Specimen Paper Answers
Paper 1
Reading, Directed Writing and Classical Chinese
Cambridge IGCSE™
First Language Chinese 0509
For examination from 2020
Version 2
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Contents
Contents .............................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 4
Assessment overview .......................................................................................................... 5
Section 1, Question 1 .......................................................................................................... 6
Section 2, Question 2 .......................................................................................................... 9
Section 3, Question 3 ........................................................................................................ 12
Specimen Paper Answers – Paper 1
Introduction
The aim of this booklet is to exemplify standards for those teaching Cambridge IGCSE First Language
Chinese 0509, and to show examples of very good answers for Specimen Paper 1 Reading, Directed Writing
and Classical Chinese for examination from 2020, along with examiner comments.
Each answer is followed by a commentary written by a Cambridge examiner, explaining the strengths and
weaknesses of the answers. These examiner comments indicate why marks were awarded and how
answers could be improved.
The Specimen Papers and their mark schemes and inserts are available to download from the School
Support Hub. These files are:
2020 Specimen Paper 1
2020 Specimen Paper 1 Mark Scheme
Past exam resources and other teacher support materials are available on the School Support Hub
www.cambridgeinternational.org/support.
4
Specimen Paper Answers – Paper 1
Assessment overview
All candidates take two papers.
All candidates take:
And:
Paper 1
2 hours 15 minutes
Paper 2
2 hours
Reading, Directed Writing
and Classical Chinese
50%
Writing
50%
60 marks
50 marks
Questions will be based on syllabus content
Questions will be based on syllabus content
Externally assessed
Externally assessed
The syllabus for Cambridge IGCSE First Language Chinese is available at www.cambridgeinternational.org
5
Specimen Paper Answers – Paper 1
Section 1, Question 1
Specimen answers
作者最初觉得室友脾气让人捉摸不透，显得很神秘。1
还觉得室友对人很冷淡。1
因为室友的养父年龄很大，看上去像她的祖父。1
还因为她不喜欢养父。0
室友谈到回音谷时，把它描述得像“仙境”，表情也变得很柔和。[2]
室友的心情是轻松愉悦的。1
从养父的脸上可以看出他是“靠土地和天候过活”的，1
他脸上有“深沟的皱纹” 1
和“老人斑” 0
室友埋怨的命运包括她出生后被亲生父母遗弃，1
还对养父不甚理想的生活条件感到不满。1
6
Specimen Paper Answers – Paper 1
鹰无论飞多远多高，山都会等着它回巢。
室友无论走得多远，养父都会等她回家。2
突然见到养父出现，心情变得沉重、郁闷。1
字面意思是想表达室友从小到大心里都有一股怨恨的情绪。
作者想表达室友的怨恨之深、之久。2
字面意思是说室友的亲生父母生下室友后就把她抛弃了。
作者用这样的表达是想说明室友的亲生父母根本不在乎室友。2
从字面来看，室友在养父的对话中显得很随意，不是很主动。2
作者用这样的表达是想说明室友的亲生父母根本不在乎室友。
从字面上看，意思是室友内心的伤痛仍未愈合，她对自己的命运不能释怀。
作者想说明的是室友虽然表现得很神秘、很冷漠，但实际上很脆弱，
只不过不想让人看出来。2
7
Specimen Paper Answers – Paper 1
Examiner comments in English
What this section tests not only includes candidates’ ability to understand literal meaning of the passage, but
also includes their deduction ability of reading between the lines and understanding writers’ use of the
language. In other words, candidates need to be able to show their comprehension of passages from
different aspects, as well as their abilities to select, collate and summarise information.
To achieve high marks, candidates need to pay attention to the following three aspects when they answer
the questions.
1. Candidates need to read questions carefully to catch the key words of the question and avoid giving an
irrelevant answer. For example,
•
•
•
•
Question (a) is asking for ‘the first impression’, not the ‘twisted sorrow’ behind it, which was found
out later.
Question (b) is asking for reasons behind the roommate’s feeling. So an answer like ‘be afraid to be
laughed at’ explaining the effects/consequences, is not explaining the causes/reasons.
Question (e) is asking for examples regarding ‘wind’ and ‘rain’ which represent difficult experiences,
such as he was "charged on the battlefield," ,and was "living in the streets". It is not only about ‘face’
– that is why only 2 marks were awarded for the answer above.
Question (g) is asking about ‘relation’ between the two things, not as simple as ‘the mountain
represents the foster father and the eagle represents the roommate’.
2. Candidates need to read and understand between the lines, but not to over interpret the meaning. For
example, Question (b), answers like ‘the roommate is not close to/ dislikes her foster father’ go beyond the
context and over interpret the meaning. So in the above answer, it only got 1 mark for this question.
