Below him, the sea chewed at the cliffs. Above, the lantern room waited, cold and patient. Tonight would be his last shift. Tomorrow, automation would arrive — a silent algorithm of sensors and LEDs — and Ezra Keeper, the last keeper of Puffin Island, would become a memory.

Conditions here are extreme. The pressure exceeds 1,100 times standard atmospheric pressure — equivalent to 50 jumbo jets stacked on a single person. Temperatures hover just above freezing, yet hydrothermal vents spew water hot enough to melt lead. Remarkably, life thrives. Giant amphipods (shrimp-like creatures the size of rabbits), snailfish with gelatinous bodies, and bioluminescent jellyfish have adapted to the crushing dark.

(10 marks) | Question | Marks | Answer Guide | |----------|-------|----------------| | 1 | 1 | “gnarled” | | 2 | 2 | Suggests very strong, violent, painful wind — like an animal in distress. | | 3 | 2 | Any two: seventy-three years old; legs had forgotten spring of youth; gnarled hands; last shift. | | 4 | 2 | The lighthouse light is being automated. Ezra will lose his job/role/purpose. | | 5 | 2 | He has a personal, affectionate relationship with the lighthouse; personifies it as an old friend. | | 6 | 3 | Examples: “cold and patient” (unfeeling contrast); “alone” (isolation); whispering (quiet, intimate); “one more night” (finality). | | 7 | 1 | B — compare ocean trench to outer space. | | 8 | 2 | Uses analogy/comparison: 50 jumbo jets stacked on a person. | | 9 | 2 | Giant amphipods, snailfish, bioluminescent jellyfish (any two). | | 10 | 2 | Plastic bags, aluminium cans, a discarded Christmas tree filmed at the bottom. | | 11 | 2 | It is no longer untouched/clean because humans have left rubbish even in the deepest ocean. | | 12 | 1 | B | | 13 | 1 | C | | 14 | 1 | A | | 15 | 1 | D | | 16 | 2 | He is doing it out of love, pride, or ritual — not necessity. Suggests devotion and sadness at change. | | 17 | 2 | Shocks the reader; shows absurdity of pollution reaching even the deepest, most remote place. | | 18 | 10 | Mark for: point of view maintained, 3 sensory details, 1 simile/metaphor, clear writing. |