Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab

Subject: English First Language

IGCSE First Language English 0500

Revision Booklet
Contents:
1. Syllabus Outline:
a. Assessment Objectives
b. Examination Information
2. Comprehension and Summary Questions
3. Writer’s Effect
4. Extended writing genres and sample questions
letter
a.
b. news report
c. formal report
d. journal
e. speech
f. interview
g. article
5. Composition Writing
a. Narrative Writing
b. Descriptive Writing
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
1.IGCSE English Language 0500 – Syllabus Outline
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
Skill Assessment Objective
 R1 demonstrate understanding of explicit meanings
Reading

 R2 demonstrate understanding of implicit meanings and attitudes

 R3 analyse, evaluate and develop facts, ideas and opinions, using
AO1:

appropriate support from the text

 R4 demonstrate understanding of how writers achieve effects and
influence readers
 R5 select and use information for specific purposes.
 W1 articulate experience and express what is thought, felt and imagined
Writing

 W2 organise and structure ideas and opinions for deliberate effect

AO2:

 W3 use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures appropriate to

context
 W4 use register appropriate to context
 W5 make accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar.
 SL1 articulate experience and express what is thought, felt and
Speaking

Listening

imagined
 SL2 present facts, ideas and opinions in a cohesive order which sustains
AO3:

and

the audience’s interest

 SL3 communicate clearly and purposefully using fluent language
 SL4 use register appropriate to context
 SL5 listen and respond appropriately in conversation.

Component Time & Marks Skills assessed Details % of final

Paper 1: 2hr exam Reading (65 marks) Read 3 texts in the 50%
Reading 80 marks Writing (15 marks) exam and answer 3
Passages questions.
Paper 2: 2hr exam Reading (15 marks) Read 1 or 2 texts in 50%
Directed 80 marks Writing (65 marks) the exam and answer
Writing a 2 questions.
Component 4 Additional test 10- Speaking (30 marks) Individual talk: +/- 3–4 Separately
12 minutes total Listening (10 marks) mins endorsed
40 marks on a single
topic/theme. This talk
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
leads into a
conversation about the
chosen
topic/theme.
Examination Information

Paper 1: Reading
Question Exercise Description Marks
Type
1. Comprehension Short answer Read Text A and complete a set of sub- 15
and summary questions questions on the content of the text.
task
2. Comprehension Summary task Read Text B and write a summary of up to 120 15
and summary words of an informative or other non-fiction
task text.
3. Short answer Short answer Read Text C and complete a set of sub- 10
questions and questions questions on the writer’s use of language.
language task
4. Short answer Writers’ Re-read Text C and write 200-300 words on 15
questions and effects task the meaning and effects of three selected
language task phrases per paragraph.
5. Extended Genre Re-read Text C and write 250-350 words in 25
response to transformatio one of the following text types: letter, news
reading n task report, formal report, journal, speech,
interview and article.

Paper 2: Writing
Section Type of Exercise Description Mar
ks
Section A Directed Writing Write 250-350 words on one or two texts, using, 40
developing and evaluating information in the
text(s) to create a discursive/persuasive
speech/article/letter.
Section B Composition Answer one question from a choice of four titles: 40
two descriptive and two narrative. Write 250 –
350 words.

Speaking and Listening

Part Type of Exercise Description Marks
1. Individual Talk Talk for 3 – 4 minutes on a topic chosen prior to the 20
test. You are encouraged to make presentations
that are lively and may include a few illustrative
materials.
2. Conversation Take part in a discussion lasting 7 – 8 minutes with 20
the teacher, following on from Part 1. You are
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
encouraged to consider how a conversation might
develop around the topic and be prepared to
supply additional information.

**NB** This component is not included in your final overall grade; you will
receive a separate endorsement from Cambridge.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
Comprehension and Summary Writing
This is the first question on the reading paper, Paper 1. It is based on two texts, Text A
and Text B, and the question is divided into two separate tasks:
1) Comprehension task (based on Text A)
You respond to a series of sub-questions. These sub-questions test your understanding of
both explicit and implicit meanings and your ability to select/use information from the
text.
15 marks are available for reading
2) Summary task (based on Text B)
You answer a selective summary task using your own words. Your summary must be
written as continuous writing of no more than 120 words.
10 marks are available for reading, 5 marks for writing .
Comprehension and Summary Exam Practice
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language

Question 1
a. Give two examples of enemies of real books according to the text. [1]

b. Using your own words, explain what the text means by:
i. ‘real books are fighting back’ (lines 2-3): [2]
ii. ‘more like co-existence than conquest’ (line 4): [2]

c. Re-read paragraph 3 (‘Publishers… plateau’)

Give two reasons why the rise in the number of paper books sold was significant. [2]

d. Re-read paragraphs 4 and 5 (‘Apparently, print books…media’).

iii. Identify two reasons why sellers of e-books might be worried about those categories where print book
sales have increased since 2012. [2]
iv. Explain why reading e-books may be less efficient than reading real books, according to the text. [3]
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language

e. Re-read paragraphs 6 and 7 (‘Some people… feel.’)

Using your own words, explain why people are unlikely to give up real books altogether in favour of e-
books.[3]

f. According to text B, how and why have bookshops had to change to attract customers?
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
You must use continuous writing form (not note writing) 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. [15 marks]
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
Writer’s Effect
This is question 2 on the reading paper, Paper 1. It is based on Text C (in the exam) and
is divided into two separate parts:
1) Short-answer questions
You respond to a series of sub-questions which require answers of different lengths.
These sub-questions test your understanding of the meaning of words and phrases used
in Text C, as well as the effect they have on the reader.
10 marks are available for reading
2) Language task
You write 200–300 words in response to a question focused on certain paragraphs in
Text C. You must select three relevant examples of interesting use of language from
each of the paragraphs specified and analyse these examples to show how the writer
uses language to convey meaning and to create effect.
15 marks are available for reading
Sample Writer’s Effect Question
Writer’s Effects Task
Read Text A, and then answer Questions (a)–(d).

Text A: Big Brother Ruined My Life

This text is an extract from a longer narrative by a reality TV contestant, Lesley, about her experience after
appearing on the show Big Brother.

