STUDY GUIDE/

PRACTICE QUESTIONS
IGCSE 0500 First Language English

2020/2021 Syllabus

Paper 1

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A. General
- Paper 1 focuses on students’ reading skills. More marks will be awarded for reading than for writing
- 80 marks total for this paper
- Candidates will have 2 hours to complete 3 questions
- Candidates should use their own words as much as possible for all questions
- Candidates should read the questions carefully before reading texts to save time
- Candidates should annotate/take notes while reading texts

B.Timing Recommendations

2 hours/120 minutes total for Paper 1

Question 1 = Comprehension + Summary = 30 minutes

Question 2 = Writer’s Effect = 40 minutes
Question 3 = Directed Writing = 40 minutes

*10 minutes for proofreading/checking

C. Texts
- Text A = Comprehension questions
- Text B = Summary question
- Text C = Writer’s Effect + Directed Writing

D. Tips on Proofreading/Checking
- Make sure to read and highlight the questions before reading texts and attempting to answer
- If you are unsure of what words to use o, keep it simple and clear
- If you are unsure of the proper spelling of a word, use a different word
- Long sentences do not mean that you will have more marks; a variety of long and short
sentences will guarantee better marks for writing

E. This study guide contains...

- 3 practice questions for Question 1, Question 2, and Question 3
- Mark Schemes (end of study guide)
- Notes at the beginning of each first Question

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Question 1
PART 1a: Comprehension/Reading for Meaning

Notes for Question 1(a-e)

1. Read each question carefully before answering
2. Use evidence from the text to support your answers
3. When you see “explain in your own words” do not use words from the text and imagine
explaining your answer to someone who has never read the text before
4. Do not use one word answers
5. Be mindful of your spelling. If the word is spelled in the text, you should spell it correctly

Reading for Meaning Practice 1

Text A (i): A Moorland Lesson

In this passage, the narrator describes a journey across a moor (an expanse of uncultivated land)
which taught a valuable lesson. The narrator’s brother and sister usually live in the city but on
this occasion choose to accompany the narrator across the moor.

Although I have lived happily on the moor all my life, I know that its charm is not universally appreciated. My
brother and sister enjoy living and working in the city, preferring a life of busy streets, chatter-filled restaurants
and dizzying skyscrapers to my isolated world. I love the moor’s grand views, the vast range of wildlife and the
whirling wind that makes your skin tingle. All around you are expanses of purple heather and sunburst yellow
gorse, two plants that are characteristic of any wild
landscape. Raw beauty of this sort demands total respect. One February I discovered why

We were emerging from a particularly cold winter; a few courageous wild flowers could be seen making
a tentative appearance. I even cleaned my car to share in the joyful mood filling the
moorland. My brother and sister were visiting me that weekend. We had all been invited to a friend’s birthday
party in a neighbouring village and, determined to enjoy the sudden improvement in the
weather, they hastily agreed to dress in lightweight cotton rather than our warmer winter clothing. As the sun
was beginning to set, I drove my ancient car with its erratic heating system over bumps and potholes, to meet
the main road across the moor and tried to ignore the chorus of complaints from my passengers.

The skies promised rain, but I was sure we could reach my friend’s house before the weather became too
threatening. It was when I saw the ‘Road Closed’ sign blocking our way that I remembered a letter I had
received previously, stating that the main road would be closed for essential repairs. As I took the road
indicated by the brightly-coloured diversion sign, I felt a twinge of unease. This minor road
was unfamiliar to me. I had travelled down it only a handful of times in bright daylight, never when the

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evening sky scowled with such ominous intent. I then recalled that my map, torch and blanket were nestling
cosily on the kitchen table next to my water bottle, high visibility jacket and petrol can. I had
removed these essential items from the car in order to clean the interior and, in my haste to get to the party, had
forgotten to return them. Our original route took us past my local petrol station where I had intended to fill up
with fuel, but I was now travelling along a strange road and had little idea of where, or even whether, I would
find somewhere to do so. Peering nervously at the fuel gauge, I realised with horror that finding a petrol station
had become my priority.

It started to rain heavily but worse was to follow as, worryingly, this soon turned to sleet and then snow. My
flimsy shirt offered little protection as the temperature began to plummet. We shivered as we continued our
slow progress along unfamiliar roads. Then the inevitable happened. With a spluttering cough, my car
shuddered to a halt: it was out of petrol. Worse still, none of our phones could get a signal. Feeling thoroughly
miserable, we prepared ourselves for a long, cold night, overwhelmed by the prospect of finding our way
through the lace-like labyrinth of moorland roads.

The insistent blaring of a car horn brought me sharply back to the present, followed by a gentle tapping
at my window

It was my neighbour.

‘You look as if you need some help,’ she grinned as she handed us three welcome woollen blankets.

Using her sturdy tow rope, I attached my car securely to hers and soon arrived at the party, a little warmer
and definitely much wiser.

---

Read Text A: A Catastrophic Winter Storm carefully, and then answer Questions 1(a) - (e) (i)

Question 1(a-e)(i)

(a) State two features of city life that the narrator’s brother and sister enjoy, in preference to living on the moor
(paragraph 1, ‘Although I have lived happily…’). [1]

(b) Using your own words, explain what the text means by:

(i) ‘the whirling wind that makes your skin tingle’’ [2]

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 (ii) ‘With a spluttering cough, my car shuddered’ [2]

(c) Re-read paragraph 2, (‘We were emerging from my passengers...’)

(i) Using your own words, describe the behaviour of the narrator’s brother and sister and their
feelings as they prepare to go to the party [1]

(ii) The narrator explains that the weather had recently improved. Which two-word phrase in
paragraph 2 tells you that the atmosphere was cheerful? [1]

(d) Re-read paragraph 3 (‘The skies promised«become my priority.’).

(i) Using your own words, explain what the narrator’s feelings are on seeing the diversion sign and
why the narrator reacts in this way [2]

(ii) Explain in your own words why the narrator is ‘a little warmer and definitely much wiser’ at
the end of the passage. [3]

(e) ‘Peering nervously at the fuel gauge, I realised with horror that finding a petrol station had
become my priority.’
Using your own words, explain why the narrator is concerned and how the narrator reacts to this
concern [3]

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Reading for Meaning Practice 2

Text A (ii): A Disturbed Night

Isaac is on a journey in an unfamiliar place as night is approaching.

Just as it was getting dark, the rain started and the wind began to rise. Isaac found himself, to make matters
worse, in a part of the country he had not been to before, though he knew he was only twenty kilometres from
home. The first house he found to inquire at was a lonely road-side hotel, standing on the edge of a dense
wood. Solitary as the place looked, it was welcome to a lost man like Isaac,
who was also hungry, thirsty, wet and had sore feet. The landlord seemed polite and respectable, and the price
for a bed was reasonable enough. Isaac, therefore, decided on staying there in comfort for that night.

Isaac’s supper simply consisted of a slice of home-made bread, some cheese and a cup of tea. He
did not go to bed immediately after this moderate meal, but sat up with the landlord. He talked about his
journey and his long run of bad luck. Isaac was by nature a mild-mannered man. Nothing was said by his host,
or the few visitors who strayed into the dining room, which could have excited Isaac’s
limited imagination.

