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KCSE English101

3 papers160 marks5 h 10 min

What we predict comes up

From the syllabus weighting and how the papers are usually set. The papers below follow it.

  1. Oral skills19%Oral skills carry 30 marks on Paper 1: an oral poem, pronunciation items and a conversation.
  2. Literary appreciation16%The excerpt is 25 marks on Paper 2: character, themes, style, irony and vocabulary in context.
  3. Comprehension13%Paper 2 opens with a 20-mark comprehension: content, inference, vocabulary and one grammar item.
  4. Imaginative composition13%The imaginative composition is 20 marks, one task from two, one of them with a given sentence.
101/1

Paper 1: Functional Skills

2 h · 60 marks · No calculator

120:00
  • Answer all the questions.
  • All your answers must be written in English.

Answer or mark a question and your score adds up here.

Functional writing20 marks

120 marks
You are the secretary of the Environment Club of Kilele Mixed Secondary School. The club met on Friday, 6th March 2026, in the Biology Laboratory at 4.10 p.m. to plan a tree-planting day. Use the notes below to write the minutes of the meeting.

Present: the chairperson, Achieng' Otieno; the secretary (you); the treasurer, Kamau Njoroge; and 14 other members. Absent with apology: Halima Ali. In attendance: the club patron, Mr Wekesa.

Agenda: 1. Preliminaries. 2. Reading and confirmation of the previous minutes. 3. Tree-planting day. 4. Fundraising. 5. Any other business.

Notes: The chairperson opened the meeting with a word of prayer. The minutes of the previous meeting were read, confirmed and signed. The tree-planting day was fixed for Saturday, 28th March 2026. Mr Wekesa had secured 300 indigenous seedlings from a local tree nursery. Each form will plant along one section of the school fence, and Form Ones will water the seedlings during the dry spell. The treasurer reported KSh 4 500 in the club account. Members agreed that each would contribute KSh 50 to buy watering cans and stakes. Under any other business, members proposed club T-shirts; the matter was deferred to the next meeting. The meeting ended at 5.20 p.m. The next meeting will be on Friday, 20th March 2026.
Write the minutes of the meeting.[20]

Cloze test10 marks

Cloze test

Few things are as satisfying as a meal shared with the people we love. In many Kenyan homes, the evening meal is the one time of the day (1) ________ the whole family sits together. Children report on (2) ________ they learnt at school, parents share news from the market or the office, and grandparents, if they live nearby, offer stories and advice (3) ________ from a lifetime of experience.

Sadly, this tradition is slowly (4) ________ away. Long working hours mean that many parents get home (5) ________ the children have already gone to bed. Even when everyone is present, the television or the phone often (6) ________ the attention that once went to conversation. Nutritionists warn that families who eat in front of screens tend to eat more (7) ________ they realise, because they are not paying attention to their food. Teachers, (8) ________ their part, notice that children who talk with their parents every evening speak more confidently in class.

The solution need not be costly. A family could agree to switch (9) ________ every screen for just thirty minutes at dinner. That half hour, repeated every evening, may be (10) ________ of the most valuable gifts a parent can give a child.

210 marks
Read the passage below and fill in each blank with the most appropriate word.
(1)Gap 1[1]
(2)Gap 2[1]
(3)Gap 3[1]
(4)Gap 4[1]
(5)Gap 5[1]
(6)Gap 6[1]
(7)Gap 7[1]
(8)Gap 8[1]
(9)Gap 9[1]
(10)Gap 10[1]

Oral skills30 marks

312 marks
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

Grind, my stone, grind slowly,
The millet is dry, the millet is ready,
Grind, my stone, grind slowly,
My husband is coming, his stomach is empty.

Who will eat? The children will eat!
Who will dance? The children will dance!
Grind, my stone, grind slowly,
The sun is going home, and so am I.
(a)Identify the type of oral poem this is and give a reason for your answer.[2]
(b)Identify three features that give the poem its rhythm.[3]
(c)How would you say the line "Grind, my stone, grind slowly" when performing the poem? Explain.[2]
(d)Describe one gesture you would use when performing the line "Who will dance? The children will dance!" and say why.[2]
(e)State two ways in which you would involve your audience in the performance.[2]
(f)Would you use a rising or a falling intonation on "Who will eat?" Give a reason.[1]

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Not included: Paper 3's two set-text essays (the compulsory and the optional question on prescribed texts) are left out because the set books change each cycle and are copyrighted.