Cambridge Assessment International Education

Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education

* 4 2 1 6 0 4 3 7 9 1 *

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

Paper 2 Reading and Writing (Extended) May/June
1 hour 30
Candidates answer on the Question Paper. minutes

No Additional Materials are required.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Write your centre number, candidate number and name in the spaces at the top of this page.
Write in dark blue or black pen.
Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid.
DO NOT WRITE IN ANY BARCODES.

Answer all questions.

Dictionaries are not allowed.

The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

This document consists of 13 printed pages and 3 blank pages.

DC (ST/CT) 165152/3
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Exercise 1

Read the article about memory, and then answer the following questions.

How good is your memory?

Some people can easily remember facts and figures. Others struggle
to recall things, or need strategies to help them. One helpful strategy is
using mental pictures. For example, if you regularly confuse Arctic and
Antarctic, think of looking up at an arch and down at an ant, and you’ll
never confuse them again.

What many people don’t realise is that memory isn’t just an ability. It’s
also seen as a sport by some people. Although it doesn’t require any physical activity, you have to
learn techniques and do lots of practice – as you would if you were learning football or tennis, for
example. One simple technique is applying the rule of five: if you review what you’ve learned five
times, at specific intervals, you won’t forget it.

There are many memory competitions that people can take part in. One of these, the World Memory
Championships, has been held every year since 1991, with the exception of 1992. The competition
format and regulations were first set out by Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene, who together came
up with mind sport as a term. The first winner was Dominic O’Brien, from the UK, who went on to
win seven more times. He has written several books on ways of developing memory, which anyone
can do by trying out various techniques, such as using memorable sentences. For example, if you
need to remember the four-digit PIN number 4626, the sentence ‘This number is secret’ could help
you, as the number of letters in each word matches the digits in the PIN number.

The competition usually consists of ten separate memory tests. These test competitors’ abilities
to remember things like sequences of binary numbers – 10111001, for example – but they start
with having to recall a set of names and faces. Other tests are on the order of abstract images,
and a sequence of unconnected words. That’s all before the final test in which competitors have to
memorise the order of a pack of cards, in the space of only five minutes. Competitors all have their
own methods for doing these tests at speed, some of which are fairly complex. But anyone could
try what’s known as the link method to remember a list of words. For the words torch, grapes, ring
and milk, imagine a sequence of events which connects these objects. You could shine a torch on
a bunch of grapes; inside one grape you see a diamond ring; you squeeze the grape, and the ring
falls into a glass of milk. Or you could try a similar technique, the body system. This could involve
imagining the torch on your head, grapes hanging from your fingers, a ring in your nose, and so on.

The mind sport of memory is governed by the World Memory Sports Council, which supervises
competitions around the world, and issues awards. These include the title of World Memory
Champion each year, and also International Grandmaster, which is the greatest achievement
anyone in the sport can get. The council has a clear vision; part of this is to make the sport more
popular in all continents. The sport began in the UK, and is particularly well-known in China,
although people from over two dozen countries have received awards. Another target is to make
memory an Olympic sport. After all, chess is already listed as one, meaning that it can (but not
necessarily will) be included in future Olympic Games. Perhaps speed reading, which is one of five
mind sports linked to education, might even be considered too.

So, what are you waiting for? Start improving your memory right now!

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1 Why is memory considered to be a sport?

.................................................................................................................................................... [1]

2 When did the first World Memory Championships take place?

.................................................................................................................................................... [1]

3 Who first called memory a mind sport?

.................................................................................................................................................... [1]

4 What do people have to remember in the first and last tests in a World Memory Championship?
Give two details.

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [2]

5 What is the highest award given by the World Memory Sports Council?

.................................................................................................................................................... [1]

6 What does the World Memory Sports Council aim to achieve in the future? Give two details.

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [2]

7 Which study skill apart from memory is recognised as a mind sport?

.................................................................................................................................................... [1]

8 What methods are recommended for improving your memory? Give four details.

..........................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [4]

[Total: 13]

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Exercise 2

Read the article about four people (A–D) who use digital technology to help them learn English. Then
answer Question 9 (a)–(j).

Using digital technology to learn English

A Li Wong
I love my English classes. My teacher is really good at varying what we do, so no two lessons
are ever the same. We use lots of technology, in nearly every lesson, and for homework too. For
example, last week he sent us a news article and we had to record a short summary of it, saying
what we thought about it. We all posted our recordings, then had to comment on a few that other
people had done. Everyone gets so much more involved doing that sort of thing than they would if
we were just discussing an article in class. We all prefer writing on a computer as well. Writing by
hand feels really awkward! Sometimes I’m tempted to write in my language then go online to get
an English version, but I’ve learned the hard way that it’s not always accurate. It’s good to be able
to check the meaning of individual words though.

B Hans Schneider
I’ve just started an online course which is for people who need to use English in their job. The first
unit was great, and I’m determined to finish it though nearly everyone I know who’s tried learning
English online says that it’s easy to lose motivation and give up. The best thing about this online
course is that it’s totally free, like lots of other sites I use. Sometimes there’s a fee to access part
of a site, or if you progress to a certain level, but I can’t understand why people would hand over
money, as there’s so much to choose from out there. Some sites are fun to use – if you need to
learn a list of verbs, for example, you can copy them into various sites which then create matching
activities for you, or let you make your own sample sentences to put the words in context. I tend
to use a website to look up new words on my laptop – it’s instant, always up-to-date, and you can
check pronunciation too.