When the hotel closed, Isaac went round with the landlord and held a candle to give light while the doors and
lower windows were being locked. He was surprised to observe the strength of the bolts, bars, and iron
shutters. It was half past eleven by the clock in the passage as they went upstairs to the bedroom, the window
of which looked onto the woods at the back of the house.

‘You see, we are rather lonely here,’ said the landlord. ‘We have never had any attempts made to break in yet,
but it’s always as well to be on the safe side. The hotel is very isolated. There’s just my wife and daughter here
and you’re the only guest tonight. Here’s where you will sleep. I think you’ll see
we’ve done our best to make you comfortable. Goodnight.’

Isaac locked the door, set his candle on the chest of drawers, and wearily got ready for bed. The bleak autumn
wind was still blowing. Its solemn surging moan in the woods was dreary and awful to hear through the
stillness of the night. Isaac felt unusually awake. He resolved, as he lay in bed, to
keep the candle lit until he became sleepy. He thought there was something deeply depressing about lying
awake in the darkness, listening to the dismal, ceaseless sound of the wind. Exhaustion overcame him, his eyes
closed and before he could extinguish the candle, he fell into a deep sleep.

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The first sensation of which he was aware was a strange shivering that ran through him suddenly
from head to foot. Then he experienced a dreadful sinking pain in his heart, such as he had never felt before. The
shivering only disturbed his sleep, but the pain woke him instantly. In one moment, he
went from being soundly asleep to being fully awake. His eyes were immediately wide open, his mind was
suddenly clear and alert.

The candle had burnt down to the end, but the light in the little room was bright and full.

Between the foot of his bed and the closed door, there stood a woman with a knife in her hand, looking
at him.

---

Read Text A:(ii) A Disturbed Night carefully, and then answer Questions 1(a) - (e) (ii)

Question 1(a-e)(ii)

(a) Give two reasons why Isaac needs to find somewhere to stay for the night. (paragraph one, ‘Just
as it was getting dark...)’ [1]

(b) Using your own words, explain what the text means by:

(i) ‘solemn surging moan’ [2]

(ii) ‘exhaustion overcame him’ [2]

(c) Re-read paragraphs three and four (‘When the hotel…Goodnight’)

(i) Using your own words, explain what Isaac thinks is unusual about the landlord’s behaviour. [1]

(ii) What reasons does the landlord give for his actions? [1]

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(d) Re-read paragraphs 5 and 6 (‘Isaac locked the door...looking at him’ ).

(i) Using your own words, explain why Isaac preferred to have the candle lit as he slept. [2]

(ii) Explain in your own words why the Isaace felt “a dreadful sinking pain in his heart” and
explain what you think happened after he saw the woman at the foot of his bed [3]

(e) If you were Isaac, who do you think the people in the house were and do they seem like they’re trying
to hurt him? [3]

Reading for Meaning Practice 3

Text A(iii): El Dorado

Europeans of the sixteenth century presumed that somewhere, deep in South America, was a vast
city called El Dorado that contained unimaginable riches. Many European adventurers made perilous
journeys to find it but without success.

Europeans first learned of El Dorado through rumours that circulated among South American peoples. There
was a small grain of truth to the story: high in the eastern range of the Andes, in what is now Colombia, the
local people mined gold and emeralds freely, and built a highly organised and developed society. When they
appointed a new chief, they covered the man in balsam gum and then blew gold dust all over his body through
cane straws until he resembled a statue of pure gold.
Although this practice had died out by 1480, the story of the ‘gilded one’ became part of the legends of South
America, and in its retellings, the tale became embellished. The golden, or gilded, one supposedly ruled over
a vast kingdom where nearly everything was made from gold, silver or precious stone.

The Spanish explorers became increasingly certain that El Dorado, their translation of ‘the gilded one’, really
existed and assumed that this fugitive empire was flourishing somewhere in what is now Venezuela. Between
1536 and 1541, the Spanish sent out five major expeditions in search of El
Dorado. After the journeys proved unsuccessful, they became certain that El Dorado must lie in the jungle
basin between the Orinoco and Amazon rivers into which they had not yet ventured.

Meanwhile, the mysterious appearance of a man who spoke of a city of gold, he called ‘Manoa’, only fuelled
their desire. The man’s name was Juan Martinez, and he had been an officer, responsible for

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looking after the gunpowder, on board a Spanish ship exploring the Orinoco River. His group headed deep
into the jungle, but the journey came to an end when its gunpowder stores exploded. Martinez was left behind
in an open canoe as punishment for the accident. He claimed to have met friendly
local people who blindfolded him for days and led him to the city of ‘Manoa’, where everything in the royal
palace was made of gold. Martinez said that riches had been given to him as a departing gift, but they had
been stolen on his way back.

This story was told to Sir Walter Raleigh in England, around 1586. Raleigh set sail for South America. After
arriving in March of 1595, Raleigh and his party spent weeks sailing along the Orinoco River, but found
nothing apart from a massive Spanish anchor, which had been lost when Martinez’s ship had exploded.

Raleigh brought back to England some strange plants, animals and also some blue-tinged rocks that suggested
there was copper which could be mined. He also wrote an account of his travels including mention of a tribe of
headless, club-wielding warriors with eyes and mouths on their torsos.

Raleigh’s claims failed to interest Queen Elizabeth I, or other potential investors, who might finance a further
search for El Dorado. However, he remained convinced that vast gold mines existed close to the Orinoco
River.

The name ‘El Dorado’ has become linked with a place of fabulous wealth and has fed the romantic
imaginations of writers throughout the centuries. However, it is most likely that El Dorado was an excuse
used by the European adventurers who were eager to discover the quickest path to riches.

---

Read Text A:(iii) El Dorado carefully, and then answer Questions 1(a) - (e) (iii)

Question 1(a-e)(iii)

(a) Using your own words, explain why the writer says ‘There was a small grain of truth’ in the
rumours about the existence of El Dorado [1]

(b) Using your own words, explain what the text means by:

(i) ‘and in its retellings, the tale became embellished’ [2]

(ii) ‘assumed that this fugitive empire was flourishing somewhere’ [2]

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(c) Re-read paragraphs two (‘The Spanish explorers not yet ventured’) Give two details about the
Spanish exploration of South America

(i). Detail 1[1]

(ii) Detail 2 [1]

(d) Re-read paragraph three (‘Meanwhile on his way back...’ ).

(i) Which two-word phrase suggests that the writer questions the truth of Juan Martinez’s
account? [2]

(ii) Using your own words explain why Juan Martinez was punished by his companions [2]

(e) Using your own words, explain what the writer means by ‘it is most likely that El Dorado was an
excuse used by the European adventurers who were eager to discover the quickest path to riches.’ [3]

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Question 1
PART 1b: Summary

Notes for Question 1(f)

1. Read question before reading Text B
2. Highlight and group similar points while you read Text B to save time
3. Use transition words; do not repeat transition words
a. https://www.smart-words.org/linking-words/transition-words.html
4. Use your own words all the time. No lifting from the text allowed

Summary Practice 1
Text B (i): Emigration to Mars

This article has been written by the organisation Mars One to give information to a person who
might be considering an application to emigrate to Mars.

