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GAMSAT Section I – Fictional Texts
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Fictional Texts |
Fictional Texts
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Speed as well as accuracy is important in this section. Work quickly, or you might not finish the paper. There are no penalties for incorrect responses, only marks for correct answers, so you should attempt all questions. Each question is worth one mark.
You must complete the answers within the time limit. Calculators are NOT permitted.
Good Luck!
Laugh, Kookaburra by David Sedaris
I hate to admit it, but my dad was right about the countryside. Hugh and I didn’t see much of it, but we wouldn’t have seen anything were it not for a woman named Pat, who was born in Melbourne and has lived there for most of her life. We’d met her a few years earlier, in Paris, where she’d come to spend a mid-July vacation. Over drinks in our living room, her face dewed with sweat, she taught us the term “shout,” as in “I’m shouting lunch.” This means that you’re treating, and that you don’t want any lip about it. “You can also say, ‘It’s my shout,’ or, ‘I’ll shout the next round,’ ” she told us.
We kept in touch after her visit, and when my work was done, and I was given a day and a half to spend as I liked, Pat offered herself as a guide. On that first afternoon, she showed us around Melbourne, and shouted coffee. The following morning, she picked us up at our hotel, and drove us into what she called “the bush.” I expected a wasteland of dust and human bones, but it was nothing like that. When Australians say “the bush,” they mean the woods. The forest.
First, though, we had to get out of Melbourne, and drive beyond the seemingly endless suburbs. It was August, the dead of winter, and so we had the windows rolled up. The homes we passed were made of wood, many with high fences around the back yards. They didn’t look exactly like American houses, but I couldn’t quite identify the difference. Was it the roofs? I wondered. The siding? Pat was driving, and as we passed the turnoff for a shopping center she invited us to picture a four-burner stove.
“Gas or electric?” Hugh asked, and she said that it didn’t matter.
This was not a real stove but a symbolic one, used to prove a point at a management seminar she’d once attended. “One burner represents your family, one is your friends, the third is your health, and the fourth is your work.” The gist, she said, was that in order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners. And in order to be really successful you have to cut off two.
Explanation
The correct answer is C.
The excerpt describes the authors time in Australia therefore it is a travel piece.
Laugh, Kookaburra by David Sedaris
I hate to admit it, but my dad was right about the countryside. Hugh and I didn’t see much of it, but we wouldn’t have seen anything were it not for a woman named Pat, who was born in Melbourne and has lived there for most of her life. We’d met her a few years earlier, in Paris, where she’d come to spend a mid-July vacation. Over drinks in our living room, her face dewed with sweat, she taught us the term “shout,” as in “I’m shouting lunch.” This means that you’re treating, and that you don’t want any lip about it. “You can also say, ‘It’s my shout,’ or, ‘I’ll shout the next round,’ ” she told us.
We kept in touch after her visit, and when my work was done, and I was given a day and a half to spend as I liked, Pat offered herself as a guide. On that first afternoon, she showed us around Melbourne, and shouted coffee. The following morning, she picked us up at our hotel, and drove us into what she called “the bush.” I expected a wasteland of dust and human bones, but it was nothing like that. When Australians say “the bush,” they mean the woods. The forest.
First, though, we had to get out of Melbourne, and drive beyond the seemingly endless suburbs. It was August, the dead of winter, and so we had the windows rolled up. The homes we passed were made of wood, many with high fences around the back yards. They didn’t look exactly like American houses, but I couldn’t quite identify the difference. Was it the roofs? I wondered. The siding? Pat was driving, and as we passed the turnoff for a shopping center she invited us to picture a four-burner stove.
“Gas or electric?” Hugh asked, and she said that it didn’t matter.
This was not a real stove but a symbolic one, used to prove a point at a management seminar she’d once attended. “One burner represents your family, one is your friends, the third is your health, and the fourth is your work.” The gist, she said, was that in order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners. And in order to be really successful you have to cut off two.
Explanation
The correct answer is D.
This statement most aligns with what Pat says regarding burners. Though the other statements are potentially valid they are not supported by what Pat says.
