English HL Grade 11 P1 November Mock 2026 Question Paper (Eng)

Copyright reserved Please turn over Mock hlayiso mock exams Practice Series: Grade 11 Exam Preparation WWW.HLAYISO.COM NATIONAL SENIOR CERTIFICATE GRADE 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE P1 NOVEMBER EXAMINATION 2026 (MOCK) MARKS: 70 TIME: 2 hours This question paper consists of 12 pages.

English Home Language/P1 2 NSC Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION 1. This question paper consists of THREE sections: SECTION A: Comprehension (30) SECTION B: Summary (10) SECTION C: Language in context (30) 2. Read ALL the instructions carefully. 3. Answer ALL the questions. 4. Start EACH section on a NEW page. 5. Rule off after each section. 6. Number the answers correctly according to the numbering system used in this question paper. 7. Leave a line after each answer. 8. Pay special attention to spelling and sentence construction. 9. Suggested time allocation: SECTION A: 50 minutes SECTION B: 30 minutes SECTION C: 40 minutes 10. Write neatly and legibly. Copyright reserved Please turn over

English Home Language/P1 3 NSC Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 SECTION A: COMPREHENSION QUESTION 1: READING FOR MEANING AND UNDERSTANDING Read TEXT A and TEXT B below and answer the questions set. Answer in your own words as far as possible. TEXT A THE SLEEPLESS GENERATION: WHY TEENAGERS ARE RUNNING ON EMPTY 1 It is 23:30 on a Tuesday night in Durban. Ayanda*, sixteen, lies in bed with the lights off, but his face glows blue. He has promised himself that he will sleep after just one more video. At 01:15 he is still awake. Five hours later, his alarm drags him out of bed and into another school day. 'I sit in Maths and the numbers just swim,' he says. 'I'm there, but I'm not really there.' 5 2 Ayanda belongs to what some writers have called a 'sleepless generation'. Health guidelines recommend that teenagers sleep between eight and ten hours a night, yet many manage fewer than seven. The consequences are far more serious than a few yawns during the first period. Chronic1 sleep loss has been linked to poor concentration, weaker memory, low mood, a weakened immune system and even 10 a higher risk of accidents on the road. 3 Part of the problem is biological. During puberty, the body's internal clock shifts. The brain begins to release melatonin – the hormone that makes us feel sleepy – later in the evening than it did in childhood. A teenager who cannot fall asleep at ten o'clock is therefore not being stubborn; his or her body is simply not ready. Yet 15 school bells across the country ring at the same early hour, regardless of biology. 'We are asking young people to write tests at a time when their brains are, in effect, still in the middle of the night,' says Dr Naledi Mokoena*, a paediatrician in Johannesburg. 4 Technology deepens the problem. Screens give off blue light, which signals to 20 the brain that it is still daytime and delays the release of melatonin even further. More importantly, apps are designed to keep us hooked: the endless scroll has no natural stopping point, unlike the last page of a book. Notifications buzz through the night like an uninvited guest who keeps knocking at the door. Copyright reserved Please turn over

English Home Language/P1 4 NSC Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 5 Then there is the culture of busyness. Many learners juggle homework, extra 25 classes, sport, church activities and household chores, and sleep is usually the first thing to be sacrificed. Some even wear exhaustion as a badge of honour, posting photographs of their late-night study sessions with captions such as 'No sleep, no limits!' Dr Mokoena is unimpressed. 'Sleep is not a luxury that you earn once the work is done,' she says. 'It is part of the work.' 30 6 Why does this matter so much? During sleep, the brain is anything but idle. It sorts through the experiences of the day and transfers new information into long-term memory. This means that the learner who gives up sleep to cram for an examination may remember less, not more. Sleep also helps to regulate our emotions: a tired teenager is more likely to snap at a younger brother, burst into 35 tears over a small setback or take foolish risks. 7 Some solutions lie beyond the control of individual teenagers. A few schools abroad have experimented with later starting times and have reported better attendance and more alert learners. Parents, too, can help – not by lecturing, but by modelling healthy habits and switching off their own devices at night. 40 8 Much, however, is within a teenager's power: a regular bedtime, even over weekends; a phone that charges outside the bedroom; and a 'wind-down' half-hour of reading, journalling or quiet music before the lights go out. None of these steps costs a cent. 9 Ayanda has started small. His phone now spends the night on the kitchen 45 counter. 'The first few nights I just lay there staring at the ceiling,' he admits. 'Now I sometimes wake up before my alarm. It's strange – it feels as if someone has given me extra hours in the day.' By giving time to sleep, he has gained time. In a world that never switches off, perhaps the most rebellious thing a teenager can do is to close his eyes. 50 *not their real names [Examiner's own text] GLOSSARY: 1chronic: continuing for a long time or happening repeatedly AND Copyright reserved Please turn over

