Last reviewed: 7 November 2026
Quick answer: Work through an original reading passage, grammar transformations, functional writing and oral-skills questions. This 2026 practice edition is not an actual 2025 or 2026 examination paper. The questions, model responses and explanations are free; the writing examples illustrate possible answers rather than an official marking scheme.
Original practice, not an examination paper. No verified 2025 paper or official answers are supplied here. The year in this page title identifies the revision edition only. Use the existing English past-paper practice page for the site’s separate paper-format resources; check each resource’s description before using it.
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How to use these worked questions
Attempt each task before reading its answer. Keep your working or first draft, compare it with the explanation, then record one correction to practise again. These are individual exercises, not a complete timed paper. No official marks, grade prediction or claim of exam coverage is attached.
Original passage for questions 1 and 2
At the beginning of the term, the reading club received twenty donated books. Instead of locking them in a cupboard, the members made a borrowing register. Every Friday, Asha checked the register and asked borrowers to recommend a book they had enjoyed. At first, only five learners attended. A month later, the room was full. Asha attributed the change not to the number of books, but to the conversations that made new readers feel welcome.
Questions with worked answers
1. Comprehension: evidence
Question: According to the passage, what two actions helped learners use the donated books?
Worked answer: The members created a borrowing register, and Asha invited borrowers to recommend books they had enjoyed. The register organised access, while the recommendations encouraged conversation and participation. An answer should identify actions described in the passage rather than invent a campaign, a new library building or additional donations. If asked for two points, make the two points distinct.
Check your work: Do not replace the specific actions with a vague statement such as “they worked hard”.
2. Comprehension: inference
Question: What does the change from five attendees to a full room suggest, and what explanation does Asha give?
Worked answer: It suggests that interest and participation in the club grew. Asha explains that welcoming conversations, rather than simply having more books, attracted new readers. The passage does not give the final attendance number or prove that every learner became a regular reader, so neither claim belongs in the answer. Inference must remain supported by the details provided.
Check your work: Distinguish a reasonable inference from a statistic the writer never supplied.
3. Functional writing: email
Question: Write a short email to the teacher in charge requesting permission for the reading club to meet on Friday from 4.00 to 4.30 p.m. in Room 2. Include the purpose and a suitable closing.
Worked answer: Subject: Request for a reading-club meeting
Dear Teacher in Charge,
I am writing on behalf of the reading club to request permission to meet in Room 2 on Friday from 4.00 to 4.30 p.m. We would like members to exchange book recommendations and update our borrowing register. Please let us know whether the room and time are suitable.
Kind regards,
Asha
Reading Club Secretary
This model states who is asking, what is requested, when and where it will happen, and why. Other courteous, complete responses are possible.
Check your work: Do not write minutes: the task requests permission for a meeting that has not yet taken place.
4. Reported speech
Question: Rewrite in reported speech: “We have finished our project,” the learners said.
Worked answer: The learners said that they had finished their project. In a normal past reporting context, the present perfect “have finished” shifts to the past perfect “had finished”. “We” changes to “they”, and “our” changes to “their”. The sentence reports the meaning without retaining quotation marks. Context can affect tense choices in real communication, but this exercise specifies the ordinary past-reporting transformation.
Check your work: Change pronouns and possessives as well as the tense.
5. Subject–verb agreement
Question: Choose the correct verb: Each of the learners (has/have) a reading record. Explain your choice.
Worked answer: Each of the learners has a reading record. The grammatical subject is “each”, which is singular, rather than the plural noun inside the phrase “of the learners”. The singular present-tense verb is therefore “has”. Compare “The learners have reading records”, where “learners” is itself the subject. Identify the subject before choosing a verb.
Check your work: The noun nearest the verb is not always the head of the subject.
6. Conditional sentence
Question: Rewrite using “unless”: If you do not return the book, another learner cannot borrow it.
Worked answer: Unless you return the book, another learner cannot borrow it. Here “unless” means “if not”, so the negative “do not” is removed from the conditional clause. Keeping both would reverse or confuse the intended condition. The main clause remains negative because it describes what cannot happen without the book being returned.
Check your work: Avoid “Unless you do not return…” when the intended meaning is “If you do not return…”.
7. Punctuation
Question: Punctuate: asha said i will return the book on friday
Worked answer: Asha said, “I will return the book on Friday.” Asha and Friday take capital letters because they are proper nouns; the pronoun I is always capitalised. A comma separates the reporting clause from the direct speech. Quotation marks enclose the exact words spoken. Consistent single quotation marks are also acceptable in an appropriate house style.
Check your work: Do not change the sentence into indirect speech when the task asks only for punctuation.
8. Oral skills: ambiguity
Question: Explain why the sentence “I saw her duck” has two possible meanings.
Worked answer: “Duck” can be a noun meaning a bird belonging to her, or a verb meaning lower her head or body quickly. The sentence can therefore mean that I saw her bird, or that I saw her perform the action of ducking. Context, or a clearer rephrasing such as “I saw her pet duck”, would remove the ambiguity.
Check your work: Give both meanings, not just the statement that the sentence is ambiguous.
What to revise next
If an answer was wrong, identify whether the gap was subject knowledge, interpretation of the instruction or the method used. Redo that question without looking, then try a different question on the same topic. A correct final answer does not replace a clear explanation where the task asks for one.
Read the English revision guide and return to the paper-format practice resource. The eight examples on this page remain free. If you want additional paid practice, a KSh 20 Day Pass is available. It does not purchase a verified 2025 examination paper or official marking scheme.
Frequently asked questions
Are these actual 2025 or 2026 examination questions?
No. They are original practice questions. The 2026 label is the revision edition, not the source year of an examination paper.
Are the worked answers free?
Yes. All eight questions and explanations on this page are free without a login.
Is this a complete examination paper?
No. It is a focused collection of exercises. It does not reproduce the structure or full coverage of an examination.
Does a Day Pass buy an official marking scheme?
No. A Day Pass provides access to the site’s paid original practice and explanations, not a verified official paper or marking scheme.
Reference for concepts
Cambridge English Grammar Today. This is a reference for general concepts, not a source of examination questions or an endorsement of these exercises.
Revision edition prepared 7 November 2026. Examples and model responses are original CBC Guide practice.