Cambridge IGCSE Chinese (Mandarin) - Foreign Language 0547 — 2018 May/June Paper 4 · Variant 2
0547/42/M/J/18 · 45 marks · ≈51 min
The question paper and its mark scheme, free to read here and free to download. This is Cambridge’s own paper, exactly as it was sat.
Question paper8 pages








Mark scheme19 pages
Answers below. Sit the paper first if you are practising.



















Paper as text
Question paper, page 1
READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your Centre number, candidate number and name on all the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen. Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid. DO NOT WRITE IN ANY BARCODES. Answer three questions: Question 1, Question 2 and Question 3(a) or Question 3(b) or Question 3(c). The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. MANDARIN CHINESE 0547/42 Paper 4 Writing May/June 2018 1 hour 15 minutes Candidates answer on the Question Paper. No Additional Materials are required. This document consists of 5 printed pages and 3 blank pages. KI 151525/2 © UCLES 2018 [Turn over Cambridge International Examinations Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education The syllabus is approved for use in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificate. * 0 8 1 8 2 2 8 5 8 7 *
Question paper, page 2
2 0547/42/M/J/18 © UCLES 2018 BLANK PAGE
Question paper, page 3
3 [Turn over 0547/42/M/J/18 © UCLES 2018 问题一 Question 1 请用中文写出你可能带到学校的五种东西。 Make a list in Chinese of 5 things you might take to school. 例: 报纸 … 1 … 2 … 3 … 4 … 5 … [Total: 5]
Question paper, page 4
4 0547/42/M/J/18 © UCLES 2018 问题二 Question 2 你家附近有一个动物园。请写一写: Write about a zoo near your house. Say: (a) 动物园几点开门; (b) 你怎么去动物园; (c) 那里有什么动物; (d) 那里的咖啡馆怎么样; (e) 下次你想跟谁一起去动物园。 用中文写80–100 个字。 Write 80–100 characters in Chinese. … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … [Total: 15]
Question paper, page 5
5 0547/42/M/J/18 © UCLES 2018 [Turn over BLANK PAGE
Question paper, page 6
6 0547/42/M/J/18 © UCLES 2018 问题三 Question 3 下列题目,选择其中一个(3(a) 或者3(b) 或者3(c))。写一百五十个字左右。 Choose one of the following topics (3(a) or 3(b) or 3(c)) and write about 150 Chinese characters. (a) 你最近收到了一个礼物。请给笔友写一封信。信里说说: • 你收到了什么礼物; • 这个礼物是谁送给你的; • 你跟他/ 她的关系怎么样; • 他/ 她为什么送礼物给你; • 收到礼物后,你打算做什么。 or 或者 (b) 《中学生杂志》想了解一下学生对上网学习的看法。请给杂志写一篇文章, 说一说: • 你上网学过什么; • 你每次学多长时间; • 上网学习有什么好处/ 坏处; • 你打算上网学习什么新的东西;为什么。 or 或者 (c) 你上个星期日在飞机场,忽然听到有人叫你。请说说: • 谁叫你; • 你在做什么; • 他/ 她为什么叫你; • 你觉得他/ 她怎么样; • 后来发生了什么事。
Question paper, page 7
7 0547/42/M/J/18 © UCLES 2018 请在下面写作文 Write your answer to Question 3 here. … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … [Total: 25]
Question paper, page 8
8 0547/42/M/J/18 © UCLES 2018 Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity. To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge International Examinations Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download at www.cie.org.uk after the live examination series. Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a department of the University of Cambridge. BLANK PAGE
Mark scheme, page 1
IGCSE™ is a registered trademark. This syllabus is approved for use in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificate. This document consists of 19 printed pages. © UCLES 2018 [Turn over Cambridge Assessment International Education Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education MANDARIN CHINESE 0547/42 Paper 4 Writing May/June 2018 MARK SCHEME Maximum Mark: 45 Published This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of the examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not indicate the details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking began, which would have considered the acceptability of alternative answers. Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the question paper and the Principal Examiner Report for Teachers. Cambridge International will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes. Cambridge International is publishing the mark schemes for the May/June 2018 series for most Cambridge IGCSE™, Cambridge International A and AS Level and Cambridge Pre-U components, and some Cambridge O Level components.