The first thing that hit me as I walked out of the Big Brother house was the noise: the deafening sound of
people booing. It's hard to describe what it feels like to experience hatred like that, especially when you have
been shielded from the public's reaction for three weeks. For me, it was like being crushed, and I struggled to
keep a smile on my face.
Presenter Davina McCall hugged me as I joined her on the stage, whispering: "Don't worry, it's all a
pantomime." But it felt very real to me. All I could think, as I walked with her to the studio, was that the public
hated me. If I'm honest, I feel that same lurching realisation in the pit of my stomach now whenever I walk out
of my house. For me, appearing on Big Brother has resulted in nothing but cruel words, vicious criticism and
heartache.
It's so strange to think that just over a year ago, when I applied to be on the show, I felt much like any other
teenager. I've always been an extrovert, but I didn't have any ambitions to be famous. After completing a
GNVQ in business studies and a National Diploma in dance, I'd just started classes for my English A-level,
which I was enjoying. But I have to admit my head was turned when I saw an advert inviting applications for
Big Brother. I'd grown up on a diet of reality TV shows and it just seemed too good an opportunity to miss. As
far as I was concerned, it was a guaranteed ticket to fame and a fabulous life.
I was so determined to get noticed that I was putting on an act, making out I was extra loud and super-
confident. When anyone else tried to speak, I deliberately drowned them out. I'd convinced myself this was my
ticket to fame and I wasn't going to let anyone stand in my way. Now, of course, I can see I was setting myself
up for a spectacular fall by casting myself as a brash loudmouth.
Then came the news I had been waiting for: "You have been picked to be a Big Brother housemate." My
stomach flipped and I stifled a scream, especially as she then warned me I was forbidden from telling anyone.
"Start thinking of excuses to tell your friends," I was told. "Say you're going on holiday at the start of May." I
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
couldn't believe it. My dream was about to come true. Over the next few days I started packing, planning each
outfit. I could kick myself now, but my head was in the clouds. I kept daydreaming of superstardom, of
paparazzi photographers snapping away as I strode confidently down the street to meet my celebrity pals. I
imagined designer outfits, swanky parties, a new and exciting life.
I should have smelled a rat the night I came out of the house, when the two executive producers insisted I see
Steve, the resident psychologist, before being reunited with my family. I'd met him only once before, in the final
stages of the audition process. Back then, we'd talked for 45 minutes about my life in Huddersfield, how I
thought I'd cope with the Big Brother house and whether I felt confident enough to deal with public interest in
my life. I don't recall any warning about the possibility of bad reactions. That night, though, he pulled out a
bundle of Press cuttings and laid them out in front of me. A shiver ran down my spine:"Lesley's 100 lovers"
glared back at me from the page. I felt sick that so-called acquaintances had been queueing up to attack me
while I was inside the BB house. I was then 19 and had slept with only two people before entering the house.
Tears welled up and I looked to Steve for comfort, but he said nothing. Instead, he showed me some other
headlines. "Lesley was a bitch at school," read one. I felt sick.
At no point did Steve give me advice on how to cope with this. Instead, he told me to make an appointment to
see him again in six months. But over the next few days, the enormity of those terrible headlines hit home. I'd
become a national hate figure: I was an ugly, fat bully in the British public's eyes. I turned to the agent Big
Brother had supplied, hoping he could help me turn around the tide of hatred or at least give me some advice
on how to handle the abuse. But he simply told me to lie low for a couple of weeks and said it would all blow
over. I was devastated when an invitation to a celebrity party arrived a few days later and I was advised not to
go because they were fearful of a further backlash against me.

Yet no one gave me any form of emotional support. Instead, I was taken out shopping for clothes to try to
distract me. Meanwhile, I was struggling to cope. The public's reaction had made me feel so fearful and
depressed. I was still a teenager and Big Brother just threw me to the wolves.

Question

Read Text A, 'Big Brother Ruined My Life', in the insert and then answer Questions (a) – (d) on the question
paper.

a. Identify a word or phrase from the text which suggests the same idea as the words underlined.
i. There was an extremely loud noise. [1]
ii. I had been protected. [1]
iii. It's all just a show. [1]
iv. I became aware abruptly . [1]

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

But I have to admit my head was turned when I saw an advert inviting applications for Big Brother. I'd
grown up on a diet of reality TV shows and it just seemed too good an opportunity to miss. As far as I was
concerned, it was a guaranteed ticket to fame and a fabulous life.
i. diet [1]
ii. opportunity [1]
iii. guaranteed [1]

c. Use one example from the text below to explain how the writer suggests that she regrets her behaviour.
Use your own words in your explanation. [3]

I was so determined to get noticed that I was putting on an act, making out I was extra loud and super-
confident. When anyone else tried to speak, I deliberately drowned them out. I'd convinced myself this
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
was my ticket to fame and I wasn't going to let anyone stand in my way. Now, of course, I can see I was
setting myself up for a spectacular fall by casting myself as a brash loudmouth.

Question (d)
d. Re-read paragraphs 5 and 6.
 Paragraph 5 begins ‘Then came the news’ and describes Lesley's joy at being chosen for Big Brother.
 Paragraph 6 begins 'I should have smelled‘ and describes the meeting with the psychologist as she left
the Big Brother house.

Explain how the writer uses language to convey meaning and to create effect in these paragraphs.
Choose three examples of words and 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.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
Directed Writing Genres
a) Letter
Formal Letter Structure
1) Opening
(Address your letter to Dear + the name or job title of the person you have been
asked to write to, then start a new line for the opening paragraph. N.B. Although it is
good practice to teach and expect students to put dates and addresses on formal
letters, and to sign them appropriately, these are not required and not rewarded in
the exam.)
2) Paragraph 1: Introduction
(Why are you writing? Give the general aim and minimum information only, e.g. to
complain, apply, request, disagree, and an indication of what you are responding to
e.g. a recent holiday or a letter in last week’s newspaper.)
3) Paragraph 2: Details of situation
(Give previous history of event or your background or experience. Say what
happened exactly if you are making a complaint, or focus directly on the text you
are arguing with. This section should include specific data such as names, dates,
facts and details.)
4) Paragraph 3: Further development
(Give further support to your claim or request. Summarise the current situation and
why you should be given consideration e.g. other problems which occurred with your
holiday accommodation, how well you fulfil the job requirements)
5) Final paragraph: Future action
(Say what you wish to happen next e.g. that you look forward to being called for
interview or expect to receive some compensation as soon as possible. Suggest,
firmly but politely, what may happen if you do not receive a response to a
complaint.)
Formal Letter Exam Practice (Paper 2, Question 1)
Read carefully the newspaper article below and then answer the question.
Question
Write a letter to the writer in which you respond to the ideas and arguments in the article. You may agree or disagree with
what the writer has written.
In your letter you should:
• identify and evaluate the writer’s views
• use your own ideas to support your comments on the writer’s views.
Base your letter on what you have read in the article, but be careful to use your own words. Address each of the two bullet
points.
Begin your letter, ‘Dear Sir or Madam …’
Write about 250 to 350 words. Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 25 marks for
the quality of your writing.

In this humorous newspaper article, the writer voices some of their concerns about what children
experience when they go to school.

All of us wrap up our children when it’s cold. We put them on booster seats in the car and make them wear helmets when
they’re on a bicycle. We strive constantly to keep them out of harm’s way, and then we send them off to school so they
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
can be tortured.

I suppose we all think, rather naively, that school today is exactly the same as school back in our day, except that children
are now allowed calculators. I’m afraid not. School today is completely different. There’s very little bullying, and no
smoking behind the bike sheds because there’s no time, not when you need to be fluent in 17 languages by age four and
you’ve got those pesky quadratic cosines to finish off by break. I’m not kidding. I do not understand any of my son’s maths
homework. And what’s more, I bet he knows more about advanced mathematics now, at the age of 10, than most of the
NASA scientists did when they put Armstrong on the moon.

My daughter, who already knows Latin better than Julius Caesar, comes home from school at 18.00 every night, bleary
eyed from the pressure. But before she can collapse into bed she has to do four half-hour pieces of homework. Supper?
Internet? A bit of light texting? Forget it. On the basis that a parent can only be as happy as their least happy child, this
makes me pretty miserable. She’s not alone, either. I read the other day that a four-year-old child had been diagnosed
with ‘stress’ and I’m not surprised. Perhaps she’d been made to miss her playtime so she could finish her paper on how
the gross domestic product of Iceland was affected by EU fish quotas.

A child I know was sent home from school recently with a note saying that by the age of 10 she really should have a
rudimentary grasp of quantum physics and that because she didn’t she must have some extra tuition. Unfortunately, on
the back of this hurriedly written note the teacher had been doing some sums. There was a list of every child who was
having extra lessons, how much each parent was paying and at the end, under the total he’d written, ‘Yippee’.

When I was at school I remember being told that if I spelt my name properly on my examination paper I’d be halfway
there. Exams were a hiccup in the day, not the be-all and end-all of absolutely everything. Based on those exams, we now
have ‘league tables’, a handy guide to how well each school performs. But publishing a list of ‘best schools’ purely on the
grounds of academic achievement is idiotic. It tells you nothing.

Recently, I made a decision on which secondary school my children will attend. I chose it because I know several people
who’ve been there, and they loved it. I chose it because the children I saw mooching from lesson to lesson were mostly
smiling. I chose it because it ‘felt’ right.

Of course, I want my children to leave school with a basic academic foundation. But more than that I want them to learn
social skills so they can interact properly with other human beings. I want them to learn to play the guitar. I want them to
enjoy school, to have fun. I can’t bear the thought of paying a small fortune every year so they can be put on a treadmill.
School is supposed to prepare a person for life, not wear them out. This is what we all seem to have forgotten.