A one-way trip to Mars. What would this mean to you? Are you one of the very few people who could rise to
this immense challenge?

Many people would rather lose a limb than live the rest of their lives on a cold, hostile planet. You will have
said goodbye forever to friends and family, your only remaining possible communication with them being
through Space-call. Space-call has a seven-minute delay and, although you may hear your loved ones speak,
visual reception is only one-way. They will see you, but you will never see them again.

We at Mars One know that, out there, there will be some individuals for whom travelling to Mars has been a
dream their entire life. Not unlike those ancient Chinese, Micronesians, Africans, Vikings and
famed explorers of Old World Europe, who left everything behind to spend the majority of their lives at sea,
these people see a one-way mission to Mars to be about exploring a new world and the opportunity to conduct
the most revolutionary research ever conceived: to build a new home for humans on another planet.

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If you become a Mars One astronaut, you will undergo eight years of training before you are allowed to leave
the Earth’s atmosphere. Isolated from the world for four months every year in simulation
facilities, living only with your team of fellow potential astronauts, you will learn about the crew
members who will take you to Mars and, importantly, about isolation from the people you have known and cared
about all your life. You will also acquire skills: how to perform physical and electrical
repairs to the settlement structures we will have on Mars; how to cultivate crops in confined spaces, and how
to address both routine and serious medical issues such as dental upkeep, muscle tears and bone fractures.

The flight itself will take between seven and eight months (depending on the relative positions of Earth and
Mars when we embark). You will spend that time with your fellow astronauts in a very small space, devoid of
any luxury or frills. This will not be easy. Showering with water will not be an option.
Instead you and the other astronauts will have just one pack of wet wipes each.

Freeze-dried and canned food are the only options. There will be constant noise from the ventilators, computer
and life-support machines, and a regimented routine of three hours’ daily exercise in order to maintain muscle
mass. If your rocket is hit by a solar storm, you must take refuge in a very small sheltered area of the rocket,
which can provide protection for just three days.

When you land on Mars, you will find that you must share accommodation with three other astronauts in our
settlement. You may be able to choose your companions. You will have a relatively spacious living unit of
just over 50m2 in a combined living area of 200m2. You will have inflatable components which include your
bedroom, working area, living room, and a ‘plant production unit’,
where you must grow greenery. You will take a daily shower, prepare fresh food (which you have grown
and harvested) and wear clothes suited to the cold temperatures.

Mars construction robots have constructed passages across the settlement which will allow astronauts some
opportunity to socialise with each other. If you wish to leave the settlement to explore another part of Mars,
you must wear a Mars suit and bear in mind that it is unlikely that Mars One health and safety checks will
have been undertaken on areas outside the settlement

Now you should ask yourself if you have the stamina and resilience to become part of what will
undoubtedly go down as the most significant expedition of exploration and research in human history.
To apply to become a Mars One astronaut, you should fill in a downloadable form.

---

Read Text B (i), Emigration to Mars, and then answer Question 1(f)(i)

Question 1(f)(i)

What challenges would a person face if they became a Mars One astronaut, according to Passage B? You must

use continuous writing (not note form) and use your own words as far as possible.

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Your summary should not be more than 120 words.

Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 5 marks for the quality of your
writing.

Summary Practice 2

Text B (ii): It’s never too late to change career

It usually hits people in their thirties – the feeling they have achieved most of what they wanted to in their
current career, and yet depression at the prospect of continuing over the years to come.

So what should you do if you have decided it is time for challenge, for an exciting new project – a career
change? ‘Decide what you want,’ says life coach Suzy Greaves.

‘Astonishingly, 80% of us end up in the wrong job,’ says Greaves, who runs a coaching business called The Big
Leap. ‘We finish school, and go through our twenties conforming to what other people want
us to do; we tend to listen too much to other people’s opinions of what we should do with our lives. We’re
encouraged to be successful, to go for money, status, the big car, but then it hits people they want to find
fulfilment instead,’ she says. ‘Sometimes career change is thrust on them when their old job ceases to exist or
just simply doesn’t pay enough.’

‘Changing career could be the best decision you ever make,’ says David Thomas, Chief Executive at the
Careers Research and Advisory Centre. ‘For most people, a major career change is a positive experience and
nearly always successful. If you’re following your dream, the change will be
reinvigorating and will restore your energy.’

Thomas has made two major career changes in his life, having originally been a teacher for 19 years. ‘People
worry that they are “giving everything up” if they leave a job they have worked at for years. In fact, they are
often astonished when they realise that the skills they have acquired can move with them from job to job.
What’s important for you before you decide to move is to spend some time
thinking about what you require from a job – get to know yourself better before you choose this time.’

He recommends you talk to someone you trust about your plans and ask their advice. If possible, choose
someone who has made a major career change themselves – they will usually be happy to talk about it.

‘Some people are scared to make the move, even when they feel undervalued or their family commitments
change. They are frightened of failure,’ says Greaves. ‘I ask people to imagine that if they were to be run
over by a bus in five years’ time, what would they like to have done before. A life

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coach won’t tell you what job you should be in or give any answers. They will ask tough questions and
challenge you about what you want out of life.’

Changing your job doesn’t necessarily mean finding a new employer; it can also be an opportunity to start
your own business. That way, you can address those issues causing your dissatisfaction: organise your
workload, escape the daily commute and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that the
fruits of your work come directly to you.

Adrian Wanless, 35, runs a successful web-design company. ‘The best part of the job is the flexibility, being
able to organise workload and avoid the two hours commuting every day,’ he says. ‘I know that if I do
overtime, it benefits me directly. Running your own company also focuses your mind. There’s no time to be
bored.’

He builds websites for small businesses, from guest houses and holiday cottages to e-commerce sites for
jewellers, venetian blind companies and firms selling crash helmets. ‘Businesses which are too small for big
web-development organisations to be interested in,’ he explains.

Since his wife Sarah commutes every day, he tends to keep regular office hours too. Establishing
what you really want from life is essential if you intend a career change. You can explore and evaluate your key
transferable skills with the help of specialist guides. All these approach career change and choice from different
angles and help define what you are looking for from your job.

---

Read Text B (ii): It’s never too late to change career, and then answer Question 1(f)(ii)

Question 1(f)(ii)

According to Text B (ii): It’s never too late to change career, for what reasons do people decide to
change career?

You must use continuous writing (not note form) and use your own words as far as possible. Your

summary should not be more than 120 words.

Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 5 marks for the quality of your
writing.

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Summary Practice 3

Text B (iii): Hot-air ballooning

Pujita and Priyanka are trying to plan for their father’s 90th birthday. Priyanka disagrees with
Pujita’s plans and has told her so. The following is Pujita’s reply by email.

Dear Priyanka,

I can’t believe that you don’t like my idea for Dad’s surprise 90th birthday! I’ve been looking at the ‘Hot-
air ballooning for all’ advertisement online and I hope I can allay your fears.

