Cambridge International Examinations
Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education
FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH
0500/02
Paper 2 Reading Passages (Extended)
For Examination from 2015
SPECIMEN READING BOOKLET INSERT
2 hours
READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST
This Reading Booklet Insert contains the reading passages for use with all the questions on the Question
Paper.
You may annotate this Reading Booklet Insert and use the blank spaces for planning.
This Reading Booklet Insert is not assessed by the Examiner.
This document consists of 4 printed pages.
© UCLES 2012
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2
Part 1
Read Passage A carefully, and then answer Questions 1 and 2 on the Question Paper.
Passage A: The Beast of Bodmin Moor
Nicole Panteli is a journalist for a weekly local newspaper. They send her to the large, remote and
wild area of countryside where she lived as a child, to find out more about the so-called big cat which
is preying on local sheep.
Nicole was lost. It was easy to lose one’s way on the moor, especially on a November afternoon when
the light was thickening and the landscape stretched the same unvariegated grey in all directions. She
drove along a narrow, empty road, looking for a road sign or any building which might contain an
inhabitant to give her directions. A fleeting, shadowy movement by the roadside reminded her of the
tales of the Beast of Bodmin Moor which had fascinated her as a child. She remembered being told
that a vicious predator had killed large numbers of sheep, but that a government investigation had not
found evidence to prove that there was a foreign big cat in the area, and had concluded that native
wild animals were the culprits. Originally excited when she heard that a leopard skull had been found
in the river, she was disappointed when the local museum was convinced that it was part of a
leopard-skin rug put there as a hoax.
However, the sightings and attacks continued over the next 20 years after she left the moor, and now
she was returning to find out why the local farmers were still convinced that the injuries to their
livestock proved that the killer was a type of cat. She already knew that they refused to believe it was
a native animal because its appearance was not consistent with it being a pony, wild boar or large
dog. Officials from the nearby zoo had recently identified pawprints left in mud on the moor as the
tracks of a puma, and a 20-second video had just been released which seemed to show big cats
roaming nearby.
As she rounded the next bend, thinking about these things, she saw a startlingly large, black feline
cross the road with an unhurried, sinuous, fluid movement. Its thick, sinewy shoulders suggested
massive strength and speed, like that of engine pistons. As it passed, it turned to stare at her and its
great, yellow, black-slitted orbs were caught in the headlights. She noticed its pricked, tufted ears and
its short, coarse, raven-black coat before it turned, raising and waving its curved snake of a tail as if
making a victory salute. The spectral vision dissolved into the bushes, leaving her with a thumping
heart and the feeling that she had witnessed a supernatural manifestation.
A little further along she took a turning with a handwritten sign pointing to ‘Gables Farm’. She had to
leave the car and cross a rickety, rotting footbridge over a rushing stream. Another battered sign,
nailed to a tree, bore the ominous words, ambiguously addressed: ‘Wild Big Cats – Keep Out’.
A shiny, weather-beaten man with tremendous whiskers and a crusty hat the colour of an overcooked pie appeared at the farm gate, carrying a rifle. When she explained she was lost and had just
had an unnerving experience, he took her into his kitchen and sat her down at a stained oak table
while he made tea and talked about the beast.
‘You always know when it’s about. Rabbits and foxes disappear and birds stop singing. If the ministry
people knew anything about country life they’d know it couldn’t be a dog. If it’s a dog there’s noise,
and wool and mess everywhere. But a cat goes in to the kill quickly, eats its fill, and slinks off.’ The
farmer told her that the beast owed him a thousand pounds for dead livestock, and that other farmers
had sold their flocks after losing so many sheep. His neighbour had captured the beast on video,
along with the tell-tale signs of four long scratch marks on the mauled sheep, and had also found
hairs which she’d sent off for analysis, but had received no result.
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The farmer continued: ‘The only reason to suppress the result would be to avoid panic. Another
neighbour got hold of a recording of a puma mating call, and we recognised the scream we hear at
night. Everyone round here believes in the beast, even though we’re sceptical about most things and
haven’t got time to waste concocting fantasies.’ His parting shot as Nicole thanked him and left was to
say, ‘We don’t want the beast shot, but we do want it acknowledged and kept under control so it
doesn’t continue to destroy our livelihoods.’
© UCLES 2012
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Part 2
Read Passage B carefully, and then answer Question 3 on the Question Paper.
Passage B: Unicorns and Yetis
This passage from a website describes the history of two creatures generally believed to be mythical.