Yes, we must do everything we can to keep our children safe. But we should also do everything we can to make them
happy as well.

Informal Letter
Has a similar structure to the above but the language and tone is more relaxed as it is a
letter to someone that you know.
Informal Letter Exam Practice (Paper 1, Question 2)
Read carefully Adventure cruise and then answer the question.
Question
You are Willie, the trainee Inuit guide. After the Arctic cruise is over, you write a letter to your girlfriend, Eska. Write the
letter.
In your letter, you should explain:
• where you took the tourists and what activities were organised for them
• what you think the tourists expected and how far you think they were satisfied
• your thoughts and feelings about Adam as a tour guide.
Base your letter 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 letter: ‘Dear Eska, We have just come back from another tourist cruise around the Arctic …’
Write about 250 to 350 words. Up to 15 marks are available for reading, and up to 10 marks for writing.

Adventure cruise
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
The narrator and her family booked to travel on a holiday cruise in the Canadian Arctic. Here she describes their
experiences.
Our small ship shuddered and sliced through an iceberg, causing our assembled group to lose our balance during our first
daily briefing from Adam, our tour guide. It hit home that this was to be an expedition, not a relaxing holiday. Only Adam
and his young Inuit trainee guide, Willie, looked unconcerned as we ploughed through the ice floes of eastern Canada’s
Lower Arctic. Our Inuit-run company was not an exotic cruise line, and our old Russian ship was not going to win any
beauty pageants.
The adventure did not take long to get started. We received our first glimpse of a polar bear in Ungava Bay, when an eerie
ghost ship of an iceberg appeared. As it loomed closer, a hulking yellowy-white bear came into view, lumbering heavily
across the blinding ice. Then the iceberg slowly twisted and turned until Akpatok Island was revealed, home of the world’s
largest colony of thick-billed murres*. The boat took us through vast flocks of them, billowing out in black, stormy clouds
as they sought to avoid the huge gulls that eyed them with cold-eyed disdain from the rocks.
We did most of our sailing at night. Some of us had hoped for daytime excursions on sleds pulled by huskies, but it
became clear that land expeditions were a good opportunity to stretch our legs. Adam, rifle strapped to his back, was our
intrepid polar bear monitor. We followed with some apprehension as he painstakingly picked out our route, his head
moving from left to right as regularly as a pendulum. Sometimes a hand flicked behind him would command our silence
and immediate cessation of movement. Then he would cup his ear and lean in the direction where we presumed such a
creature lurked, his expression at once alert and apprehensive. At other times he would circle back to our group, where he
would stealthily pad around us as protective as a mother lion. Only once, to our perturbation, did we catch him issuing a
broad wink at Willie, who quickly turned away to suppress apparently uncontrollable giggles.
At Diana Island Adam led us to a local man, perched on his canoe on the shingly shoreline. The local was carefully
shucking mussels with a hunting knife. He offered them to us as a meal with seal entrails and a large brown seaweed
called kelp. Alarmed at the prospect of what looked like raw food, we started to decline until the local, grinning broadly,
pulled a small portable stove and cooking utensils out of his large rucksack. Willie giggled again. Adam, with a sharp look
at Willie, distracted us from his trainee’s merriment. ‘You should try the local dishes. Caribou is popular,’ he assured us.
However, as the trip progressed, we noticed that Adam and Willie dined less frequently with us. While we consumed
hearty moose stews for our evening meal, they tucked themselves at the back of the ship, where Adam munched, to our
surprise, quinoa salad and Willie dined on microwaved chips, while flicking rapidly through images on his phone. Once
Willie showed us a picture of himself with his girlfriend, Eska, in Nunavut. The photograph depicted them laughing, not in
a dogsled pulled by energetic huskies, as I’d expected, but in a shiny red four-wheel-drive vehicle. We also saw pictures
of him and Adam, and of Adam with the local we had met at Diana Island. ‘That’s his uncle,’ Willie said.
Sounding and smelling less appetising than our meals were the giant walruses that we spotted at the well-named Walrus
Island, in northern Hudson Bay. Hundreds of these leathery mammals grunted on the ice-pocked island. Hauling
themselves out of the water, they took on a rosy hue as their blood rushed to cool them.
Polar bears remained high on everyone’s wish list, so the last two days of the voyage were dedicated to finding more of
the gracefully menacing creatures. We were thrilled when a large male joined us for the last leg of our journey, paddling
furiously between ice floes as we cruised past Frobisher Bay’s dark mountains, wedged with glaciers and ice mirages that
stood like skyscrapers on the horizon.
Back at the little airport at Iqaluit, Nanavut’s capital, we waited for our flight with Adam and Willie. Adam started to tell me
about his first solo caribou-hunting trip.
‘How do you track them?’ I asked, picturing him eyeing footprints in the snow.
He gave me an exasperated look: ‘Satnav.’
Willie giggled and looked away.

*murres: a breed of sea bird

Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
b) News Report
News Report Structure
Headline
1) News Event
(What happened? When exactly did it happen? Where did it happen? Who was
involved?)
2) Background
(Why did it happen? Give history, lead-up to this event, and mention its supposed
causes)
3) Report of actual news event
(How did it happen? Give details of the actual event and saywhat happened and
what is still happening)

Sub-Heading (short phrase, quotation; optional)

