Contents: 17 pages
Examination: 2 hours
22 multiple-choice questions
Additional Time Permitted: 60 minutes
3 written-response questions
© Province of British Columbia
English 12
Examination Booklet
2008/09 Sample Examination
Form A
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English 12 – 2008/09 Sample Examination
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English 12 – 2008/09 Sample Examination
PART A: READING COMPREHENSION
STAND-ALONE TEXT
7 multiple-choice questions
Suggested Time: 25 minutes
1 written-response question
Value: 23%
INSTRUCTIONS: Read the following passage, “An Ode to the User-Friendly Pencil,” and answer the
multiple-choice questions. For each question, select the best answer and record your
choice on the Answer Sheet provided.
adapted from An Ode to the User-Friendly Pencil
by Bonnie Laing
1 Recently I acquired a computer. Or perhaps I should say it acquired me. My therapist claims that
acknowledging the superior partner in a destructive relationship is the first step toward recovery. I
should point out that prior to this acquisition, my idea of modern technology at its best was frozen
waffles. My mastery of business machines had advanced only as far as the stapler.
2 I was persuaded to make this investment by well-meaning friends who said the word-processing
capacity of a computer would make me a better writer, make me a more productive writer, and make me
a richer writer. I pointed out that Chaucer was a pretty good writer even though he used a quill, and
Dickens managed to produce 15 novels and numerous collections of short stories without so much as a
typewriter. But I have to admit that option C got to me, even if I couldn’t figure out h