English Home Language/P1 5 NSC Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 TEXT B CHARGE YOURSELF TOO. Your phone gets eight hours on the charger. Do you? 01:15 100% 3% Z z z Switch off screens by 22:00. Leave your phone to charge outside your bedroom. Aim for 8–10 hours of sleep every night – weekends too. Wake up at 100%. #PowerDownToPowerUp HEALTHY TEENS SA [Examiner's own poster. Healthy Teens SA is a fictitious organisation.] NOTE: The poster shows a teenager sitting slumped in bed late at night, staring at a phone. His eyes are half-closed. A low-battery symbol showing 3% points to him. On the bedside table, his phone is plugged in and shows a full battery (100%). A clock reads 01:15 and the letters 'Z z z' (sleep) have been crossed out. The text in the poster reads as follows: CHARGE YOURSELF TOO. Your phone gets eight hours on the charger. Do you? Switch off screens by 22:00. Leave your phone to charge outside your bedroom. Aim for 8–10 hours of sleep every night – weekends too. Wake up at 100%. #PowerDownToPowerUp HEALTHY TEENS SA Copyright reserved Please turn over

English Home Language/P1 6 NSC Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 QUESTIONS: TEXT A 1.1 Refer to line 2: 'but his face glows blue.' What does this detail reveal about what Ayanda is doing? (1) 1.2 Refer to paragraph 1. Explain what Ayanda means when he says, 'I'm there, but I'm not really there'. (2) 1.3 Refer to line 9. Choose the correct answer from the options below. As it is used in the passage, the word 'Chronic' suggests that the sleep loss is … A painful. B sudden. C ongoing. D harmless. (1) 1.4 Refer to lines 12–15. In your own words, explain why a teenager who cannot fall asleep at ten o'clock 'is … not being stubborn'. (2) 1.5 Refer to lines 23–24: 'Notifications buzz through … at the door.' Comment on the effectiveness of the comparison in these lines. (2) 1.6 Refer to lines 27–30. Explain the irony in the idea that some learners 'wear exhaustion as a badge of honour'. (2) 1.7 Refer to lines 29–30: 'Sleep is not … of the work.' Critically discuss the validity of Dr Mokoena's view. (3) 1.8 Refer to lines 33–36. In your own words, explain why a learner who gives up sleep to study 'may remember less, not more'. (2) 1.9 Refer to paragraphs 7 and 8. Do you think that the solutions offered by the writer are realistic for South African teenagers? Justify your response. (3) 1.10 Refer to paragraph 9 (lines 45–50). Critically comment on the effectiveness of this paragraph as a conclusion to the article. (3) QUESTIONS: TEXT B 1.11 Discuss how the contrast between the teenager and the phone on the bedside table conveys the message of the poster. (3) 1.12 Explain the play on words in the hashtag, '#PowerDownToPowerUp'. (2) Copyright reserved Please turn over

English Home Language/P1 7 NSC Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 QUESTION: TEXTS A AND B 1.13 Both TEXT A and TEXT B aim to persuade teenagers to sleep more. Critically discuss which of the two texts you find more persuasive. Refer to BOTH texts in your answer. (4) TOTAL SECTION A: 30 Copyright reserved Please turn over