Firstly, the website says that the most mature passenger they have ever taken in one of their hot-air balloons
was 96 years old, so let’s cross that concern off the list. The personnel are very attentive and will ensure his
safe and comfortable access to the basket. There is also ample seating around all four sides for all the
passengers at once. I don’t suppose anyone would wish to stand for very long, and if Dad wishes to sit for the
duration, I’m sure that won’t be a problem; I’ll probably join him. You
don’t need to worry about missing the views yourself because of tending to Dad.

I agree that it can be difficult to keep warm if you have to remain still in one place, and that you don’t want
Dad to get cold, but that misses the point: it is actually very warm and comfortable in the basket because the
balloon moves with the wind. There is no chill from the breeze at all: the only sensation we will have is that of
being suspended in the sky. If the weather is completely unsuitable, if it is
raining, for example, the pilot will simply postpone the flight until a more appropriate day

And, no, Dad won’t have to wait around before we get in the basket. They inflate the balloon while we are
getting our safety briefing: I have read that it takes shape and is ready to rise off the ground in
under ten minutes.

I think the only reason why Dad gets cantankerous these days is that he is frustrated by how difficult life has
become for him in the last few years. I feel sorry for him. He gets little relief from his

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painkillers. The flight personnel are trained to attend politely and sensitively to all their passengers, because
after all there will be sixteen of us all in one basket for three to four hours. I doubt if he will spend his time
complaining anyway. I think he will be so captivated by the enthralling views, he will forget his aches and
pains for the time that we are in the air. I deliberately chose the daytime
mountain-viewing trip as a stunning contrast to the grey streets of his city

I know that the hot-air balloon has no designated landing place and that we could land anywhere
within a twenty-five mile radius of our starting point. However, it’s patronising to suggest that Dad will be any
more disorientated than the rest of us. And as for getting him back to our starting point, no,
we won’t have to take a bus or a train: the website tells me that ground crews will meet us as we land and
transport us back to our starting point. Again, no waiting, as they track our flight and know when and where we
will land.

I personally think that Dad is trapped in his routines and will jump at the opportunity to participate in this once-
in-a-lifetime experience. Furthermore, it will give us all something to talk about in future. I’ve told them it’s his
birthday, and they are going to present him with a miniature chocolate cake shaped like a balloon. Imagine how
important he will feel at the presentation at the end when he is given his commemorative flight certificate.

It’s expensive, I know, but this is a special birthday. I’ve checked and we can spread the costs over three
instalments, which makes it easier for us. Tell you what, let’s not make it a surprise! Let’s
discuss it with Dad before I book, and he can be the one to decide if he wants to go.

Love,
Pujita

---

Read Text B (iii): Hot-air ballooning, and then answer Question 1(f)(iii)

Question 1(f)(iii)

How would a company operating balloon trips ensure that their trips were enjoyable and accessible to all
their passengers, according to Text B(iii): Hot-air ballooning ?

You must use continuous writing (not note form) and use your own words as far as possible. Your

summary should not be more than 120 words.

Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 5 marks for the quality of your
writing

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Question 2
Part 2a: Writer’s Effect (Short Answer Questions) Part 2b: Writer’s Effect (Long Answer Question)

Notes for Question 2(b) Writer’s Effects:

1. Look for rich imagery - something you can visualise/imagine in your head
2. Determine if the overall effect is positive or negative
3. Paraphrase
4. Explain why the author has used a specific word

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Question 2 Practice 1

Text C (i): My first year of teaching

In this passage, the writer describes her early experiences as a teacher.

I’d been in my first secondary teaching post for a year. I was happy because my relationship with the students
seemed good. They were well-mannered and did what I asked them, obediently and with occasional
enthusiasm.

From the start, something about the school ethos had seemed wrong. Perhaps it was best summed up by a
colleague who advised me: ‘Keep your head down. Never volunteer for anything – and forget the homework.
It only creates more marking!’

Well, I didn’t keep my head down. At the very rare staff meetings, I made chirpy suggestions for making
the school more lively, and encountered plenty of scowls. When I asked about drama productions I was
met with a shocked response. ‘We tried one once and it was a flop. The kids
wouldn’t rehearse and when we turned the lights on, the electricity blew up.’ So I wrote and produced an end-
of-term entertainment, a run-away success with the parents, which gave me a real buzz. I can’t say that many
teachers bothered to attend.

I also allowed the senior students to produce a school magazine with a gaudy front page that screamed
‘Action!’ at its sleepy readers. It made fun of certain individuals and there was an
uproarious photo of the deputy head looking like a Roman senator in front of her geography class.
School rules were denounced as ‘tyrannical’, and the magazine attacked the ugly uniform. The
magazine sold out like a flash of lightning; this was immediately followed by a ferocious thunderstorm.

I was hauled up before the furious deputy head, who had not bought a copy but had confiscated one from a
group of giggling students. Quite apart from the ‘libellous and revolting picture’, the school had ‘never done
anything like this before and it must stop immediately’. There was no second edition.

While I was happy that the editorial team had worked hard, I can’t say that the school itself had a work ethos.
When I first set homework, the outcome was a few hastily scrawled lines, the result of five minutes spent
without thought or effort. There was a general distaste for reading and writing,
although students loved talk and drama. This clearly was the norm, and it was evident from the exam results,
which were the poorest in the area. In the summer, I was thrilled to see that my first set of
results were even better than I had expected, which made me popular with the delighted parents, though
not with my colleagues.

I started to get good work out of my students, and this was proudly displayed on my classroom walls. These
were clean and colourful, unlike those of the rest of the school, not that anyone apart from

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students came near my classroom. The headteacher was notable by his absence. And as for my head of
department…

Because he left me to my own devices, I had to seek him out. I found him secreted away in the cosy little nest
that was his room. It was a sort of enlarged stockroom at the end of a maze of tortuous passages. I never saw
him teaching, but I imagined students struggling to fit into the narrow rows of shabby desks. Everything was
brown, a faded sepia, the colour of biscuit. My head of department,
dressed in beige, sat camouflaged in a corner and looked at me mournfully. ‘Ah,’

he said. ‘Miss, ah…I hope you are finding us to your liking.’

Too many of my colleagues were like him. Some had been there all their teaching careers and had lost their
energy. Most kept order, but only by setting texts to be copied out, to no educational
advantage. The occasional shout directed students’ attention back to their tasks, and some teachers read
newspapers as lessons dragged on. Others had lost control, and there was the usual rowdiness and rudeness,
messy classrooms and disorderly behaviour in the corridors, because there were no staff there to control the
traffic. Although this was depressing, I had one colleague who had proved a loyal friend and who shared some
of my more outrageous ideas. We had many giggles after the others had hurried home at the end of the day.

At the end of my first year, there was much muttering in the staffroom, and on the last day of term the old
headteacher was no more to be seen. Instead, there stood, at the front of the room, glaring at us all, a
replacement figure in an expensive suit, who clearly meant business.