Mark scheme, page 2
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 2 of 19 Generic Marking Principles These general marking principles must be applied by all examiners when marking candidate answers. They should be applied alongside the specific content of the mark scheme or generic level descriptors for a question. Each question paper and mark scheme will also comply with these marking principles. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 1: Marks must be awarded in line with: • the specific content of the mark scheme or the generic level descriptors for the question • the specific skills defined in the mark scheme or in the generic level descriptors for the question • the standard of response required by a candidate as exemplified by the standardisation scripts. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 2: Marks awarded are always whole marks (not half marks, or other fractions). GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 3: Marks must be awarded positively: • marks are awarded for correct/valid answers, as defined in the mark scheme. However, credit is given for valid answers which go beyond the scope of the syllabus and mark scheme, referring to your Team Leader as appropriate • marks are awarded when candidates clearly demonstrate what they know and can do • marks are not deducted for errors • marks are not deducted for omissions • answers should only be judged on the quality of spelling, punctuation and grammar when these features are specifically assessed by the question as indicated by the mark scheme. The meaning, however, should be unambiguous. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 4: Rules must be applied consistently e.g. in situations where candidates have not followed instructions or in the application of generic level descriptors.
Mark scheme, page 3
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 3 of 19 GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 5: Marks should be awarded using the full range of marks defined in the mark scheme for the question (however; the use of the full mark range may be limited according to the quality of the candidate responses seen). GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 6: Marks awarded are based solely on the requirements as defined in the mark scheme. Marks should not be awarded with grade thresholds or grade descriptors in mind.
Mark scheme, page 4
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 4 of 19 Both traditional and simplified characters are accepted and should be marked in the same way. SECTION 1 Question Answer Marks 1 Candidates are required to list 5 items in Chinese. Read all the items the candidate has listed and award marks as follows: • Select the most correct items up to a maximum of 5 • Award 1 mark for each correct item up to a maximum of 5 • Stop ticking once 5 items have been rewarded • On Question 1 award marks for items wherever the candidate has written them • If the candidate offers more than one word per line, award a mark for each acceptable item 5 Generic mark scheme for Question 1 • Mark for communication. Tolerate inaccuracies, provided the message is clear • Do not award marks to words written in pinyin and English • If you suspect a word is used in another region e.g.手巾、手信, please check with the team leader or award BOD • Miswritten characters: (a) Look-alike test: award the mark when the character the candidate has written looks like the correct answer e.g. strokes missing or added, but character still recognisable. However, when the miswritten character creates a new character with a different meaning, the mark cannot be awarded. (b) If a prefix or suffix is missing, or a modifier word is miswritten, award a mark if meaning is still communicated, e.g. 面 条: if a candidate has only written条, it does not mean anything and a mark shouldn’t be awarded. If a candidate has written 面 which contains the main meaning of the word noodle, the mark should be awarded. (c) If the mis-formed characters create a different meaning, e.g. 书木,no mark will be awarded (d) Candidates must communicate the meaning very clearly. If there are more than two characters in the answer, and the meaning is clearly communicated, we can tolerate the wrong characters, e.g. 中语书
Mark scheme, page 5
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 5 of 19 Question Answer Marks 1 Session specific instructions for Question 1: Make a list in Chinese of 5 things you might take to school . (请用中文写出你可能 带到学校的五种东西) • If there are five clearly acceptable items, food & drink, clothes, daily used items, toys, books award marks wherever these are in the list. • If candidates list a single item with different descriptive word/adjectives, a maximum of 2 marks can be awarded, e.g. 蓝 衣服、大衣服、小衣服award 2 marks • Ignore measure words and the verb 带(already in the rubric) • If more than 5 words have been written, award the 5 correct ones even outside of the space provided • If words are directly copied from the question e.g.东西,no mark will be awarded
