The Unlikely Apprentice

By K. Nkosi

At fourteen, Joran Voss was considered the least likely person in his year to become a
craftsman. He lived in a small Swiss town where most teenagers followed family
trades: carpentry, watchmaking, or banking. His father was a third-generation banker.
His mother managed the town’s only hotel. His friends all planned to leave for
university in Zürich or Geneva.

Joran, however, spent his weekends watching restoration videos on a broken tablet.
He was fascinated not by luxury watches but by clocks — the old, broken, iron-geared
tower clocks that no one wanted anymore. “They have no value,” his father said once.
“Don’t waste time on dead things.”

For two years, Joran secretly collected discarded clock parts from flea markets. He
never told anyone. At school, he pretended to care about economics, because that
was what his friends discussed. But in his bedroom cupboard, hidden behind old coats,
he kept a small wooden box of brass wheels, rusted springs, and a single working
pendulum he had repaired himself.

The first person to discover his secret was an elderly woman named Frau Keller, who
lived three streets away. She had heard strange ticking sounds coming from Joran’s
open window late at night. Instead of being angry, she knocked on his door one
afternoon and said, “My husband was a clockmaker. He died twenty years ago. His
tools are in my cellar, untouched. Would you like them?”

Joran did not know how to answer. His throat closed up. Finally, he whispered, “I’m not
supposed to want this.”

Frau Keller smiled. “The things we are not supposed to want,” she said, “are often the
things we truly need.”

That night, Joran told his father everything. His father sat in silence for a long time.
Then he said, “I don’t understand clocks. But I understand hard work. Show me what
you have made.”

Joran brought down the pendulum. It swung perfectly for three minutes before
stopping. His father watched every second. Then he said, “Fix it so it runs for an hour.
Then we’ll talk about banking.”

Joran never became a banker. At eighteen, he became the youngest apprentice in a

century to the Horological Society of Bern, restoring public tower clocks. He later
wrote, “The loudest pressure came from people who loved me. But the quietest truth
was a ticking sound only I could hear.”

1. Find a quotation that shows Joran’s father initially disapproved of his interest
in clocks. Explain how the quotation proves this.

Quotation:
Explanation:

2. Find a quotation that shows Joran actively hid his passion from others. Explain
what the quotation reveals about his fear or secrecy.
Quotation:
Explanation:

3. Find a quotation from Frau Keller that explains why someone might follow an
unexpected passion even when others disapprove. Explain the deeper meaning of her
words.

Quotation:
Explanation:

4. Find a quotation that shows Joran’s father began to change his mind after
seeing Joran’s work. Explain how the father’s words show a compromise, not full
acceptance.

Quotation:
Explanation:

5. Find a quotation from the final paragraph that summarises the central conflict of
the text: pressure from loved ones versus an inner truth. Explain why the writer calls
the truth “quietest”.

Quotation:
Explanation:

6. Find a quotation that shows Joran felt emotionally overwhelmed when Frau
Keller offered her husband’s tools. Explain what his physical reaction suggests about
his internal struggle.

Quotation:
Explanation:

7. Find a quotation that shows Joran pretended to have different interests at

school to fit in with his friends. Explain how this demonstrates the influence of peer
pressure.

Quotation:
Explanation:

8. Find a quotation that shows society’s expectations in Joran’s town favoured

certain careers over others. Explain how this created an obstacle for him.

Quotation:
Explanation:

9. Find a quotation that proves Joran’s passion was not just a passing hobby but
a serious, long-term commitment. Explain what the quotation tells us about his
dedication.

Quotation:
Explanation:

10. Find a quotation that shows someone outside Joran’s family recognised his
talent before his father did. Explain why this person’s support was different from
his father’s.

Quotation:
Explanation:
The Silent Classroom
By A. Okonkwo

At twelve years old, Fatima Al-Mansour was the only student in her year who
never raised her hand. Not because she didn't know the answers — she almost
always did — but because she had learned, early on, that speaking brought
unwanted attention. In her previous school, other children had called her
"teacher's pet" and laughed at her formal English, which she had learned from
her grandmother's old books.

Her new school was different on the surface. The walls were bright yellow, not
grey. The teachers smiled more. But Fatima noticed the same patterns: the
loudest students got the most praise, and the quiet ones faded into the
background. She chose to fade.

For three months, she sat at the back of Mr. Hartley's science class, never
speaking unless directly asked. She completed every worksheet perfectly, but
her handwriting was small, as if trying to take up less space. Mr. Hartley, a
busy man with thirty-two other students, assumed she was shy but average.
He never looked closely at her work.

Then came the earthquake drill. It was unannounced. The alarm shrieked at
10:17 on a Tuesday. Students were supposed to duck under desks, then
evacuate in silence. But the year-seven students panicked. Someone knocked
over a chair. A girl began to cry. Another student shouted, "It's real! It's real!"

In the chaos, one voice cut through. Calm. Steady. Loud enough to be heard,
but not shouting. "Get under your desks. Count to sixty. Then follow me to the
fire exit." It was Fatima. She had memorised the drill procedure on her first
day, even though no one had shown her. She had read the laminated card on
the back of the classroom door when everyone else was talking.

After the drill — which was, in fact, only a drill — Mr. Hartley pulled out
Fatima's worksheets from the past three months. He lined them up on his desk.
Every single answer was correct. Every diagram neatly labelled. He realised he
had been teaching without really seeing.

That afternoon, he asked Fatima to stay after class. "Why don't you speak?" he
said.

Fatima was silent for a long time. Then she said, "Because when I speak,
people expect me to be someone I'm not."

Mr. Hartley nodded slowly. "What if," he said, "we started with just one
sentence per lesson? Nothing more. Just one."

Fatima considered this. It was not a demand to become loud or to perform. It

was an invitation. She agreed.
By the end of the term, Fatima was still the quietest student in the class. But
she was no longer invisible. And on the last day of school, someone wrote on
the whiteboard: "Fatima — the bravest quiet person we know."

1. Why did Fatima stop raising her hand in her previous school? Tick (✓) one box.
 She did not know the answers.
 She was told by a teacher to stop.
 Other children made fun of her.
 She had a speaking difficulty.
2. What does the phrase "her handwriting was small, as if trying to take up less
space" (paragraph 3) suggest about Fatima's feelings?

3. How did Mr. Hartley initially misunderstand Fatima? Tick (✓) one box.
 He thought she was dishonest.
 He thought she was shy but average.
 He thought she was the loudest student.
 He thought she hated science.
4. During the earthquake drill, what two things did Fatima do that showed
leadership? Write two short answers.
(a)
(b)
5. Why did Fatima know the drill procedure when other students did not? Tick (✓) one
box.
 A teacher had shown her privately.
 She had read the instructions alone.
 She had experienced a real earthquake before.
 She guessed correctly.
6. When Mr. Hartley looked at Fatima's worksheets after the drill, what did he realise?

7. What does Fatima mean when she says, "Because when I speak, people expect me
to be someone I'm not" (paragraph 8)? Explain in your own words.

8. Why was Mr. Hartley's suggestion — "one sentence per lesson" — a good solution
for Fatima? Tick (✓) two boxes.
 It forced her to speak in every lesson.
 It did not demand that she become loud.
 It was an invitation, not a demand.
 It punished her for being quiet.
 It required her to give long speeches.
9. By the end of the term, how had Fatima changed? Tick (✓) one box.
 She became the loudest student in the class.
 She left the school.
 She was still quiet but no longer invisible.
 She stopped doing her worksheets.
10. Why did another student write "the bravest quiet person we know" on the
whiteboard? What kind of bravery is being referred to?