Laugh, Kookaburra by David Sedaris
I hate to admit it, but my dad was right about the countryside. Hugh and I didn’t see much of it, but we wouldn’t have seen anything were it not for a woman named Pat, who was born in Melbourne and has lived there for most of her life. We’d met her a few years earlier, in Paris, where she’d come to spend a mid-July vacation. Over drinks in our living room, her face dewed with sweat, she taught us the term “shout,” as in “I’m shouting lunch.” This means that you’re treating, and that you don’t want any lip about it. “You can also say, ‘It’s my shout,’ or, ‘I’ll shout the next round,’ ” she told us.
We kept in touch after her visit, and when my work was done, and I was given a day and a half to spend as I liked, Pat offered herself as a guide. On that first afternoon, she showed us around Melbourne, and shouted coffee. The following morning, she picked us up at our hotel, and drove us into what she called “the bush.” I expected a wasteland of dust and human bones, but it was nothing like that. When Australians say “the bush,” they mean the woods. The forest.
First, though, we had to get out of Melbourne, and drive beyond the seemingly endless suburbs. It was August, the dead of winter, and so we had the windows rolled up. The homes we passed were made of wood, many with high fences around the back yards. They didn’t look exactly like American houses, but I couldn’t quite identify the difference. Was it the roofs? I wondered. The siding? Pat was driving, and as we passed the turnoff for a shopping center she invited us to picture a four-burner stove.
“Gas or electric?” Hugh asked, and she said that it didn’t matter.
This was not a real stove but a symbolic one, used to prove a point at a management seminar she’d once attended. “One burner represents your family, one is your friends, the third is your health, and the fourth is your work.” The gist, she said, was that in order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners. And in order to be really successful you have to cut off two.
Explanation
The correct answer is B.
The statement regarding the bush is not derisive, candidates may mistake it for being mocking or disdainful of it. The author is expressing some surprise as to what ‘the bush’ looks like but is not in a state of wonder over it.
Laugh, Kookaburra by David Sedaris
I hate to admit it, but my dad was right about the countryside. Hugh and I didn’t see much of it, but we wouldn’t have seen anything were it not for a woman named Pat, who was born in Melbourne and has lived there for most of her life. We’d met her a few years earlier, in Paris, where she’d come to spend a mid-July vacation. Over drinks in our living room, her face dewed with sweat, she taught us the term “shout,” as in “I’m shouting lunch.” This means that you’re treating, and that you don’t want any lip about it. “You can also say, ‘It’s my shout,’ or, ‘I’ll shout the next round,’ ” she told us.
We kept in touch after her visit, and when my work was done, and I was given a day and a half to spend as I liked, Pat offered herself as a guide. On that first afternoon, she showed us around Melbourne, and shouted coffee. The following morning, she picked us up at our hotel, and drove us into what she called “the bush.” I expected a wasteland of dust and human bones, but it was nothing like that. When Australians say “the bush,” they mean the woods. The forest.
First, though, we had to get out of Melbourne, and drive beyond the seemingly endless suburbs. It was August, the dead of winter, and so we had the windows rolled up. The homes we passed were made of wood, many with high fences around the back yards. They didn’t look exactly like American houses, but I couldn’t quite identify the difference. Was it the roofs? I wondered. The siding? Pat was driving, and as we passed the turnoff for a shopping center she invited us to picture a four-burner stove.
“Gas or electric?” Hugh asked, and she said that it didn’t matter.
This was not a real stove but a symbolic one, used to prove a point at a management seminar she’d once attended. “One burner represents your family, one is your friends, the third is your health, and the fourth is your work.” The gist, she said, was that in order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners. And in order to be really successful you have to cut off two.
Explanation
The correct answer is A.
Of all the statements the candidates should be drawn to choosing between options A and B. Of these two option A is the most correct, there is a lack of evidence in the essay to support statement B.
B White – Once more to the lake
One summer, along about 1904, my father rented a camp on a lake in Maine and took us all there for the month of August. We all got ringworm from some kittens and had to rub Pond’s Extract on our arms and legs night and morning, and my father rolled over in a canoe with all his clothes on; but outside of that the vacation was a success and from then on none of us ever thought there was any place in the world like that lake in Maine. We returned summer after summer – always on August 1st for one month. I have since become a salt-water man, but sometimes in summer there are days when the restlessness of the tines and the fearful cold of the sea water and the incessant wind which blows across the afternoon and into the evening make me wish for the placidity of a lake in the woods. A few weeks ago this feeling got so strong I bought myself a couple of bass hooks and a spinner and returned to the lake where we used to go, for a week’s fishing and to revisit old haunts.
