ST EDWARD’S OXFORD

13+ ENTRANCE EXAMINATION

For entry in 2016

ENGLISH

Time: 1 hour

Candidate's name: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Answers should be written on lined paper.

The first 10 minutes should be spent reading the text in Section A.

 Section A asks you to analyse a prose passage.

 Section B is a creative writing task.

You are advised to spend just under 25 minutes on each section. Use the last few minutes to
read over what you have written and correct any mistakes. The quality of your writing will be
assessed in both sections.
 SECTION A: READING

The following passage is taken from a novel by Jane Austen published in 1818. In this extract,
Catherine is staying with friends at their home, Northanger Abbey. She lets her imagination run
wild and begins to explore the building.

The night was stormy; the wind had been rising at intervals throughout the whole
afternoon and by the time the party broke up, it blew and rained violently. Catherine, as
she crossed the hall, listened to the tempest with a sense of awe; and, when she heard it
rage round a corner of the ancient building and close with sudden fury a distant door, felt
for the first time that she was really in an abbey. Yes, these were characteristic sounds; they
brought to her mind a countless variety of dreadful situations and horrid scenes that often
took place in such buildings and on stormy nights such as this. She was happy that the
circumstances in which she entered the solemn walls of the building were happy ones!
She had nothing to dread from midnight assassins or drunken men. In a house so
furnished, and so guarded, she could have nothing to explore or to suffer, and might go to
her bedroom as securely as if it had been her own chamber at Fullerton. Thus wisely
fortifying her mind, as she proceeded upstairs, she was enabled, especially on realising that
Miss Tilney slept only two doors from her, to enter her room with confidence and a brave
heart. Her spirits were immediately lifted also by the cheerful blaze of a wood fire. “How
much better is this,” said she, as she walked to the fireplace — “how much better to find a
fire ready lit, than to have to wait for a faithful old servant to frighten one by coming in
with a bundle of sticks to light it! How glad I am that Northanger is what it is! If it had
been like some other places, I do not know that, in such a night as this, I would have felt
so confident: but now, to be sure, there is nothing to be alarmed about.”
She looked round the room. The window curtains seemed to be moving. It could be
nothing but the violence of the wind penetrating through the cracks in the shutters; and
she stepped boldly forward, carelessly humming a tune, to reassure herself that this was the
case. She peeped courageously behind each curtain, saw nothing on either low window seat
to scare her, and on placing a hand against the shutter, felt the strong force of the wind.
She scorned the causeless fears produced by her imagination, and began with a carefree
attitude to prepare herself for bed as the fire died away. On glancing round the room,
however, she was struck by the appearance of a high, old–fashioned black cabinet, which,
though in a conspicuous position in the room, had never caught her notice before. She
took her candle and looked closely at the cabinet. It was black and yellow of the
handsomest kind, and as she held her candle, the yellow had very much the effect of gold.
The key was in the door, and she would not sleep till she had examined it. So, placing the
candle with great caution on a chair, she seized the key with a very tremulous hand and
tried to turn it; but it resisted her utmost strength. Alarmed, but not discouraged, she tried
it another way; a bolt flew, and she believed herself successful; but how strangely
mysterious! The door was still immovable. She paused a moment in breathless wonder.
The wind roared down the chimney, the rain beat in torrents against the windows, and
everything seemed to speak the awfulness of her situation. Again, she tried the key, and
after moving it determinedly in every possible direction in a final effort to open it, the door
suddenly yielded to her hand: her heart leaped with exultation at such a victory, and having
 thrown open each folding door, a double range of small drawers appeared in view, with
some larger drawers above and below them. Catherine’s heat beat quickly, but her courage
did not fail her. With a cheek flushed by hope, and an eye straining with curiosity, her
fingers grasped the handle and drew the mysterious drawer forth.

NOTE
· An abbey is a building where monks or nuns used to live, and can have an appearance that is similar
to a church building or castle.

Answer the following questions in full sentences written in clear, precise English. Spend
approximately 25 minutes altogether on this section.

1. Using your own words as far as possible, describe the impression you are given of the
weather outside Northanger Abbey in the first paragraph. [5]

2. How does Catherine react to the atmosphere in the abbey that night and reassure herself
that she has nothing to fear? Use examples from the whole passage to support your
ideas. [10]

3. What is interesting about the language that Austen uses to describe the room in which
Catherine is staying? How does she create a mysterious atmosphere and a feeling of
suspense? You might like to consider the imagery, diction (the words Austen chooses to
use), the different lengths of sentences, and other features. [10]

[Total for Section A: 25 marks]

TURN OVER FOR SECTION B 

 SECTION B: WRITING

Choose ONE of the following tasks.

Marks will be awarded for originality, clarity and vocabulary as well as spelling and punctuation.
Take a few minutes to plan before you begin writing.

EITHER

1. Describe a building that has special meaning to you. Include details of the place, why it is
important to you, and how you feel when you are there.

OR

2. “When eventually we face our fears, we often realise that we had nothing to fear in the
first place.” Do you agree? Use examples to illustrate your views, either from your own
life and experience or from the lives of others.

Spend about 25 minutes on this task.

[Total for Section B: 25 marks]