Practise for the national exam the way it really feels. This paper follows the structure, question types, marks and timing of the NESA Senior 3 (O-Level) English exam.
These questions simulate the national exam. They are original Ganzaa questions written in the same format as the NESA papers — not the official NESA papers, and not endorsed by NESA. The official papers stay free on our past papers page.
10 versions of every question, so each attempt is a fresh paper with the same structure.
180 minutes, 100 marks, the same sections and question types as the national exam.
Your score, the correct answer to every question and a clear explanation of why.
Section A: Comprehension and Vocabulary
Part I: Reading comprehension (14 marks). Part II: Vocabulary (16 marks). Answer all questions.
Section B: Language structure
Answer all questions.
Section C: Summary writing
Answer the question.
Section D: Composition writing
Answer the question.
A taste of the paper. Every exam you sit has different questions in this style.
Sample 1 · Vocabulary: landforms and water bodies
Choose the appropriate term which refers to the given explanation and completes the sentence.
A low area of land between hills or mountains, often with a river flowing through it, is a ……
Answer: D. valley
A valley is the low land between hills; a plateau is high flat land, a peak is the top of a mountain.
Sample 2 · Verb tenses: past simple and past continuous
Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form, past continuous or past simple.
a) Rwanda (1) …………… (become) independent on 1st July 1962. People (2) …………… (dance) in the streets when the new flag was raised.
b) The Genocide against the Tutsi (3) …………… (end) in July 1994 when the RPF (4) …………… (take) control of the country.
c) While the country (5) …………… (recover) from the Genocide, Rwandans (6) …………… (vote) for a new constitution in 2003.
d) The students (7) …………… (listen) carefully when the guide at the memorial (8) …………… (point) to an old photograph.
e) As we (9) …………… (walk) out of the museum, a journalist (10) …………… (stop) us and asked us some questions.
Rwanda [……… (become)] independent on 1st July 1962. People ……… (dance) in the streets when the new flag was raised.
Write the correct form of become for blank (1).
Answer: became
Answer: became. Past continuous (was/were + -ing) for the longer action in progress; past simple for the completed or interrupting action.
Complete: Rwanda became independent on 1st July 1962. People were dancing in the streets when the new flag was raised.
Sample 3 · Modal verbs: ability, obligation, possibility
Choose the correct answer to complete each sentence.
Mugabo …… play the guitar, the piano and the drums; he learnt them all at church.
Answer: B. can
can + base verb shows ability. able to needs is, and ought needs to.
