Total: 20
marks
2024
Examine Extract 1 and answer the questions that follow.
Extract 1:
He was an inspector. I could tell because he wasn’t wearing a uniform. He also had a very hairy
nose. It looked as if there were two very small mice hiding in his nostrils.
He said, ‘I have spoken to your father and he says that you didn’t mean to hit the policeman?’
I didn’t say anything because this wasn’t a question.
He said, ‘Did you mean to hit the policeman?’
I said, ‘Yes.’
He squeezed his face and said, ‘But you didn’t mean to hurt the policeman?’
I thought about this and said, ‘No, I didn’t mean to hurt the policeman. I just wanted him to stop
touching me.”
(page 22)
1.1. What has Christopher done wrong in this extract and briefly explain why he did it? (2)
1.2. What two things does this extract reveal about Christopher’s difficulties while (2)
interacting with people?
1.3. Why does the inspector squeeze his face? (1)
Examine Extract 2 and answer the questions that follow.
Extract 2:
He was away for 2 ½ hours. When he came back I went downstairs. He was sitting in the
kitchen staring out of the back window down the garden to the pond and the corrugated iron
fence and the top of the tower of the church on Manstead Road which looks like a castle
because it is Norman.
Father said, “I’m afraid you won’t be seeing your mother for a long while.”
He didn’t look at me when he said this. He kept on looking through the window.
I said, “Why not?”
He waited for a very long time, then he said, “Your mother has had to go into hospital.”
“Can we visit her?” I asked, because I like hospitals. I like the uniforms and the machines.
Father said, “No.”
I said, “Why can’t we?”
And he said, “She needs rest. She needs to be on her own.”
I asked, “Is it a psychiatric hospital?”
And Father said, “No. It’s an ordinary hospital. She has a problem…a problem with her heart.”
Later in the novel we find out that Christopher’s father was lying about his mother
going to hospital.
2.1. Where has Christopher’s mom actually gone and why? (2)
2.2. When we look back at this extract, we can actually see clues that Christopher’s dad
is lying. Identify and explain TWO such clues. (2)
2.3. When Father says Christopher’s mother has “a problem with her heart”’ he might (2)
not actually be lying. Argue that he could mean this figuratively.
marks
2024
Examine Extract 1 and answer the questions that follow.
Extract 1:
He was an inspector. I could tell because he wasn’t wearing a uniform. He also had a very hairy
nose. It looked as if there were two very small mice hiding in his nostrils.
He said, ‘I have spoken to your father and he says that you didn’t mean to hit the policeman?’
I didn’t say anything because this wasn’t a question.
He said, ‘Did you mean to hit the policeman?’
I said, ‘Yes.’
He squeezed his face and said, ‘But you didn’t mean to hurt the policeman?’
I thought about this and said, ‘No, I didn’t mean to hurt the policeman. I just wanted him to stop
touching me.”
(page 22)
1.1. What has Christopher done wrong in this extract and briefly explain why he did it? (2)
1.2. What two things does this extract reveal about Christopher’s difficulties while (2)
interacting with people?
1.3. Why does the inspector squeeze his face? (1)
Examine Extract 2 and answer the questions that follow.
Extract 2:
He was away for 2 ½ hours. When he came back I went downstairs. He was sitting in the
kitchen staring out of the back window down the garden to the pond and the corrugated iron
fence and the top of the tower of the church on Manstead Road which looks like a castle
because it is Norman.
Father said, “I’m afraid you won’t be seeing your mother for a long while.”
He didn’t look at me when he said this. He kept on looking through the window.
I said, “Why not?”
He waited for a very long time, then he said, “Your mother has had to go into hospital.”
“Can we visit her?” I asked, because I like hospitals. I like the uniforms and the machines.
Father said, “No.”
I said, “Why can’t we?”
And he said, “She needs rest. She needs to be on her own.”
I asked, “Is it a psychiatric hospital?”
And Father said, “No. It’s an ordinary hospital. She has a problem…a problem with her heart.”
Later in the novel we find out that Christopher’s father was lying about his mother
going to hospital.
2.1. Where has Christopher’s mom actually gone and why? (2)
2.2. When we look back at this extract, we can actually see clues that Christopher’s dad
is lying. Identify and explain TWO such clues. (2)
2.3. When Father says Christopher’s mother has “a problem with her heart”’ he might (2)
not actually be lying. Argue that he could mean this figuratively.