The historical existence of the unicorn is an idea which is easy to accept. Its resemblance to actual
animals, such as horses and antelopes, gives it an almost common-sense appeal, and the creature
exerts a powerful attraction in numerous popular cultures. The first reports of the unicorn were found
in works of ancient Greek history from 2,400 years ago, while eastern cultures recorded details of onehorned animals during the era of Genghis Khan.
Thorough research into contemporary wildlife has not supported the possibility of creatures with the
characteristics of a unicorn, but to the present day, sightings of unicorns are reported from Mount
Kilimanjaro in Kenya. In 1987, Robert Vavra took an expedition there to find the mythical beast and
became famous when he published his sensational diary, complete with photographs, claiming that
with the help of Masai warriors he had tracked it down. Many people want to believe him.
The other well-known mythical creature is the yeti. For fifty years the snowy wastes of the Himalayas
have beckoned intrepid explorers in search of the mysterious animal also known as ‘the abominable
snowman’. Occasional sightings of large hairy creatures walking on two legs across the snows or in
the forested valleys of Nepal and Tibet have kept the legend alive. Conclusive evidence of the
creature’s existence has proven elusive, however. The picture of a large, wide footprint, taken by Sir
Edmund Hillary in 1951 while climbing Mount Everest, proves nothing.
Since that time a number of yeti ‘relics’ have turned up. In 1960, western visitors to a Nepalese
monastery were astonished to find monks using a ‘yeti scalp’ in some of their rituals. Analysis of the
red hairs, however, showed that they had originated from a mountain goat. A different monastery
presented a severed hand, obviously from a primate, as evidence that some kind of ape man was still
wandering the mountain fortresses of the Himalayas. The hand could, of course, have come from
anywhere – and it vanished in 1991. Finally, there have been rumours, started by travellers, of huge
mummified bodies of yeti preserved in even more remote monasteries. These turned out to be fakes,
or were no longer where they were supposed to be. However, belief in the existence of the ‘wild man
of the snows’ is still real enough among the locals. What could account for this?
A popular theory among zoologists is that the idea of the yeti is based upon handed-down memories
of apes, possibly orang-utans, which may have lived in the mountain forests of this region in the
distant past. Some argue that a few of these apes still survive in small numbers, just occasionally
spotted crossing a snowfield from one valley to another. Reinhold Messner, one of the world’s
foremost mountaineers, believes that the legend is based upon a real but little-known animal that
inhabited the forests of eastern Tibet. This was the area the Sherpas once lived in before migrating to
present-day Nepal, so they may have taken with them their traditional stories.
Messner decided to investigate the yeti for himself, so in 1986 he retraced the Sherpas’ migratory
route in eastern Tibet. In his book he describes a terrifying night hiking through the forest, haunted by
the strange whistling cries of a creature he was later to see. Several times a tall biped with long arms
ran across his path. Eventually the creature stood in front of him, raising itself to full height before
running off on all fours at incredible speed into the woods. When Messner reached a settlement, he
was told by the villagers that he had seen a ‘chemo’, a Tibetan name for a yeti. This encounter took
place in the heart of the area from which the Sherpas had brought their yeti stories, so the large, hairy,
ape-like man may just be a Tibetan bear, transformed by Sherpa legend into something more.
Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.
Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University of Cambridge Local
Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a department of the University of Cambridge.
© UCLES 2012
0500/02/SIN/15
Cambridge International Examinations
Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education
FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH
Paper 2 Reading Passages (Extended)
0500/02
For Examination from 2015
SPECIMEN PAPER
2 hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST
Write your Centre number, candidate number and name in the spaces provided.
Write in dark blue or black pen.
Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid.
Answer all questions in the space provided. If additional space is required, you should use the lined pages at
the end of this booklet. The question number(s) must be clearly shown.
Dictionaries are not permitted.
The Reading Booklet Insert contains the reading passages for use with all questions on the Question Paper.
This Reading Booklet Insert is not assessed by the Examiner.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.
This document consists of 12 printed pages and 1 Insert.
© UCLES 2012
[Turn over
2
Read carefully Passage A, The Beast of Bodmin Moor, in the Reading Booklet Insert and then
answer Questions 1 and 2 on this Question Paper.
Question 1
You are Nicole Panteli, the journalist. Write a newspaper article for the local newspaper based
on your visit to the moor, with the title ‘Big Cat or Tall Story?’.
In your newspaper article you should comment on:
• what the local people believe about the ‘beast’
• your own memories and your experience while driving across the moor
• your opinions on the ‘beast’ and the locals, and predictions for the future.
Base your newspaper article on what you have read in Passage A, but be careful to use your own
words. Address each of the three bullets.
