GENERAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING
ENGLISH FAL AND HL
BASELINE ASSESSMENT:
2025
GRADE 4
NUMBER OF PAGES: 5
MARKS: 50
DURATION: 1:30 MINUTES
1
NAME: __________________________
SCHOOL: ______________________
GRADE: ____________________
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Read all the instructions carefully
2. Answer all the questions
3. Write neatly and legibly
4. Answer all questions on this question paper
QUESTION 1: READING TEXT
Read the text and answer the questions below.
Buhle and the Snail
Buhle was sitting in class trying to concentrate, but he kept getting distracted and
looking all around the classroom. Suddenly, Buhle spotted a big, slimy insect with a
hard shell underneath his desk. He got such a fright that he screamed! ‘There is a
big insect! Get it away from me!’ he yelled.
The whole class jumped onto their chairs and screamed. Mrs Essop looked at the
snail and said gently, ‘Class, It’s just a snail! It can’t hurt you.’
Mrs Essop could see that some of her students were still scared. ‘In some countries,
people believe that snails bring good luck and health. That means, if there are snails
around, you won’t get sick,’ she said.
Once they heard this, Buhle and the rest of the class did not feel scared of the snail.
In fact, they all wanted to be close to the snail!
1 What is the setting of the story? 1
_____________________________________________________________
2 How many characters are in this story? 1
___________________________________________________________________________
3 What was spotted by Buhle underneath his desk? 1
____________________________________________________________
4 Who is Mrs Essop? 1
_______________________________________________________________________________
5 Say if the following statement is True or False. 1
In some countries, people believe that snails bring good luck and health.
_________________________________________________________________________
6 Circle the letter of the correct answer. Scared means…… 1
A. Happy
B. Sad
C Afraid
D. Big
7 What was Buhle’s reaction after spotting the slimy insect? 1
_______________________________________________________________________________
2
8 Why did the whole class screamed? 1
______________________________________________________________________________
9 How did the whole class react? 1
______________________________________________________________________________
10 What is the belief of some countries about snails? 1
_______________________________________________________________________________
11 Why do you think Buhle and the rest of the class wanted to be near the snail? 1
_______________________________________________________________________________
12 Are you afraid of snails? Why? 2
_______________________________________________________________________________
13 Do you believe that snails bring good luck and good health? Why? 2
_________________________________________
QUESTION 2: VISUAL TEXT
Read the visual text and answer the questions below.
Q I N V I TAT I O N
New Town Primary School Environmental Club
Dear Grade 4s
If you would like to learn more about animals and insects,
join the environmental club!
What’s happening these holidays?
A special insect-spotting trip is planned for the
April school holidays.
Come and discover the bees and the butterflies,
the ants, the ladybirds and the grasshoppers in the
Green Valley Gardens.
Time: 09:00–16:00
Date: Wednesday, 6 April
Place of departure: The Grade 4 D classroom
You must bring: Your own lunch and drink
Pen, notebook, sun hat and a
camera if you have one.
DON’T BUG THE BUGS
1 What trip were the Grade 4 children invited to go on? 1
_________________________________________________________________________________
2 On what day and at what time will the trip start? 2
________________________________________________________________________________
3 What must the children bring with them? 2
________________________________________________________________________________
4 What is the purpose of the trip? 1
________________________________________________________________________________
5 What does “Don’t bug the bugs” mean? 2
________________________________________________________________________________
3
6 Would you like to go on such a school trip? Why? 2
_______________________________________________________________________________
TOTAL:10 MARKS
QUESTION 3: LANGUAGE STRUCTURES AND CONVENTIONS
1 Punctuate the following sentence. 3
mrs essop looked at the snail and said gently
____________________________________________________________________
2 Rewrite the following sentence into Simple present tense. 1
Buhle was scared.
_____________________________________________________________________
3 Rewrite the following sentence into Future tense. 1
The whole class jump and scream.
_____________________________________________________________________
4 Rewrite the following sentence into Present progressive tense. 1
Buhle feels scared.
____________________________________________________________________
5 Choose the correct form of the verb in brackets. 1
Buhle (was, were) sitting in class trying to concentrate.
____________________________________________________________________
6 Write the correct pronoun of the underlined word. 1
Mrs Essop saw that her students were scared.
_____________________________________________________________________
7 Underline an adjective in the sentence below. 2
Buhle spotted a slimy insect ender the old desk.
_____________________________________________________________________
8 Write the antonym of the underlined word in the sentence below: 1
Buhle was very happy to see the snail.
____________________________________________________________________
9 Underline a countable noun in the sentence below. 1
Buhle is sitting on the desk.
___________________________________________________________________
10 Write the synonym of the underlined word. 1
Buhle spotted a big, slimy insect.
___________________________________________________________________
11 Choose the correct conjunction in brackets to join the sentences below. 1
Buhle was sitting in the class. He spotted a slimy insect under his desk.(and, because,
but)
____________________________________________________________________
12 Underline a proper noun in the following sentence. 1
Buhle is sitting on the desk.
________________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 15 MARKS
GRAND TOTAL: 40 MARKS
