Past Paper Booklet - year 4
Progression test
Paper 2 Fiction 2023
Text for Section A, an extract from Space Detectives by Mark Powers
Part 1
It was another perfect day on Starville. A gigantic space station, Starville sailed
silently overhead in orbit around the Earth and was home to over a million
humans and aliens. It was a single, vast city brimming with skyscrapers, lush 5
green parks and even a sparkling artificial sea, all enclosed by a huge and
incredibly strong glass dome. Seen through a telescope from the world below, it
looked like a gleaming snow globe gliding majestically through the night sky.
At the edge of a wide, tree-lined square near the centre of Starville’s fanciest 10
shopping district, two ten-year-old human boys stood behind an ice cream stall.
One was tall and looked a bit like an ostrich wearing glasses. His name was
Connor. The other was short and constantly bristling with energy like a terrier.
This was Ethan. The square was full of humans and aliens enjoying the
15
sunshine. Business at the ice cream stall was brisk.
‘Wow,’ said Ethan as he watched their latest customers, a family of tall, two-
legged, blue-skinned, cow-like creatures, walk away licking their lips. ‘Those
Neptunian Cow People really love our Extra Minty Grapefruit and Smoky
Bacon flavour! That’s the fifth lot we’ve sold them today.’ 20
Connor adjusted his glasses, a sure sign there was something on his mind.
‘Actually, Ethan, the Cow People are from Pluto, not Neptune. You should try
to remember that. We wouldn’t want to offend any of our customers.’
Ethan had to laugh. ‘Give me a chance, mate! We’ve only been on Starville a 25
week. I haven’t learned all the alien races who live here yet.’
‘Well, you could have memorised them all on the rocket trip up here, like I did,’
said Connor. ‘What were you doing?’
Ethan shrugged. ‘Looking out of the window.’
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Past Paper Booklet - year 4
Part 2
‘Anyway, I’d recommend getting to know all the different alien races now
we’re here,’ said Connor. ‘It might be handy for a case.’
‘A case!’ said Ethan, staring off into the distance. ‘That’s what we need!’ 30
These boys were more than just ice cream sellers. They were detectives! Back
home on Earth, Connor and Ethan had solved many mysteries together in their
spare time, such as finding their head teacher’s missing antique letter opener.
As a result, the two boys had got rather good at finding the solutions to people’s 35
problems. So when Ethan’s Uncle Nick had invited them to spend the long
summer holidays working on his ice cream stall in Starville, the pair had
accepted instantly. This was their chance to be Space Detectives!
‘One scoop of Triple Choc in a sugar-frosted waffle cone, please,’ said a bright 40
voice.
Roused from their daydream, the boys found they had a new customer. She was
a human girl of about their age with two short pigtails, a T-shirt with an
animated image of a cat on it, and a very expensive-looking striped bag slung 45
over one shoulder.
‘Sure thing,’ said Ethan, and pressed the button on the ice cream machine
labelled Triple Choc.
Fffffffzzzzssssssplatttttt!
A jet of liquid ice cream sprayed from its nozzle straight into Ethan’s face.
‘Connor? Something’s up with this thing! Uncle Nick will go barmy if we’ve
broken his ice cream machine.’
Glossary
terrier: a breed of small dog
case: a crime that detectives try to solve
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Past Paper Booklet - year 4
Reading
Read the Text, and answer questions 1–8.
1. Look at Part 1, lines 3–8.
(a) What is Starville?
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
(b) The writer wants us to know that Starville is a crowded place. Give one quotation
from the text that tells us this.
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
(c) What covers Starville?
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
(d) Give one example of a simile.
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
(e) The writer says that Starville ‘sailed silently’. Give another two-word phrase
from the text that tells us how Starville moves.
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
2. Look at lines 9–14.
(a) Give one adverb from the text.
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
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Past Paper Booklet - year 4
(b) The boys are selling a lot of ice cream. Why is business so good today?
Give one reason. Explain your answer giving evidence from the text.
Reason: ______________________________________________________________
Evidence: ____________________________________________________________
[2]
3. Look at lines 15–18.
(a) Which of the following types of punctuation is not used? Tick () one box.
● comma
● speech marks
● question mark
● exclamation mark [1]
(b) Why are the first letters of ‘Cow People’ written in capital letters?
_________________________________________________________________ [1]
4. Look at lines 19–21.
(a) Connor always touches his glasses when he is thinking deeply. Give one phrase
that tells us this.
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
(b) Connor says, ‘Well, you could have memorised them all on the rocket trip up
here, like I did.’ What does this tell us about Connor’s character?
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
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Past Paper Booklet - year 4
5. Look at Part 2, lines 28–37.
(a) Underline the adverbial phrase in the following sentence:
‘A case!’ said Ethan, staring off into the distance. [1]
(b) How have Connor and Ethan proved themselves to be good detectives?
_________________________________________________________________ [1]
(c) ‘Such as’ is an example of a connective phrase. Give one other connective phrase
from the text.
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
(d) Give one word that means straightaway.
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
6. Look at lines 38–39. Why has the writer written this sentence on a new line?
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
7. (a) Look at lines 30–37. Connor and Ethan were daydreaming. What do you think
they were daydreaming about? Explain your answer. Give evidence from the text.
Explanation: __________________________________________________________
Evidence: ____________________________________________________________
[2]
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Past Paper Booklet - year 4
(b) How do we know the new customer was not one of the Cow People?
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
(c) Look at line 46. The writer uses a one-word sentence to create effect. What is the
effect?
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
(d) Which phrase tells us that a lot of ice cream comes out of the machine very
suddenly?
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
(e) Give a two-word phrase that means become angry.
__________________________________________________________________ [1]
8. Thinking about the whole text again, would you like to have a friend like Ethan?
Tick one box.
● Yes
● No
Why / why not? Give one reason, and give evidence from the text to support your
answer.
Reason: ______________________________________________________________
Evidence: ____________________________________________________________
[2]
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