Begin the newspaper article: ‘Last week I went on a trip down memory lane to investigate a longstanding mystery…’.
Write about 250 to 350 words.
Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 5 marks for the
quality of your writing.
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[Total: 20]
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Question 2
Re-read the descriptions of:
(a) the appearance of the beast in paragraph 3, beginning ‘As she rounded…’
(b) the appearance of the farmer and his farm in paragraph 4, beginning ‘A little further...’.
Select four powerful words or phrases from each paragraph. Your choices should include
imagery. Explain how each word or phrase selected is used effectively in the context.
Write about 200 to 300 words.
Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer.
© UCLES 2012
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[Total: 10]
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[Turn to page 8 for Question 3]
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Read carefully Passage B, Unicorns and Yetis, in the Reading Booklet Insert and then answer
Question 3(a) and (b) on this Question Paper.
Question 3
Answer the questions in the order set.
(a) Notes
What are the reasons for not believing in the existence of unicorns and yetis, according to
Passage B?
Write your answer using short notes.
You do not need to use your own words.
Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer.
The reasons for not believing in the existence of unicorns and yetis:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
[Total: 15]
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(b) Summary
Now use your notes to write a summary of what Passage B tells you about the reasons for
not believing in the existence of unicorns and yetis.
You must use continuous writing (not note form) and use your own words as far as
possible.
Your summary should include all 15 of your points in Question 3(a) and must be 200 to 250
words.
Up to 5 marks are available for the quality of your writing.
© UCLES 2012
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[Total: 5]
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Additional Page
If you use the following lined page to complete the answer(s) to any question(s), the question
number(s) must be clearly shown.
© UCLES 2012
0500/02/SP/15
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Additional Page
If you use the following lined page to complete the answer(s) to any question(s), the question
number(s) must be clearly shown.
Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.
Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University of Cambridge Local
Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a department of the University of Cambridge.
© UCLES 2012
0500/02/SP/15
Cambridge International Examinations
Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education
FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH
Paper 3 Directed Writing and Composition
0500/03
For Examination from 2015
SPECIMEN READING BOOKLET INSERT
2 hours
READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST
This Reading Booklet Insert contains the reading passages for use with Section 1, Question 1 on the
Question Paper.
You may annotate this Reading Booklet Insert and use the blank spaces for planning.
This Reading Booklet Insert is not assessed by the Examiner.
This document consists of 3 printed pages and 1 blank page.
© UCLES 2012
[Turn over
2
Read the two passages carefully, and then answer Question 1 on the Question Paper.
Fact file: Home-schooling
•
The most common reason for choosing home-schooling is that parents are not satisfied with local
schools.
•
Many home-schooled children are allowed to sit exams or participate in clubs and social activities
in a local school.
•
Research shows that home-schooled children consistently outperform school-educated children
at all academic levels.
•
A significantly higher proportion of home-schooled students, compared to school students, go on
to university.
•
Many universities claim that they do not discriminate against home-schooled students.
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In this magazine article, a university student describes the experience of being home schooled.
My School was my Home! by Fleur Britten
I don’t have a single GCSE or A level, but I’m in my third year at University, studying law. I was home
educated from the age of eight until 18. One of the universities I applied to responded by email,
saying: ‘Did you forget to fill the form in?’ It’s tricky and expensive to get qualifications if you’re home
educated, especially if you want to do lots of them, and there’s no incentive for schools to assist
pupils educated at home. Some universities refused to consider my application; the university I am at
was marvellous, though, and treated me like any other candidate.
Home-education was never the plan. My school closed down when I was eight, in the middle of the
academic year. My parents asked me if I’d like to give home-education a go. I agreed, and I always
enjoyed it. My father went out to work whilst my mother worked from home, but she was there all the
time for us. She had done a bit of teaching before, although she isn’t qualified.
Home-education is much less drastic than people imagine. It’s not as though you’re in your house all
day, never meeting people. Other children are only in school for six hours a day, after all. The only
difference is that for those six hours you are not sitting in a classroom, but getting around and leading
a more active life.
My parents allowed my younger brother and me to take our own approach to studies – we were
supervised, but it was very informal. We never had deadlines, exams, homework or even a timetable,
but I don’t have a problem with self-discipline. I might do nothing on a Wednesday, but work all
weekend. I’d go through phases of hiking in the hills or reading in a corner for two weeks. In the
beginning, however, I did spend a few months watching appalling TV and playing computer games.
Had it gone on, my parents would have acted, but I got over it. There’s only so much daytime
television you can watch!