4) Quotations
(in a mixture of direct and indirect speech, give the relevant statements of
participants, witnesses, police, hospital etc.)
5) Future/predictions
(What will happen next? Explain the likely consequences of the event, refer to
future investigations, and mention any procedures that will be put in place)
Newspaper report practice question (Paper 1, Question 3)
Read carefully Thirst and answer the question.
Question
You are a journalist writing for the local weekly newspaper reporting on recent events and reactions to them. Two days
after the incident at Aljafar’s property, it is announced that the blockade has been lifted and water rationing is no longer
required. Meanwhile, Aljafar and his wife have complained to the authorities.
Write the newspaper report.
In your newspaper report, you should:
• describe conditions during the blockade and the effect on the population of the island and its economy
• outline how the incident at the Aljafars’ came about – what happened and why
• explain the nature of the Aljafars’ complaints and how far they are justified.
Base your newspaper report 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 newspaper report, ‘Recent events …’
Write about 250 to 350 words. Up to 15 marks are available for reading, and up to 10 marks for writing.
Thirst
A blockade stopping ships from entering the port has caused shortages of supplies on an island. Water
rationing is in place. Taps have been turned off and islanders have to make do with just one litre of
drinking water a day for the months until the autumn rain.
We lived by the sea, above abandoned huts we’d repaired and rented out to holiday-makers. I’d gone down there as soon
as my neighbour, Marchand, told me about the rationing to collect the pitchers of freshwater I’d left by the rough-hewn
plank beds. The visitors had left. I’d checked the toilet cisterns – the rust-coloured water there would soon come in handy,
I’d decided, and siphoned it out into another jug. Washing and bathing would have to be done with salt water.
There was one family I recalled whose swimming pool was filled with freshwater. Don Aljafar had the largest house,
perched high on a steep hill, a vast stone mansion shaded by trees. I was joined by Marchand and we climbed the hill. At
the top, having wound up Aljafar’s considerable driveway and past his parked cars, we bellied up to the gate and were
astounded to see Aljafar afloat in his pool, a pair of goggles affixed to his face as he did a lazy, dignified, backstroke. We
stood mesmerised, watching this spectacle, unsure whether to disturb him. Finally, Marchand shouted hello.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
Aljafar stopped swimming. Treading water, he looked around until he saw us.
‘Yes?’
‘Your pool’s freshwater, correct?’ I said.
Aljafar shrugged. ‘What’s it to you?’
‘Freshwater is rationed.’
Aljafar nodded. ‘So?’
‘You should conserve this water. We’re all in this together,’ Marchand tried to reason.
Aljafar ignored us and started swimming again. His wife emerged from the patio. ‘This is our water,’ she snapped.
We retreated and stood on the driveway, conferring, until finally we went back down the hill. At that moment, we weren’t
thirsty enough to proceed further.
Days later, Marchand and I decided that we should pool our reserve petrol and take my motorbike inland to the city. From
the road descending the hills, everything still looked normal, donkeys pulling their wagons, bicycles, admittedly fewer cars
than before. It was only as we came closer that we noticed differences. The city was quieter than usual, torpid, as if its
unlubricated gears and belts had seized up. People seemed to be crumbling, turning to dust and salt, a ghostly, powdery
rabble, a strong wind could scatter them into clouds of dead skin. Desiccated, dehydrated adults were too tired to toil or
trade, children too sluggish to learn.
On the road back, at the top of the hill by Aljafar’s, we stopped and gazed thirstily up the driveway, which now had a chain
strung across it and a sign warning to keep out.
‘We have to seize Aljafar’s water,’ Marchand declared, ‘for the good of the people!’
A group of us met after dark. Marchand began to lead us up the hill. The rest of the men wavered until I shrugged and
followed.
The gate was closed, but swung open easily. First – we had told ourselves – we would lie down on the dead grass and
push our lips against the cool water, drinking till we burst. Then we would find Aljafar and explain to him that the water
must be divided equally, among all the families of the urbanisation. But the water was gone. The pool’s white cement
bottom shined in the moonlight like exposed bone. We turned toward the house where we saw lights hurriedly
extinguished and heard whispers.
‘They siphoned it,’ Marchand said. ‘Put it in casks.’
We needed to drink water.
We were surprised to find the house unlocked. Inside was silent. The tile-and-marble kitchen was dry, every vessel empty.
‘The cellar!’ Someone suggested.
We found the door bolted and banged on it, calling Aljafar’s name.
‘Leave us alone,’ Aljafar called back.
‘We want the water,’ I shouted.
‘We don’t have it.’
‘Liar!’ Marchand pronounced, to murmurs of agreement all around.
‘We’ll break this down,’ I told Aljafar. ‘We’ll smash it up!’
The others gathered up whatever items looked like they might make a dent. Heavy candelabras, an old olive press, each
of them did little against the heavy door.
Then Marchand appeared with a rusting axe-head he’d found in the workshop. Several blows later, the door began to
split.
‘Stop!’ Aljafar shouted. ‘I’ll let you in.’
We heard him fumbling theatrically with the catch and prised open the door, shoving Aljafar aside. The cavernous cellar
was stocked ceiling-high with precious casks of water. Marchand took the axe-head to one cask, releasing a translucent
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
torrent of crystal-clear water that we attached ourselves to lips-first like ticks to a sheep. Aljafar had enough water to keep
us for weeks, and here he was hoarding.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
c) Formal report
Formal Report Structure
1. Explanation of situation/Context
(Give some indication of what you are reporting on and what the circumstances
are: it could be presenting findings to a committee after evaluation options, giving
a witness account of an event, giving evidence after monitoring a process e.g. a
student on a week’s work experience. The person receiving the report, as well as
the writer of it, is likely to be someone in authority in an official position, and the
style must reflect this.)
2. First phase or aspect of report (bullet point 1)
(Reports of an event, such as a school trip, have a chronological structure; others
look in turn at several aspects of a proposition or several candidates for a job or
award. These phases should be treated in separate paragraphs to show the change
in time or topic. If evaluating people or venues, for instance, it would be logical to
start with the least recommended.)
3. Second phase or aspect of report (bullet point 2)
4. Third phase or aspect of report (bullet point 3)
(It would be logical to mention last the aspect which is most important or
memorable, or the thing/person which one has decided to give the decision in
favour of or highest recommendation for.)
5. Conclusion/recommendation
(The final paragraph of a report will make an overall evaluation of suitability or
weigh up the final balance of advantages and disadvantages of a proposition. e.g.
‘Despite occasional lapses, the student overall showed great diligence in the
workplace and aptitude for the profession, and we were pleased with his general
attitude and the progress he made during the course of his week in our firm’;
‘Although there have been many school trips over the last few years, it was
unanimously agreed that this was the best because of the attractiveness of the
destination and the remarkable team spirit amongst the group.’)
Formal report Exam Practice (Paper 1, Question 3)
Read carefully My First Job and then answer the question.
Question
Imagine you are Dad from Passage A. The owner of the company wants to introduce holiday work experience for more
young people. You have been asked to present a report to the owner of the company following your son’s experience.
Write the report.
In your report you should comment on:
• the challenges faced by Andrew and what you hoped he would gain from his six weeks at the factory
• how different staff members treated Andrew
• what you have learned about the thoughts and feelings of the people who work at the company.
Base your report 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 report, ‘Summer work experience for young people … ’
Write about 250 to 350 words. Up to 15 marks are available for reading, and up to 10 marks for
writing.
My First Job
The narrator is reflecting on his experiences as a 16-year-old student used to spending his school holidays
watching cricket on television. Instead, he is about to begin six weeks of work experience in different
sections of an electrical company.
Waking at 7:00 am was unpleasant. On the car journey, I was feeling too sorry for myself for conversation.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
The first few days I’d be working with the ‘grunts’ (officially called ‘apprentices’). Most were just months older than me, but
judged immediately I’d no skill of any use to them. It turned out the factory owner had only agreed as a favour to Dad.
Other guys who’d asked for their kids to work there during school holidays had been refused.
Dad ensured I was kitted out in fetching, lightest-blue overalls. Escorting me, he skirted the factory floor to avoid dirtying
his suit, but chatted and seemed to get on with everyone from the grunts to the surliest darkest-blue-overall-clad
supervisor.
Initially, I’d be helping in the coil-winding department – by not getting in the way and fetching coffee from the machine. I
guessed they chatted more freely when I was on a coffee-fetching run, but I did learn there was discontent amongst the
workforce, even talk of strike action. The morning dragged by. Eventually, Dad turned up announcing lunchtime. Usually
he took a packed lunch, but our respective lethargy and stress that morning meant the sandwiches were still on the
kitchen table at home.
At the canteen, workers, already packed in like sardines, formed an overall sea of blue. Dad navigated our way to the
brown foodstuffs on offer. What would be my ‘something’ to accompany my chips? Wittily, I requested salad. Dad’s
shoulders sank. The canteen staff chuckled. Baked beans were duly slopped onto my plate.
As we ate, I gazed round, vowing silently never to work in industry. It wasn’t that I thought myself above them, I just didn’t
fit in yet.
After only 20 minutes, Dad said, ‘Andrew, we’d better get your card.’ Nodding dumbly, I trailed blindly after him through a
maze of corridors. Finally, we reached the holiest place in the entire company, the Accounts Department, occupied by The
One with Absolute Power (the clerk who put together the pay packets). Sufficiently important in the company, Dad was
granted an audience. I was told to not say anything stupid as we entered the sanctum. The One issued my number,
chiding me for not visiting her immediately after I’d arrived and warning of perilous doom awaiting mortals who failed to
clock in on time.
Dad took me to the clocking in machine to get my card stamped. Boards either side of the machine, for ‘in’ and for ‘out’,
allowed the powers-that-be to tell which of their valued employees were not ‘in’ at any time and calculate their pay
accordingly. I asked Dad where his card was amongst the hundreds there: he muttered almost inaudibly about not
needing one.
Thankfully next day, despite differing opinions, it transpired we weren’t that late arriving. I even had my sandwiches with
me, I pointed out. Through gritted teeth, Dad said he’d a meeting to get to. I went to clock in and looked on the ‘out’ board
– my card wasn’t there. Great, I’d annoyed Dad; now I’d have to face the unbridled wrath of The One for losing my card. I
glanced forlornly at the ‘in’ board. Incredibly there was my card, time-stamped at 8:28 that morning, along with all the
others from my section. Each said 8:28. These were punctual guys; all of them had checked in at 8:28 yesterday too.
I survived the morning. After lunch, I asked an older man about the time-stamp curiosity. He looked at me quizzically,
asking me to explain what I meant. I told him about the identical times on the cards, including mine. He said not to worry,
asking if I’d mind going to get the coffees. Off I went.
Seconds later, I heard the older man tearing into someone – peering round the coffee machine I saw it was the tallest
grunt. He was almost in tears, surrounded by others angry he’d messed up his turn, petrified I’d tell Dad, sure their
scheme for dodging lateness penalties had been discovered. Tallest Grunt had picked up my card accidentally with the
rest. I ambled back, giving them time to compose themselves, and even got a ‘thanks’ as I delivered the coffee-brown
sludge. Unease remained all afternoon, intensifying as a junior clerk braved the factory floor and smugly invited me to
follow him, saying my help was needed.
My comrades panicked: I was a spy, they’d be sacked. Had they realised I was ‘needed’ to shift a delivery of tinned baked
beans – Dad’s revenge no doubt – they’d have relaxed sooner.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
d) Journal
an informative and entertaining journal entry contains a mixture of the elements
below:
1) Narration
(Say what happened on the occasion you are recording in your journal and explain
who was involved)
2) Description
(Make the setting clear by giving details of time and place. Indicate the mood and
atmosphere, perhaps using imagery. Characters also need to be briefly described
with a few telling details of appearance and behaviour.)
3) Reflection
(say what thoughts the incident or scene provoked in your mind. Memories or
comparisons may be appropriate. Consider why the occasion was significant and
worth recording)
4) Emotion
(Say what your participation in the occasion made you and others feel. Which
aspects evoked an emotional response?)
5) Quotation
(Someone may have said something memorable or otherwise significant. You can
record it as direct speech for dramatic or humorous effect, or to establish
character.)
Journal Practice Question (Paper 1, Question 3)
Read carefully The last zookeeper and then answer the question.
Question
Imagine you are the zookeeper. Later that day you write in your journal reflecting on your feelings about life now and how
things have changed.
Write your journal.
In your journal, you should:
• describe what you have to do each day, why you do it and how that makes you feel
• explain what you have noticed about the boy and his father and your feelings about each of them
• consider how things have changed for you and the world around you since you first started working at the zoo and
suggest what you think the future may hold for you.
Base your journal 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 journal, ‘Today was …’
Write about 250 to 350 words. Up to 15 marks are available for reading, and up to 10 marks for writing.

