
(i) On a rough sheet list strengths and weaknesses along these lines:

Strengths Weaknesses
presentation / paragraphing
sentence structure
punctuation, spelling
some obscurity

(ii) In the light of your assessment of work as a whole, and taking into account:

a) content, b) expression, c) accuracy,

place the writing in one of the three main bands on the grid below; then using your rough strengths /
weaknesses list, place the writing in the appropriate sub-band on the band chosen.

This should give a fairly standardised mark for the compositions.
VERY GOOD Competent 20 19 18 17 16
SATISFACTORY Pass 15 14 13 12 11
Weak 10 9 8 7 6
POOR
Very weak 5 4 3 2 1

Writing which is Out of point or Obviously memorised should be penalised by starting at 9 marks
respectively. Assessment is then at the markers discretion.