I woke next morning to wails of, 'Nooo, my iPhone!' and 'Eww, a slug!' I smiled. She was a city girl
plucked out of her comfort zone and thrust into the alternative universe of long-distance touring.
Conquering this trip might boost Vivian's ailing confidence, perhaps help her too to discover her
direction in life.
Later that morning, as I stopped to get my map out, Vivian shot off past me.
It was hours before I caught up with her again - or rather she 'caught up' with me. A pick-up truck
overtook me and rolled to a stop. From the passenger seat, jumped a small bright bundle of energy.
As Vivian hauled her bike out of the truck, I greeted her, asking the obvious question.
'I got lost,' she explained.
Apparently, a fresh list of things had gone wrong since I'd last seen her. She'd nearly quit, but
instead found a café with WiFi (how?), arranged hosts for us in the next town through
www.warmshowers-for-cyclists and hitched a lift in the café owner's pick-up.
We cycled on into the National Park. Vivian remembered this was bear country-disappointingly no
bears showed themselves. And by evening we rendezvoused with our wonderful hosts who
apparently often hosted cross-Canada cyclists. We cooked dinner to thank them.
For weeks Vivian and I rode on together, following the unrelenting, unbending highway. The now
empty green scenery had become mind-numbingly boring, but we were getting along surprisingly
well, playing my guess-the-animal game for entertainment. Finally, we began to spot trees. At first
they were sporadic, but before long grouped together, calling themselves forests. We'd made it
across the prairies. It felt like a significant achievement. The heavily forested area we were headed
into was dotted with tempting lakes, ponds and rivers - ideal habitat for the shy creatures missing
from my 'collection': beavers. I said I'd like to cycle separately for the rest of the day.
d. Re-read paragraphs 18 and 24. (15 marks)
Paragraph 18 begins 'I woke next morning... and is Chris' description of Vivian's attitude.
Paragraph 24 begins 'For weeks... and is about the changing landscape.
●
●
Explain how the writer uses language to convey meaning and to create effect in these
paragraphs. Choose three examples of words or phrases from each paragraph to support
your answer. Your choices should include the use of imagery.
Write about 200 to 300 words for this question. You will not necessarily lose marks if you
write more than this but try to keep within this range as you will be limited by time in the
exam.
