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

Read Text B, Changing seasons, (as found in the November 2021 (0500/11 (opens in a new tab)) and then answer Question 1(f).

According to Text B, what did the residents of this community feel and do during the most recent severe winter?

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 long hot walk, (as found in the November 2021 (0500/11 (opens in a new tab) insert).

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

(i) The farm workers were standing still and didn’t speak.

Read Text C, The long hot walk, (as found in the November 2021 (0500/11 (opens in a new tab) insert).

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

(ii) The farm workers watched the speaker closely.

Read Text C, The long hot walk, (as found in the November 2021 (0500/11 (opens in a new tab) insert).

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

(iii) The speaker hoped that his movements were a method of creating a little breeze.

Read Text C, The long hot walk, (as found in the November 2021 (0500/11 (opens in a new tab) insert).

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

(iv) Surrounding the speaker were huge unoccupied areas of land.

Read Text C, The long hot walk, (as found in the November 2021 (0500/11 (opens in a new tab) insert).

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

By mid-day, I was parched. Fantasies of water rose up and wrapped me in cool wet leaves or pressed the thought of cucumber peel across my stinging eyes and filled my mouth with dripping moss. I imagined drinking whole monsoons and winter mists and reclining on the sponge of a deep, cooling sea.

(i) parched

Read Text C, The long hot walk, (as found in the November 2021 (0500/11 (opens in a new tab) insert).

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

By mid-day, I was parched. Fantasies of water rose up and wrapped me in cool wet leaves or pressed the thought of cucumber peel across my stinging eyes and filled my mouth with dripping moss. I imagined drinking whole monsoons and winter mists and reclining on the sponge of a deep, cooling sea.

(ii) Fantasies

Read Text C, The long hot walk, (as found in the November 2021 (0500/11 (opens in a new tab) insert).

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

By mid-day, I was parched. Fantasies of water rose up and wrapped me in cool wet leaves or pressed the thought of cucumber peel across my stinging eyes and filled my mouth with dripping moss. I imagined drinking whole monsoons and winter mists and reclining on the sponge of a deep, cooling sea.

(iii) reclining

Read Text C, The long hot walk, (as found in the November 2021 (0500/11 (opens in a new tab) insert).

Use one example from the text below to explain how the writer suggests the eating-place owner’s feelings on hearing that the speaker wants a cold drink.

Use your own words in your explanation. 

‘No! You mustn’t drink much. You may pass out.’ The café owner threw up her hands at the sight of me, then turned, alarmed, to shout at a couple of well-dressed gentlemen eating at a table in the corner.

Read Text C, The long hot walk, (as found in the November 2021 (0500/11 (opens in a new tab) insert).

Re-read paragraphs 2 and 11.

• Paragraph 2 begins ‘By mid-morning...’ and is about the effect of the heat on the landscape and the speaker.

• Paragraph 11 begins ‘The first mouthful...' and is about how the eating-place owner and her husband look after the speaker and drive him to the city.

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 long hot walk, (as found in the November 2021 (0500/11 (opens in a new tab) insert).

You are the eating-place owner. You are interviewed for an article about tourist safety in the region. The interviewer asks you the following three questions only:

• What do tourists need to know about your region?

• What effects can extreme thirst have on people and how should this be managed?

• What could be done locally to make the region safer?

Write the words of the interview.

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

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.