Cambridge IGCSE™

MANDARIN CHINESE 0547/21

Paper 2 Reading May/June 2023
MARK SCHEME
Maximum Mark: 40

Published

This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of the
examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not indicate the
details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking began, which would have
considered the acceptability of alternative answers.

Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the question paper and the Principal Examiner Report for
Teachers.

Cambridge International will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes.

Cambridge International is publishing the mark schemes for the May/June 2023 series for most
Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge International A and AS Level and Cambridge Pre-U components, and some
Cambridge O Level components.

This document consists of 10 printed pages.

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Generic Marking Principles

These general marking principles must be applied by all examiners when marking candidate answers. They should be applied alongside the
specific content of the mark scheme or generic level descriptors for a question. Each question paper and mark scheme will also comply with these
marking principles.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 1:

Marks must be awarded in line with:

 the specific content of the mark scheme or the generic level descriptors for the question
 the specific skills defined in the mark scheme or in the generic level descriptors for the question
 the standard of response required by a candidate as exemplified by the standardisation scripts.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 2:

Marks awarded are always whole marks (not half marks, or other fractions).

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 3:

Marks must be awarded positively:

 marks are awarded for correct/valid answers, as defined in the mark scheme. However, credit is given for valid answers which go beyond
the scope of the syllabus and mark scheme, referring to your Team Leader as appropriate
 marks are awarded when candidates clearly demonstrate what they know and can do
 marks are not deducted for errors
 marks are not deducted for omissions
 answers should only be judged on the quality of spelling, punctuation and grammar when these features are specifically assessed by the
question as indicated by the mark scheme. The meaning, however, should be unambiguous.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 4:

Rules must be applied consistently, e.g. in situations where candidates have not followed instructions or in the application of generic level
descriptors.

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GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 5:

Marks should be awarded using the full range of marks defined in the mark scheme for the question (however; the use of the full mark range may
be limited according to the quality of the candidate responses seen).

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 6:

Marks awarded are based solely on the requirements as defined in the mark scheme. Marks should not be awarded with grade thresholds or
grade descriptors in mind.

Additional Guidance

The following guidance underpins the detailed instructions provided in the mark scheme. Where a decision is taken to deviate from this guidance
for a particular question, this will be specified in the mark scheme.

Often the additional guidance points will have to be weighed up against each other, e.g. the answer might look or sound like the intended
word/phrase in Chinese, but if what the candidate has written means something different in Chinese from what is expected, the mark cannot be
awarded.

It is not possible to list all acceptable alternatives in the mark scheme. If you encounter an answer which is not covered by the mark scheme, you
will need to make a decision about whether it communicates the required elements (in consultation with your Team Leader if necessary, or with
your Product Manager if you are a single examiner), and award marks accordingly.

 Crossing out:

(a) If a candidate changes his/her mind over an answer and crosses out an attempt, award a mark if the final attempt is correct.

(b) If a candidate crosses out an answer to a whole question but makes no second attempt at it, mark the crossed-out work.

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 More than the stipulated number of boxes ticked/crossed by the candidate:

(a) If more than one attempt is visible, but the candidate has clearly indicated which attempt is his/her final answer (e.g. by crossing out
other attempts or by annotating the script in some way), mark in the usual way.

(b) If two attempts are visible (e.g. two boxes ticked instead of the one box stipulated), and neither has been crossed out/discounted by the
candidate, no mark can be awarded.

 For questions requiring more than one element for the answer, (1) and (2), where the answers are interchangeable:

(a) Both of the correct answers are on line 1 and line 2 is blank (or vice versa) = 2 marks

(b) Both of the correct answers are on line 1 and line 2 contains a wrong answer (or vice versa) = 1 mark

 Mark for communication: Answers requiring the use of Chinese (rather than a non-verbal response) should be marked for communication.
Tolerate inaccuracies provided that the message is clear. However, do not accept incorrect Chinese if the word written by the candidate means
something else in Chinese (unless the mark scheme specifies otherwise).

(a) If you read aloud what the candidate has written, does it sound like the correct answer? Would a native speaker of Chinese understand
it?

(b) Does what the candidate has written look like the correct answer, e.g. one stroke missing but no other word created? Would a native
speaker of Chinese understand it?

(c) Accept incorrect person and possessive adjectives unless the mark scheme specifies otherwise.

Incorrect Chinese which constitutes a word in any language other than Chinese is marked (i) on the basis of whether it is accepted or rejected
in the mark scheme and (ii) if it is not mentioned in the mark scheme, on the basis of points (a) to (c) above.

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 Annotations used in the mark scheme:

(a) INV = invalidation. This is used when the additional material included by the candidate is judged to invalidate an otherwise correct
answer and therefore prevents him/her from scoring the mark. (INV = 0)

(b) tc = ‘tout court’. This means that, on its own, the material is not sufficient to score the mark.