I took along my son, who had never had any fresh water up his nose and who had seen lily pads only from train windows. On the journey over to the lake I began to wonder what it would be like. I wondered how time would have marred this unique, this holy spot – the coves and streams, the hills that the sun set behind, the camps and the paths behind the camps. I was sure that the tarred road would have found it out and I wondered in what other ways it would be desolate. It is strange how much you can remember about places like that once you allow your mind to return into the grooves which lead back.
Explanation
The correct answer is B.
The author reflects upon his youth going to a lake with his family and how a trip there with his son went. Of the answers above the most appropriate selection is B.
B White – Once more to the lake
One summer, along about 1904, my father rented a camp on a lake in Maine and took us all there for the month of August. We all got ringworm from some kittens and had to rub Pond’s Extract on our arms and legs night and morning, and my father rolled over in a canoe with all his clothes on; but outside of that the vacation was a success and from then on none of us ever thought there was any place in the world like that lake in Maine. We returned summer after summer – always on August 1st for one month. I have since become a salt-water man, but sometimes in summer there are days when the restlessness of the tines and the fearful cold of the sea water and the incessant wind which blows across the afternoon and into the evening make me wish for the placidity of a lake in the woods. A few weeks ago this feeling got so strong I bought myself a couple of bass hooks and a spinner and returned to the lake where we used to go, for a week’s fishing and to revisit old haunts.
I took along my son, who had never had any fresh water up his nose and who had seen lily pads only from train windows. On the journey over to the lake I began to wonder what it would be like. I wondered how time would have marred this unique, this holy spot – the coves and streams, the hills that the sun set behind, the camps and the paths behind the camps. I was sure that the tarred road would have found it out and I wondered in what other ways it would be desolate. It is strange how much you can remember about places like that once you allow your mind to return into the grooves which lead back.
Explanation
The correct answer is C.
Though the author recalls negative aspects of the summer such as getting ring worm it is clear from the passage that the summers at the lake were positive for them and a time of joy.
B White – Once more to the lake
One summer, along about 1904, my father rented a camp on a lake in Maine and took us all there for the month of August. We all got ringworm from some kittens and had to rub Pond’s Extract on our arms and legs night and morning, and my father rolled over in a canoe with all his clothes on; but outside of that the vacation was a success and from then on none of us ever thought there was any place in the world like that lake in Maine. We returned summer after summer – always on August 1st for one month. I have since become a salt-water man, but sometimes in summer there are days when the restlessness of the tines and the fearful cold of the sea water and the incessant wind which blows across the afternoon and into the evening make me wish for the placidity of a lake in the woods. A few weeks ago this feeling got so strong I bought myself a couple of bass hooks and a spinner and returned to the lake where we used to go, for a week’s fishing and to revisit old haunts.
I took along my son, who had never had any fresh water up his nose and who had seen lily pads only from train windows. On the journey over to the lake I began to wonder what it would be like. I wondered how time would have marred this unique, this holy spot – the coves and streams, the hills that the sun set behind, the camps and the paths behind the camps. I was sure that the tarred road would have found it out and I wondered in what other ways it would be desolate. It is strange how much you can remember about places like that once you allow your mind to return into the grooves which lead back.
Explanation
The correct answer is A.
The author expresses fear that the lake will be affected by urbanisation by commenting on the worry that there would be tarred roads present there. Desolate pertains to a bland and empty place therefore of all the statements A is the most correct.
E.B White – Once more to the lake
One summer, along about 1904, my father rented a camp on a lake in Maine and took us all there for the month of August. We all got ringworm from some kittens and had to rub Pond’s Extract on our arms and legs night and morning, and my father rolled over in a canoe with all his clothes on; but outside of that the vacation was a success and from then on none of us ever thought there was any place in the world like that lake in Maine. We returned summer after summer – always on August 1st for one month. I have since become a salt-water man, but sometimes in summer there are days when the restlessness of the tines and the fearful cold of the sea water and the incessant wind which blows across the afternoon and into the evening make me wish for the placidity of a lake in the woods. A few weeks ago this feeling got so strong I bought myself a couple of bass hooks and a spinner and returned to the lake where we used to go, for a week’s fishing and to revisit old haunts.