Mark scheme, page 6
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 6 of 19 Question Answer Marks 1 The following are examples. Accept anything the candidate might take to school ACCEPT REFUSE 食物 蓝球 人 饮料 体育衣 喝水 书 火 玩具 木 水 校车 果汁 飞机 and any other public transport 水果 手杋 毛巾 工课 鞋 课体 包 本书 电脑 书句 手机 书抱 皮带 铅毛 大衣 人 毛衣 喝水 牙刷 火 纸 木 Total for Question 1: 5 marks
Mark scheme, page 7
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 7 of 19 Question Answer Marks Question 2 Candidates are required to answer the question. Read the whole answer and award marks as follows: • Communication: award a mark out of 10 according to the instructions in 2.1 • Language: award a mark out of 5 according to the instructions in 2.2
Mark scheme, page 8
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 8 of 19 Question Answer Marks 2 2.1: award a mark out of 10 for Communication Generic mark scheme for Communication (Question 2) (i) Place the appropriate ‘numbered’ tick as close as possible to each relevant communication point (ii) Award ticks flexibly across the tasks for each piece of relevant information conveyed up to a maximum of 10 ticks. HOWEVER, each of the 5 tasks must be covered to get the 10 communication marks: (iii) If 1 of the tasks is missing, the maximum communication mark is 9 (iv) If 2 of the tasks are missing, the maximum communication mark is 8 (and so on) (v) Add up the ticks to give a mark out of 10 for Communication (vi) For COMMUNICATION be tolerant of time-frames and minor character errors, provided the characters written are clear enough to be understood • for language, use ‘rules’ in Question 1: miswritten characters, etc. • incorrect word order will not usually compromise communication (vii) LISTS = a maximum of 3 marks for communication. LISTS 最多给三分。 • 动物园里有猫、狗、鱼和鸟。(3 marks) • 咖啡馆很大,很好,有很多吃的,我喜欢那里。We award 4 marks. (viii) Up to 5 further marks available for additional details (ix) 我们坐公共汽车五分钟就到动物园了。Award 1 mark since it is one sentence without a comma. (x) Do not penalise factual errors (xi) What the candidate writes may not follow the order of the tasks on the question paper – this is fine Total marks for Communication: 10 15
Mark scheme, page 9
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 9 of 19 Question Answer Marks 2 Use of pinyin If a candidate uses pinyin in their answer, you should read the work as if the pinyin words were not there – they do not count towards the Communication mark. If the Communication requirements are still fulfilled, discounting the pinyin, the mark can be awarded. See 2.2 page 12 for language marks. e.g. Question: 你喜欢吃什么 Answer 1: 我喜欢吃 jiao子. (pinyin is used for the word ‘jiao’. This is a key word in the sentence, and relates directly to the question. Therefore, no Communication mark can be awarded.) Answer 2: 我喜欢吃面bao. (pinyin is used for the word ‘bao’. Ignoring this word in the sentence would not affect comprehension - it is not a key word in the sentence. The Communication mark can be awarded here.) How to award marks for extra details: An extra detail is defined as any extra detail which is related in some way to any one of the five tasks. Example: 咖啡馆很大,很好,有很多吃的,我喜欢那里。 (4 Communication marks are awarded for this response) In the above example: • Award 1 tick for 咖啡馆很大 as this is a generic statement which addresses the requirements of task 4 • Award 1 tick for 很好 as this is an extra detail which is relevant to task 4 • Award 1 tick for 有很多吃的 as this is an extra detail which is relevant to task 4 • Award 1 tick for 我喜欢那里 as this is an extra detail which is relevant to task 4 However, if the extra piece of information is not directly answering any of the bullet points, we only award 1 mark even if it is a list, e.g. 我早上八点跟家人去(1 mark),我的家人有爸爸、妈妈、哥哥、弟弟 (1 mark).
Mark scheme, page 10
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 10 of 19 Question Answer Marks 2 Session specific instructions for Communication marks (Question 2): Write about a zoo near your house. 你家附近有一个动物园。请写一写 Tick Accept Refuse 1 动物园几点开门; What time does the zoo open? REWARD: any time of the day (x 点) 星期一 2 你怎么去动物园;How do you go to the zoo? REWARD: any way of getting there 3 那里有什么动物;What animals are there? REWARD: any kind of animal REWARD: 有有有有有有 样样 (1 mark);鸡 (1 mark)、 鸭 (1 mark)、鱼 (1 mark) REWARD: any opinions or description 4 那里的咖啡馆怎么样;What is the café like in there? 5 下次你想跟谁一起去动物园。 Whom would you like to go there with next time? Candidates must refer to a future timeframe, 想 or 明 天 or 计划«etc.
