NAME……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

DATE…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

YEAR 8

ENGLISH PAPER 1

NON FICTION

END YEAR EXAM 2025

Instructions

• Use black ink or ball-point pen.

• Fill in the boxes at the top of this page with your name,

centre number and candidate number.

• Answer Question ALL writing task from Question 2.

• Answer the questions in the spaces provided

– there may be more space than you need.

Information

• The total mark for this paper is 50

 Section A: Reading

Spend 20 minutes on this section.

Read this information text about chocolate, and then answer the questions.

Chocolate

Ever wondered where chocolate comes from? Well, surprisingly, it grows on trees! It

all starts with a small tropical tree, the Theobroma cacao, usually just called ‘cacao’.

(Theobroma is Greek for ‘food of the gods’.) Cacao is native to Central and South

America, but it is grown commercially throughout the tropics. About 70% of the

world’s cacao is grown in Africa.

A cacao tree can produce close to two thousand pods per year. The ridged, rugby

ball-shaped pod, or fruit, of the cacao grows from the branches and, oddly, straight

out of the trunk. The pods, which mature throughout the year, encase a sticky, white

pulp and about thirty or forty seeds. The seeds, at this point, are incredibly bitter –

not at all like the chocolate that comes from them. It’s actually the perfect design

because the fruit attracts forest animals, such as monkeys, which eat the fruit but

cast the seeds aside, dispersing them and allowing new trees to grow.

So what must be done to the seeds to make them taste better? First, the pods must

be harvested. Once they are collected, the workers open the pods by hand, taking

care not to damage the beans inside. The beans are removed and next comes one of

the most important steps in the process – fermentation. The beans are placed in

earthen pits or wooden bins and covered with banana leaves, then left to ferment.

The heat of fermentation changes the bitter flavours in the bean into something more

edible, more chocolatey.

Once they have fermented, the beans are dried in the sun for about a week, during

which time the flavour continues to develop. Finally, the beans are ready to be

shipped to a factory, where they are turned into chocolate.

1 What is unusual about the way the fruit grows on the cacao tree?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….[1]

2 What happens to the flavour of the cacao beans during the process of fermentation?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………[1]

3 Number the following processes in the order that they happen.

The pods are opened.

The beans ferment.

The pods are harvested.

The beans are dried. [2]

4 Rewrite the first paragraph to include all the main points using no more

than 30 words.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………[2]

5 Tick () the best description of the text Chocolate.

It contains only facts.

It contains mostly facts.

It contains mostly opinions.

It contains about half facts and half opinions. [2]

6 Compare these texts.

Text 1 Text 2
New research shows that, contrary You will never believe this, but
to popular belief, chocolate actually scientists are now saying that
fights tooth decay. Scientists have chocolate is good for your teeth!
found that cocoa butter, the main They say that, when the yummy
 ingredient in chocolate, coats teeth cocoa butter in chocolate gets all
and may help protect them by over your teeth, it is stopping yucky
preventing plaque from growing. plaque from attacking them

The information in both texts is the same but the language used is different.

Tick () the text you prefer to read.

Text 1

Text 2

Explain why you chose that text.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………[2]

Section B: Writing

Write a story which begins with two people waiting for someone.

You should consider:

• the people who are waiting – are they friends, members of a family or do they work together?

• the setting − where are they waiting?

• what happens when the person they are waiting for arrives or does not arrive?
 Section C: Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary

Spend 15 minutes on this section

Section C: Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary .Spend 15 minutes on this section.

1. Underline the main clause in this sentence.

Finally, the beans are ready to be shipped to a factory where they

are turned into chocolate. [2]

2. Rewrite this sentence.

The beans are left to ferment.

Include this clause.

which taste very bitter

Remember to add punctuation. Do not add or change any words

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [2]

3 Finish this sentence by choosing the correct verb forms.

A hungry aardvark (forage) ……………………………..in the grasslands when it (find)

…………………………………………….. a termite mound. [2]

4 ) Complete these sentences by writing the passive form. The first one has been done for you.

The pods (open) are opened carefully by the workers.

About 2,000 pods per year (produce)……………………………………………. by a cacao tree.

A lot of monkeys (attract)………………………………………. by the fruit.

The flavor of the beans (change)………………………………………. to something more ‘chocolatey’.[3]

5 Correct two mistakes in this sentence. Do not change the meaning.

T h e a a r d v a r k u s e i t s m i g h t i n e s s c l a w s t o d i g a h o l e. [2]

6 Choose the type from simple, compound or complex to describe these

sentences.

sentence Type of sentence

The pods are collected and the workers
take out the beans
About 70% of the world’s cacao is grown in
Africa, where the aardvark comes from.
I sang for my friend’s birthday

[3]

7 Add two apostrophes to this sentence.

Aardvarks tongues are sticky so that theyre

a b l e t o s u c k u p a s m a n y a n t s a s t h e y l i k e. [2]
8 Add the missing punctuation to these sentences.

“D o a a r d v a r k s l i v e i n E n g l a n d I a s k e d m y

teacher

“N o s h e r e p l i e d t h e y l i v e I n A f r i c a.” [2]

9 Re-read these sentences from the text Chocolate.

It’s actually the perfect design because the fruit attracts forest

animals, such as monkeys, which eat the fruit but cast the seeds

aside, dispersing them and allowing new trees to grow.

Write other words or phrases that mean the same as the underlined words. Your new words must keep
the meaning and make sense in the sentence.

attracts ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

dispersing ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

[2]