---
Read Text C (i): My first year of teaching, then answer Questions 2(a)–(d)(i)

Question 2(a-c)(i)

(a) Identify a word or phrase from the text which suggests the same idea as the words underlined:

(i) James decided to try his hand at baking a chocolate cake. Unfortunately, the results proved
unsuccessful [1]

(ii) James’ cake was so disastrous that his sister took a picture and pronounced it,
“Hilarious!” [1]

(iii) The wind was so strong and powerful that it knocked down a tree outside Lloyd’s house [1]

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 (iv) Lloyd hurriedly ran out of his house to check the damage caused by the fallen tree[1]

(b) Using your own words, explain what the writer means by each of the words underlined:

Too many of my colleagues were like him. Some had been there all their teaching careers and had lost
their energy. Most kept order, but only by setting texts to be copied out, to no educational advantage.
The occasional shout directed students’ attention back to their tasks, and some teachers read
newspapers as lessons dragged on. Others had lost control, and there was the usual r owdiness and
rudeness, messy classrooms and disorderly behaviour in the corridors, because there were no staff there
to control the traffic. Although this was
depressing, I had one colleague who had proved a loyal friend and who shared some of my
more outrageous ideas. We had many giggles after the others had hurried home at the end of the day.

(i) rowdiness [1] -

(ii) disorderly [1] -

(iii) outrageous [1] -

(c) Use one example from the text below to explain how the writer describes his colleague’s attitudes to
teaching.

Use your own words in your explanation.

Too many of my colleagues were like him. Some had been there all their teaching careers and had lost
their energy. Most kept order, but only by setting texts to be copied out, to no educational advantage.
The occasional shout directed students’ attention back to their tasks, and some teachers read
newspapers as lessons dragged on. Others had lost control, and there was the usual r owdiness and
rudeness, messy classrooms and disorderly behaviour in the corridors, because there were no staff there
to control the traffic. Although this was
depressing, I had one colleague who had proved a loyal friend and who shared some of my
more outrageous ideas. We had many giggles after the others had hurried home at the end of the day.
[3]

---

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Question 2(d)(i)

Re-read the descriptions of:

(a) the school magazine and the reactions to it in paragraph 4, beginning ‘I also allowed the senior
students…’;
(b) the head of department and his room in paragraph 8, beginning ‘Because he left me to my own
devices…’.…’.

Explain how the writer uses language to convey meaning and to create effect in these paragraphs.

Choose three examples of words or phrases from each paragraph to support your answer. Your choices
should include the use of imagery.

Write about 200 to 300 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer.

Question 2 Practice 2

Text C(ii): Death Valley

The narrator gives an account of his walk with a friend through the Californian desert.

The desert is hateful. In the desert, at high noon, there are no shadows, and the sun weighs on you with the
weight of centuries. The land seems dead or dying, and the desert is like an ageing movie
star, an eroded landscape under merciless light. It is not the heat, the great convection oven of desert valleys,
that kills, so much as the ground temperature. In Death Valley ground temperatures as high as 90 degrees have
been recorded. Don’t fall here. Don’t faint. A few hours lying on unshaded ground can kill very easily. It can
literally bake the brain inside the skull. Even walking – slow, steady walking
– can become painful. A burning plain is not kind to the feet and gives literal meaning to the word
‘tenderfoot’.

Nick Nichols and I started walking through Death Valley in midsummer. My boots gave out on the
first day. They were light ankle-high canvas affairs, and the glue that held the thick soles to the body of the
boot had begun to melt. I took the boots off and doctored them a bit with some tape from the first-aid kit. This
was a mistake. My feet had expanded a size or so in the heat, and I couldn’t get the

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boots back on. After some sitting on the burning ground under the burning sun, it seemed a good
idea to keep walking no matter what. I used my knife to cut several portholes in the canvas to make the boots
somewhat wearable.

Originally, we had intended to sleep during the heat of the day, but our tents concentrated the ground heat and
baked us until we felt woozy and barely conscious. It was safer to walk. So there we were, Nick and I, limping
down the western flank of the Panamint Mountains under a cloudless sky at high noon. Little else seemed to
live on the face of that burning rock and sand.

To pass the time, we began playing the Game of Living Things. We were moving due west, and Nick had the
entire world to the south. The north belonged to me. One living creature was worth one point. I had seen a dull
grey sparrow-like bird and was way ahead, one point to zero.

Suddenly a rabbit, grey as the dull desert rock, burst out from under some sage between us. It broke
northwest, nearly crossed my path, then cut south into Nick’s world.

‘My point,’ Nick said. ‘That was my rabbit,’ I pointed out. I noticed that my teeth were tightly clenched. ‘I
scared him up.’

Half an hour later Nick said, ‘The rabbit ran south. It’s my rabbit.’

Half an hour after that I said, ‘He ran north first.’ The tape had come off my right boot so that the
rubber sole flopped annoyingly. My feet were being chafed badly by the holes in the boots, and I was walking
in a sore-footed shuffle, rather like Charlie Chaplin except that I had to lift the right foot high above the
ground to avoid getting burning pebbles in between the flopping sole and my foot. If I had that shuffling,
hopping walk on video, I suspect I’d be able to see some small comedy there. As it
was, the sun had baked me sour.

‘So it’s one to one,’ Nick said some time later. I could feel the muscles bunching up in my back and
found it necessary to shuffle-hop a hundred paces north into my own world and out of conversational range. An
hour later, I heard myself shout, ‘Just shut up about the stupid rabbit!’

* * *

The desert is lovely. At dusk, when the sun sets and the sky explodes into gaudy pastels, when shadows
mirror the colour of the sky, when the breeze is a cooling purple caress, the desert is beautiful. We were
eating, Nick and I, and laughing. It’s amazing what the desert does to you: it
focuses wants and needs. At noon I had wanted no more than shade and water. It was absolutely all I could
think about, and I knew then that if I’d had a cool place to sit and a jug of liquid life, I would have been happy.
Now, from outside our tent in the campsite, with both water and the blessing of
night, I felt certain new needs creep into the equation. A soft drink would be nice. If I had that, I would be happy.
A chair to sit on… A table with some proper utensils… A white linen tablecloth… A house
with a pool….

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---

Question 2(a-c)(ii)

Read Text C(ii): Death Valley, then answer Questions 2(a)–(d)(ii)

Question 2(a-c)(ii)

(a) Identify a word or phrase from the text which suggests the same idea as the words underlined:

(i) Tamara loved her new boots so much that the soles of her boots began to gradually wear away
after only one month. [1]

(ii) Travis had gone running in the middle of the afternoon and felt very l ightheaded when he got
home.[1]

(iii) Simon slowly closed his fingers into a tight ball after getting punched in the face[1]

(iv) Simon’s opponent fell heavily to the ground after getting punched in the gut. [1]

(b) Using your own words, explain what the writer means by each of the words underlined:

Nick Nichols and I started walking through Death Valley in midsummer. My boots gave out on the first
day. They were light ankle-high canvas a ffairs, and the glue that held the thick soles to the body of the
boot had begun to melt. I took the boots off and doctored them a bit with some tape from the first-aid
kit. This was a mistake. My feet had e xpanded a size or so in the heat, and I couldn’t get the boots back
on. After some sitting on the burning ground under the burning sun, it seemed a good idea to keep
walking no matter what. I used my knife to cut several portholes in the canvas to make the boots
somewhat wearable.