I took along my son, who had never had any fresh water up his nose and who had seen lily pads only from train windows. On the journey over to the lake I began to wonder what it would be like. I wondered how time would have marred this unique, this holy spot – the coves and streams, the hills that the sun set behind, the camps and the paths behind the camps. I was sure that the tarred road would have found it out and I wondered in what other ways it would be desolate. It is strange how much you can remember about places like that once you allow your mind to return into the grooves which lead back.
Explanation
The correct answer is C.
The son most likely has limited engagement with nature, it is unclear whether the son has only ever lived in urban settings or not therefore answer A cannot be selected. Answer B is incorrect as the son has seen nature before and it is not clear whether the son is scared of nature or not.
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
“‘I little thought,’ said Estella, ‘that I should take leave of you in taking leave of this spot. I am very glad to do so.’
‘Glad to part again, Estella? To me, parting is a painful thing. To me, the remembrance of our last meeting has been ever mournful and painful.’
‘But you said to me,’ returned Estella, very earnestly, ‘”God bless you, God forgive you!’”And if you could say that to me then, you will not hesitate to say that to me now–now, when suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but–I hope–into a better shape. Be as considerate and good to me as you were, and tell me we are friends.’
‘We are friends,’ said I, rising and bending over her, as she rose from the bench.
‘And will continue friends apart,’ said Estella.
I took her hand in mine, and we went out of the ruined place; and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so the evening mists were rising now, and in all the broad expanse of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw the shadow of no parting from her.
Explanation
The correct answer is D.
A sense of clarity is developed by the imagery of the rising mists and Pip’s realisation that he cannot see a future without Estelle. The longing is cultivated by Pip being unable to see a life without Estelle and Estelle’s expectation that she would be taking leave of Pip for the rest of her life when they part.
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
“‘I little thought,’ said Estella, ‘that I should take leave of you in taking leave of this spot. I am very glad to do so.’
‘Glad to part again, Estella? To me, parting is a painful thing. To me, the remembrance of our last meeting has been ever mournful and painful.’
‘But you said to me,’ returned Estella, very earnestly, ‘”God bless you, God forgive you!’”And if you could say that to me then, you will not hesitate to say that to me now–now, when suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but–I hope–into a better shape. Be as considerate and good to me as you were, and tell me we are friends.’
‘We are friends,’ said I, rising and bending over her, as she rose from the bench.
‘And will continue friends apart,’ said Estella.
I took her hand in mine, and we went out of the ruined place; and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so the evening mists were rising now, and in all the broad expanse of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw the shadow of no parting from her.
Explanation
The correct answer is D.
This is the most accurate option. Estelle thinks she will be saying goodbye to Pip when they leave the garden but Pip does not see a life without Estelle.

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:05:52
I always found Shakespeare's language easier to understand than Dickens'.
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
“‘I little thought,’ said Estella, ‘that I should take leave of you in taking leave of this spot. I am very glad to do so.’
‘Glad to part again, Estella? To me, parting is a painful thing. To me, the remembrance of our last meeting has been ever mournful and painful.’
‘But you said to me,’ returned Estella, very earnestly, ‘”God bless you, God forgive you!’”And if you could say that to me then, you will not hesitate to say that to me now–now, when suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but–I hope–into a better shape. Be as considerate and good to me as you were, and tell me we are friends.’
‘We are friends,’ said I, rising and bending over her, as she rose from the bench.
‘And will continue friends apart,’ said Estella.
I took her hand in mine, and we went out of the ruined place; and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so the evening mists were rising now, and in all the broad expanse of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw the shadow of no parting from her.
Explanation
The correct answer is B.
Estelle communicates to Pip that she has been through a lot trauma and that it has changed her in a positive way and enabled her to see what Pip’s heart was like before, the goodness that he had.
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
“‘I little thought,’ said Estella, ‘that I should take leave of you in taking leave of this spot. I am very glad to do so.’
