New Zealand · Year 9

NZ Curriculum Year 9 English free practice questions with answers

Read question 1 and its full worked answer from paper 1 of our 20-paper NZ Curriculum Year 9 English set, then download the 5-page PDF. These are original practice questions, not official past papers. Page updated 3 November 2026.

Question 1

Why does the writer use first-person narration (“I”) in this story?

A The reader finds out the truth when the narrator does.

B The narrator knows everything that happens in the bakery.

C The reader can hear what Uncle Dai is thinking.

D It makes the story read like a news report.

Worked answer

Correct answer: A — The reader finds out the truth when the narrator does.

What is the question asking? It asks whose point of view the text gives and how.
Go back to the text and find the evidence: “I stand there in the stairwell, holding the bag, while the smell of warm bread rises around me like an answer.”
Because we see through the narrator’s eyes, we realise what Uncle Dai has been doing at the same moment she does.
So the correct answer is A (The reader finds out the truth when the narrator does).
Why the other options are wrong:
B: The narrator misses the truth about Uncle Dai until the end.
C: We only see Uncle Dai from the outside.
D: First-person narration is personal, not factual reporting.

Ask who is telling the story and what they can and cannot know.

Download the free sample: 3 questions and answers (PDF)