(i) affairs [1] -

(ii) doctored [1] -

(iii) expanded [1] -

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(c) Use one example from the text below to explain the writer’s experience and the atmosphere of walking
through Death Valley.

Use your own words in your explanation.

Nick Nichols and I started walking through Death Valley in midsummer. My boots gave out on the first
day. They were light ankle-high canvas affairs, and the glue that held the thick soles to the body of the
boot had begun to melt. I took the boots off and doctored them a bit with some tape from the first-aid
kit. This was a mistake. My feet had expanded a size or so in the heat, and I couldn’t get the boots back
on. After some sitting on the burning ground under the burning sun, it seemed a good idea to keep
walking no matter what. I used my knife to cut several portholes in the canvas to make the boots
somewhat wearable. [3]

---

Question 2(d)(ii)

Re-read the descriptions of:

(a) the appearance and the effect of the desert in paragraph 1, beginning with ‘The desert is hateful.’;
(b) the sunset and the travellers’ needs in paragraph 10, beginning with ‘The desert is lovely.’

Explain how the writer uses language to convey meaning and to create effect in these paragraphs.

Choose three examples of words or phrases from each paragraph to support your answer. Your choices
should include the use of imagery.

Write about 200 to 300 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer.

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Question 2 Practice 3

Text C(iii): The monster of the deep

A French professor tells of how he and his friend, and a sailor called Ned, fell into the Pacific Ocean in
1850 when their ship was hit by a huge creature. They at first believed it to be the legendary whale
they were searching for on behalf of the International Marine Society.

My first concern was to look for the ship. I glimpsed a black mass disappearing eastward, its lights fading in
the distance. I shouted for help, swimming desperately toward the ship. My clothes were weighing me down.
I was sinking! Then I found and seized the arm of my loyal friend.

‘What about the ship?’ I asked.

‘As I jumped overboard, I heard the helmsman shout, “Our propeller and rudder are smashed by the
monster’s tusk!”

‘Then the ship can no longer steer, and we are done for!’

Having concluded that our sole chance for salvation lay in being picked up by the ship’s longboats, we had
to take steps to wait for them as long as possible. I decided to divide our energies so we
wouldn’t both be worn out at the same time: while one of us lay on his back, the other would swim and
propel his partner forward.

The monster had rammed us at 11 in the evening. I therefore calculated on eight hours of swimming until
sunrise. The dense gloom was broken only by the phosphorescent flickers coming from our
movements. I stared at the luminous ripples breaking over my hands, shimmering sheets spattered with
blotches of bluish grey. It seemed as if we had plunged into a pool of quicksilver.

An hour later, I was overcome with tremendous exhaustion. My limbs stiffened in the grip of intense cramps
and paralysing cold. I tried to call out. My swollen lips wouldn’t let a single sound through. I heard my friend
cry ‘Help!’. Ceasing all movement for an instant, we listened. His shout had received an answer. I could
barely hear it. I was at the end of my strength; my fingers gave out; my mouth opened convulsively, filling
with brine…

Just then something hard banged against me. I clung to it and was pulled back to the surface. I fainted…
Then someone was shaking me vigorously

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‘Ned!’ I exclaimed. ‘Were you thrown overboard by the collision?’

‘Yes, professor, but I was luckier than you and immediately able to set foot on the gigantic whale as it surfaced.
I soon realised why my harpoon got blunted and couldn’t puncture its hide. This beast is
made of plated steel!’

I hoisted myself to the summit of this half-submerged creature that was serving as our refuge. I tested it with
my foot. Obviously it was some hard, impenetrable substance; not the soft matter that makes up the bodies of
our big marine mammals but a bony carapace, like those that covered some prehistoric animals. The blackish
back supporting me was smooth and polished with no overlapping scales. On impact, it gave off a metallic
resonance and, incredibly, it seemed to be made of riveted plates. No doubts were possible! This animal, this
monster, this ‘natural phenomenon’ that had puzzled the whole scientific world, that had muddled and misled
the minds of sailors, was an even more astonishing one – made by the hand of man! There was no question
now. We were stretched out on the back of some kind of underwater boat that took the form of an immense
steel fish.

Just then, a bubbling began astern and the boat started to move. We barely had time to hang on to its topside,
which emerged about 80 centimetres above water. It was imperative to make contact with
whatever beings were confined inside the machine. I searched its surface for an opening, but the lines of
rivets were straight and uniform. We would have to wait for daylight to find some way of getting inside
this underwater boat, and if it made a dive, we were done for!

In the early hours, the vessel picked up speed. We could barely cope with this dizzying rush, and the waves
battered us at close range. Our hands came across a ring fastened to its back, and we all held on for dear life.

Finally, the long night was over. From inside the boat came noises of iron fastenings pushed aside. One of
the steel plates flew up, and a few moments later, eight sturdy fellows appeared silently and dragged us
violently down into their fearsome machine.

This brutally executed capture was carried out with lightning speed. My companions and I had no time to
collect ourselves. I don’t know how they felt about being shoved inside this aquatic prison, but as for me, I was
shivering all over. With whom were we dealing? Surely with some new breed of pirates, exploiting the sea after
their own fashion.

---

Read Text C(iii): The monster of the deep, then answer Questions 2(a)–(d)(iii)

Question 2(a-c)(iii)

(a) Identify a word or phrase from the text which suggests the same idea as the words underlined:

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 (i) Sophie’s younger sister forcibly grabbed her toy without asking her, and they got into a huge
fight [1]

(ii) Sally shone a bright light through her window to look for her missing cat. [1]

(iii) Sonia jumped enthusiastically into the swimming pool to cool off. [1]

(iv) Sonia’s swimming career came to an end when she broke her leg last summer.[1]

(b) Using your own words, explain what the writer means by each of the words underlined:

Just then, a b ubbling began astern and the boat started to move. We barely had time to hang on to its
topside, which emerged about 80 centimetres above water. It was i mperative to make contact with
whatever beings were confined inside the machine. I searched its surface for an opening, but the lines of
rivets were straight and uniform. We would have to wait for daylight to find some way of getting inside
this underwater boat, and if it made a dive, we were done for!

(i) bubbling [1] -

(ii) imperative [1] -

(iii) confined [1] -

(c) Use one example from the text below to explain how the writer describes the atmosphere or feelings
of the people onboard the boat as it started to move

Use your own words in your explanation.

Just then, a bubbling began astern and the boat started to move. We barely had time to hang on to its
topside, which emerged about 80 centimetres above water. It was imperative to make contact with
whatever beings were confined inside the machine. I searched its surface for an opening, but the lines of
rivets were straight and uniform. We would have to wait for daylight to find some way of getting inside
this underwater boat, and if it made a dive, we were done for!
[3]

---

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Question 2(d)(iii)

Re-read the descriptions of:

(a) the sea in paragraph 6, beginning ‘The monster had…’;

(b) the vessel in paragraph 11, beginning ‘I hoisted myself…’.

Explain how the writer uses language to convey meaning and to create effect in these paragraphs.

Choose three examples of words or phrases from each paragraph to support your answer. Your choices
should include the use of imagery.

Write about 200 to 300 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer.

