CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 9: UNIT 8 EXTRACT SHEETS

Unit 8 extract sheets

I Want to Fly by Thembelihle Moyo
Extract 1
The story has two settings in juxtaposition, one represents the rich
and the other the poor.
The poor area is depicted by a reed mat and a rolled up torn
blanket. Traditional African huts are painted on canvas cloth,
emphasizing the period where poor rural folks were still building
their homes using mud.
The second area depicts a wealthier lifestyle – the painting on
the canvas shows two quality chairs and a round table. Modern
houses also add a touch of the rich lifestyle of these people in
the canvas painting.
The curtains open and yinka is on the stage, miming flying like a
bird, using her arms.
yinka (recites the poem in a rich strong voice)
I want to fly like an eagle, fly high and far
Using my flamboyant wings and I will let flamboyant:
The winds blow me away. As far away from confident and
Home as possible. I want to fly and visit those stylish
Places I always dream of, I want to fly.
yinkalooks in the direction of the wealthy setting as she picks
up a handmade aeroplane from the ground where a magazine
about aeroplanes is lying. She picks the magazine up, looks at it,
and she pauses.
mankwinji, yinka’s
mother, appears from the right wing limping
slowly towards her daughter.

mankwinji My daughter how far can you go?

The hunters have already laid a trap for you
You won’t be able to fly high; your wings will
be broken,
You are already destined to remain in this
village and you shall plough
Back your fruits to this village not to any other.

(continued)

1 Cambridge Lower Secondary English 9 © Cambridge University Press 2021

 CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 9: UNIT 8 EXTRACT SHEETS

Extract 1 from I Want to Fly continued

She pauses and looks in her daughter’s direction as yinka
playfully flies her plane and mankwinji swings into action. Shaking
her head and moving towards her daughter.

mankwinji How many times must I to tell you to stop

dreaming, haa? You always want to irritate your
father Nqwayi with small issues, throw away
that gadget, will you? gadget: a small
device or tool,
yinkapicks up her magazine and holds it tight in her arms, with
often electronic
her aeroplane.
yinka No Mama I won’t, this is my dream and it means
so much to me.

mankwinji moves closer to her slowly but intentionally, eyeing

yinka’s magazine.

mankwinji Have you started preparing the evening meal,

Yinka?

yinkafrowns and shakes her head. mankwinji grabs the miniature

aeroplane and throws it to the far end of the stage. yinka rushes
to pick it up on the verge of screaming.

yinka I made it Mama, it’s my passion.

mankwinjibreathes out loudly and paces up and down the room
in confusion.

2 Cambridge Lower Secondary English 9 © Cambridge University Press 2021

 CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 9: UNIT 8 EXTRACT SHEETS

I Want to Fly by Thembelihle Moyo

Extract 2
Store room set up with desk and two chairs.
mrs manzi, yinka’s
chemistry teacher, in her early thirties, is seated
in her store room, marking, when yinka knocks on the door. She
looks up and smiles at her.

mrs manzi Oh Yinka, you can come through, how was the
maths paper my dear?
yinka It was fine Ma’am; rumour has it that you are Ma’am: a polite
going away, in fact transferring to town. term of address
mrs manzi You are writing your finals and I hope you will to an older
pass, you are one of my top students and it was female
great to have you in my class. bursary: a grant
given to a student
yinka shyly smiles at her teacher.

mrs manzi If you do well in your maths and science subjects

you might stand a chance to get a STEM bursary.
yinka What is STEM Ma’am?
yinka is a little bit confused.

mrs manzi Science, Technology, Engineering and

Mathematics. It is a new bursary which the
government has introduced. You might stand
a chance, considering your background and
intelligence.
mrs manzi says this with a smile on her face.

yinka Who is going to help me with the application?

mrs manzi scribbles something on the paper and hands it to yinka.

(continued)

3 Cambridge Lower Secondary English 9 © Cambridge University Press 2021

 CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 9: UNIT 8 EXTRACT SHEETS

Extract 2 from I Want to Fly continued

yinka What is this supposed to mean Ma’am?
mrs manzi This is my home contact address; you could pay
me a visit when you have collected your results.
I have a feeling that you will be going to the air
force college. I am sure you like flying, isn’t it?
yinka Yes Ma’am, you guessed right. I have to go now,
I am writing my chemistry paper this afternoon.
mrs manzi You have my support all the way. Excuse me, I too invigilating:
have to go, I am invigilating the first formers. supervising
learners during
She remarks as she follows yinka off stage. an exam

4 Cambridge Lower Secondary English 9 © Cambridge University Press 2021

 CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 9: UNIT 8 EXTRACT SHEETS

‘Just Crash Through It…’ article by Rosaleen

Moriarty-Simmonds

Just Crash Through It . . .