The last zookeeper

This story is set more than one hundred years in the future. It describes a boy and his father on one of their regular visits
to a zoo. The father remembers visiting the zoo 50 years earlier when he was a boy and the zoo was busier. The
zookeeper has worked there since the day the zoo first opened.
The boy stared at the zookeeper hobbling along. Occasionally, this aged man would stumble, emit a pained grunt, then
continue. The dented metal feed-bucket in his fist swung ponderously, banging against his knee. The bones in his hand,
the gnarled knuckles, ropy tendons and veins stood out from the effort of carrying the heavy weight. The tissue-thin skin,
mottled with age, was inhabited by ghosts of forgotten injuries, secret stories of wounds the boy would never know. The
boy wondered what it would feel like to hold that hand, to touch the baggy covering and feel it slide over the brittle bones
beneath the fingers, the time-withered muscle.
His eyes slipped to his own hand, a smaller replica of his father’s – both puffy with flesh, skin devoid of blemishes.
Beneath their perfected surfaces, bright red serum circulated, delivering rich nourishment with exquisite precision and
dependability. Unlike the old man’s, their palms were dry, cool despite the humidity of the day.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
The zookeeper paused outside the cage and jangled his key ring, repeating the movement until the wisp of a shape, a
lighter shadow, suggested the presence of some hulking wild beast inside. Glassgrey eyes glistened, briefly catching
sunlight and seeming to peer out almost intelligently. The key turned in the lock. The old man tugged the door open. The
boy had witnessed the same wordless dialogue every day for the past three years; he knew it all by heart.
The animal still did not emerge. It never did at this point.
The acrid tang of the lab-grown meat in the bucket stung the boy’s nose: the flesh had begun to spoil immediately after it
was removed from its sterile bath. The zookeeper extracted a pale slab of ‘meat’. It hit the cement outside the cage with
an unquestionably organic sound, attracting frenzied swarms of flies. The boy could see and hear them buzzing, hovering.
Even technological advances of recent decades had not succeeded in eradicating these pests. Minds, augmented by
artificial intelligence, could still not calculate a solution to this problem. ‘Some species follow no mathematical formula,’ his
father commented.
Most did, the boy was told. Humans, for example, were very mathematical in their behaviour. There were exceptions –
occasionally individuals still defied being reduced to basic principles and programs.
The old man extracted a filthy handkerchief from his overalls and dabbed his forehead. Even as he did so, new beads of
sweat erupted.
‘Jumbe?’ The man’s frail voice trembled and cracked. He waited. ‘Jumbe, come out and eat.’ The boy could almost feel
the keeper hoping ... but the shape behind the cage door still didn’t move.
At last the old man sighed. His shoulders fell. His back stooped more. He reached over and swiped at the metal plate
beside the gate. There was a soft whirr, almost too quiet to hear. Finally, with a tired groan, the animal shuffled out.
The boy came daily to witness this feeding. Somehow, he always expected the outcome to be different.
‘Why does he bother?’ he asked his father every visit. ‘Why?’
‘Old habits are hard to break,’ his father told him again.
The boy felt something like disappointment, but accepted the usual answer. He supposed understanding would come,
once final electrical connections had been made and his father had fully imparted knowledge into him.
The ancient beast’s pelt, bleached bone-white by unrelenting sun, was badly tattered. Bare spots betrayed where fur
rubbed painfully against metal. The animal turned, exposing old tears in its side. Through these raggedly sutured gaps,
the boy could see underlying musculature, atrophied meat and churning gears. He wondered how many times the
zookeeper had repaired the damage.
‘I don’t know,’ the father answered automatically. ‘That information isn’t available.’
The boy was tempted to question the old man, but the father gave the boy’s hand a warning squeeze.
The boy read again the faded plaque displayed outside the cage:
African Lion
Extinct.
This male, the last known individual of its kind, died of wasting disease in 2039.
It was reanimated at the Institute for the Preservation of Wholly-biological Artefacts and added to the zoo’s collection.
It is the only remaining fully functioning cybernetised African lion on public display.
His father moved. ‘Come on – the monkey’s next.’

The boy didn’t care about the monkey whose cage was before the only empty one, near the zoo’s exit. This zookeeper
captivated him. In the whole entire menagerie, this ancient man’s dedication to a world long-since dead remained an
unsolved equation in the boy’s siliconised brain.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
e) Speech
Structure:
1) Opening: You have two options:
i. Safe option: welcome the important people and address your audience directly.
Briefly outline why/what you are speaking about.
j. Creative option: You can use something from TEAS
a. Tell a story or anecdote
b. Evidence/statistics
c. Ask a rhetorical question
d. Statement or quote
2) Body:
a. TOPIC SENTENCE per paragraph
b. EXPAND on each point in a separate paragraph
c. Use CONNECTORS or discourse markers to lead the audience, i.e.
Consequently, However, etc.
d. You need to give EVIDENCE to support each point you make.
3) Conclusion:
a. Reiterate your main points
b. Don’t add new information
c. Leave the audience with food for thought
d. Use a TEAS option
Style:
 Use patterns of three ETHOS Credibility:
 Repetition (Speaker) • Trustworthiness
 Rhetorical questions • Tone/Style
 Figurative language
 Emotional language
 Personal and inclusive pronouns
 Facts and statistic LOGOS PATHOS
Logic: (Message) (Audience)
Emotion:
• Reasoning or argument • Emotional impact
Speech Exam Practice Question (Paper 2, Question
• Facts, 1)
figures, case studies • Use stories
Read Text A and Text B carefully and the answer the question.
Question 1
Imagine you are a pupil in a school which does not have a school council.
Write a speech to be given in a school assembly, giving your views on whether or not students should participate in
decisions made about the school.
In your speech you should:
• evaluate the views given in both texts about student participation
• give your own views, based on what you have read, about whether a school council would benefit students and
teachers.
Base your speech on what you have read in both texts, but be careful to use your own words. Address both of the bullet
points.
Begin your speech: ‘Thank you for coming to listen to me today …’.
Write about 250 to 350 words.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 25 marks for the quality of your writing.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language