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Question 3

Directed Writing notes:

- 25 marks total
- 3 bullet points to focus on
- Candidates write about 250–350 words (A page and a half)
- More marks are given for your reading skills than for your writing skills, so read the passage and
choose the passage points carefully
- Approximately 3 points per bullet point. Don’t spend too little time on the third bullet point
- Third bullet point isn’t obvious in the passage. Use your common sense and logic to come up with
points for the third bullet point. This will separate you from all the other students.
- Possible text formats:
a. Report
b. Journal
c. Interview
d. Speech
e. Letter (formal/informal)
f. Article

Question 3 Practice 1 - Letter

Text C(iv) : The Spacesuit

Astronaut A is based at a station in space and is sent on a mission to remove some hazardous
debris which is occupying an orbit path.

When Satellite Control called me, I was in the observation bubble – the glass-domed office that juts out from
the axis of the space station like the hubcap of a wheel. Only a few yards away I could see the construction
teams performing their slow-motion ballet as they put the station together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. And
beyond them, four hundred kilometres below, was the blue-green glory of the full Earth, floating against the
ravelled star clouds.

‘Astronaut A here,’ I answered. ‘What’s the trouble?’

‘Our radar’s showing some metallic debris three kilometres away, almost stationary, about five degrees
west of Sirius. Someone needs to go out and haul it aboard; get it out of orbit.’

Hastily, I clambered into my spacesuit. Our suits are really baby spaceships, just big enough to hold one
person. They are cheerfully coloured stubby cylinders, about two metres long, and fitted with softly chattering,
low-powered propulsion jets. Their accordion sleeves at the upper end fit with hospitable snugness around an
astronaut’s arms and the gentle contours of the helmet’s visor finish the feeling that you are being looked after
by a responsible friend.

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Inside, I switched on the power and checked the gauges on the tiny instrument panel. All my needles were
well in the safety zone, so I lowered the transparent hemisphere over my head and sealed
myself in. For a short trip like this, I did not bother to check the suit’s internal lockers, which were
used to carry food and special equipment for extended missions. The conveyor belt decanted me into the air
lock. Then the pumps brought the pressure down to zero, the outer door opened, and the last traces of air swept
me out into the stars, turning me very slowly head over heels.

I was now an independent planet – a little world of my own. I was sealed up in a tiny mobile cylinder, with a
superb view of the entire universe, but I had practically no freedom of movement inside the suit. The padded
seat and safety harness prevented me from turning around, though I could reach all the controls and lockers
with my hands or feet.

In space the great enemy is the Sun, which can blast you to blindness in seconds. Very cautiously, I switched
the helmet’s external sunshade to automatic, so that whichever way the suit gyrated, my eyes would be
shielded.

Presently, I found my target, a bright fleck of silver whose metallic glint distinguished it clearly from the
surrounding stars. I stamped on the jet control pedal and felt the mild surge of acceleration as the lowpowered
rockets set me moving away from the station. After ten seconds of steady thrust, I cut off the drive. It would
take me five minutes to coast the rest of the way, and not much longer to return with my salvage.

And it was at that moment that I knew that something was horribly wrong!

They had changed now. To them had been added a sound which I could not identify. It was an
intermittent, muffled thudding, sometimes accompanied by a scraping noise.

I froze instantly, holding my breath and trying to locate the alien sound with my ears. The meters on the
control board gave no clues; all the needles were rock-steady on their scales; no flickering red
lights warned of impending disaster.

Three things had gone wrong at once. The oxygen regulator had run wild and sent the pressure soaring;
the safety valve had failed to blow, and a faulty joint had given way.

Blind panic meant that it took me several attempts before I could press the right button and switch my
transmitter to the emergency wavelength. ‘Station!’ I gasped. ‘I’m in trouble…’.

I never finished; they say my yell wrecked the microphone.

I must have lunged forward despite the safety harness and smashed against the upper ledge of the control
panel. When the rescue squad reached me a few minutes later, I was unconscious, with an angry bruise
across my forehead. Coming to my senses an hour later, I saw our medical staff gathered round my bed.

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---

Read carefully Text C(iv) : The Spacesuit, and then answer Questions 3(i)

Question 3(i)

Imagine you are the Commander of Satellite Control.

After this incident, you decide to write a letter to all satellite stations about safety issues for
astronauts who go on missions.

Write the letter from the Commander of Satellite Control to all satellite stations. In

your letter you should:

● briefly describe what happened to Astronaut A while out on the mission and why it is a matter of
concern
● explain the existing safety features of the spacesuits and how they are adapted to perform missions
● provide advice on additional measures that need to be taken to ensure astronauts’ safety.

Base your letter on what you have read in Text C(i), but be careful to use your own words.

Address each of the three bullet points.

Begin your letter:

‘Dear Colleagues, Last week we had a serious incident involving Astronaut A who had been sent
out on an important mission…’.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 10 marks for the quality
of your writing.

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Question 3 Practice 2 - Interview

Text C(v): My career as a journalist begins

The narrator, now a successful journalist and broadcaster, remembers his childhood when he
had recently moved with his mother, father and sister to the city.

I began working in journalism at eight years old. It was Mother’s idea. She wanted me to make something of
myself and, appraising my strengths, decided I’d better start young to have any chance of keeping up with the
competition. Dissatisfied with my father’s fourth-grade education, calloused hands and overalls, she
determined I’d not grow up like him and his people, and tried to wean me early from the country life we’d left
behind. Mother had fancier ideas of life’s possibilities: desks,
white collars and well-pressed suits.

She’d already spotted the flaw in my character. My ideal activity was lying prone listening to the radio. Mother
was powerless to hide her disgust. ‘You’ve got less gumption than a bump on a log,’ she’d say

My sister, Doris, had enough gumption for both of us, but back then elderly relatives only asked boys if they
wanted to grow up to be president.

My grandfather asked, ‘Well, what do you want to be then?’

I loved to rummage, collecting empty bottles with pretty labels, and discarded magazines. The most desirable
job instantly sprang to mind. ‘A garbage-man,’ I said. Mother decided action could no longer be safely delayed.

When I returned from school that afternoon I was introduced to an executive of the Post Publishing Company,
who bent low and shook my hand. Was it true, as my mother had told him, he asked, that I longed for the
opportunity to conquer the world of business?

Mother replied that I was blessed with a rare determination.

‘Have you the never-say-quit-spirit necessary to succeed in business?’ he asked me. Mother

said I certainly did.

He eyed me silently. I’d heard, no doubt, of The Post? ‘Heard of it?’ Mother said. ‘He

reads it religiously.’

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The executive announced my good fortune – I was to become a PPC representative. Next Tuesday, thirty
freshly printed copies of The Post would be delivered at our door. I would place them, still warm with the
heady ink of the presses, in a handsome canvas bag, sling it over my shoulder and set forth through the streets
to bring the best in journalism to citizens whose happiness depended upon us soldiers of the free press. He had
the bag with him, and presented it with reverence fit for my holy quest, draping the strap across my chest to
leave my sword-arm free for swift extraction of copies.
The following Tuesday I raced home from school, threw the bag on my shoulder, tilting left to balance its
weight, and embarked upon the highway of journalism.

