English FAL Grade 8 P1 November Mock 2026 Question Paper (Eng)

Copyright reserved Please turn over Mock hlayiso mock exams Practice Series: Grade 8 Exam Preparation WWW.HLAYISO.COM SENIOR PHASE END-OF-YEAR EXAMINATION GRADE 8 ENGLISH FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE P1 NOVEMBER 2026 (MOCK) MARKS: 60 TIME: 2 hours This question paper consists of 10 pages.

English First Additional Language/P1 2 Senior Phase Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION 1. This question paper consists of FOUR sections: SECTION A: Comprehension (20) SECTION B: Visual literacy (10) SECTION C: Summary (10) SECTION D: Language in context (20) 2. Answer ALL the questions in ALL the sections. 3. Read ALL the instructions and questions carefully before you answer. 4. Start EACH section on a NEW page in the ANSWER BOOK. 5. Number the answers correctly according to the numbering system used in this question paper. 6. Where one-word answers are required, write only the correct word. 7. For multiple-choice questions, write only the letter (A–D) next to the question number in the ANSWER BOOK. 8. Answer in your OWN words, unless you are asked to quote. 9. Pay special attention to spelling, punctuation and sentence construction. 10. Use the following time frame as a guideline: SECTION A: 40 minutes SECTION B: 25 minutes SECTION C: 25 minutes SECTION D: 30 minutes 11. Write neatly and legibly. Copyright reserved Please turn over

English First Additional Language/P1 3 Senior Phase Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 SECTION A: COMPREHENSION QUESTION 1 Read the text below and answer the questions that follow. TEXT A THE GIRL WHO TURNS PLASTIC INTO BENCHES 1 Every Saturday morning, while most of her friends are still asleep, fourteen-year-old Amahle Jacobs is already walking along the beach near her home in Gqeberha. With gloves on her hands and a black bag over her shoulder, she picks up bottle caps, chip packets, straws and pieces of fishing line. ‘The sea gives us so much,’ she says. ‘The least we can do is to keep it clean.’ 5 2 Amahle’s journey started two years ago. On a windy afternoon, she and her father found a young seagull on the rocks. Its legs and one wing were tangled in a fishing line, and it could not fly. They cut it free, and it flew away. ‘I could not sleep that night,’ Amahle remembers. ‘I kept thinking about all the animals that nobody finds in time.’ 3 A few weeks later she read about ecobricks on the internet. An ecobrick is a two-litre 10 plastic bottle that is packed tightly with clean, dry plastic until it is as hard as a brick. One bottle can swallow more than a hundred chip packets and sweet wrappers. Instead of blowing into the sea or lying on a landfill1 for hundreds of years, the plastic is locked away safely. 4 At first her classmates at Sea View Secondary School teased her. They called her ‘the 15 bin girl’ because she kept rubbish in her school bag. ‘It hurt,’ she admits, ‘but I knew I was doing the right thing.’ Her Natural Sciences teacher, Mr Peters, encouraged her to start an eco-club. Today the club has thirty-five members, and every member brings one ecobrick to school each month. 5 Last term the club used 100 ecobricks to build two benches for the playground and a 20 reading corner in the school library. The local municipality was so impressed that it has asked the club to build benches for a park nearby. 6 Amahle knows that ecobricks are not the final answer. ‘The best plastic is the plastic that we never buy,’ she says. She carries a cloth bag and her own water bottle wherever she goes, and she has convinced her family to do the same. One day she 25 hopes to become a marine biologist2. ‘If I can save even one turtle,’ she smiles, ‘every chip packet was worth it.’ [Examiner’s own text. The people and the school are fictitious.] GLOSSARY: landfill1: a large area of land where rubbish is buried marine biologist2: a scientist who studies the plants and animals that live in the sea 1.1 Refer to paragraph 1. Where does Amahle spend her Saturday mornings? (1) Copyright reserved Please turn over