English Home Language/P1 8 NSC Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 SECTION B: SUMMARY QUESTION 2: SUMMARISING IN YOUR OWN WORDS TEXT C gives advice on how to avoid becoming a victim of online fraud. Summarise, in your own words, the steps that young people can take to protect themselves from online scams. NOTE: 1. Your summary should include SEVEN points and NOT exceed 90 words. 2. You must write a fluent paragraph. 3. You are NOT required to include a title for the summary. 4. Indicate your word count at the end of your summary. TEXT C DON'T TAKE THE BAIT: OUTSMARTING ONLINE SCAMMERS 'Congratulations! You have won a brand-new smartphone. Click here to claim your prize.' Most of us have received a message like this, and most of us have laughed it off. Yet every year thousands of South Africans, many of them young people, lose money, data and even their identities to online criminals. Scammers no longer need to be clever with computers; they simply need to be clever with people. The first rule is simple: your passwords, PINs and one-time pins (OTPs) belong to you alone. No genuine bank, cellphone network or school will ever ask you to share them – not by SMS, not by e-mail and not over the phone. Create a strong, different password for each of your accounts, so that if one is stolen, the others remain safe. A password made of a short phrase that only you would think of is far harder to crack than your name followed by '123'. Wherever possible, switch on two-step verification, which sends a code to your phone before anyone can log in. Learn to recognise the warning signs. Scammers love urgency: 'Your account will be closed in 24 hours!' They also love offers that seem too good to be true, such as a job that pays R5 000 a week for one hour of work. If a message makes you panic or makes you greedy, slow down. Never click on links or download attachments in messages that you were not expecting. Instead of following a link, type the official website address yourself. If a 'friend' suddenly asks you for money on social media, phone that person to confirm that the request is genuine; their account may have been hacked. Be careful, too, about how much you reveal online. Your date of birth, your home address and your school's name can help a criminal to guess your passwords or pretend to be you. Keep your profiles private, and keep the apps and software on your devices updated, because updates often repair security weaknesses. Finally, if you think you have been scammed, do not hide it out of embarrassment. Contact your bank immediately and report the incident. The sooner you act, the more you are likely to save. [Examiner's own text] TOTAL SECTION B: 10 Copyright reserved Please turn over

English Home Language/P1 9 NSC Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 SECTION C: LANGUAGE IN CONTEXT QUESTION 3: ANALYSING ADVERTISING Study the advertisement (TEXT D) below and answer the set questions. TEXT D WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT, YOUR FUTURE DOESN'T. Load-shedding? Light-shedding? Not in this house. The SunBright Solar Study Lamp charges in the sun all day and gives you up to 8 hours* of bright, eye-friendly light at night. No wires. No bills. No excuses. SunBright Brighter by nature. *Light duration depends on sunlight exposure. Terms and conditions apply. [Examiner's own advertisement. SunBright is a fictitious brand.] NOTE: The advertisement shows a dark room at night. Through the window, the neighbouring houses are in darkness. A learner sits at a desk, reading a book in a cone of warm light from a solar lamp. A small solar panel is attached to the base of the lamp. The text in the advertisement reads as follows: WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT, YOUR FUTURE DOESN'T. Load-shedding? Light-shedding? Not in this house. The SunBright Solar Study Lamp charges in the sun all day and gives you up to 8 hours* of bright, eye-friendly light at night. No wires. No bills. No excuses. SunBright Brighter by nature. *Light duration depends on sunlight exposure. Terms and conditions apply. Copyright reserved Please turn over