‘Glad to part again, Estella? To me, parting is a painful thing. To me, the remembrance of our last meeting has been ever mournful and painful.’
‘But you said to me,’ returned Estella, very earnestly, ‘”God bless you, God forgive you!’”And if you could say that to me then, you will not hesitate to say that to me now–now, when suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but–I hope–into a better shape. Be as considerate and good to me as you were, and tell me we are friends.’
‘We are friends,’ said I, rising and bending over her, as she rose from the bench.
‘And will continue friends apart,’ said Estella.
I took her hand in mine, and we went out of the ruined place; and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so the evening mists were rising now, and in all the broad expanse of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw the shadow of no parting from her.
Explanation
The correct answer is A.
This answer is correct. The final sentence does not support the other options. Pip believes he cannot see a future without Estelle communicated by ‘I saw the shadow of no parting from her’. Of all the options a is the most appropriate.
Haruki Murakami – Kafka On The Shore
“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.
And you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You’ll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.
And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
Explanation
The correct answer is D.
This is supported by the comments in the text that the sandstorm is an internal development. The other options are flawed when you read the passage, there is no support for the statement that only certain people are affected by emotional experiences, nor is there support for the statement that a sandstorm is cumulative. Statement b is the opposite of what is said in the text.

Tue, 01 Mar 2022 04:58:34
Doesn't the explanation provided actually support C? The explanation says that there is no support for the statement that only certain people are affected by emotional experiences. This negates D.
Haruki Murakami – Kafka On The Shore
“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.
And you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You’ll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.
And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
Explanation
The correct answer is B.
This category is the most appropriate. The excerpt is descriptive, there is no advice given in the piece, the sandstorm is not personified, there is no evidence that the piece is specific to anxiety and depression. The piece focuses on the progression of an emotional experience therefore option b is the most appropriate option.

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 03:00:50
I agree that the correct answer is B, however I would argue that the sandstorm is personified.

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 11:57:47
The storm is personified, evident in the quote, "his storm is you." D is the most correct answer
Haruki Murakami – Kafka On The Shore
“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.
And you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You’ll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.
And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
Explanation
The correct answer is C.
The repetitive use of the terms blood and bleed creates a more dramatic image making c the correct option. The repetitive use of language here does not reduce its impact therefore a is incorrect. Answer b is less appropriate than c as regarding the passage as horror is not accurate.
Haruki Murakami – Kafka On The Shore
“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.
And you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You’ll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.
And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
Explanation
The correct answer is B.
There is no evidence that the piece is centred upon anxiety therefore option c is incorrect. Option b is the most appropriate. There is a lack of evidence that the experience is changing and fluctuating and that therefore makes a incorrect.
4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane
At 4.48
when depression visits
I shall hang myself
to the sound of my lovers breathing
I do not want to die
I have become so depressed by the fact of my mortality that I
have decided to commit suicide
I do not want to live
I am jealous of my sleeping lover and cover his induced
unconsciousness
When he wakes he will envy my sleepless night of thought and
speech unslurred by medication
I have resigned myself to death this year
Some will call this self-indulgence
(they are lucky not to know its truth)
Some will know the simple fact of pain
This is becoming my normality
Information about 4.48 psychosis. Sarah Kane produced this play as her suicide note to the world. The play takes the audience through a journey to understand the mental health challenges Sarah faced, with particular emphasis placed at times on the voices she heard and the negative things they said to her.
Explanation
The correct answer is C.
Of all the options B and C are the most possible answers. The tone of the piece aligns most closely with C and candidates should not fall into the trap of projecting their own thoughts on how someone considering suicide may feel.
4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane
At 4.48
when depression visits
I shall hang myself
to the sound of my lovers breathing
I do not want to die
I have become so depressed by the fact of my mortality that I
have decided to commit suicide
I do not want to live
I am jealous of my sleeping lover and cover his induced
unconsciousness
When he wakes he will envy my sleepless night of thought and
speech unslurred by medication
I have resigned myself to death this year
Some will call this self-indulgence
(they are lucky not to know its truth)
Some will know the simple fact of pain
This is becoming my normality
Information about 4.48 psychosis. Sarah Kane produced this play as her suicide note to the world. The play takes the audience through a journey to understand the mental health challenges Sarah faced, with particular emphasis placed at times on the voices she heard and the negative things they said to her.
