Paper 2 Skills: Supporting Evidence (Cambridge (CIE) AS English General Paper): Revision Note
Exam code: 8021
Paper 2 summary
Paper 2 of your CIE AS English General Paper exam is the comprehension paper:
1 hour 45 minutes
50 marks
2 sections each worth 25 marks
50% of the AS level
Source materials will be provided in a separate insert booklet:
The materials may come from reports, reviews, essays, blogs, scripts, speeches and descriptions, and may include visual data such as diagrams or graphs
The materials will be up to 900 words in length
Below we break down the skills required to demonstrate your ability to support your answers with evidence or justify your choices in the Paper 2 exam, along with the types of questions that assess these skills.
Supporting evidence
In this paper, “evidence” means information drawn directly from the source materials provided. You are not expected to add outside facts, statistics or examples. Instead, your job is to:
Locate the most relevant details, phrases or data from the materials
Use them to support your answer
It is important to always read the question carefully first, and highlight exactly what you have been asked to locate in the source materials. You should then read and annotate the relevant source materials, focusing on the key words of the question.
It may be helpful to ask yourself:
Does this piece of evidence directly prove or challenge (if required by the task) my point clearly?
Examiners reward candidates who select and interpret ideas, rather than copying large sections of text. You can therefore paraphrase evidence, keeping language concise and clear. It is important not to repeat the same evidence for multiple answers. The best responses select only what is needed.
Exam questions: supporting evidence
Sometimes an “identify”, or “state” task is paired with “justify your choice” or “give evidence”, which requires you to select information that directly supports a point you have made.
Examples:
Identify the statement made by Mungo during the meeting that was untrue. Justify your choice.
(8021/21, May/June 2024)
[2 marks]
Identify the exaggerated claim Armando made in his leaflet. Justify your choice.
(8021/22, May/June 2024)
[2 marks]
These questions reward the accurate selection of information as well as concise justification, using evidence from the material.
In shorter questions, this structure typically earns 2 marks, rewarding 1 mark for the identification and 1 mark for the justification.
To get full marks, you must:
Precisely name or select the specific piece of information, claim or person requested in the task:
For example, when identifying an untrue statement, the statement itself must be clearly quoted or accurately summarised
Supply the relevant evidence or reasoning that explicitly supports the identification:
This should demonstrate why the identified element answers the question
Worked Example
The source material for this question can be found in the 8021/21 May/June 2024 insert (opens in a new tab).
With reference to the Additional Information, identify the statement made by Mungo during the meeting that was untrue.
Justify your choice.
[2 marks]
Statement that was untrue: Mungo needed (to leave shortly) to get to an (important) business meeting (by 12pm at the latest) [1 mark]
Justification: He had organised a lunchtime round of golf (with friends on 31st January) [1 mark]
You may also be asked to demonstrate these skills in a more complex, higher-mark question.
Example:
Identify five points made by Louis Logica at the public meeting and show how they could be challenged by material found elsewhere in Section A. You may use continuous prose or bullet points.
(8021/02 specimen paper)
[10 marks]
This question requires identifying five specific claims made by one individual (Louis Logica) and then providing counter-evidence (the challenge) from other provided sources in Section A. You are therefore being assessed on your ability to identify correct information and back it up (justify/give evidence).
Worked Example
The source material for this question can be found in the 8021/02 specimen paper insert (opens in a new tab).
Identify five points made by Louis Logica at the public meeting and show how they could be challenged by material found elsewhere in Section A. You may use continuous prose or bullet points.
[10 marks]
Point: Logica claims they can get “all the oil we want from other countries such as Ursus” [1 mark]
Challenge: Peter Profundus cites “border disputes with Ursus” [1 mark]
Point: Logica claims that “no-one in the town would ever sleep” because of the noise of the “monsters” that would be “whizzing so fast” [1 mark]
Challenge: The Encyclopedia states that turbine speed is only 10-20 revolutions per minute [1 mark]
Point: Logica claims that the wind turbines will be “as tall as 100 houses” [1 mark]
Challenge: The extract from the proposal by the Blowin’ in The Wind Developments Company states that the “maximum height of the turbines will be 110m to blade tip [1 mark]
Point: Logica claims that there will be “lorries thundering through the town day and night” [1 mark]
Challenge: The extract from the proposal says that the equipment “will be delivered…using the town’s perimeter road, during designated hours” [1 mark]
Point: Logica claims that he has “spoken to almost everyone in the town and they’re all against the idea” [1 mark]
Challenge: The extract from the proposal says that a recent survey “showed that over 80% of those questioned were in favour” [1 mark]
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