Paper 1: Reading (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Language): Exam Questions

Read Text B, How to travel the globe and still spare the world, (as found in the June 2023 (0500/13) insert (opens in a new tab)) and then answer Question 1(f).

According to Text B, what are the problems with air travel and what can reasonably be done to help solve them?

You must use continuous writing (not note form) 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.

Read Text C, The big adventure, (as found in the June 2023 (0500/13) insert (opens in a new tab)).

Identify a word or phrase from the text which suggests the same idea as the words underlined. 

(i) After a vacation in Ilhabela, Andy and Abi were going to make last minute alterations to the yacht.

Read Text C, The big adventure, (as found in the June 2023 (0500/13) insert (opens in a new tab)).

Identify a word or phrase from the text which suggests the same idea as the words underlined. 

(ii) Andy and Abi felt nauseous almost all the time they were on board the boat crossing the Atlantic.

Read Text C, The big adventure, (as found in the June 2023 (0500/13) insert (opens in a new tab)).

Identify a word or phrase from the text which suggests the same idea as the words underlined. 

(iii) Josephine was not a new yacht and had already been owned and used by someone else when Andy bought her.

Read Text C, The big adventure, (as found in the June 2023 (0500/13) insert (opens in a new tab)).

Identify a word or phrase from the text which suggests the same idea as the words underlined. 

(iv) After the storm, they saw the wreckage of a yacht like theirs on the sand.

Read Text C, The big adventure, (as found in the June 2023 (0500/13) insert (opens in a new tab)).

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

Sailing across the Atlantic wasn’t like a road trip though (Dael’s observation). There’s nowhere to pull over when you’re tired. Getting to Rio entailed crossing one of the planet’s loneliest stretches of ocean. Josephine still had no autopilot and no radio to communicate with anyone on land. Someone would have to be on deck at the wheel every minute, night and day. We could expect to be sun-roasted, swamped by rogue waves and smacked by wayward flying-fish.

Days before leaving, I sat up late at night talking with Torries, a friend from work. I confessed to being terrified.

(i) entailed

Read Text C, The big adventure, (as found in the June 2023 (0500/13) insert (opens in a new tab)).

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

Sailing across the Atlantic wasn’t like a road trip though (Dael’s observation). There’s nowhere to pull over when you’re tired. Getting to Rio entailed crossing one of the planet’s loneliest stretches of ocean. Josephine still had no autopilot and no radio to communicate with anyone on land. Someone would have to be on deck at the wheel every minute, night and day. We could expect to be sun-roasted, swamped by rogue waves and smacked by wayward flying-fish.

Days before leaving, I sat up late at night talking with Torries, a friend from work. I confessed to being terrified.

(ii) swamped

Read Text C, The big adventure, (as found in the June 2023 (0500/13) insert (opens in a new tab)).

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

Sailing across the Atlantic wasn’t like a road trip though (Dael’s observation). There’s nowhere to pull over when you’re tired. Getting to Rio entailed crossing one of the planet’s loneliest stretches of ocean. Josephine still had no autopilot and no radio to communicate with anyone on land. Someone would have to be on deck at the wheel every minute, night and day. We could expect to be sun-roasted, swamped by rogue waves and smacked by wayward flying-fish.

Days before leaving, I sat up late at night talking with Torries, a friend from work. I confessed to being terrified.

(iii) confessed

Read Text C, The big adventure, (as found in the June 2023 (0500/13) insert (opens in a new tab)).

Use one example from the text below to explain how the writer suggests his attitude to the coast near Ilhabela.

Use your own words in your explanation. 

The coast just north of Ilhabela is punctuated by pretty, tranquil coves. Abi and I were looking forward to a week of snorkelling and generally lounging about. But first, Dael pointed out, a storm was coming. The channel between Ilhabela and the mainland is long and thin. Hills on both sides provide the perfect funnel for the strong winds that develop over the South Atlantic. The water is also very shallow, conducive to close, steep waves.

Read Text C, The big adventure, (as found in the June 2023 (0500/13) insert (opens in a new tab)).

Re-read paragraphs 7 and 9.

• Paragraph 7 begins ‘We left Cape Town ...’ and is about the first part of the journey, crossing the Atlantic.

• Paragraph 9 begins ‘We went to bed early ...’ and describes events during the storm in IIhabela.

Explain how the writer uses language to convey meaning and to create effect in these paragraphs. Choose three examples of words or 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.

Re-read Text C, The big adventure, (as found in the June 2023 (0500/13) insert (opens in a new tab)).

You are Dael. Having decided to stay on with Abi and Andy longer than planned to help them as they begin to sail around South America, you write a letter to a friend at home.

In your letter you should:

• explain where you have been for the past couple of months and what have been the positive highlights of the journey for you so far

• discuss how suited and prepared Andy, Abi and Josephine were to undertake such a journey

• comment on what Andy and Abi were hoping to achieve and what you think they will have learned by the end of their South American trip.

Write the letter.

Base your letter on what you have read in Text C but be careful to use your own words.

Address each of the three bullet points.

Write about 250 to 350 words. 

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 10 marks for the quality of your writing.