English Language 2026 Paper 2

ESSAY [50 marks]

Answer one question only from this section.
All questions carry equal marks. Your answer should not be less than 450 words.

You are advised to spend about 50 minutes on this section.

COMPREHENSION [20 marks]

You are advised to spend about 30 minutes on this section.

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.

Chief Kwesi Kwao has just bought a new car, the eighth in his fleet. None is particularly small; in fact, just a few can be classified as medium-sized. All were purchased brand new. He never goes for a used product, and as he neither gives away nor sells any of his cars, his fleet continues to swell.

The Chief's lifestyle never ceases to amaze me. He has no particular profession or any commercial or industrial concern. What gets him going is his close connection with those in power and his ability to turn any encounter with them to his advantage. He cannot contest an election as his education is poor. But he would weigh up the available candidates and make his choice. He would then fraternise with that one so much that the latter soon believes that it is only by submitting himself entirely to Kwao that he can swim across the glorious port. He then suggests several strategies for success in the contest, each involving substantial funds. Sometimes, he serves two opposing contestants at the same time and he benefits from their largesse. When eventually the milk runs dry, or the cow finally dies, the parasite flies away to seek another host. Meanwhile, he has made his millions and he continues to live large.

He is equally at home with large establishments, especially new ones looking for ways to take root. Fluent and good in using right body language, he easily convinces his prey. An hour with you is all he needs to make you believe he is the only pillar to lean on. In the end, he drains some good money from you, for which he renders a semblance of the required services.

Lucky as he is in making easy money, he neither shares his returns with others nor assists his community or extended family members. The road through his community is the worst in the area. Its repair and maintenance are projects he can easily sponsor single-handedly; but he will not. In fact, he is afraid that contributing to any community project may make him poor.

I continue to ask why anyone needs so many cars. You cannot ride in more than one car at the same time, nor can you turn a car into a home. And, as most of the roads are in bad shape, cruising around is not that pleasurable. So, why the craze for many cars? To me, such a life is unprofitable.

It is not a surprise that no one in Chief Kwao's community speaks well of him.

SUMMARY [30 marks]

You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this section.

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.

Every society has values that guide how people behave. These values enable people to determine what is acceptable or otherwise in the specific actions they engage in. Societies that have values and live by them are often peaceful and people have a sense of belonging. This is not so in societies that are chaotic, where people do not cherish their values. Like the larger society, schools build certain values in their students and these values are meant to develop character traits that will be more useful to them in the future.

Values permeate all activities schools engage in. By the time students enter secondary school, many of them are in their formative years – too young to have any proper sense of direction. It is the values which they encounter in school that guide their future behaviour.

Students' routine activities for two to five years are guided by the bell rung at specific moments in the school. For instance, waking up, bathing, morning assembly, breakfast and classes are activities geared towards building values in the lives of students. The assumption is that these activities will encourage students to value the importance of time in their lives.

"Habits, they say, die hard", students who have been trained to sweep their dormitories, lay their beds every morning, clean the louvres and sweep the classroom daily will most probably consider these activities important in adult life. They become part of their lives' habits.

There is a saying that "time and tide wait for no man". Schools can train their students to value the use of time. For instance, in school, students are regulated in their use of time as they attend classes, go to the dining hall and go to bed. These activities may appear routine but they build character in the way time is used. Thus, as they obey the bell in doing specific activities and at particular times, students are learning to respect time in their future lives.

Schools can train students to value environmental and personal cleanliness. In many schools, students weed plots on a weekly basis. Their clothes are inspected for proper washing and ironing, and there is a periodic inspection of dormitories and the surrounding compound. All these activities can influence the attitude of students in the areas of personal hygiene and sanitation in their adult years.

Schools appoint students to specific positions of authority; for instance, prefects in charge of the dormitories, entertainment and sports. These appointments help build leadership qualities and a sense of responsibility. They serve as preparations for their future leadership roles in society.

Sometimes, rules of behaviour in schools may appear too harsh. But they are meant to build a sense of discipline. For instance, schools may enforce these rules so that students will grow up to respect authority. In school, when students break a rule, they are punished. When they prove disrespectful to the head teachers or prefects, they are also punished. As they come out of school in later years, obeying rules and respecting those in authority would have become habits.

These activities and all others might have seemed forced on students but they would have turned them into responsible adults in society.