English First Additional Language/P1 4 Senior Phase Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 1.2 Choose the correct answer. Write only the letter (A–D) next to the question number (1.2). ‘while most of her friends are still asleep’ (line 1) These words show that Amahle is … A lazy. B lonely. C dedicated. D tired. (1) 1.3 Refer to paragraph 2. Explain in your OWN words what made Amahle decide to help the sea and its animals. (2) 1.4 Refer to paragraph 3. 1.4.1 Explain in your OWN words what an ecobrick is. (2) 1.4.2 Identify the figure of speech in ‘as hard as a brick’ (line 11). (1) 1.4.3 State whether the following statement is TRUE or FALSE. Quote a phrase from paragraph 3 to support your answer. The plastic inside an ecobrick can still blow into the sea. (2) 1.5 Refer to paragraph 4. 1.5.1 Find a word in paragraph 4 that means the same as ‘made fun of’. (1) 1.5.2 Quote ONE word that shows how Amahle felt about being called ‘the bin girl’. (1) 1.5.3 Compare the way Amahle’s classmates reacted to her at first with the support she has from learners today. Refer to the eco-club in your answer. (2) 1.6 Refer to paragraph 5. Name TWO things that the eco-club built with the ecobricks. (2) 1.7 Refer to paragraph 6. ‘The best plastic is the plastic that we never buy.’ (lines 23–24) Explain what Amahle means by these words. (2) Copyright reserved Please turn over

English First Additional Language/P1 5 Senior Phase Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 1.8 Choose the correct answer. Write only the letter (A–D) next to the question number (1.8). This text is mainly about … A a teenager who helps to protect the sea from plastic. B the dangers of fishing on the rocks. C how to become a marine biologist. D a school that builds a new library. (1) 1.9 Do you think that Amahle is a good role model for teenagers? Give a reason for your answer. (2) TOTAL SECTION A: 20 Copyright reserved Please turn over

English First Additional Language/P1 6 Senior Phase Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 SECTION B: VISUAL LITERACY QUESTION 2 Study the advertisement (TEXT B) and the cartoon (TEXT C) and answer the questions that follow. TEXT B: ADVERTISEMENT SipCycle Refill. Reuse. Rethink. SipCycle 750 ml Say goodbye to single-use plastic! FREE cloth bag with every bottle! Why you will love it: • keeps drinks ice-cold for 24 hours • strong stainless steel – it will not crack • fits in every school bag ONLY R89,99 Available at all GreenTide stores countrywide [Examiner’s own advertisement. The product and company are fictitious.] 2.1 Quote the slogan of the product. (1) 2.2 Explain why the name ‘SipCycle’ is suitable for this product. (2) 2.3 Do you think this advertisement will persuade teenagers to buy the bottle? Give ONE reason for your answer. (2) Copyright reserved Please turn over

English First Additional Language/P1 7 Senior Phase Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 TEXT C: CARTOON LWAZI AND THE BOTTLE FRAME 1 SURF It's only ONE bottle. The sea is HUGE! FRAME 2 Another ‘only ONE bottle’. That’s number 500 today! Let's send them all back! FRAME 3 SURF RETURN TO SENDER WHAT?! [Examiner’s own cartoon. The characters are fictitious.] 2.4 Refer to FRAME 1. Give ONE visual clue which shows that FRAME 1 is set at the beach. (1) 2.5 What do Lwazi’s words in FRAME 1 tell you about his attitude towards litter? (1) 2.6 Refer to FRAMES 2 and 3. Do you think the cartoonist’s message about littering is effective? Give a reason for your answer. (2) 2.7 Refer to FRAME 3. Choose the correct answer. Write only the letter (A–D) next to the question number (2.7). In FRAME 3, Lwazi feels … A proud. B shocked. C sleepy. D calm. (1) TOTAL SECTION B: 10 Copyright reserved Please turn over

