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ENGLISH
MATTERS
FOR JAMAICA
Grade 8 Workbook
Julia Sander
Macmillan Education
Between Towns Road, Oxford, OX4 3PP
A division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Companies and representatives throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-230-43762-3
Text © Julia Sander 2013
Design and illustration © Macmillan Publishers
Limited 2013
First published 2010
This edition 2013
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted
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Designed and typeset by Andy Magee
Illustrated by Jim Eldridge c/o Beehive Illustration and
Tech Type
Cover design by Clare Webber
The author and publishers are grateful for permission
to reprint the following copyright material:
Macmillan for dictionary definitions taken from
Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners,
pp.517, 589, 964, © Macmillan Publishers Limited,
2007. Reprinted by permission of Macmillan
Education;
Penguin Books and United Agents for the poem
‘Serious Love’ from Funky Chickens by Benjamin
Zephaniah, Viking, 1996 © Benjamin Zephaniah 1996.
Reproduced by permission of Penguin Books and
United Agents (www.unitedagents.co.uk) on behalf of
Benjamin Zephaniah;
Peters Fraser & Dunlop and United Agents for the
poem ‘Sad Music’ by Roger McGough from Everyday
Eclipses by Roger McGough, © 2002, Viking – Penguin
Books Ltd. Reprinted by permission of Peters Fraser
& Dunlop, (www.petersfraserdunlop.com) and United
Agents (www.unitedagents.co.uk) on behalf of Roger
McGough;
Sangsters Books for the poem 'Colonisation in Reverse'
by Louise Bennett. Reproduced with permission;
Macmillan for material from The Cloud with the Silver
Lining (with study notes) by C. Everard Palmer, pp.3435, © C. Everard Palmer, 2011. Reprinted by permission
of Macmillan Education;
Penguin Books, Wallace Literary Agency, Inc. and
Penguin, Inc. for an extract from The Ramayana: A
Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic by
R.K. Narayan (first published by Viking Penguin Inc.
1972, Penguin Books, 1977) © R.K. Narayan, 1972.
Used with permission;
Random House Group Ltd for an extract from The
Hills Were Joyful Together by Roger Mais, published by
Jonathan Cape, 1981. Reprinted by permission of The
Random House Group Ltd;
Cubola Productions for an extract from ‘When my
Father Comes Home’ by Shirley Warde published in
Ping Wing Juk Me edited by Michael Philips, Belizean
Writers Series, reproduced with permission.
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Printed and bound in Malaysia
2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
1. Introductions
4
2. Famous Jamaicans
10
3. Fictional Heroes 16
4. Challenges 22
5. Points of View
28
6. Assumptions 34
7. ‘Out of Many, One People’
40
8. Traditions 46
9. Myths 52
10. Legends 58
11. Celebrations 64
12. Mysteries 70
13. Natural Disasters 76
14. Endangered Environment 82
15. Healthy Living 88
16. Cinema 94
17. Drama
100
18. The School Show 106
Index 112
Unit
1
Introductions
Comprehension
An Unwelcome Visitor
I was there when the blow fell. And
Father took it like a man.
Jake Hibbertson, who was the other
big man in our village, the other besides
Father, rode up in his car shortly before
noon. He wasn’t driving. He had always
done his own driving, but today he
had a chauffeur, Lorne Bakersfield,
who ordinarily filled out a weekly work
schedule by driving a truck or working
around Jake’s farm. But today he was
chauffeuring the car.
Alighting with haste, he opened the door for Jake who was sitting big-shot like in the
back seat. As he stepped out, Jake took a mighty long time to straighten himself out,
looking around with pleased eyes as he did.
The Jaguar was purring nicely.
I had seen Jake climb from a battered Austin to a brand-new Humber Hawk and now he
owned a Jaguar sedan, sleek and seemingly poised for speed. Unlike Jake, Father had gone
backwards, climbing down from a car to a horse.
Today Jake was the personification of triumph. Although he was beaming happily, his
eyes weren’t laughing. It was hard to like a man like him. His face was not only axe-shaped
but he had a sick, washed-out colour. He didn’t look kind and he didn’t look cruel. He
didn’t look anything. Lifting his pith helmet with a veined hand, he scratched his head as
he surveyed our Robin Hill property.
Father was on the veranda. I was in the yard. Father was cool. He was leaning against
one of the veranda posts, waiting for it.
Jake said, “How ya, Merton?”
“Hello, Jake,” Father said.
“Nice day, eh?”
“Sunny and hot,” Father said. “Stifling. Come on in.”
Jake looked around at the car. “Shut her off, Lorne,” he said. “Me and Merton have business.”
from My Father, Sun-Sun Johnson by C. Everard Palmer
1
4
Are the following statements about the extract true or false?