(c) HA = harmless addition. This means that the candidate has included additional material which, in conjunction with the correct answer,
does not prevent him/her from scoring the mark.

 No response and ‘0’ marks:

(a) Award NR (no response):

If there is nothing written at all in the answer space or
If there is only a comment which does not in any way relate to the question being asked (e.g. ‘can’t do’ or ‘don’t know’) or If there is only
a mark which isn’t an attempt at the question (e.g. a dash, a question mark).

(b) Award 0:
If there is any attempt that earns no credit. This could, for example, include the candidate copying all or some of the question, or any
working that does not earn any marks, whether crossed out or not.

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 Extra material: Candidates need to answer the questions in such a way as to demonstrate that they have understood the text. The mark
scheme cannot cover all eventualities so where specific instructions are not provided, the examiner must check the text to ensure that the
correct elements which would attract the mark are not contradicted or distorted by any extra material. The following general rules should be
applied:

(a) Extra material, mentioned in the This is acceptable and is not penalised.
mark scheme, which reinforces the
correct answer or in itself
constitutes an alternative correct
answer:

(b) Extra material which constitutes an The examiner needs to decide, by consulting the transcript/text and the Team Leader if
alternative answer, but which is necessary, whether the alternative answer constitutes:
not explicitly mentioned in the (i) an alternative correct answer, in which case this falls into category (a) and the answer should
mark scheme: be rewarded, or
(ii) an answer which on its own would be rejected, in which case this falls into category (c) and
the answer should be rejected.

(c) Extra material which constitutes an This puts the examiner in the position of having to ‘choose’ which the intended answer is. The
alternative answer specifically examiner cannot therefore be sure what the candidate has understood and the mark cannot be
rejected in the mark scheme: awarded.

(d) Extra material which distorts or This affects communication. The examiner cannot be sure what the candidate has understood
contradicts the correct answer: and therefore the mark cannot be awarded.

(e) Extra material introduced by the This affects communication. The examiner cannot be sure what the candidate has understood
candidate and which does not and therefore the mark cannot be awarded. It can sometimes be difficult to draw the line between
feature in the original text: what is a deduction made by an able candidate on the basis of what they have read and pure
guesswork. Therefore, where a particular answer is not covered by the mark scheme, the
examiner should consult the Team Leader.

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4 Detailed Mark Scheme

Question Answer Marks Guidance

1 B 1

2 A 1

3 C 1

4 C 1

5 D 1

Question Answer Marks Guidance

6(a) D 1

6(b) C 1

6(c) B 1

6(d) E 1

Question Answer Marks Guidance

7(a) A 1

7(b) C 1

7(c) D 1

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Question Answer Marks Guidance

Before marking Question 8, read the section Additional Guidance.

8(a) 艺术学校 1 Reject long lifting: 我现在在一所艺术学校上学，是两个月前搬

进学校宿舍的。

8(b) 两个月前 1 Reject: 两个月/两个月前搬(进)

Reject long lifting: 我现在在一所艺术学校上学，是两个月前
搬进学校宿舍的。

8(c) 乒乓球桌 1 Accept: 还有乒乓球桌

8(d) 学校外面 1 Reject: 学校/外面

8(e) 音乐 1 Reject long lifting: 在学校，我最喜欢画画，我也学习音乐和建

筑。

建筑 1

8(f) (老师)非常有经验 1 Accept: 很有经验

Reject：有经验

8(g) 他家在另一个城市 1 Reject long lifting: 我家在另外一个城市，所以我不经常回家，

但是每个周五我都给家里打电话。

8(h) 给家里打电话 1 Reject：打电话

Reject long lifting: 我家在另外一个城市，所以我不经常回家，
但是每个周五我都给家里打电话。

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Question Answer Marks Guidance

9(a) B 1

9(b) D 1

9(c) C 1

9(d) D 1

9(e) A 1

Question Answer Marks Guidance

10(a) C 1

10(b) D 1

10(c) B 1

10(d) D 1

10(e) A 1

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Question Answer Marks Guidance

Before marking Question 11, read the section Additional Guidance.

11(a) 会计师 1

11(b) 去中文学校 1 Reject: 中文学校

去（不同的）兴趣班 1 Reject: （不同的）兴趣班

11(c) 只能听父母的 1

11(d) 技术学校 1

11(e) 一年 1

11(f) (自己)选择任何科目 1

11(g) 变得开朗了 1 Reject: 但现在变得开朗了

Reject: 丹尼以前不爱说话，但现在变得开朗了。

11(h) 他们过生日时 1 Accept: 父母和朋友过生日时

Reject: 过生日时/生日时寄给他们
Reject: 而是在他们过生日时寄给他们

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