Explanation
The correct answer is A.
Candidates need to be careful not to impose their own opinions on suicide and mental health when reading the passage. Bringing in a preconception that those whom are suicidal are chaotic or in a state of frustration and despair. Also it cannot be assumed that the author is actively hallucinating. Therefore answer A is the most appropriate.
4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane
At 4.48
when depression visits
I shall hang myself
to the sound of my lovers breathing
I do not want to die
I have become so depressed by the fact of my mortality that I
have decided to commit suicide
I do not want to live
I am jealous of my sleeping lover and cover his induced
unconsciousness
When he wakes he will envy my sleepless night of thought and
speech unslurred by medication
I have resigned myself to death this year
Some will call this self-indulgence
(they are lucky not to know its truth)
Some will know the simple fact of pain
This is becoming my normality
Information about 4.48 psychosis. Sarah Kane produced this play as her suicide note to the world. The play takes the audience through a journey to understand the mental health challenges Sarah faced, with particular emphasis placed at times on the voices she heard and the negative things they said to her.
Explanation
The correct answer is C.
There is no evidence in this passage that the author is hearing voices and that they have driven her to want to take her life. There is no indication that the author believes she has been immoral. C is the best answer, the author wishes to leave her normality and therefore plans to take her life.
4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane
At 4.48
when depression visits
I shall hang myself
to the sound of my lovers breathing
I do not want to die
I have become so depressed by the fact of my mortality that I
have decided to commit suicide
I do not want to live
I am jealous of my sleeping lover and cover his induced
unconsciousness
When he wakes he will envy my sleepless night of thought and
speech unslurred by medication
I have resigned myself to death this year
Some will call this self-indulgence
(they are lucky not to know its truth)
Some will know the simple fact of pain
This is becoming my normality
Information about 4.48 psychosis. Sarah Kane produced this play as her suicide note to the world. The play takes the audience through a journey to understand the mental health challenges Sarah faced, with particular emphasis placed at times on the voices she heard and the negative things they said to her.
Explanation
The correct answer is D.
Statements B and D are unsupported by the text, there is the presence of a lover identified in the speech and the author is resigned to death. A could be a plausible answer if the candidate makes assumptions about the state the author is in, there is no evidence that the author is in a state of despair and sadness.
A midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare Act 2 scene 1 Puck’s monologue
Thou speak’st aright; /
I am that merry wanderer of the night. /
I jest to Oberon and make him smile
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile, /
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal: /
And sometime lurk I in a gossip’s bowl, /
In very likeness of a roasted crab, /
And when she drinks, against her lips I bob
And on her wither’d dewlap pour the ale. /
The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale, /
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me; /
Then slip I from her bum, down topples she, /
And ‘tailor’ cries, and falls into a cough; /
And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh, /
And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there. /
But, room, fairy! here comes Oberon. /
Explanation
The correct answer is A.
Puck describes how works for Oberon therefore that rules out option B. There is no identification of the queen which rules out option d. If you read the passage to quickly and don’t pay sufficient attention you may believe c is correct, this is not the case.
A midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare Act 2 scene 1 Puck’s monologue
Thou speak’st aright; /
I am that merry wanderer of the night. /
I jest to Oberon and make him smile
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile, /
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal: /
And sometime lurk I in a gossip’s bowl, /
In very likeness of a roasted crab, /
And when she drinks, against her lips I bob
And on her wither’d dewlap pour the ale. /
The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale, /
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me; /
Then slip I from her bum, down topples she, /
And ‘tailor’ cries, and falls into a cough; /
And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh, /
And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there. /
But, room, fairy! here comes Oberon. /
Explanation
The correct answer is B.
Reading the section this question relates to, options A and B are the most appropriate to choose from. The two lines should be read carefully and understood that Puck is stating that he confuses and tricks a horse by pretending to be a female horse. Therefore though he imitates a horse the outcome of it is to trick a horse which is what beguile relates to.
A midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare Act 2 scene 1 Puck’s monologue
Thou speak’st aright; /
I am that merry wanderer of the night. /
I jest to Oberon and make him smile
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile, /
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal: /
And sometime lurk I in a gossip’s bowl, /
In very likeness of a roasted crab, /
And when she drinks, against her lips I bob
And on her wither’d dewlap pour the ale. /
The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale, /
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me; /
Then slip I from her bum, down topples she, /
And ‘tailor’ cries, and falls into a cough; /
And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh, /
And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there. /
But, room, fairy! here comes Oberon. /
Explanation
The correct answer is C.
There is no evidence that Puck is a spy here, he states that he ‘jests’. Though it could be misread to believe that Puck is seducing the members of the court this is not the case. Option C is the correct option.
Romeo and Juliet by Willian Shakespeare Act 1 Prologue
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Explanation
The correct answer is A.
The prologue identifies the location of the play and the history of the family very briefly. Main characters are not introduced, the audience are not being forewarned of death. A is a more accurate description than C.
Romeo and Juliet by Willian Shakespeare Act 1 Prologue
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Explanation
The correct answer is D.
A is incorrect as there is no evidence the families become allies. B is incorrect as the deaths are noted to end the feud not start a larger war. C is incorrect as there is no indication that the deaths of the two lovers are by the families.

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 11:30:16
I think B would be correct because: it says it "mark'd the continuance of their parents rage" - does this not mean that the war continued? Please explain.

Sat, 04 May 2024 10:09:37
I think that the next line is saying that nothing other than their children's death could remove their continued rage.
Romeo and Juliet by Willian Shakespeare Act 1 Prologue
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Explanation
The correct answer is B.
Option d is the most correct. Civil here refers to the two families whom are high class individuals and their blood will end up on eachothers hands as they will actively be involved in deaths between the two families. There is no evidence that those outside the family will die and the sentiment is that the deaths are upcoming, not past due to the mutiny.

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 18:21:05
The inciting death of the play is that of Mercutio, neither a Montague nor a Capulet. His death at the hands of Tybalt, and Romeo's revenge killing of Tybalt, is what causes the banishment of Romeo from Verona (and the deaths of Paris, himself, and Juliet)
Romeo and Juliet by Willian Shakespeare Act 1 Prologue
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Explanation
The correct answer is D.
There is no evidence that the play will be a comedy, opening by describing tragic death and nor is horror implied. A political analysis is not supported by the prologue and therefore option D is the most correct.
Edgar Allen Poe – Masque of the Red Death
The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal–the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.
But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince’s own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the “Red Death.”
Explanation
The correct answer is B.
The blood is described as a seal which relates to a visible mark, therefore C and D can quickly be ruled out. Additionally, there is no evidence that the Red Death causes seizures and targets the brain. There is no evidence that blood attracts the Red Death which also rules out D. ‘Avatar’ indicates a mode for the disease to travel in, a way for it to survive and move therefore B is the correct statement.
Edgar Allen Poe – Masque of the Red Death
The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal–the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.
But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince’s own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the “Red Death.”
Explanation
The correct answer is A.
If one understands the meaning of dissolution the answer is clear but it can also be worked out considering the rest of the paragraph. Considering the paragraph B and D can be excluded immediately as they do not match up with what is said. C is incorrect as the sentence is clearly describing how someone succumbs to the red death.
Edgar Allen Poe – Masque of the Red Death
The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal–the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.
But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince’s own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the “Red Death.”
Explanation
The correct answer is C.
Answer A lacks any substantiation as does B. As the Red Death is a plague, fast spreading and killing a huge number of civilians it clearly does not align with answer D.

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 18:23:59
Poe here uses horror (his standard fare) as political commentary. The classed description of the solipsistic, selfish aristocrats is not an incidental feature, but the point.
Edgar Allen Poe – Masque of the Red Death
The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal–the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.
But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince’s own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the “Red Death.”
Explanation
The correct answer is A.
Ingress and egress refer to the entrance and exit of someone. This is clear from the sentence it is in and it has no association with being under the governance of someone’s personal decision thus making B, C and D incorrect.
Edgar Allen Poe – Masque of the Red Death
The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal–the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.
But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince’s own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the “Red Death.”
Explanation
The correct answer is D.