I became fascinated with Antarctica, so my parents persuaded me to research it in more detail. They
nudged me into subjects that I’d need, such as maths, and we had a French tutor who came weekly.
Education is much broader than someone sitting you down and telling you things. Mine was a
question of working out what areas I was interested in, then finding the relevant book, website or
museum.
I discovered that academic institutions – the British Antarctic Survey and the Science Museum, for
example – are very willing to respond to an interested ten-year-old. I appreciated the freedom to
pursue my interests to a greater extent than the school curriculum would allow. It’s common that
children in home-education don’t get bored, and my lack of knowledge of advanced physics is not
something I mourn.
I wasn’t learning in complete isolation; there was a group of us who would get together for science
experiments and museum trips. It is estimated that between 50,000 and 80,000 British children are
educated at home each year, and there’s a support service, Education Otherwise, that organises local
groups and has an advice line.
People who haven’t come across home-education before seem to think we have no social skills.
I didn’t find socialising a problem – I live in a city and made friends on my street. I also went to a
music college and made friends there. You have to be more proactive if you want a social life,
because it is not provided for you – it’s more like being an adult. I had a lot of work experience
because I was free to go out and do it. I don’t think home-education is perfect; it’s just another valid
model, though I’ve done well from it. I had a pleasant education, and it landed me a place at a good
university.
© UCLES 2012
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BLANK PAGE
Copyright Acknowledgements:
Question 1
© Adapted: Fleur Britten; Sunday Times Style Magazine; Times Newspapers Ltd; 18 October 2009. Permissions applied for.
Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.
Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University of Cambridge Local
Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a department of the University of Cambridge.
© UCLES 2012
0500/03/SIN/15
Cambridge International Examinations
Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education
FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH
Paper 3 Directed Writing and Composition
0500/03
For Examination from 2015
SPECIMEN PAPER
2 hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST
Write your Centre number, candidate number and name in the spaces provided.
Write in dark blue or black pen.
Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid.
Answer two questions in the space provided: Question 1 in Section 1 and one question from Section 2.
If additional space is required, you should use the lined pages at the end of this booklet. The question
number(s) must be clearly shown.
Dictionaries are not permitted.
The Reading Booklet Insert contains the reading passages for use with Question 1 in Section 1 on the
Question Paper.
This Reading Booklet Insert is not assessed by the Examiner.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.
This document consists of 10 printed pages, 2 blank pages and 1 Insert.
© UCLES 2012
[Turn over
2
Read carefully the fact file and the magazine article in the Reading Booklet Insert and then answer
Section 1, Question 1 on this Question Paper.
Section 1: Directed Writing
Question 1
Imagine that your aunt and uncle are considering educating your cousin at home and have asked
for your views. Your cousin is an only child and, in your opinion, rather spoilt.
Write a letter to your aunt and uncle in which you should explain:
• the advantages of being home schooled
• the reasons why home-schooling may not be advisable
• why you would or would not recommend home-schooling for your cousin.
Base your letter on the fact file and the magazine article, but be careful to use your own words.
Address each of the three bullets.
Begin your letter: ‘Dear Aunt and Uncle…’.
Write about 250 to 350 words.
Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 15 marks for the
quality of your writing.
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[Total: 25]
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[Turn to page 6 for Section 2]
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Section 2: Composition
Questions 2 and 3
Write about 350 to 450 words on one of the following questions. Answer on this Question Paper.
Up to 13 marks are available for the content and structure of your answer, and up to 12 marks
for the style and accuracy of your writing.
Descriptive Writing
2
(a) Describe the scene and atmosphere when you visit a theme park, fairground or carnival.
OR
2
(b) Describe the last moments before you leave a place for ever.
Narrative Writing
3
(a) ‘The figure in the long, black coat.’ Use this as the title of a narrative.
OR
3
(b) Write a story that starts with the opening of a door to a room that you are not supposed to
enter.
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Please write your chosen question number here (2(a), 2(b), 3(a) or 3(b)):
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[Total: 25]
© UCLES 2012
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Additional Page
If you use the following lined page to complete the answer(s) to any question(s), the question
number(s) must be clearly shown.
© UCLES 2012
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11
Additional Page
If you use the following lined page to complete the answer(s) to any question(s), the question
number(s) must be clearly shown.
© UCLES 2012
0500/03/SP/15
[Turn over
12
BLANK PAGE
Copyright Acknowledgements:
Question 1
© Adapted: Fleur Britten; Sunday Times Style Magazine; Times Newspapers Ltd; 18 October 2009. Permissions applied for.
Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.
Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University of Cambridge Local
Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a department of the University of Cambridge.
© UCLES 2012
0500/03/SP/15