A
t 45, I am a happy wife, an adoring mum, I had wanted to grow up, get married, have a
a successful business-woman, an artist – family and live happily ever after. Some members
constantly busy and totally content. of the medical profession and even family members
expressed the view that I probably wouldn’t be able
I also have little legs which end above the knee
to have children, and some even said I shouldn’t.
but with feet, and from each shoulder I have two
fingers. While trying to come to terms with the prospect of
When I was born I was taken away abruptly being childless, the miracle happened. Just before
from my mother, who was only 18, but when they Christmas we discovered I was pregnant. We were
eventually handed me to her an unbreakable bond both ecstatic and petrified.
was formed. He arrived on 10 August. I was pretty much out
Whatever barriers we came across it was as a of it when they first put him by me, but I recall this
family. Wherever the family went, I went. beautiful little face with big blue eyes looking at me
and I said ‘Hello James, my beautiful little boy’, and
Between the ages of four and 14, I went to a then I blanked out.
school for disabled children. From there I went on
to college and gained a business qualification. From about 15-months-old he went to nursery, so his
little friends got used to me very quickly. By the time
I had first laid eyes on the man who would become he started school he was very confident and made
my husband when we were three years old. We lots of friends.
continued to bump into each other and kept in touch
as friends. Inevitably some kids would stare and ask James
questions but I had made an arrangement that if
By our mid-twenties we had both graduated and
the school felt these questions were getting too
settled into jobs. Stephen (who is also Thalidomide
complicated for him to answer, they would allow
impaired) phoned me to invite me to a restaurant.
me in to talk to the children. I did this and had a
We got engaged in 1987 and married a year
wonderful afternoon with 66 five-year-olds.
later.

Thalidomide: a sleeping tablet given to ecstatic: extremely happy

pregnant women during the 1950s-60s petrified: extremely scared
that caused babies to be born disabled

5 Cambridge Lower Secondary English 9 © Cambridge University Press 2021

 CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 9: UNIT 8 EXTRACT SHEETS

‘Gender equality is your issue too’ speech

by Emma Watson

Gender equality is your issue too

Today we are launching a campaign called ‘HeForShe’.
I am reaching out to you because I need your help. We want to end
gender inequality – and to do that we need everyone to be involved: gender
we want to try and galvanise as many men and boys as possible to be inequality: a lack
advocates for gender equality. of fairness or
I think it is right that as a woman I am paid the same as my male balance between
counterparts. I think it is right that I am afforded the same respect men and women
as men. But sadly I can say that there is no one country in the world galvanise: to
where all women can expect to receive these rights. provoke into
action
Men – I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal
invitation. Gender equality is your issue too. advocates:
supporters
Because to date, I’ve seen my father’s role as a parent being valued counterparts:
less by society. equals
I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness unable to ask for
help for fear it would make them look less ‘macho’. Men don’t have
the benefits of equality either.
We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender
stereotypes but I can see that they are and that when they are free,
things will change for women as a natural consequence.
Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men
and women should feel free to be strong.
If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining
ourselves by what we are – we can all be freer and this is what
HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom.
I want men to take up this mantle. So their daughters, sisters and mantle: important
mothers can be free from prejudice but also so that their sons have role
permission to be vulnerable and human too.
Because the reality is that if we do nothing it will take 75 years, or
for me to be nearly a hundred before women can expect to be paid
the same as men for the same work. And at current rates it won’t
be until 2086 before all rural African girls will be able to receive a
secondary education.
If you believe in equality, I applaud you.
I am inviting you to step forward, to be seen to speak up, to be the
‘he’ for ‘she’. And to ask yourself if not me, who? If not now, when?
Thank you.

