Ca ss sm WITH al E YEARS es on m bridge A SAMPLE MATERIAL 25 ducation W king for ove or r ent Intern i at Cambridge IGCSE® First language English Fourth edition John Reynolds The Cambridge IGCSE® English as a First Language Student Book will help you to navigate syllabus objectives confidently. It is supported by a Workbook, a Study and Revision Guide, as well as by Student and Whiteboard eTextbook editions and an Online Teacher’s Guide. All the digital components are available via the Dynamic Learning platform. Cambridge IGCSE® English as a First Language Fourth edition ISBN 9781510421318 March 2018 Cambridge IGCSE® English as a First Language Workbook ISBN 9781510421325 June 2018 Cambridge IGCSE® English as a First Language Study and Revision Guide ISBN 9781510421349 January 2019 Cambridge IGCSE® English as a First Language Student eTextbook ISBN 9781510420281 April 2018 Cambridge IGCSE® English as a First Language Whiteboard eTextbook ISBN 9781510420298 March 2018 Cambridge IGCSE® English as a First Language Online Teacher’s Guide ISBN 9781510424159 July 2018 Online Teacher’s Guide Deliver more inventive and flexible Cambridge IGCSE® lessons with a cost-effective range of online resources. » Save time planning and ensure syllabus coverage with a scheme of work, teaching activities and worksheets, and expert teaching guidance. » Improve students’ confidence with exam-style questions including sample answers. » Consolidate knowledge with answers to all questions in the Student Book. The Online Teacher’s Guide is available via the Dynamic Learning platform. To find out more and sign up for a free, no obligation Dynamic Learning Trial, visit www.hoddereducation.com/dynamiclearning. Also available for the new Cambridge IGCSE® syllabuses from March 2018: IGCSE® is the registered trademark of Cambridge Assessment International Education To find your local agent please visit www.hoddereducation.com/agents or email international.sales@hoddereducation.com Contents Introduction Your course 1 How to use this book 2 Becoming a better reader 3 Applying your reading skills 4 Reading and summarising 5 Reading and extended response 6 Becoming a better writer 7 Applying your reading skills: directed writing 8 Writing compositions 9 Written coursework Index Acknowledgements 3 4 Reading and summarising Summary writing is one of the main tasks that you will be required to do in an examination. This is an exercise that tests both your reading and writing skills, and you will be assessed on how well your answers meet the following Assessment Objectives. Reading ★ ★ ★ demonstrate understanding of explicit meanings demonstrate understanding of implicit meanings and attitudes select and use for specific purposes. Writing ★ ★ ★ organise and structure ideas and opinions for deliberate effect use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures appropriate to content make accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar. Although the task involves writing, it is your reading skills that will really determine your success in a summary question. It is also important that you keep a clear head when attempting the task. 4.1 What does summary writing involve? Summaries come in different forms. You may have to: Remember You will never be asked to summarise a passage unless it is possible to do so by using fewer words than were in the original! » read one lengthy passage and summarise only the points contained in one or two paragraphs of it » read one lengthy passage and summarise points related to a particular aspect or aspects of it which occur throughout the passage » read two lengthy passages and summarise all the points relating to a particular aspect or aspects of them. No matter what form the question takes, the basic principles of summary writing remain the same. What is important is that you show evidence that you: » have understood what you have read » can select relevant information » can show your understanding of what you have read through using your own words where possible and in a shorter form than in the original. 4.2 Some practical guidelines Whatever level of examination you take, your summary writing can be improved if you keep the following points clearly in your mind. » Summary writing needs good planning and cannot be rushed. » Most examination questions will give a clear indication of the number of words that you should aim to write, for example, ‘You should write between 200–250 words.’ Sometimes this might be expressed as something like ‘about one side of the answer booklet’. 4 4.3 Writing a summary » As you can see, the writing itself will not take very long; the most important part of the process is deciding what to include and what should not be included – that’s why your active reading skills are essential. » It is important to organise your time efficiently when answering a summary task and, as part of your preparation for an examination, you should look closely at past papers and decide how long you have available to answer the question. Remember that this time allowance includes reading the original passage(s), making notes of the relevant points and planning your answer. It is important that you spend most of the time available on these aspects of answering the question: if you have a clear understanding of what you are going to write for your final version, the actual writing of it will not take very long at all. Once you have this basic approach clearly in mind, you can begin the task with