3. Candidates are encouraged to use their own words to organise their answers, showing their skills of
comprehensive understanding as well as organising their language. There may be some questions requiring
candidates to extract words or relevant information/descriptions from the passage. For example, Question (c)
is asking for ‘what kind of words and facial expression’ indicating the importance of ‘Huiyi Gu’ to her,
candidates need to find the relevant words from the text.
Examiner comments in Chinese
这部分阅读题考查的不仅是考生对文章字面意思的理解能力，还包括考生对字里行间隐含信息的推敲能力
以及对作者遣词造句的领悟力。换句话说，考生要具备摘选信息、联系上下文推测以及综述信息的能力。
为了取得高分，考生在作答时，可以从以三个方面入手。
一要重视审题，抓住问题中的关键字，避免答非所问。比如，
• (a)题问的是对室友的“最初印象”，就不是后来发现的“背后纠结的悲伤”；
• (b)题问的是室友感受背后的原因，我们不能用诸如“怕被讥笑”这样的答案因为它说的是结果而
非原因。
•
(e)题问的是“风”“雨”，代表养父经历的苦难，比如他在“战场上冲锋陷阵”过，也曾经“流
落街头”，举例时就不能仅仅停留在“脸”上——所以上面的答案中这题只得了 2 分；
• (g)题问的是两者间的“关系”，而不是简单的“山是养父，鹰是室友”。
二是体会字里行间未言明的意思时力求贴近原文，避免过度解读。比如(b)题，诸如“室友不喜欢她的养
父/和养父不亲”这样的答案就超出了上下文的语境，属于过度解读。所以上面的答案中这题只得了 1 分。
三是考生应尽量用自己的语言组织答案。他们不仅要理解文章、理解问题，还要有一定的语言表达能
力。有些问题也许需要考生从文中提炼出相关的信息。比如(c)题问的是“什么样的言词和表情反映出回音谷对
她的重要性” ，考生就要从文中找出相关描述。
徐航
Total marks awarded = 21 out of 23
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Specimen Paper Answers – Paper 1
Section 2, Question 2
尊 敬 的
乐
团 成 员：
你 们 好！我
友 都
是 你 们
了 你 们
停
叫 徐 航，是
一 名
的 粉 丝。最
近 我 们
止 发
布 音 乐 专
记 得
你 们 说
过 人
为 每
个 人 固
然 生 来
对 我 们
来 说，你
被 你
们 帅
过 你
们 的 穿 衣
你 们
的 人 格
平 等，但
气 的 容 貌
和 舞
打 扮。但
魅 力
我 们
所 折
息，十 分
的 “偶 像”。
影 响
力 却
的 灯 塔。我
作 所
了 解
服 — —
的 好 朋
难 过。
是 谁
蹈 动
随 着
和 我
得 知
辑 的 消
人 平 等，不
们 就 是
高 中 生，我
有 高 低
们 刚
的 音
之 分。
开 始
吸 引，也 曾
的 深 入，我
你 们
但 我 认
模 仿
们 更
乐 缓
是
为
解 了。
9
Specimen Paper Answers – Paper 1
你 们
的 音
乐 缓 解
了 我
们 学
习 生
活 中
一 路
奋 斗
的 过 程
也 激
励 着
我 们
不 断 成 长。当
们 也 理
解
身 为 偶 像， 高 度 透
明
的 生 活 让
时 候
必 须
得 三
思 而 行、以 身
作 则。但
我 们
从 你
们 身
上 学 会
注 社 会 公
递 快 乐。 可 以 说，你
完 美 的
是 我 们
也 正
你
然，我
们 很 多
因 为 这 样，
益，学 会
了 传
心 中
奋 斗
的 目
标 和
下 去。但 如
果 你
象 征。
所 以，我
们
们 就
了 关
的 压 力；你 们
们 在 此
的 决 定 无
为 粉 丝，我
们
法 更
恳 请 你
们 继
续 唱
改，我 们
也 会
客 观 理
尊 重 你
智 地
接 受。作
们 的 选 择。 祝 好，
徐 航
10
Specimen Paper Answers – Paper 1
Examiner comments in English
The task requires candidates to choose and summarise relevant information from two passages to answer
three aspects of the question. It also requires candidates to analyse, evaluate and develop opinions and
facts from the two passages. It tests candidates’ reading comprehension skill based on the texts and
questions, global reading and critical reading skills, as well as writing skill regarding organising language in
an efficient and convincing way.
On the content, a wide range of relevant information was carefully selected from both texts. The answer
reflected three aspects of the question and weaved three aspects together. It also provided the candidate’s
own analysis and judgement about some opinions in the texts.
As for use of the language, it was clearly structured as an email: beginning (with brief background
information), main body (statement of reasons) and ending (to make a request, to show understanding, to
express wishes). The language is quite concise. There were no redundant words, such as how much they
like the band or personal examples. It showed the candidate’s ability to use their own words, to express
themselves accurately and fluidly, to effectively link sentences, and to write in a relatively formal way.
