S.4 English P2 Caltec S.4

Name …………………………………………………………………………………………………………Index No…… Signature ……………………………………. 112/2 ENGLISH Paper 2 2 hours UCE MOCK EXAMINATIONS 2015 ENGLISH LANGUAGE PAPER 2 TIME: 2 HOURS Instructions: Answer all the questions. All answers should be filled in the spaces provided in this paper. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: As the number of large-scale oil spills from tankers has increased over the last fifteen years, the techniques for cleaning up have improved. A major problem is that tankers carry a great variety of oils. Even the basic crude oil carried varies from one source to another. Therefore chemicals, or other techniques that work with one form of oil, may not be suitable for others. An additional problem is the sea conditions around the spillage. They may be rough or calm, warm or cold, salty or nearly fresh, shallow or deep. Therefore the techniques used will have different effects in each case. The earliest methods were to use straw to soak up oil, and detergents to disperse it at sea. The detergents caused all kinds of problems for marine life, and in some cases did as much damage as the oil. Later, booms were used to contain oil spills in calm waters. A string of floating booms can be placed around oil spills, or ships leaking oil, but if the water is not calm then the boom is not likely to be effective. Sometimes chemicals are used in a similar way to contain the oil in one place. Pumps are then used to remove the mass of oil to a tank. There are mechanical devices called skimmers, which pick up oil from the top of the sea, but again they are useless in rough water. Some skimmers use blocks of absorbent material, which can pick up oil and then separate it …