6 Cambridge Lower Secondary English 9 © Cambridge University Press 2021

 CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 9: UNIT 8 EXTRACT SHEETS

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Extract 1
I powered up the transporter and said a silent prayer. I had no
idea what I was going to do if it didn’t work. My transporter was
cheap, so even a droplet of moisture, or more likely, a grain of
sand, would cause it to short. It was faulty and most of the time short: stop
I had to restart it over and over before if worked. Please not working;
now, please not now, I thought. malfunction

The transporter shivered in the sand and I held my breath.

Tiny, flat, and black as a prayer stone, it buzzed softly and
then slowly rose from the sand. Finally, it produced the
baggage-lifting force. I grinned. Now I could make it to the
shuttle. ‘Thank you,’ I whispered. It was a half-mile walk
along the dark desert road. With the transporter working,
I would make it there on time.
Straightening up, I paused and shut my eyes. Now the weight
of my entire life was pressing on my shoulders. I was defying
the most traditional part of myself for the first time in my entire
life. I was leaving in the dead of night and they had no clue.
My nine siblings, all older than me except for my younger sister
and brother, would never see this coming. My parents would
never imagine I’d do such a thing in a million years. By the time
they all realised what I’d done and where I was going, I’d have
left the planet. In my absence, my parents would growl to each
other that I was to never set foot in their home again. My four
aunties and two uncles who lived down the road would shout
and gossip among themselves about how I’d scandalised our scandalised our
entire bloodline. I was going to be a pariah. entire bloodline:
brought shame
‘Go,’ I softly whispered to the transporter, stamping my foot. on the whole
The thin metal rings I wore around each ankle jingled noisily, family
but I stamped my foot again. Once on, the transporter worked pariah: an outcast
best when I didn’t touch it. ‘Go,’ I said again, sweat forming atop: on top of
on my brow. When nothing moved, I chanced giving the two
large suitcases sitting atop the force field a shove. They moved
smoothly and I breathed another sigh of relief. At least some
luck was on my side.

7 Cambridge Lower Secondary English 9 © Cambridge University Press 2021

 CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 9: UNIT 8 EXTRACT SHEETS

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Extract 2
The security guard scowled when I stepped forward. Behind scowled: frowned
him I could see three entrances, the one in the middle led into in a bad-
the ship called Third Fish, the ship I was to take to Oomza Uni. tempered way
Its open door was large and round leading into a long corridor edan: a made-up
illuminated by soft blue lights. word – a metal
cube
‘Step forward,’ the guard said. I stepped forward and everything
went red and warm.
When the body scan beeped its completion, the security guard
reached right into my left pocket and brought out my edan. He
held it to his face with a deep scowl.
I waited. What would he know?
He was inspecting its cube shape, pressing its many points with
his finger and eyeing the strange symbols on it that I had spent
two years unsuccessfully trying to decode. He held it to his face
to better see the loops and swirls of blue and black and white.
‘What is this made of?’ the guard asked, holding it over a
scanner. ‘It’s not reading as any known metal.’
I shrugged, too aware of the people behind me waiting in line
and staring at me.
‘Your identity reads that you’re a harmonizer, a masterful one
who builds some of the finest astrolabes,’ he said. ‘But this astrolabe: a
object isn’t an astrolabe. Did you build it? And how can you navigation device
build something and not know what it’s made of?’ used on ships

‘I didn’t build it,’ I said.

‘Who did?’
‘It’s . . . it’s just an old, old thing that I carry for good luck.’ This
was partially a lie. But even I didn’t know exactly what it could
and couldn’t do.
The man looked as if he would ask more, but didn’t. Inside,
I smiled. He had no idea, but he didn’t want to show that I,
a poor Himba girl, was more educated than he. So he quickly
moved me along and, finally, there I stood at my ship’s entrance.

(continued)

8 Cambridge Lower Secondary English 9 © Cambridge University Press 2021

 CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 9: UNIT 8 EXTRACT SHEETS

Extract 2 from Binti continued

The ship was a magnificent piece of living technology, a type
of ship enhanced to grow three breathing chambers within
their bodies.
Scientists planted rapidly growing plants within these three
enormous rooms that produced oxygen from the CO2 directed
in from other parts of the ship. Once settled on the ship, I was
determined to convince someone to let me see one of these
amazing rooms. But at the moment, I wasn’t thinking about the threshold: a point
technology of the ship. I was on the threshold now, between between two
home and my future. rooms

9 Cambridge Lower Secondary English 9 © Cambridge University Press 2021