To achieve a higher score, the answer could be more persuasive. It mainly referred to how the band
influenced their personal life. It might be better to expand the discussion a bit. For example, to compare it
with other idol groups, or to talk about the influence of public figures on society as a whole rather than
individuals. The beginning and ending could be more concise as well.
Examiner comments in Chinese
这篇作文的要求是围绕问题的三方面，筛选并总结短文中的相关信息，对两篇短文中的事实和
观点进行分析、评价和扩展。既考查了考生对文章和题目的理解，又考查了考生综合阅读和批判阅
读的能力，还考查了考生有效组织语言的写作能力。
上面这篇作文得了高分。内容上，选取了两篇短文的大量的相关内容，回答了问题的三个方
面，并且把三方面都融合起来了。能对文章中的一些观点做出分析和自己的判断。
语言组织方面，作为一封邮件，结构清晰：有开头（简要铺陈背景）、有主体（陈述原因）、
有结尾（提出请求、表示理解、表达祝愿）；语言简洁，没有多余的话，比如没有说我们是有多喜
欢你们这个乐团，没有列举具体个人事例进行说明；用自己的话遣词造句，表达准确流畅，行文逻
辑通顺，符合比较正式的书面语要求。
得分方面的进步空间：这篇作文在“说服力”方面稍差一点儿，主要说的是这个乐团对他们个
人的影响。如果能把讨论的范围扩大一点儿，比如和其他偶像团体进行对比，或谈到公众人物对整
个社会的影响力，可能会更好一点儿。文章的开头和结尾也可以更简练些。
Reading: 13 out of 15
Writing: 9 out of 10
Total marks awarded = 22 out of 25
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Specimen Paper Answers – Paper 1
Section 3, Question 3
因为这把琴的制作材料是很好的桐木（“良桐”），并且弹奏的声音十分优美 1
让这把琴看上去像是一把古琴。1
去 1
交易 1
都 1
乐官 1
工之侨 1
第一次献琴，得到的评价是琴不够古老（“弗古”）。1
第二次献琴，得到的评价是这把琴是世间罕有的宝物（“稀世之珍也”）。1
工之侨最后觉得世道十分可悲，只有一把好琴 0
12
Specimen Paper Answers – Paper 1
 1
 1
13
Specimen Paper Answers – Paper 1
Examiner comments in English
Reading comprehension of classic passages focuses on understanding of words and context. For the word
part, it includes some words which are still used in modern Chinese but in a quite different way, e.g.
Question (c)(i). It also includes characters still used widely in modern Chinese words, e.g. Question (c)(ii)
and (iii). Teachers and candidates are encouraged to learn the meaning of a word from single characters’
perspective because classic Chinese is more condense than modern Chinese. In classic Chinese, one
character often represents a word. In addition, an understanding of pronouns is very important, e.g. Question
(g) and (h). It is relatively easy to get what it refers to when you put it in the context.
Additionally, like reading comprehension of articles in modern Chinese, there are also literal questions, e.g.
Question(a); questions testing implicit meanings, e.g. Question(b); global question, e.g. Question(e); implicit
+ global question, e.g. Question(f). To prepare for these questions, the fundamental thing is to understand
the text. More reading practice will help candidates overcome difficulties in understanding classic articles
literally.
The answer above lost 1 mark for Question(f) because the candidate misunderstood the text and did not get
what sadness is about from the context, which is ‘focusing on the surface and ignore the essence’. So it is
important to understand the context.
Examiner comments in Chinese
古文的阅读主要考查考生对字词和上下文关系的理解。字词部分包括一些和现代汉语意思不太相同的词，
如 Question (c)(i)，也包括一些现代汉语词语中常用的字，如 Question (c)(ii)和(iii)。古文比现代汉语更凝练，
往往一个字就相当于一个词，所以建议老师和考生平时不妨多从字的角度出发探寻词语的意思。字词考查的另
一部分还包括对代词的理解，如 Question(g)和(h)。这一部分主要通过上下文来推敲，抓住语境，就比较容易
得出答案。
另外，和现代文阅读一样，古文阅读也考查学生对句子字面意思的理解，如 Question (a)；对上下文关系
的推敲，如 Question(b)；对信息的整合，如 Question(e)；结合全文对字里行间隐含意思的理解，如
Question(f)。这一部分的准备和现代文一样，只不过要建立在读懂古文的基础上。如果考生感到困难，还是要
加强古文的阅读训练。
上面答案的(f)一题，对文章的理解有偏差，没有抓住上下文体现出的“光看表面，不看内在”才是悲哀所在的
思想，所以丢分了。答题时要注意结合上下文。
Total marks awarded = 11 out of 12
14
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