Free Kent Test practice paper — Answers

Kent Mock 1 — Paper 2 (English & Maths)

English & Maths · 50 marks · 50 minutes

Section 1 — Reading comprehension

English — 5-minute practice, then 25 minutes. Mark one letter (A–E). Read the passage, then answer.

The tide was already turning when Maya reached the harbour wall at Whitstable.

Her grandfather had promised to take her out in the old wooden boat before the

summer ended, and there were only two days of the holiday left.

She found him mending a net, his hands moving with the patient rhythm of

someone who had done the same task ten thousand times.

“You came,” he said, without looking up. “I wondered if you would.”

Maya sat down beside him on an upturned crate that smelled of salt and tar.

The gulls wheeled overhead, screaming like an argument that never ended.

“Grandad, why do you still fish? The supermarket sells oysters,” she said.

He smiled, but his eyes stayed on the net. “The sea is not a shop, Maya.

It gives nothing for free, and it forgets no one who is careless.”

She did not understand him then, though she would remember the words later.

By the time they pushed off, the sky had turned the colour of a bruise,

and the wind carried the first cold breath of autumn across the water.

The little boat rose and fell, rose and fell, like a slow heartbeat.

Her grandfather said nothing for a long while, and Maya slowly learned that

silence, out here, was not empty but full — full of things too large for words.

When at last they turned for home, the harbour lights were blinking on, one by one,

like a message she could almost, but not quite, read.

She realised, with some surprise, that she had stopped being afraid of the quiet.

1.
Where does Maya go at the beginning of the passage?
Aa supermarket
Bher grandfather’s house
Cthe beach at Dover
Da fishing shop
Ethe harbour wall at Whitstable ✓
2.
How many days of the holiday were left?
A two ✓B oneC threeD fiveE ten
3.
What was Maya’s grandfather doing when she found him?
A painting the boatB mending a net ✓C selling oystersD reading a letterE cooking fish
4.
What did the upturned crate smell of (line 8)?
A fish and seaweedB smoke and oilC paint and woodD salt and tar ✓E bread and salt
5.
In line 4, the word ‘patient’ is closest in meaning to:
A ill in hospitalB quick and sharpC angryD carelessE calm and unhurried ✓
6.
‘screaming like an argument that never ended’ (line 9) is an example of:
A a simile ✓B a metaphorC alliterationD a rhymeE a fact
7.
In line 9, the word ‘wheeled’ tells us the gulls were:
Aresting on the water
Bturning in circles ✓
Cdiving into the sea
Dflying away
Ecompletely silent
8.
In line 17, what is being compared to ‘a slow heartbeat’?
Athe beating of Maya’s heart
Bthe cry of the gulls
Cthe rising and falling of the boat ✓
Dthe turning of the tide
Eher grandfather’s breathing

English — 5-minute practice, then 25 minutes. Mark one letter (A–E).

English — 5-minute practice, then 25 minutes. Mark one letter (A–E).

English — 5-minute practice, then 25 minutes. Mark one letter (A–E).

18.
The explorer felt a growing sense of ___ as the cave narrowed around her.
A comfortB delightC boredomD prideE unease ✓
19.
The volcano had been ___ for centuries before it suddenly erupted.
A dormant ✓B activeC ancientD hollowE distant
20.
Her argument was so ___ that no one in the room could disagree with it.
A confusingB convincing ✓C carelessD cheerfulE curious
21.
The old manuscript was so ___ that the librarian handled it with gloves.
A sturdyB modernC fragile ✓D ordinaryE colourful
22.
Despite his fear, the boy remained ___ as he crossed the rickety bridge.
A panickedB delightedC exhaustedD composed ✓E furious