confidence. Don’t panic: remember, all the information you need to include will be in the original passage(s), so all you have to do is identify the really important points. Note Note-making is particularly important. Some examinations require you to write a list of the main points which will be credited with marks before your final version of the summary. It may also help in your planning if you give your summary a title – it is not necessary to include this title as a heading for your final written summary but it’s a good way to help you keep focused on relevant details when making your preliminary notes. Study tips 1 Some points in the passage on which your summary will be based may be harder to find than others – this may be because they are implied by the writer, rather than being explicitly stated. Your final summary will be more successful if you are able to identify and include these implied points. 2 You can safely ignore: illustrations, quotations, long descriptions and strings of adjectives. 4.3 Writing a summary The following guidelines apply particularly to writing the type of summary based on aspects of a single, lengthy passage. Step 1: Read the question carefully This is very important, as it is unlikely that you will be required to summarise the whole of the original passage(s). The wording of the question will direct you towards the points you should include. For example, the whole passage may be about everyday life in Japan, but you may be asked to summarise only what it tells you about going to school in that country. You must, therefore, keep the wording of the question clearly in mind when reading the passage(s). Step 2: Read right through the passage(s) once This will allow you to gain a good, overall understanding of what the material is about. Remember that it is important that your summary shows that you have a clear overview of your subject matter. Step 3: identify the information that is relevant Refresh your memory of what the question asks you to do and then read through the passage(s) again very carefully. 5 4 READING AND SUMMARISING Key terms Paraphrase: To express something someone has said or written in a different way. Synonyms: Words with the same or similar meaning – instead of the exact words from the text. At this stage you should underline or highlight on the question paper all the information that is relevant to the question. You must be ruthless. Ignore anything that is not relevant, no matter how interesting you may find it. Step 4: Make notes in your own words Now is the time to put pen to paper. You should make rough notes of the points you have identified, using your own words as far as possible. Remember, the use of your own words is important as this is a way of showing that you have understood the passage(s). Try to: » paraphrase (rephrase) parts of the text to which you refer » use synonyms instead of the exact words from the text. This will make it very clear that you understand what you have read. Study tip Check that you have made each point only once: it’s an easy mistake to include three examples of the same point. The writer of the original passage is allowed to repeat ideas; you don’t have the space to do so. Step 5: Count the main points Once you have noted all the main points, count how many you have identified. If you have identified 20 points and you are aiming to write a summary of about 200 words, then, as a rough guide, try to write about ten words for each point. Study tip One of the main mistakes in summary writing is to use up too many words writing the early points, so the summary becomes top-heavy and unbalanced. Remember that all points should be given equal weighting. Key term Continuous prose: This is writing that follows the ordinary form of a written language (as opposed to verse, for example) in which sentences lead naturally from one to another without headings or bullet points. Step 6: Write the summary Once you have written rough notes in your own words, you should write them up as a piece of continuous prose, trying to keep your expression as concise as possible. If your notes are sufficiently detailed, this may only be a fine-tuning job. Study tip An important word of warning – do not include: • personal opinions • any introduction such as, ‘In this passage the writer says…’ • extra information or explanations • your own comments or opinions on the points made in the original text(s) • lengthy quotations from the original passage(s). The readers of your summary do not want to know your personal opinions about the topic; instead, they want to know how well you have understood the original writer’s viewpoint. Step 7: Final check Once you have written your summary, read it through to check that it makes sense. You may not have to count the number of words you wrote. If, for example, you know that you usually write about eight words per line, then a quick count up of the number of lines you have filled will give some indication of how many words you have written in total. 