Mark scheme, page 11
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 11 of 19 Question Answer Marks 2 2.2: Award a mark out of 5 for Language Award a mark out of 5 for Language*, according to the Grade descriptors in the table below (see Note on using mark schemes with Grade descriptors (last page of mark scheme)). Grade descriptors for Language (Question 2) 5 Straightforward vocabulary and structure. The style of writing is basic, but reasonably coherent. Use of a limited range of verbs, generally successful. More accuracy than inaccuracy. 4 Basic vocabulary and structure. Some awareness of verb usage, but inconsistent. The writing is sufficiently accurate for meaning to be conveyed. 3 Very basic vocabulary and structure. Little awareness of verb usage (e.g. infinitives regularly used instead of finite verbs). Despite regular errors, the writing often conveys some meaning. 2 A few phrases or short sentences are accurate enough to be comprehensible. Very simple sentence structure. 1 Disjointed words or short phrases, one or two of them accurate enough to be comprehensible. 0 One or two disjointed words or short phrases may be recognisable. *Consider the whole answer when awarding mark for language Total for Communication: 10 marks Total for Language: 5 marks Total for Question 2: 15 marks
Mark scheme, page 12
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 12 of 19 SECTION 2 Question Answer Marks Question 3 Candidates answer 1 question from a choice of 3. Read the whole answer and award marks, as follows: • Communication: award a mark out of 5 according to the instructions in 3.1 • Language: award a mark out of 5 for Accuracy of Characters according to the instructions in 3.2 award a mark out of 10 for Accuracy of Grammar and Structures according to the instructions in 3.3 award an Impression mark out of 5 according to the instructions in 3.4 3.1 – award a mark out of 5 for Communication Generic mark scheme for Communication (Question 3): (i) There are 5 relevant communication points per question, each worth a maximum of 1 mark. (ii) For each relevant communication point, use the appropriate numbered tick and place 1 of these ticks as close as possible to each relevant communication point. (iii) Add up the ticks to give a mark out of 5 for Communication. Total marks for Communication: 5
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0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 13 of 19 Question Answer Marks 3(a) Session specific instructions for Communication marks (Question 3): Question 3(a): 你最近收到了一个礼物。You have received a gift. Tick Accept Mark 1 你收到了什么礼物;What gift did you receive? Allow anything [1] 2 这个礼物是谁送给你的; Who sent it to you? Allow anyone [1] 3 你跟他/她的关系怎么样; How well do you get along with him/her? There needs to be an adjective, descriptive phrase, or 喜欢/爱 to describe how the relationship is; otherwise no marks are awarded. For example, 他是我的老师 is not awarded. [1] 4 他/她为什么送礼物给你; Why did he/she send the gift to you? REWARD: any reason [1] 5 收到礼物后,你打算做什么 What are you going to do after receiving the gift? REWARD: Any action with a future timeframe [1] 5
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0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 14 of 19 Question Answer Marks 3(b) Question 3(b): 《中学生杂志》想了解一下学生对上网学习的看法。请给杂志写一篇文章,说一说: “Middle School Magazine” wants to know the students’ view on online learning. Please write an article to the magazine about: Tick Accept Mark 1 你上网学过什么;What have you learnt online? Allow anything [1] 2 你每次学多长时间;How long did you learn for each time (you went online)? Allow any length of time, past or present timeframe [1] 3 上网学习有什么好处/坏处;What is an advantage or a disadvantage of online learning? Allow any opinion or justification [1] 4 你打算上网学习什么新的东西吗? What new things are you going to learn online? Allow anything [1] 5 为什么 Why? Allow any reason [1] 5
Mark scheme, page 15
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 15 of 19 Question Answer Marks 3(c) Question 3(c): 你上个星期日在飞机场,忽然听到有人叫你。You were at an airport last Sunday. Suddenly you heard someone calling you. Tick Accept Mark 1 谁叫你;Who was calling you? Allow anyone [1] 2 你在做什么;What were you doing? Allow any action around the time (immediately before or after) you were called [1] 3 他/她为什么叫你;Why was he/she calling you? Allow any reason [1] 4 你觉得他/她怎么么;What did you think about him/her? Allow any opinion or description [1] 5 后来发生了什么事。What happened afterwards? Allow any sequence of events expressed in past timeframe [1] 5
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0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 16 of 19 Question Answer Marks 3 3.2 – award a mark out of 5 for Accuracy of Characters Generic mark scheme for Accuracy of Characters (Question 3): • Award a mark out of 5 for Accuracy of Characters according to the Grade descriptors in the table below: Grade descriptors for Accuracy of Characters (Question 3) 5 Highly accurate, with a wide range of characters including some more difficult or unusual ones correctly written, with occasional minor slips. 4 A good range of characters attempted with easy and moderately easy characters correctly written. 3 Limited range, but with most easy characters correctly written (or a wide range with a lot of errors). 2 A number of examples of easy characters correctly written. 1 Substantially inaccurate, with only isolated examples of correctly written characters. 0 No examples of correctly written characters. Total marks for Accuracy of Characters: 5