Sometimes Cambridge won’t refer to it as a speech; they will ask you to write ‘the words
of a public statement’ OR ‘a talk’.
Type 1: WORDS OF PUBLIC MEETING
 The question could ask for the presentation of two opposing views at a meeting.
Students need to present the side of each speaker
 Select incidents/ideas from the passage and develop own content for the speeches
at the public meeting, supporting what you write with details from the passage,
appropriate inferences about what the family does, their personalities and the
probable reactions of the family next door and the neighbours in general.
Responses should concentrate not only on what the new family does, but also infer
ideas about their personalities and probable reactions of the immediate family and
the neighbourhood.
 Contrast the differences in attitude between the newcomers and the rest of the
neighbourhood.
TALK/SPEECH
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
 You will be given 3 guiding points to tell you what to include in your talk/speech.
 Select ideas from the passage and develop your own, supporting what you write
with details from the passage. Give as many details as possible from the passage
to answer the question. Some of the ideas may be developed by you through
inference (that is taking the underlying meaning). Good responses demonstrate
careful selection, picking out the most significant details/ideas
 Address all three bullet points if these are given to you.
 FORMAT:
o Begin by addressing the audience as appropriate, e.g. Good morning ladies
and gentlemen/ Good morning my friends/ Good morning my fellow travellers.
o Although it is a talk and therefore actually spoken, it must still be written in
correct, grammatical English.
o Paragraphs should be used, a separate paragraph for each bullet point.
Talk Practice Question (Paper 1, Question 3)

Read Don’t run, whatever you do and then answer the question below:
Question
You are the Head Guide, Chris (Peter’s boss). You are responsible for training the safari guides. When a group of new
trainee guides arrives at the camp, you give a talk to prepare them for what
lies ahead.
Write the words of your talk.
In your talk, you should:
• describe the range of attractions Idube Camp and the area around it have to offer and how these might appeal to
guests
• explain what being a trainee guide is like – the kind of activities they will be asked to do and what they should and
should not do as trainees
• suggest what makes a good safari guide, the challenges of the job and the personal qualities they will need to
develop.
Base your talk on what you have read in the text, but be careful to use your own words. Address each of the three bullet
points.
Begin your talk, ‘Welcome to Idube Camp …’
Write about 250 to 350 words. Up to 15 marks are available for reading, and up to 10 marks for writing.

Don’t run, whatever you do

Peter, the narrator, has left his city home and is training to be a safari guide. He has recently started work at a camp in
Africa called Idube. The camp organises safari drives and walks for guests to view animals in the wild, and weekly dinner
nights at the smaller Bush Camp, some way from the main camp.

The inventively named ‘Bush Camp’ was basically a clearing where a fire could be built, around which delighted guests
ate their meal. Firelight is romantic, making everything look beautiful. By day, Bush Camp was a sorry patch of earth,
teeming with spiders. At night, with lanterns lit, the place looked perfect. Dinner nights were cheap to run and popular with
the camp’s owners, but not with the staff.

Setting up meant that any quiet time, when guests were out of camp, was filled with frantic activity. The one spare vehicle,
a decrepit, spluttering truck, would be loaded with firewood, lanterns and a chef named Wusani whose bulk made the
ageing truck’s suspension creak ominously. Wusani particularly disliked bush dinners. Once, after being dropped off to
light the cooking fire, she’d been unpleasantly surprised by the roar of a lion. Lions often walked in the soft sand of the dry
riverbed that flowed beside Bush Camp, enjoying the shade or stalking antelope in the cool tranquillity of the
surroundings. This lion wasn’t hunting, or it wouldn’t have roared. That didn’t make it any less terrifying for Wusani.
Returning later, the truck-driver found Wusani improbably perched on the outermost branches of a long-dead tree. When
told it was safe to come down, she would not, because she could not. Adrenaline had fuelled the climb. Finally, gravity’s
pull resolved the issue. Wusani was saved from serious harm, but would never stay at Bush Camp alone again. She
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
warned me against it.

My job for bush dinners was to transport sufficient amounts of liquid refreshment to Bush Camp to last the night. I hadn’t
been working at Idube long, so was last in the queue for everything.

‘Drat,’ I thought one afternoon. I’d already helped load tables, chairs, salads and cutlery, and was waiting in the sun for
the truck to return. ‘I’ll carry it there.’

I loaded up a wheelbarrow with cans. I’d been learning from the guides and felt I could handle anything Africa threw at
me.

‘You’ll need to learn how to walk,’ Chris had said to me earlier.

I was nineteen and had been getting around on two feet with relative ease for some years, so the comment seemed
strange. But the ‘walking’ Chris meant involved learning in-depth knowledge of trees, tracks and insects – the smaller
things, usually overlooked on safari drives. It was possible that while walking I, and the excitable tourists I was being
trained to lead, could encounter one of the larger, more dangerous animals usually only viewed from the safety of a
vehicle. If so, it was important I remained calm.

‘Don’t run, whatever you do,’ was always the advice from other guides. ‘Food runs – and there’s nothing here you can
outrun anyway.’
After struggling some way along the bumpy tracks the vehicles used, I decided to ditch the wheelbarrow and carry the
cans. However, I hadn’t considered how heavy 24 cans of lemonade get when you’re slogging through soft sand. I soon
decided to change routes, taking a shortcut along the riverbed. Midway, I stopped to shake pebbles from my shoe, putting
the cans down and stretching. Branches met overhead, offering cool shade. A sense of peace mingled with the
undercurrent of excitement that comes from walking in the bush. In one of the branches, a lourie bird called, a long drawn
out hag-like rasp, irritatingly insistent. Later, I’d learn there are many birds that give alarm calls when they see predators.
The tricky part is figuring out whether it’s calling because of you, or because of something larger and fiercer.

I put my shoe back on, hopping around to do so, picked up the cans and rounded a fallen tree, startling two massive male
lions that had been waiting for whatever clumsy creature was making all the noise.

The time it took for them to get from where they were to where I stood was too short for my life to flash before my eyes.
Every instinct told me to flee, but two thoughts came to mind: ‘Don’t drop the lemonade, it will get fizzed up,’ and ‘Don’t
run’. Whichever motive was strongest, I don’t know. I stood my ground, attempting my best roar back at the lions.

The lions stopped, centimetres from me, bellowed, spat, then, with a visible release of tension, trotted around me, carrying
on down the riverbed as if they had pressing business elsewhere.