6 4.4 Style matters Study tip Summary tasks, unlike formal précis exercises, do not usually require you to write a specific number of words. Although a precise word limit is unlikely to be specified on a question paper, it is important that you try to express your understanding concisely within about one side of A4 paper. It is a good idea to focus your mind on this requirement when writing your answer. It is unlikely that a very long answer will gain the highest marks available for a question because you will not have shown your ability to select the key points and to stick to them. If you write considerably less than the suggested length, it is most probable that you will penalise yourself (and reduce your score) because it is almost certain you will have left out some of the important points. It is likely that the question will give a minimum and maximum number of words that you should aim to write. If you plan your summary carefully through the notes you make, you will almost certainly write an answer that is within the required word limit. Do not let yourself become obsessed with writing an exact number of words as by doing so, it is very likely that your written expression will be affected. 4.4 Style matters In many summary questions, in addition to marks being awarded for a selection of the correct points, such as those listed below, further marks may be available for written expression. It is, therefore, important that you take care with the quality of your writing as well as the content, as these marks could have a significant influence on your overall grade. Guidance as to what is good summary style is contained in the bullet points below. Note that the copying of chunks of material directly from the passage will not score highly – this is because copying the text does not prove that you have understood it. It is important that what you write shows that you have understood the text and can interpret what you have read. The following points should be followed very carefully; they contain some important advice. » Concision of expression is something which typifies the very best summaries. This can be achieved by making sure that you focus clearly on only the points stated in the wording of the question. » One way of doing this is to make sure that you don’t include any irrelevant comments; a generalised introductory paragraph is not necessary and simply uses up unnecessary words. » Lifting (or quoting) whole phrases or sentences from the original does not give a clear indication that you have understood the text. » A summary should be written using an objective, impersonal register; there is no need to comment or to write in the first person – even if that is the way in which the original has been written. 7 4 READING AND SUMMARISING 4.5 Example of a summary question Here is an example of a typical summary question, along with the text, to use for practice. In the following passage the writer describes his experience of a hot-air balloon flight over southern Turkey. The pilot of my balloon is a Swede called Lars and his co-pilot is his English wife Kali. They have flown all over the world but are almost as excited about today’s flight as we are. The air will be both clear and cool. Visibility should be nearperfect. We’re up in the sky about the same time as the sun, and for a while it is uncomfortably cold. The ride, though, is magnificent. The strange and unique landscape all begins to make sense as we rise above it. The eastern horizon is broken by the 4,000-metre peak of Erciyes Dagi, its summit partly ripped away by the eruption that helped shape everything we can see. Long, flat tables of rock mark the height of the plateau created by the vast lake of lava, most of it now cracked, fissured and fashioned into the bluffs, cones and tall pillars that cover the ground like sentinels of some petrified army. With the hard, bright sun at a low angle and a fresh-fallen blanket of snow on the ground, it’s not only the rocks that stand out. We can see the fine detail of fields and orchards and vineyards. Though the volcanic rock makes for fertile soil, the climate has changed over the last few years and, according to Kali, the combination of warmer winters and late frosts has ruined harvests. Vines and apricot trees have been worst affected and certainly the apricot orchards look especially vulnerable under the snow. Many farmers are turning to tourism instead, or leaving the area altogether. Lars seems less interested in what’s happening on the ground than what’s happening in the air. He reads the air currents with obsessive delight, alert to all the subtle shifts and patterns, such as the emptying of the cold air from the valleys as the land warms up. He takes us up to 8,000 feet. From here the detail is less distinct. The rock forests of Cappadocia have given way to a wider view, from the Taurus Mountains in the south and to the rising Anatolian plateau to the east. Source: http://palinstravels.co.uk/book-4253 8 4.5 Example of a summary question Remember Read the question carefully and identify the focus of your summary. Write a summary of what the passage tells you about what the writer saw from his balloon flight and his thoughts and feelings about the experience. You must use continuous writing (not note form) and use your own words as far as possible. Your summary should not be more than 180 words. Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 5 marks for the quality of your writing. Remember You should focus on only including points that are directly relevant to the subject of the summary and pay close attention to the wording of the task. The question asks for a summary of what the writer saw from his flight and not what he saw during it. For this reason, it is not necessary to include Lars and his wife in your answer. Similarly, much of the third paragraph is not relevant as it is background information about the effects of climate change and not what the writer saw and thought during the flight (apart from his reference to the apricot orchards). Teacher tip Read the question carefully and identify the focus of your summary. There are two key pieces of information required: what the writer saw and what he thought and felt during his flight. In preparation for writing your summary you should make notes of the relevant points under each heading. The key points have been highlighted (what was seen in yellow and thoughts and feelings in pink). Model response What the writer saw: 1 The mountain/peak of Erciyes Dagi 2 (Long,) flat tables of rock 3 Bluffs, cones and tall pillars (Note – you should not include the simile used to describe this feature.) 4 Bright sun 5 (Blanket of) snow 6 Fields and orchards 7 Less distinct details/wider view when higher up 8 Taurus Mountains/Anatolian Plateau The writer’s thoughts and feelings about the experience: 1 He was excited. 2 He was initially feeling cold. 3 He found the ride magnificent. 4 He began to understand the landscape. 5 He thought that the apricot orchards were under threat from the change in climate. 9 4 READING AND SUMMARISING You will notice that in the list of points in the model response (which is similar to those that would appear in an examination mark scheme), some of the words have been underlined. This indicates that the words are essential for the point to be credited. Other words are placed within, indicating that these details are not necessarily required. You will notice that the points that have been highlighted do not fall neatly into two groups. It is, therefore, important that you reorganise them so that you have two sets of points relating to the two prongs of the question. You can then attempt to turn them into two paragraphs (one for what the writer saw and the other for his thoughts and feelings) which develop them into clear sentences. Manipulating and rearranging the details in your notes in this way is a way of using your own words and showing that you have clearly understood the passage that you are summarising. Model answer At first, the writer saw the mountain, Erciyes Dagi, towering above the flat tables of rock and the high cliffs, and pillars of rock that rose from them. He saw the bright sun which allowed him a clear view of fields and orchards covered by a blanket of fresh snow. From 8,000 feet, the writer’s view of the ground became less distinct but he could see for a far greater distance, all the way from the Taurus Mountains to the Anatolian Plateau. The writer was very excited about his flight, especially as visibility conditions were perfect. They took off at sunrise, when he felt very cold at first but this did not prevent him from appreciating the magnificent ride. Being able to see the whole spread of the landscape from the air made it easier for him to understand its formation, and the overview of the apricot trees helped him to appreciate how much farming in the area was threatened by climate change, especially by the cold frosts of winter. 4.6 Practice writing a summary Having looked at the example and the model summary, you should now be able to write your own version. The following exercise is to those that might appear in Cambridge IGCSE First Language English examination papers; use all or a selection of them as appropriate to practise your skills. Exercise Write a summary of what you have learnt about the volcanoes on Hawaii and the effects of volcanoes on the Hawaiian islands. You must use continuous writing (not note form) and use your own words as far as possible. Your summary should be between 120–150 words. Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 5 marks for the quality of your writing. Remember The summary is asking for information about volcanoes and their effect on the Hawaiian islands. The passage, however, is written by the writer using the first person ‘I’. In your answer it is important that you focus primarily on the information the writer gives. You should, therefore, adopt an impersonal tone and not write as if you are the writer himself. You could start your answer, ‘Volcanoes on Hawaii are…’ 10 4.6 Practice writing a summary A land of fire But if you go to Hawaii expecting something extraordinary, and are prepared to look beyond Honolulu and Waikiki Beach, it can be found. On any of the islands you come upon landscapes of quite stunning beauty, but what really blew me away – almost literally – was the primeval power of the volcanoes of Hawaii itself. Each of the Hawaiian islands has been thrust 6,100 metres up from the ocean floor by the successive eruptions of submarine volcanoes. As each island in turn drifts away from the ‘hotspot’ on the sea bed, its volcano dies and it sinks back into the sea. Hawaii Island itself is the newest of them all, with two active volcanoes of over 4,000 metres, and it is still growing. As the director of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park assured me, ‘It’s alive. It changes. Every day there’s something new.’ We were at the crater of Kilauea volcano, about 2,100 metres above sea level but another 2,100 metres below the summit of the giant volcano Mauna Loa. Mark Twain, the nineteenth-century American writer, described the crater of Kilauea as a dazzling lake of fire; I was hiding my disappointment at finding it a desert. ‘But you’re so lucky,’ said the park director, ‘you’re here at exactly the right time to see something Mark Twain would have given anything to see – the volcano is erupting right into the ocean. You can hike out there and watch it as it happens.’ The volcano’s power to destroy and create at random is awesome. New land is added day by day. A new beach of jet-black sand was created overnight in January 1988, after an eruption out at sea. There it was the next morning; two miles long, utterly pristine. Whole towns have been engulfed; no one is sure where they are buried, as there is nowhere for the surveyors to get their bearings. There are no towns left on the southern coast. The Hawaiians abandoned their villages 150 years ago after a succession of terrible tidal waves. I parked my car where the Chain of Craters road runs into a solid wall of lava. A ranger handed me a ‘reassuring’ leaflet saying new lava is unstable and may collapse at any time, and it is best to avoid the clouds of hydrochloric acid. I set off towards the distant columns of steam that marked the hot spot. There is no path; you just pick your way through broken slabs and steam hissing from gashes in the rock. The surface of the rock is so rough that a simple fall can shred your skin. 11 Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity. Orders: please contact Bookpoint Ltd, 130 Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4SB. Telephone: (44) 01235 827720. Fax: (44) 01235 400454. Lines are open 9.00–5.00, Monday to Saturday, with a 24-hour message answering service. Visit our website at www.hoddereducation.com © John Reynolds 2018 First published in 2018 by Hodder Education An Hachette UK Company Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y0DZ All rights reserved. Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or held within any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or under licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Further details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Cover © Ziablik/Shutterstock; p.8 © cobalt88/Shutterstock; p.11 © Claudio Rossol/Shutterstock Text credits: p.8 An extract from Michael Palin, New Europe (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007), reproduced by permission of Orion Publishing Group. Copyright © Michael Palin 2007; p.11 An extract from The Rough Guide to the USA, 11th Edition, by Gavin Thomas (Rough Guides Limited, 2014). Copyright © Rough Guides Limited, 2014 ISBN: 9781510420274 Trust 25 years of partnership with Cambridge Assessment International Education All you need to teach the revised syllabuses with confidence, available from March 2018. Student’s Books Student and Whiteboard eTextbooks Cambridge IGCSE® and O Levels 9781510421271 9781510421219 9781510421233 9781510421363 9781510421189 9781510421318 9781510421400 Workbooks Revision Guides Teaching and Learning Resources Cambridge International AS & A Levels 9781510421721 9781510421752 9781510421646 9781510421660 9781510421684 9781510421738 9781510421745 9781510421776 9781510421783 9781510421806 9781510421813 9781510421790 9781510421899 We are working with Cambridge Assessment International Education towards endorsement of these titles. ® IGCSE® is a registered trademark of Cambridge Assessment International Education Please note covers are not final and are subject to change For more information or to view sample chapters visit www.hoddereducation.com/CambridgeAssessmentInternationalEducation1 Outlook ad_4.indd 1 9781510421189_IGCSE_History_sample.indd 3 28/07/2017 12:45 08/08/2017 08:56 This resource is endorsed by Cambridge Assessment International Education ✓ Supports the full Cambridge IGCSE® First Language English (0500/0990) syllabus for examination from 2020 quality-assurance process ✓ Developed by subject experts ✓ For Cambridge schools worldwide This textbook has been written for the latest Cambridge IGCSE® First Language English (0500/0990) syllabus. We are working with Cambridge Assessment International Education to gain endorsement for this forthcoming series. king for ove For over 25 years we have or r been trusted by Cambridge 25 YEARS schools around the world i es at sm to provide quality support ent Intern for teaching and learning. For this reason we have been selected by Cambridge Assessment International Education as an official publisher of endorsed material for their syllabuses. Sign up for a free trial – visit: www.hoddereducation.co.uk/dynamiclearning ducation al E WITH on ss This book is fully supported by Dynamic Learning – the online subscription service that helps make teaching and learning easier. Dynamic Learning provides unique tools and content for: ● front-of-class teaching ● streamlining planning and sharing lessons ● focused and flexible assessment preparation ● independent, flexible student study m bridge A Dynamic Learning Ca » Develop reading comprehension, analysis and evaluation with a variety of text types and genres, plus annotations to aid understanding. » Improve writing skills with model responses and teacher commentary, and establish a strong background in spelling, punctuation and grammar. » Expand communication skills with advice on holding presentations and responding to questions confidently. » Consolidate learning with activities and study tips, as well as extra questions, practice tests and answers to selected questions online. ✓ Has passed Cambridge International’s rigorous W Advance reading and writing skills with practical advice; ensure full coverage of the latest Cambridge IGCSE® First Language English syllabus with a fully updated Student’s Book, written by an experienced author and examiner.