1. Both Jake and the writer’s father are important members of the community. True / False
2. Lorne regularly drives Jake around. True / False
3. The writer’s father runs a thriving business. True / False
4. The writer’s father appears to be feeling tense. True / False
Unit 1
2
Explain in your own words the expression ‘sitting big-shot like’.
3
Tick (✓) the answer that completes the sentence. Jake looked around ‘with pleased
eyes’ because
a. he was looking forward to meeting the writer’s father.
b. he was proud of having a chauffeur to drive him around.
c. he was about to get the better of the writer’s father.
d. he thought it was a really nice day.
4
What do you learn about Jake and the writer’s father from their modes of transport?
5
What might be ‘the blow’ to which the writer refers in the first sentence?
6
Did the writer’s father expect to see Jake? Find evidence in the text to support your
answer.
7
What do you learn about Jake from this extract? Make notes in the table.
Facts about Jake
Jake’s appearance Jake’s character
owns a Jaguar car
8
Find expressions in the text to replace the underlined words.
1. Lorne did not usually work as Jake’s chauffeur.
2. The car drew up and I watched him getting out and surveying our yard. 3. The chauffeur opened the door hurriedly for his passenger. 4. Jake had treated himself to a glossy new car.
5. The Jaguar sedan appeared ready for action.
6. There was a look of jubilation on Jake’s face as he looked around him. Unit 1
5
Language
1
What parts of speech are the underlined words?
1. Father led Jake into the room we called his office.
2. Lorne leaned against the car and picked his teeth with a straw. 3. I decided to eavesdrop on the proceedings.
4. I learnt that Father had borrowed a lot of money from Jake. 5. I knew our farm was still as it was before, maybe even worse. 6. I heard Jake threaten Father angrily.
7. Jake said that he and Father had business.
8. Father did not look worried as they went into his office.
2
3
What parts of speech are the underlined words
as they are used in the following sentences?
1. Father had had a bad break the previous year
and had fallen into debt.
2. He had begun to look increasingly tired and worn.
3. The writer’s mother had tried to distance
herself from her husband.
4. Most people in the village thought she was
right to leave him.
5. It seemed that Father did not mind being
reduced to poverty.
6. They heard a burst of laughter as they
drove out of the square.
Write sentences using the underlined words in Exercise 2 as different parts of speech.
State what part of speech they are in your sentences.
Example: I managed to break a cup while I was washing up. (verb)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
6
Remember: Words
can often be used
as different parts
of speech.
Unit 1
4
Rewrite the following conversation in Standard English.
“Yu bredda ave a kyar?”
“Does your brother have a car?”
“Yeah, him need it fi him wuk.”
“Wha kinda wuk him do?”
“Im a vet, so im go a de faam dem.”
“Yu go wid im?” “Mi go wid im all de time wen me ave alliday.”
“Yu bredda / brother like him wuk?”
“Eeehi, im really love weh im du.”
“Yu waan tun vet like yu bredda?”
“Mi nuh sure. Fi mi bredda haffi wuk very hard.”
5
Imagine that you have just met the athlete Charlene Simmonds.
Write a dialogue in which you ask her questions about herself
and her occupation. Use verbs in the simple present tense.
You:
?
Charlene:
You: ?
Charlene:
You: ?
Charlene: You: ?
Charlene: You: Charlene
Simmonds
?
Charlene: Unit 1
7
Vocabulary
1
Use your dictionary to find the answers to the following questions.
1. What are the guide words on the page where the word business appears?
2. How many different definitions are given for the word business?
3. Write all the words you can find which are related to the word appear.
4. Which head words immediately precede and follow the word passenger?
5. The word guard can be used as different parts of speech. Which ones?
2
Read the dictionary entries. Match the underlined words to the definitions.
form
form (noun) [c] 1. a type of something 2. an official document with spaces where
people write information 3. the body of a person, or the shape of an object
Example: I could just make out a shadowy form in the distance. 1. He wrote his impressions down regularly in the form of a journal.
2. She handed her immigration form over to the official.
Definition 3
expose
expose (verb) [T] 1. to remove something covering something else so that it is no longer
hidden 2. to put someone or something in a particular situation, especially one which
involves danger 3. to tell the public about something that was not previously known
3. The journalist’s report exposed the truth about working conditions. 4. After they had germinated, the plants were exposed to sunlight.
5. The scientist was exposed to radiation during his research.
3
Write your own example sentences for the definitions given below.
model
model (noun) [c] 1. a small copy of something 2. someone whose job is to show clothes
3. a particular type of vehicle or machine a company makes
1.
2.
3.
8
Unit 1