English First Additional Language/P1 8 Senior Phase Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 SECTION C: SUMMARY QUESTION 3 Your school’s eco-club is making a poster called ‘Less Plastic at Home’. Read the passage (TEXT D) below and list SEVEN ways in which families can use less plastic. INSTRUCTIONS 1. Your summary must be written in point form. 2. List your SEVEN points in full sentences, using NOT MORE THAN 70 words. 3. Number your sentences from 1 to 7. 4. Write only ONE point per sentence. 5. Use your OWN words as far as possible. 6. Indicate the total number of words you have used in brackets at the end of your summary. TEXT D PLASTIC-FREE STARTS AT HOME Most of the plastic that washes up on our beaches started its journey in somebody’s kitchen. The good news is that every family can help to stop this flood of plastic. When you go shopping, take your own cloth bags with you. A plastic shopping bag may be used for only twenty minutes, but it can take hundreds of years to break down. At the shop, choose loose fruit and vegetables instead of those that are packed in plastic trays. Plastic water bottles are one of the biggest problems. Fill a bottle that you can use again with tap water before you leave home. If you buy a cold drink at a café, say ‘No, thank you’ when you are offered a straw. Buy large containers of the things that your family uses often, such as rice or washing powder. One big bag uses far less plastic than ten small packets. In the kitchen, cover leftovers with a plate or keep them in glass jars instead of wrapping them in plastic cling wrap. Empty jam jars and ice-cream tubs can be washed and used again to store food. In the bathroom, use a bar of soap instead of liquid soap that comes in a plastic bottle. Remember: recycling is good, but using less plastic is even better! [Examiner’s own text] TOTAL SECTION C: 10 Copyright reserved Please turn over

English First Additional Language/P1 9 Senior Phase Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 SECTION D: LANGUAGE IN CONTEXT QUESTION 4 Read the text (TEXT E) below and answer the questions that follow. TEXT E LEARNERS PICK UP 2 400 BOTTLES IN ONE MORNING 1 On Saturday, more than 200 learners from five schools in Nelson Mandela Bay took part in the first Clean Coast Challenge. The challenge was organised by the eco-club of Sea View Secondary School. 2 Armed with gloves and refuse bags, the learners worked carefully along a 3 km stretch of beach. They collected 2 400 plastic bottles, as well as hundreds of straws and bottle caps. 3 ‘We’re tired of seeing our beaches covered in rubbish,’ said Amahle Jacobs, the leader of the eco-club. ‘Today we are showing our city that young people care.’ 4 The team from Riverside High collected the most rubbish and won a huge trophy made from ecobricks. Their captain, Lindo Mthembu, said, ‘We are proud of our trophy, but this victory belongs to the sea.’ 5 Some residents said that one clean-up is just a drop in the ocean. The learners disagree. They plan to hold the challenge again in Febuary next year. 6 Sadly, the learners also found two seabirds that had passed away after swallowing plastic. [Examiner’s own text. The people and the schools are fictitious.] 4.1 Identify the part of speech of each of the following underlined words in TEXT E. Write only the answer next to the question numbers (4.1.1 and 4.1.2). 4.1.1 carefully (paragraph 2) (1) 4.1.2 huge (paragraph 4) (1) 4.2 Write down an ABSTRACT noun from paragraph 4. (1) 4.3 Correct the spelling error in paragraph 5. Write only the correct word. (1) 4.4 Choose the correct word from those in brackets. Write only the word. Each of the learners (was/were) given a pair of gloves. (1) 4.5 Rewrite the following sentence in REPORTED (INDIRECT) SPEECH. Start with: Lindo said that … Lindo said, ‘We are proud of our trophy.’ (3) 4.6 Rewrite the following sentence in the FUTURE TENSE. They collected 2 400 plastic bottles. (1) 4.7 Rewrite the following sentence in the PASSIVE VOICE. Start with: The trophy … The Riverside High team won the trophy. (1) 4.8 Rewrite the following sentence in the NEGATIVE form. The challenge was a success. (1) Copyright reserved Please turn over

English First Additional Language/P1 10 Senior Phase Mock Hlayiso/Mock 2026 4.9 Rewrite the following sentence in the PLURAL form. The child picked up a plastic bag. (2) 4.10 Join the following sentences by using the conjunction in brackets. The learners were tired. They kept on working. (but) (1) 4.11 Add a QUESTION TAG to the following sentence. Rewrite the whole sentence. Plastic is dangerous to sea animals. (1) 4.12 What is the function of the apostrophe in ‘We’re’ (paragraph 3)? (1) 4.13 Add a PREFIX to the word in brackets to give it the opposite meaning. Write only the new word. People who throw litter on the beach are (responsible). (1) 4.14 ‘two seabirds that had passed away’ (paragraph 6) What does the euphemism ‘passed away’ mean? (1) 4.15 Explain the meaning of the expression ‘a drop in the ocean’ (paragraph 5). (1) 4.16 Write down the correct degree of comparison of the adjective in brackets. This year the beach was (dirty) than last year. (1) TOTAL SECTION D: 20 GRAND TOTAL: 60 Copyright reserved