I sank gratefully to the sand, shaking, but through the fear felt something else … Pride.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
f) Interview (could also be referred to as a conversation)
Type 1: INTERVIEW (Interviewer and person interviewed)
 Answer all three bullet points.
 Use the first line of the interview given to you.
 The interviewer will frame the bullet points in the form of a question, three
questions in total.
 The person interviewed will answer using material from the passage, both explicit
and implied. Bring out the character of the person interviewed, e.g. is he
eccentric, is he adventurous?.
Layout:
- Interviewer’s question
- Interviewee’s response
- Repeat
Type 2: INTERVIEW (Interviewer and two persons interviewed each with a different
point of view)
 Answer all three bullet points.
 Use the first line of the interview given to you.
 The interviewer will frame the bullet points in the form of a question, three
questions in total.
 The person interviewed will answer using material from the passage, both explicit
and implied. Bring out the character of the person interviewed, e.g. is he eccentric,
is he adventurous?.
Layout:
- Interviewer’s question
- Interviewee 1 response
- Interviewee 2 response
- Repeat
Type 3: CONVERSATION
 Address all three bullet points given, using material from the text for general ideas
and for details.
 Start the conversation with the first line given
 Bring out the different personalities of the speakers. You can expect that the
speakers will have opposing views and contrasting personalities, so bring this out.
From your reading of the passage, you will have to decide how their personalities
are different
 The format is different from the interview in this way. The structure of the
interview is clearly three questions given followed by three answers.
 The structure of the conversation is interactive where each speaker may respond
and ask questions.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
 Language: you can use abbreviations such as ‘can’t’ ‘haven’t’ and informal
expressions. Remember to be grammatical at all times.
All interview types are laid out as follows:
Interviewer: Tell me about your recent adventure in the Antarctica.
Interviewee: It was the most incredible experience…
Interviewer:
Interviewee:
etc…

Interview Practice Question (Paper 1, Question 3)

Read carefully My career as a journalist begins, and then answer the question.
Question
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 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.

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.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
He eyed me silently. I’d heard, no doubt, of The Post?
‘Heard of it?’ Mother said. ‘He reads it religiously.’
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.’
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.
g) Article
Magazine Article Structure
1) Topic
(Introduce the issue, which may be something topical and in the news, or research
recently published, or proposal which has been put forward by a government or
other agency, or the description of the person that the article will concern. Unlike a
news report, which is informative, and a speech, which is argumentative, a
magazine article is discursive writing.)
2) Background
(The article is likely to fill in the past history of the person or event which the
article concerns, so that readers are fully aware of the necessary facts and reason
why the article has been written and what has led to the current state of affairs.)
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
3) Discussion
(The article is likely to return to the present-day situation at this point, discussing
and giving different viewpoints of the person or event, with details and examples
and quotations, and making comparisons with the past or with similar topics.
Though the writer’s own viewpoint may be inferred, alternative views must be
given equal weight and other voices heard.)
4) Prediction
(At this point the article may deal with the future developments or predicted
outcome of the present situation, e.g. that a person will go on to become even
more famous and successful, or that a current predicament will become worse if
nothing is done about it, or which side will win the political debate.)
5) Conclusion
(The article needs a neat conclusion, which may be an ironic reference or
humorous comment, or an evaluation of the different viewpoints, or a reference
back to the beginning of the article, or a quotation.)

Magazine Article Practice Question (Paper 1, Question 3):

Read The Nightblooming Jazzmen carefully and answer the question below:

Question
You are a journalist writing an article for a monthly music magazine. You were at the gig in the park, and at the party
afterwards, and interviewed band members and some of their audience.

Write your magazine article.

In your magazine article, you should:
• explain who the band are, their style, and the history of the band
• describe the concert, audience reaction and the aftershow party
• introduce Stanley and consider how he fits in with the band.
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: ‘This month’s featured concert …’
Up to 15 marks are available for reading, and up to 10 marks for writing. Write about 250 to 350 words.

The Nightblooming Jazzmen

The narrator has successfully auditioned for the job of drummer in a small jazz band. He has been invited to play with the
band at their next ‘gig’. This concert will be the last of a series of open-air summer concerts in a local park. The existing
members of this jazz band first played together in a bigger band after they had retired.
The dudes are severely elderly, these Nightblooming Jazzmen. They wear white belts and bow ties, trousers pulled up
high.
‘Our angle is we’re old,’ they say. ‘You’ll have to dress the part if you’re going to be our pulse, drumbo.’ A couple of them
have serious moustaches. I paste one on for the gig, bleach my eyebrows and pop on a straw hat.
They have the coolest names: Clyde, Chet, Wally and Hal. When I say my name is Nathanial, they say, ‘You can’t use a
name like that.’
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
After my audition, Clyde comes over as I’m packing up my drums. Grinning, he says I’ve got the job, but from now on
they’ll call me Old Stanley.
***
The gig’s in a park. The bandstand is covered with graffiti. A crowd of old people and a few of their grandkids look on from
folding chairs.
Clyde puffs ‘Good afternoon’ into the microphone and we’re off and running. We cook up a carousel of sound with our
hands, with the wind in our chests. A gang of senior citizens – and me – just tearing up the place. Chet is coaxing sad
wah-wahs out of his trombone. Clyde noodles out golden lassos on the clarinet. Wally burps wetly along on the tuba. We
stir up a flock of audience jazz-hands, playing music no one plays any more, stuff I learned from my dad. The sun tilts
through the trees, spot-lighting shafts of dust. We’re just a speck in the grand whirling scheme, but at least we’re making
noise. We close the set like landing a plane, bouncing along a little then rolling to a stop.
Give these guys their due – that gig was pretty sweet.
Hal, breathing heavily, comes over. ‘Great job,’ he says. ‘You can swing. How’d you learn?’
‘My dad,’ I explain.
‘Did he play?’
‘Yeah.’ That’s all I say.
Hal talks more at the after-show party. ‘We were a big band. Guys gradually dropped off though …’
They tried rolling with it, calling themselves The Littlest Big-Band, but couldn’t draw a crowd. So Clyde, who’s basically the
leader, said they’d play jazz – did anyone have a problem with that? One guy – the drummer – walked out.
‘You’re good kid,’ Hal says patting me hard on the back, like he’s burping a baby.
The women organising the party have laid out a great spread: crackers, some kind of creamy dip, cheese, grapes and
peanuts. I start attacking the snacks.
Hal says, ‘Easy, Stanley.’
The women gather up and introduce themselves. They have candy-floss hair, neatly knitted cardigans and foggy eyes.
There’s more than one brooch and bracelets all around, so they jangle when they move. They deliver their names like
they’re performing a song. Ruth and Nancy are sisters. Betty is an old friend. Great names, I say. Crumbs fly from my
mouth. Clyde gives me a look.
The women love our music. So many of the summer concerts are such disappointments, they say.
Ruth recalls a terrible rap act. They all shudder and look to me, expecting an opinion. ‘Rap sucks,’ I say reaching for more
cheese.
‘You have most unusual eyebrows,’ Nancy says.
‘Goes better with the moustache,’ I say.
Everyone laughs because, at the moment, my silvery fringe moustache is curled up on the dashboard of my car.
‘How’s that for commitment?’ Clyde smiles. ‘The kid gets hired and goes the extra mile to fit in.’
I feel like I’m eight years old – a little kid with a whole army of grandparents.
The party chugs forward, with some of the guys playing their horns, Wally’s stories of wars and Chet coming West to pick
citrus.
They start dancing to records.
‘Why don’t you dance?’ Wally asks, watching Chet dancing with Betty.
‘I don’t know how to dance to this music,’ I say, making my excuses and leave.
Looking back from my car, I watch them, silhouettes jitterbugging, framed in the rosy window. The music’s faint, but I tap
along. They’re laughing in waves, warbling harmonies. Why couldn’t I have met them a long time ago? But they didn’t
exist then as they are now, I know. They look like a movie flashed on a wall, hanging in space with no connection to time.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
It seems impossible that I stepped out from it, or that I could get back in. It’s like a soap bubble you try to put in your
pocket.
The song ends. Everyone shouts, ‘More!’
That’s all I need to be called back. I press on the moustache.

Magazine Article Practice Question (Paper 2, Question 1):

Read the following discussion and consider the views of both the teacher and her students.
Imagine that you are one of the students involved in the discussion. Write an article for your school magazine about
how people use modern technology.
In your magazine article you should:
• examine issues about family and social life;
• examine issues about health and safety;
• give your own view and develop your arguments.
Base your magazine article on the ideas found in the discussion and be careful to use your own words.
You should write between 1½ and 2 sides, allowing for the size of your handwriting.
Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 25 marks for the quality of your writing.

