Paper 2 · June 1997 · Comprehension
From paragraph 1
What was the author's main aim in going to the market?
ATo take charge of the crowd and keep the people away from it
BTo see for himself what was actually going on in the market
CTo help the mahout to find the elephant and chain it up again
DTo shoot the elephant before it could do any more damage there
Explanation
Paragraph 1 says 'I did not know what I could do, but I wanted to see what was happening', so curiosity about the incident, not a plan of action, took him there. Shooting is the near miss: paragraph 5 states that he had no intention of shooting the elephant even after he sent for the rifle.
ZIMSEC English Language Paper 2, June 1997, Q1(a)(i)