C Elif Yildirim
When I started learning English, we didn’t use technology at all. Now we use it all the time! We can
translate language really quickly, and there are all sorts of other sites and programs that are free
to use. Some people definitely prefer doing everything with computers, but for some I think that
stops them focusing on what they’re supposed to be learning, especially if it all involves games or
competitions. Having said that, our teacher got us to try one site when we were learning some new
phrases, and it couldn’t have been more effective. I told my sister how good it was and she’s using
it now too. Another site that I had initial doubts about helps you to correct mistakes in your written
work. You type in a text or paragraph, then it highlights anything that needs changing – different
colours for different types of mistakes. I regularly use it now.

D Marc Durand
I’ve got a few apps on my phone which I like using when I’ve got a few spare minutes. Most of
them involve quizzes and games of some sort, which motivates me. Our teacher often gets us to
use them for homework – we make up revision activities and have to send them to each other to
work on in class. That’s always fun to do! She also encouraged a few of us to sign up for a course
delivered online to help us with academic writing. The first few lessons were really good, but I was
too busy and kept on getting distracted by other things, so I just never quite got around to finishing
it. Sometimes our teacher bans all technology from the classroom. I don’t think that reflects real
life, so I’m not so keen on those lessons. What’s the point, for example, of looking up words in
paper dictionaries?

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9 For each person, write the correct letter A, B, C or D on the line.

Which person…

(a) mentions various benefits of checking words online? .......... [1]

(b) mentions recommending a website to someone else? .......... [1]

(c) says they enjoy creating tasks for classmates to do? .......... [1]

(d) suggests that technology can distract learners? .......... [1]

(e) thinks that group activities are more motivating online? .......... [1]

(f) explains why they were unable to complete an online course? .......... [1]

(g) says that a tool to improve writing was more useful than expected? .......... [1]

(h) believes that every lesson should include some digital learning? .......... [1]

(i) admits that translating online is less than ideal? .......... [1]

(j) says that there’s no need to pay for online resources? .......... [1]

[Total: 10]

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Exercise 3

Read the article about a woman who changed her career, and then complete the notes.

All change!
From sales and marketing to making objects from wood

Four years ago, 27-year-old Hannah Billen and three of her friends signed up for a weekend
outdoor survival course – two days in the outdoors, learning survival skills such as making fires,
building shelters, using tools like knives and axes, and finding food and water. When she got home
and was telling her parents about the experience, she realised that she couldn’t imagine spending
the rest of her working life in an office. She told them how great the course was. ‘I learned how
to safely use an axe and a saw to remove branches from trees, and I spent a lot of time making
things – mostly simple spoons.’ Her parents were so impressed with what she had made that they
suggested she could make money from working with wood. She immediately felt that this was a
possibility.

Hannah had been working in sales and marketing for the past five years, and she was starting
to find that her job was becoming more and more stressful. She began making up for her days in
the office with relaxing evenings making spoons and various other objects out of wood: chopping
boards, butter knives, coffee scoops, bowls and other kitchenware. Then, in 2014, she lost her job.
‘This turned out to be the push I needed to turn my part-time craft into a full-time career,’ she said.

She was accepted on to the Get Started Programme, a scheme to support young people who are
planning to start their own business. She was given guidance to produce a business plan. Once
this was in place, she approached her bank and was surprised that she was immediately given a
low-cost start-up loan. Four months later, her new company, Wood For Life, was born.

Initially, she was given the use of her parents’ garage, although she now has her very own studio.
This is big enough for all her equipment, has a large work surface, and is very light and airy – a
pleasant and inspiring place to work. Although it is not traditional to do so, she has started to
use an electric saw rather than an axe to create the basic shape of an object. ‘You can only use
an axe if you’re working with green wood – that’s wood that has recently been cut from a tree –
which is what I used when I started doing this as a hobby. But I didn’t have a big enough supply of
green wood,’ she explains. Instead, she has switched to using recycled wood, from old buildings,
factories and warehouses. ‘That is much harder to carve, so I need to use the electric saw.’

Hannah has recently started organising workshops for people who want to try out her skill. These
are very popular, and a good way of earning money, but she’s happiest when she’s working alone
in the studio, when she aims to make around ten items a day. It’s an exciting time for her growing
business, and she has plans to write a book about getting back to nature.

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You are going to give a talk about Hannah Billen’s change of career to your class at school.

Prepare some notes to use as the basis for your talk.

Make short notes under each heading.

10 What made Hannah decide to change her career after doing an outdoor survival course:

• .............................................................................................................................................

• .............................................................................................................................................

• ....................................................................................................................................... [3]

11 What help Hannah was given to set up her company:

• .............................................................................................................................................

• .............................................................................................................................................

• ....................................................................................................................................... [3]

12 How Hannah’s business has changed since she started her company:

• .............................................................................................................................................

• .............................................................................................................................................

• ....................................................................................................................................... [3]

[Total: 9]

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Do not write
outside the
0 1 box
Look closely at this photograph from a local newspaper.

Describe what you see in the photograph.

Your description should be between 30 and 50 words.

[9 marks]

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Do not write
outside the
0 2 Write a letter to a friend advising them how to prepare for their exams. box

You must write about:

• what they should do to prepare for their exams

• why they should study hard for their exams
• where they could get help from.

Your letter should be between 50 and 70 words. Do not write an address.

[12 marks]

12

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*03*
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