After a Communication Studies lesson, the teacher, Mrs Trapido, and three students discuss modern technology.
Mrs Trapido: That lesson makes me more worried than ever about your physical well-being. Surely it’s
not a good thing that you use modern technology to escape from reality so often?
Bharat: So, what do you do to escape from the stresses of your job? No doubt you ‘up the volume’ on your
classical music in the car or watch the latest soap opera on television. Either way, it’s not that
different.
Mrs Trapido: Okay, we all need to switch off now and then, but the kids I see are permanently hooked up
to some gadget that stops them communicating with others. My son is constantly in his own
bubble; if he’s not on the phone to a friend then he’s ‘shuffling’ and focused on his music
player, and don’t get me started on these new games and films he watches on a ridiculously
small screen.
Katrin: It’s the latest technology. It solves the problem of what film you all want to watch on television. He’s
just ‘zoning out’; it’s what we all do. In your day you would have gone to your room. Well, now we
can block out situations that are stressful.
Mrs Trapido: What? Like family life? You see that’s what worries me. He’s there in the room with us, but
he’s not really there.
Ali: Well, it depends on how high the volume is! I can easily listen to my music as well as tune in to what’s
being said around me. If my mother starts an argument, then I just turn the volume up to the maximum!
Bharat: That’s how I like to listen to my music anyway. Loud.
Mrs Trapido: You see that also concerns me. New studies prove it is dangerous to listen to really loud
music as it can cause hearing loss.
Katrin: Well, what about you and your laptop? You’re always hunched over it typing, risking injury to your
back and your hands. You see, you condemn our use of technology, but you forget how much
people older than us rely on it. Plus, if anything goes wrong with your new devices, you usually ask
us to fix it.
Mrs Trapido: Okay, I know you belong to the technological society, but it doesn’t stop me worrying about
your health. My laptop isn’t a miniscule gadget that requires me to risk my eyesight to see the
screen. The keys on your game players are so small that you could suffer from repetitive
strain injury or even arthritis in the future.
Katrin: I get your point. However, we know that we should have breaks when our eyes get tired or our
fingers ache.
Mrs Trapido: What about the dangers of walking around or cycling whilst the latest rap song is blaring in
your ears? You’re oblivious to the traffic around you and you risk being in an accident. What’s
more, someone could attack you as you wouldn’t be aware of their presence.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
Ali: It is stupid to lock yourself up in your own world in a busy city, but is it very different from adult
motorists talking on their mobiles and causing accidents?
Mrs Trapido: But it’s in cities where I see most teenagers not interacting with what’s going on around
them, and they don’t even mutter please or thank you to others who serve them.
Ali: You can’t blame these devices for bad manners. Don’t tell me that adults aren’t tempted to block out
the noise and stress of public transport! I saw an old guy with headphones on in the subway, blissfully
unaware of his surroundings.
Mrs Trapido: Everyone over thirty looks old to you lot! My point is still relevant. I’m not just concerned
about noise. I’ve even heard of discos where teenagers listen and dance to their own choice
of music on their own headphones.
Katrin: Hey, that’s a good idea! The world is changing. By the way, is that your cell phone ringing?
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
Creative Writing Genres
a) Narrative Writing
Narrative Writing Structure
1. Setting
(Location, surroundings, atmosphere, time of day, week, month, season, weather)
2. Characters
(Introduce up to three characters by describing their appearance, behaviour and maybe
direct speech. Make their relationship clear.)
3. Problem
(Create a situation requiring decision or discussion. Build up conflict, perhaps using
dialogue.)
4. Climax
(Narrate a series of actions/events, leading to a crisis)
5. Resolution
(Describe the outcome, which may involve an ironic twist)
Narrative opening options
1. Starting in the middle
(This is called the in medias res device, when the narrative starts in the middle of either
a sequence of actions, e.g. ‘The pursuers were catching up on him’ or in the middle of a
dialogue, e.g. ‘‘I can’t believe you just said that,’ said Mary’. In both cases the reader is
forced to try to imagine what has gone before and to quickly get involved in what is
happening or being said now.)
2. Shocking or intriguing statement
(A shocking statement provokes the reader e.g. ‘I had always hated my mother and was
glad that she was dead’. An intriguing one arouses curiosity e.g. ‘The clocks were
striking thirteen.’ Both narrative openings make the reader want to read on because
they are surprised.)
3. Flashback or flashforward
(Instead of starting in chronological sequence, a narrative can begin with a reference to
a relevant previous event or jump to the future outcome of the story about to be told.)
4. Framing the story
(A narrative can have a ‘book ends’ framework of a story within a story, so that the
beginning tells of someone who, for instance, finds a diary or hidden document and
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
reads and quotes it, or who travels back to a place where something significant once
happened to them and relives the experience.
5. Setting the scene
(The conventional way of starting a narrative is to provide the context by referring to the
country, place, season, weather, time of day, and to introduce the main character by
giving some detail about his/her name, age, job and problem. For example: It was
pouring with rain, which was unusual for summer in Cyprus. Costas, a middle-aged bank
clerk, was trying to make his way on foot through the flooded streets of the city to get
home to his sick mother when ....)
Narrative Writing Exam Practice Questions (Paper 2, Section B)
1) Write a story called ‘A Moment of Doubt’.
2) Write a story in which an item of great value or beauty plays an important part.
3) Write a story about fulfilling a dream or an ambition.
4) Write a story using the title, ‘The Cancellation’.
5) Write a story which includes the words, ‘I tried to stay calm’.
6) Write a story with the title, ‘It’s Now or Never’.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
b) Descriptive Writing
Structure
1. Setting
(If you are describing a place, it is appropriate to set the general scene of location,
surroundings, atmosphere, time of day, week, month, season, weather, temperature.
Either time or distance can be used as the framework for a descriptive composition.
Descriptive compositions must have some kind of framework to give them a shape and
structure and logical progression to involve the reader.)
2. Positioning
(The observer takes up a position with regard to the object or place being described e.g.
they are standing outside a room. This should be at a distance so that interest is aroused
as to what will be revealed on closer inspection e.g. when the gate into the secret
garden is opened or the chest in the attic is opened. The senses of sight and sound will
be explored in this section and used to draw the reader in. If time is the framework then
this must be established, e.g. daylight is beginning to fade at dusk.)
3. Approaching
(The observer moves towards the object or place being described. New details can be
revealed because of the closer proximity e.g. as the beach becomes clearer to view. At
this stage the sense of smell can be added to sight and sound. Alternatively, time has
moved on e.g. darkness is creeping into the sky and natural appearances are changing.)
4. Arriving
(The observer is now part of the scene, e.g. in the heart of the street market, or in
contact with the object e.g. going through the items in a chest. Minute details of vision
and noise can be used here, and also the sense of touch can be explored, and taste
implied e.g. people in the scene are eating, the sea is salty. Alternatively, time has
reached its climax, e.g. it is now night and the new sky and atmosphere can be
described.)
5. Farewell
(The observer leaves the scene, with or without a backward glance. They may have
replaced anything they disturbed in a room and now close the door so that things are
again as they were at the beginning; alternatively it may be going home time for the
people on the beach or at the market, so that the scene empties and becomes the
opposite of how it was at the beginning. Reference to either time or distance is used as
closure.)
Descriptive Writing Exam Practice Questions (Paper 2, Section B)
1) Describe the inside of a workshop and the person who owns it.
2) Describe what you see and experience as you dive downwards to explore under the sea.
3) Describe the kitchen of a busy restaurant at lunch time.
4) Imagine your school or college 25 years from now.
Teachers Name: Miss Nayaab
Subject: English First Language
5) Describe a familiar place at an unusual time or from a different point of view.
6) Describe what you see, hear and feel when you look up into the sky as day changes into night.