JUNE ASSESSMENT FIYIN

: Comprehension Passage

Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Mr. Tobias Gray, a retired historian, had spent over two decades working on a single manuscript. It detailed the forgotten lives of soldiers who had fought in obscure colonial conflicts. On the eve of submitting his life's work to a prestigious academic press, the manuscript vanished.

The small study in his countryside cottage showed no signs of forced entry. Nothing else had been taken: not his laptop, not his antique watch, not even the unopened envelope containing his pension cheque. Just the manuscript. Gone.

Detective Elise Marden, known for her sharp eye and dry humour, arrived with her usual notepad in hand. “Odd robbery,” she muttered. “Thieves who know the value of footnotes?”

She questioned Mr. Gray, who was understandably shaken. “Twenty years,” he kept repeating. “Twenty years of research and writing, erased.”

Elise examined the room again. A single sheet of paper lay crumpled near the fireplace — part of the missing manuscript. But how had it ended up there?

The detective leaned closer. There were faint fingerprints, smudged ink, and a hasty underline under a peculiar sentence: “Truth, when hidden too long, begins to rot.”

What was Mr. Gray’s manuscript about?

• His childhood memories

• Lives of colonial soldiers

• Political speeches

• Scientific discoveries

Which item was missing from the study?

• The laptop

• His pension cheque

• His antique watch

• The manuscript

What does the phrase 'Odd robbery,' suggest about Detective Elise’s tone?

• She finds it amusing

• She is suspicious

• She is confused

• She is angry

Why might the author have included the line: 'Thieves who know the value of footnotes?'

• To add humour

• To confuse the reader

• To show Elise dislikes books

• To describe the thief

Which punctuation mark is used in this sentence to show a pause or change in thought? 'Twenty years,' he kept repeating.

• Colon

• Dash

• Comma

• Semicolon

What does the colon introduce in this sentence? 'Nothing else had been taken: not his laptop...'

• A question

• A list

• A warning

• A quotation

What punctuation mark is used for effect in this sentence? 'Truth, when hidden too long, begins to rot.'

• Commas

• Apostrophes

• Brackets

• Quotation marks

Which punctuation is missing in this sentence: Mr. Gray said “I can’t believe it’s gone.”

• Colon

• Comma after 'said'

• Full stop

• Apostrophe

Why are quotation marks used around the line 'Truth, when hidden too long, begins to rot'?

• It’s a famous saying

• It’s an imagined thought

• It’s a quote from the manuscript

• It’s the title of the book

What does the dash in this sentence help to show? '...near the fireplace — part of the missing manuscript.'

• A new speaker

• A contradiction

• An interruption

• An explanation