It is made apparent that Prospero is shutting himself and his friends of the same social standing into a protected area to avoid the Red Death. This makes A and B incorrect. There is no evidence that they are going to die from the Red Death in this paragraph but it is clear Prospero does not wish for what is unfolding outside the walls to be focused upon and is providing entertainment to distract everyone.
Life Above Sea Level
patchogue 1968
“Sink or swim,” my mother’s brother says as he drops me from the side of a boat in the Great South Bay. Bobbing up, head above water, I can see the shore, see where my father sits in a folding chair, Times spread across his lap, head tipped back, eyes closed. Water fills my nose and lungs, and I am scooped out by a strong-armed uncle. Funny, they said, it worked so well with all the other kids.
Every summer my mother’s family piles into this house bought by a grandfather, great uncles, and an aunt. My mother’s family: police detectives, payroll clerks, and Brooklyn Navy Yard workers. Irish. This is a place where men come to catch blues, weekend fishermen after a perfect run. Where women wash clothes in ice-cold water, then hang them on long lines cast toward the Bay. Line-dried clothes, stiff and hard, that stink of bay water and don’t bend easily against skin.
Explanation
The correct answer is B.
The uncle expects for the child to swim as is communicated by his comments on how the other children handled the experience.
Life Above Sea Level
patchogue 1968
“Sink or swim,” my mother’s brother says as he drops me from the side of a boat in the Great South Bay. Bobbing up, head above water, I can see the shore, see where my father sits in a folding chair, Times spread across his lap, head tipped back, eyes closed. Water fills my nose and lungs, and I am scooped out by a strong-armed uncle. Funny, they said, it worked so well with all the other kids.
Every summer my mother’s family piles into this house bought by a grandfather, great uncles, and an aunt. My mother’s family: police detectives, payroll clerks, and Brooklyn Navy Yard workers. Irish. This is a place where men come to catch blues, weekend fishermen after a perfect run. Where women wash clothes in ice-cold water, then hang them on long lines cast toward the Bay. Line-dried clothes, stiff and hard, that stink of bay water and don’t bend easily against skin.
Explanation
The correct answer is C.
There is a lack of emotional language in this first paragraph which makes C the most correct answer.
Life Above Sea Level
patchogue 1968
“Sink or swim,” my mother’s brother says as he drops me from the side of a boat in the Great South Bay. Bobbing up, head above water, I can see the shore, see where my father sits in a folding chair, Times spread across his lap, head tipped back, eyes closed. Water fills my nose and lungs, and I am scooped out by a strong-armed uncle. Funny, they said, it worked so well with all the other kids.
Every summer my mother’s family piles into this house bought by a grandfather, great uncles, and an aunt. My mother’s family: police detectives, payroll clerks, and Brooklyn Navy Yard workers. Irish. This is a place where men come to catch blues, weekend fishermen after a perfect run. Where women wash clothes in ice-cold water, then hang them on long lines cast toward the Bay. Line-dried clothes, stiff and hard, that stink of bay water and don’t bend easily against skin.
Explanation
The correct answer is A.
The other options are based on conclusions that the reader would draw themselves were they projecting their own opinions on to the piece.

Fri, 27 May 2022 09:34:22
Should it not be 'focuses the readers attention to it'?

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 03:26:42
Is option A meant to read- Emphasises the word and focuses the "reader's" attention to it?
Life Above Sea Level
patchogue 1968
“Sink or swim,” my mother’s brother says as he drops me from the side of a boat in the Great South Bay. Bobbing up, head above water, I can see the shore, see where my father sits in a folding chair, Times spread across his lap, head tipped back, eyes closed. Water fills my nose and lungs, and I am scooped out by a strong-armed uncle. Funny, they said, it worked so well with all the other kids.
Every summer my mother’s family piles into this house bought by a grandfather, great uncles, and an aunt. My mother’s family: police detectives, payroll clerks, and Brooklyn Navy Yard workers. Irish. This is a place where men come to catch blues, weekend fishermen after a perfect run. Where women wash clothes in ice-cold water, then hang them on long lines cast toward the Bay. Line-dried clothes, stiff and hard, that stink of bay water and don’t bend easily against skin.
Explanation
The correct answer is D.
The author does not use emotive language but the descriptions given, such as those of the clothes, and phrasing indicates a lack of affection towards the place.
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