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0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 17 of 19 Question Answer Marks 3 3.3 – award a mark out of 10 for Accuracy of Grammar and Structures Generic mark scheme for Accuracy of Grammar and Structures (Question 3): • Award a mark out of 10 for Accuracy of Grammar and Structures according to the Grade descriptors in the table below: Grade descriptors for Accuracy of Grammar and Structures (Question 3) 10/9 Highly accurate including use of more complex structures, but with occasional minor slips. 8/7 A little more ambitious than the 5/6 band. Accurate in the use of simple structures, except for occasional more serious errors/more frequent slips. 6/5 Limited in range, but displays some control of simple structures. 4/3 Inconsistent, but a number of examples of accurate usage. 2/1 Substantially inaccurate, with only isolated examples of accurate usage. 0 No examples of accurate usage. Total marks for Accuracy of Grammar and Structures: 10 How to deal with short essays If the candidate has written less than half the suggested number of characters (75 or less), a maximum of 3 marks can be awarded for Accuracy of Characters and 5 marks for Grammar/Structures. An essay of 75–100 characters can be awarded a maximum of 4 marks for Accuracy of characters and 7 for Grammar/Structures. For a letter, the addressee and ending greeting are not included in the word count. Pinyin The volume of pinyin in the answer should be considered when awarding the Language mark. If pinyin is used extensively, it is no longer genuinely a piece of Chinese writing. Occasional use of pinyin will not affect marking for Language, but for essays written predominantly in pinyin (i.e. more pinyin than characters) this must be taken into account in the Language mark.
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0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 18 of 19 Question Answer Marks 3 3.4 – award a mark out of 5 for Impression Award a mark out of 5 for Impression according to the conversion table below. Conversion Table for Impression (Question 3) Mark out of 15 (for Accuracy of Language) Pro rata (General Impression) Max 5 15 5 14 5 13 4 12 4 11 4 10 3 9 3 8 2 7 2 6 2 5 1 4 1 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 Total mark for Impression: 5 Total for Question 3: 25 marks
Mark scheme, page 19
0547/42 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2018 © UCLES 2018 Page 19 of 19 Note on using mark schemes with Grade descriptors It is important that you award marks positively. In order to ensure that you reward achievement rather than penalise failure or omissions, you should start at the bottom of the mark scheme and work upwards through the descriptors when awarding marks. You should adopt a ‘best fit’ approach. You must select the set of descriptors provided in the mark scheme that most closely describes the quality of the work being marked. As you work upwards through the mark scheme, you will eventually arrive at a set of descriptors that fits the candidate’s performance. When you reach this point, you should always then check the descriptors in the band above to confirm whether or not there is just enough evidence to award a mark in the higher band. For example when marking Question 3, you may, find that a candidate uses a variety of relevant vocabulary but has varied success with more complex structures. In such cases, you will need to award a mark that takes into account both the strengths and weaknesses of the piece of work. To select the most appropriate mark within each set of descriptors, you should use the following guidance: • If most of the descriptors fit the piece (and after you have considered the band above), then you will award the top mark in the band. • If there is just enough evidence (and you had perhaps been considering the band below), then you would award the lowest mark in the band. Note on irrelevant material In the case of a deliberately evasive answer which consists entirely of irrelevant material exploited in defiance of the rubric, a score of 0 is given. These are extremely rare. A genuine attempt to answer the question which fails due to a misunderstanding of the rubric will normally lose Communication marks but will score for Language. You should consult your Team Leader.
What you needed in this session
Cambridge’s own grade thresholds for 2018 May/June, Paper 4 · Variant 2. A higher threshold means an easier paper — the bar moves with how the cohort did.