THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL OF TANZANIA, ADVANCED CERTIFICATE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION EXAMINATION

122/1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE 1

(For Both School and Private Candidates)

Duration: 3 Hours Year: 2025

Instructions

1. This paper consists of sections A and B with a total of eight (8) questions.
2. Answer all questions in section A and choose three (3) questions in section B of which question five (5) and six (6) are compulsory.
3. Each question in section A carries ten (10) marks and twenty (20) marks in section B.
4. All writing must be in black or blue ink.
5. Communication devices and any unauthorised material are not allowed in the examination room.
6. Write your Examination Number on every page of your answer booklet(s).

SECTION A (40 Marks)

Answer all questions from this section.

1. Using relevant examples, explain how each of the following characteristic features of language differentiates human language from animal communication:

1. Learnability 
2. Productivity 
3. Displacement 
4. Interchangeability
5. Duality of patterning

2. (a) How is the morpheme “-s” used in English Language? Explain five grammatical functions of the morpheme with relevant examples.

(b) Write the meaning of the following English prefixes and compose a meaningful sentence for each:

For example: dis-
Meaning: Not, the opposite or reverse of, apart or separated
Sentence: I dislike living in town.

1. Mis- 
2. Anti- 
3. Semi- 
4. Super- 
5. Pseudo-

3. (a) Write the following transcribed words into ordinary orthography:

1. /nju:maunto/
2. /kreemps/
3. /kwofi:oko:/
4. /tonsalartis/
5. /tu:Be1k/

(b) Write the syllabic structure of each of the following words:

For example: Desk = CVCC

1. Strings 
2. Blooms 
3. Streams 
4. Twelfth 
5. Judge

4. Using relevant examples, briefly describe the challenges a translator faces in translating the following language elements and suggest ways of dealing with those challenges:

1. Idioms 
2. Proverbs 
3. Proper names 
4. Technical terms 
5. Inventions and discoveries

SECTION B (60 Marks)

Answer three (3) questions from this section. Question five (5) and six (6) are compulsory.

5. With relevant examples, describe eight factors that have facilitated the development of Kiswahili as a lingua-franca in Tanzania.

6. Suppose you are a member of a youth group campaigning against adolescent pregnancy. Write an expository essay titled, “Effects of Early Pregnancy.” Give eight points.

7. Using appropriate examples, elaborate eight factors that can affect students’ ability to listen effectively to public announcements.

8. Distinguish extensive reading from intensive reading, giving four points.

THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL, ADVANCED CERTIFICATE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION EXAMINATION

122/2 ENGLISH LANGUAGE 2

(For Both School and Private Candidates)

Duration: 3 Hours Year: 2025

Instructions

1. This paper consists of sections A and B with a total of eight (8) questions.
2. Answer all questions in section A and choose three (3) questions from section B of which question five (5) and six (6) are compulsory.
3. Section A carries forty (40) marks and section B carries sixty (60) marks.
4. All writing must be in black or blue ink.
5. Communication devices and any unauthorised materials are not allowed in the examination room.
6. Write your Examination Number on every page of your answer booklet(s).

Section A

Answer all questions in this section.

1. Distinguish the following literary terms;

1. Tone and mood
2. Quatrain and couplet
3. Octave and sestet
4. Consonance and assonance
5. Alliteration and anadiplosis

2. Briefly explain five features of a play as a work of art.

3. Explain the causes of variation in language use.

4. Read the given poem and respond to the subsequent questions that follow:

Lost Beauty By Jwani Mwaikusa 

There are only white women around:
Awful fakes of white females
Reflecting an awful mass of ugliness:
And I want a lady
To mount the rostrum with
And declare to the world:
Black is beautiful
Yes,
I want a black beauty queen
With ebony thighs and huge hips
With skin sweating blackness
And a face dark as the night
And bare breasts bouncing
Vigour and energy.
But my eyes, oh my eyes!
They don’t see anything black:
It’s only white skins and masks
Flashing past and slashing,
Destroying my sight so
I can’t get what I want I cry and sing to them
The inbred tune of our people
I shouted to them in the black tongue
But no black sister hears me:
Only white masks I see.
I turn and weep upon myself
And then, only then
I realise: I am not black either.

Questions

1. Briefly explain two possible themes found in this poem.
2. Provide four examples of artistic devices used in the poem.
3. What is the tone of the poem? Give a reason for your answer.
4. What message do you get from the poem?
5. How is the poem relevant to your contemporary society?

SECTION B (60 Marks)

Answer three (3) questions from this section. Question five (5) and seven (7) are compulsory.

List of Readings in Plays:

• Betrayal in the City - Francis Imbuga
• I Will Marry When I Want - Ngugi wa Thiong’o & Ngugi wa Mirii
• The Bride - Austin Bukenya
• Lwanda Magere - Okoiti Omtatah
• An Enemy of the People - Henrik Ibsen
• Black Mamba - John Ruganda

List of Readings in Novels:

• Encounters from Africa - Macmillan Education Limited
• The Beautiful Ones are not Yet Born - Ayi Kwei Armah
• A Man of the People - Chinua Achebe
• Divine Providence - Severin N. Ndunguru
• The Rape of the Pearl - Magala Nyago
• Vanishing Shadows - Namige Kayondo
• His Excellency the Head of State - Danny Safo
• A Season of Waiting - David Omwale

List of readings in Poetry:

• Selected Poems - Institute of Education
• The Wonderful Surgeon and Other Poems - Charles Mloka

5. Analyse the use of symbols in two plays of your choice.

6. “Without women, the welfare of the society would be at stake.” Use two plays and provide four points to justify this statement.

7. Connect societal issues presented in two novels with those found in present-day communities.

8. Justify the statement that “people in authority who do not play their roles effectively cause conflicts in their societies” by making references from two poems and provide four points from each poem.