I headed for my designated street corner. For several hours I made myself highly visible, shifting position
occasionally. At supper time, I walked back home.

‘How many did you sell?’ Mother asked.

‘None.’

‘What did you do?’

‘Stood on the corner.’

‘You just stood there?’

Father intervened, ‘I’ve been thinking for some time … and I’ve decided to take The Post. Put me down as a
regular customer.’ I handed him a magazine and he paid me

Afterwards, Mother instructed me in sales technique: doorbell-ringing and addressing adults with charming
self-confidence. I told her I’d changed my mind about wanting to succeed in the magazine business. Mother’s
powers of persuasion ensured I set forth with my bag again promptly next day. I returned, soaked, without a
single sale to report.

Mother beckoned Doris. ‘Leave your chores, go show Buddy how to sell those magazines,’ she said.

Brimming with zest, seven-year-old Doris dragged me back unceremoniously to the corner. She extracted a
Post from the bag, strode to the nearest car waiting at the lights and hammered her small fist against its closed
window. The driver, startled, lowered the window. Doris thrust the magazine at him, saying, ‘You need this.’
Awestruck, I watched Doris – a whirlwind of activity, a deluge of charming innocence – shift the entire batch
within minutes. Far from humiliated, I bought us apples on the way home to celebrate.

Months later, Mother finally concluded I would never make something of myself in business and started
considering careers demanding less competitive zeal. One evening she said, ‘Maybe you could be a
writer.’

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I clasped the idea to my heart. I’d never met a writer, had no burning urge to write, but loved listening to
stories. What writers did couldn’t be classified as work. Writers didn’t have to trudge through town peddling
from sacks, being rejected by surly strangers and savaged by the elements. I was enchanted by the vision.
Writers didn’t need any gumption at all.

---

Read carefully Text C(v): My career as a journalist begins, and then answer Questions 3(ii)

Question 3(ii)
Imagine you are Doris. Years later, now successful yourself, you are interviewed by a national radio
programme about your family, brother and memories of the upbringing the two of you had.

The interviewer asks you the following three questions only:

● What do you remember about your family and the values and attitudes to life they each had?
● Your brother claims he started his career in journalism at the age of eight. Tell us your
memories of him and what happened at that time.
● Looking back, can you explain how the skills and qualities you had as a child helped you get where
you are today?

Write your response to each of the interviewer’s questions.

Base your interview on what you have read in Text C(ii), but be careful to use your own words.

Address each of the three bullet points.

Begin your interview with your answer to the first question.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 10 marks for the quality
of your writing

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Question 3 Practice 3 - Article

Text C(vi) Mountain Biking

The narrator, Robert Costello, is a well-known cyclist. His expertise is in long-distance cycling on
mainly flat ground. He decides to learn about mountain biking at the time of a carnival in a region
renowned
for competitive mountain biking.

It’s a slightly humiliating admission given how long I’ve been cycling, but when it comes to the more
technical descents of mountain biking I’ve always been a bit of a coward. Fire roads, gravel paths, even root-
strewn forest tracks, in fact, anything that’s moderately flat albeit containing obstacles – that’s fine. But point
me down an atypically steep slope littered with sizeable rocks or, even worse, one of those man-made tracks
with steep walls, let alone jumps, and I freeze with terror. So it was that Flora, my guide and tutor in the
snowy mountains, faced something of a challenge

Downhill mountain biking has become increasingly important for this region’s summer tourism business. I
arrived for the area’s annual mountain biking carnival, where thousands of downhill aficionados lug
themselves and their lavishly suspensioned machines up via a network of chair-lifts. They immediately head
downwards, inching and slipping at first like cautious baby penguins at the head of an ice skid, then succumb
to the crazy dance of the drop, at manic speeds punctuated by brake-juddering twists and turns. Later, as
night-time falls, the pine-panelled halls echo to the sound of embroidered tales of near catastrophe and
indifferent rock music.

Since I am an avowed cross-country or long-distance rider, my bike is lightweight and has

bone-jarringly little suspension. Up until now, mountain biking had been an alien experience to me, so, when
the region’s hugely enthusiastic local press team asked if I’d like to see what I’d been missing, my reservations
were centred mainly on thoughts of painful injury. To help me out I was lent a far
more suitable bike, strictly speaking an ‘all mountain’ rather than downhill machine, but with a positively
sofa-like 140mm of suspension both at front and rear. I was also kitted out with plastic armour for my
elbows, knees and shins.

Most crucial of all was the expert assistance. This fell to Flora, an absurdly young and enthusiastic guide who
perhaps has many teenagers’ dream job: ski instructor by winter, mountain biking guide by summer. Endlessly
patient at my initial tortoise-like progress, with her trademark starting cry of ‘Go! Go! Go, Robert!’ she led me
through ever-quicker leans through the banked mud turns, managing to

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lead the way while simultaneously twisting back to watch my efforts and offer a raised thumb of
approval.

Basking in a mild sense of accomplishment at the day’s progress, and having enjoyed healthy fine dining at
one of the resort’s many restaurants, I decided to explore the region by foot that evening.
Flora had told me there were some 80 kilometres of mountain biking tracks. Now bathed in the gentle violet
hues of dusk, their inclines, twists and drops took on a softer presence. Large black conifer trees crept
noiselessly up the most steep mountain sides as if in mild mockery of the raucous
daytime chair-lift users. The snowy peaks peeped over their tops in modest affirmation of their
majestic beauty. Stilled by wonder, I strolled slowly back to my comfortable chalet and slept like a baby.

The next day, after a healthy breakfast, Flora’s plans for me were even more ambitious: re-learning my entire
posture for riding downhill. My rear-stuck-out, leaning backwards position was, apparently, excessive, leaving
me without sufficient control over the front end. The solution still involved an arched back, but the pivot point
was more central and thus more flexible.

For all Flora’s talents, I still never ventured down any trail more technical than a beginners’ run, since it takes
more than two mornings to undo twenty years of bad habits. However, by the end of the
second day I was considerably more confident. I was also – and this was the real change – positively enjoying
myself. I stood with the crowds and we all applauded the carnival prize winners in a range of different
categories: Children, Paraplegic, Beginners, Advanced.

I doubt I’ll ever be a convert to pure down-hilling. To me, the weighty bikes, armour, full-face helmets and
baggy outfits belong more to the worlds of motorcross or speedway than cycling. I also remain sufficiently
purist to consider it cheating if you don’t ride up a hill before riding down it.

But I’d recommend it to anyone wanting to give it a try. It’s certainly made me a more skilled rider

---

Read carefully Text C(vi): Mountain Biking, and then answer Questions 3(iii)

Question 3(iii)
You are one of the local press team.

You are writing an article about tourism and mountain biking in the region, including the arrival of the well-
known long-distance cyclist, Robert Costello.

Write the article.

In your article, you should explain:

● what the region has to offer tourists

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 ● what the region’s mountain biking entails
● what Robert was worried about initially and how he overcame his worries.

Base your article on what you have read in Passage A, but be careful to use your own words. Address

each of the three bullet points.

Begin your article: ‘Our region offers so much to keep visitors happy …’

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Intellectual Property of The Language Studio Sdn. Bhd (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).
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