English Home Language/P1 10 NSC Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 QUESTIONS: TEXT D 3.1 Refer to the headline: 'WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT, YOUR FUTURE DOESN'T.' Explain how the headline appeals to the target audience of the advertisement. (2) 3.2 Explain the pun in the slogan, 'Brighter by nature.' (2) 3.3 Discuss how the visual elements of the advertisement reinforce its written message. (3) 3.4 'No wires. No bills. No excuses.' Identify the stylistic device used in the above line. (1) 3.5 Refer to the small print: '*Light duration depends on sunlight exposure.' Comment on the effect that the small print could have on the credibility of the advertisement. (2) [10] QUESTION 4: UNDERSTANDING OTHER ASPECTS OF THE MEDIA Study the cartoon (TEXT E) below and answer the set questions. TEXT E: CARTOON 1 2 3 4 GROUP PROJECT Due: Friday Groups of three, please! Teamwork makes the dream work! CITY LIBRARY – Wednesday, 15:00 Z z z Group 7 23:58 Kyle: Done! Poster is printed. Aisha: Finally. So tired. Thabo: Guys, did we finish?? I'm SO stressed!! WATER SAVING PROJECT As a team, WE worked really hard on this! [Examiner's own cartoon] CHARACTERS: Thabo, Aisha and Kyle (classmates) and their teacher Copyright reserved Please turn over

English Home Language/P1 11 NSC Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 DESCRIPTION OF THE FRAMES: FRAME 1: The teacher points to the board, which reads 'GROUP PROJECT – Due: Friday'. Thabo, smiling broadly, puts his arms around Aisha and Kyle. FRAME 2: In the city library, Aisha and Kyle are working hard with books and a laptop; drops of sweat fly from their heads. Thabo is asleep with his head on the table. FRAME 3: A close-up of the group's chat on a cellphone at 23:58. FRAME 4: Thabo presents the finished poster to the class, holding out his arm proudly. Aisha and Kyle stand behind him, frowning, with their arms folded. QUESTIONS: TEXT E 4.1 Refer to FRAME 1. Explain why Thabo's words, 'Teamwork makes the dream work!' are ironic in the light of the rest of the cartoon. (2) 4.2 Refer to FRAME 2. Discuss how the cartoonist contrasts Thabo with the other members of his group. (2) 4.3 Refer to FRAME 3. What does Thabo's message, 'Guys, did we finish?? I'm SO stressed!!', reveal about his character? (2) 4.4 Refer to FRAME 4. Account for the use of capital letters in 'WE'. (1) 4.5 Critically discuss whether the cartoonist succeeds in making a serious point about group work through humour. (3) [10] Copyright reserved Please turn over

English Home Language/P1 12 NSC Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 QUESTION 5: USING LANGUAGE CORRECTLY Read TEXT F, which contains some deliberate errors, and answer the set questions. TEXT F A LIBRARY ON WHEELS 1 Every Saturday morning, a bright yellow minibus rattles into the dusty schoolyard of a primary school in rural Limpopo. Before it has even stopped, the children come running. Each of them are clutching a small blue library card. 2 The driver, Mrs Thandi Ngobeni*, is a retired teacher who started the Book Bus five years ago. 'I want every child in this valley to fall in love with reading,' she 5 said when I visited. She recieved her first donation of books from a church in Polokwane, and the rest, as they say, is history. 3 The bus now carries more than eight hundred books. They are arranged on wooden shelves that her son built: picture books at the bottom and novels at the top. The childrens' favourite shelf is the one with comics. Volunteers repair torn 10 books every Friday, so that nothing is wasted. 4 Teachers say that the learners who visit the bus regularly read more fluently and are more happier in class. Mrs Ngobeni waits patiently while each child chooses a book. 'A book is a door,' she says. 'I just hand them the key.' *not her real name [Examiner's own text] QUESTIONS: TEXT F 5.1 Correct the error of concord in paragraph 1. (1) 5.2 Identify and correct the spelling error in paragraph 2. (1) 5.3 'I want every child in this valley to fall in love with reading,' she said. (Line 5) Rewrite the above sentence in reported speech. Begin with: She said … (2) 5.4 Explain the meaning of the idiom 'the rest … is history' (line 7). (1) 5.5 State the function of the colon in paragraph 3. (1) 5.6 Correct the apostrophe error in paragraph 3. (1) 5.7 'Volunteers repair torn books every Friday' (paragraph 3). Rewrite the above clause in the passive voice. (1) 5.8 Correct the error in the degree of comparison in paragraph 4. (1) 5.9 Identify the part of speech of 'patiently' (paragraph 4). (1) [10] TOTAL SECTION C: 30 GRAND TOTAL: 70 Copyright reserved