Cambridge IGCSE English - First Language 0500 — 2012 Oct/Nov Paper 3 · Variant 1

This document consists of 4 printed pages. DC (LEO) 50289/2 © UCLES 2012 [Turn over UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS International General Certificate of Secondary Education * 6 7 6 0 5 1 5 6 0 6 * FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH 0500/31 Paper 3 Directed Writing and Composition October/November 2012 2 hours Additional Materials: Answer Booklet/Paper READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST If you have been given an Answer Booklet, follow the instructions on the front cover of the Booklet. 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, highlighters, glue or correction fluid. Answer two questions: Question 1 (Section 1) and one question from Section 2. Dictionaries are not permitted. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. All questions in this paper carry equal marks. www.XtremePapers.com

2 0500/31/O/N/12 © UCLES 2012 Section 1: Directed Writing 1 Read the article printed on the opposite page. Write a letter to the journalist, Dennis Nadel, in which you comment on his views and argue for your own views about teenagers and digital communication. In your letter you should: • give the advantages of digital communication for teenagers • address the writer’s concerns and argue your own views. Base your letter on what you have read in the article. Be careful to use your own words. Begin your letter: ‘Dear Sir, I have read your article and would like to comment on your point of view...’. Write between 1½ to 2 sides, allowing for the size of your handwriting. Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 15 marks for the quality of your writing. [25]

3 0500/31/O/N/12 © UCLES 2012 [Turn over Text, text, text, that’s all teenagers think about: but are there more worrying issues involved? by Dennis Nadel. ‘How did we manage before?’ asks Maria. ‘Carrier pigeons? Letters? Going round each other’s houses on bikes?’ Alberto reckons he spends an hour, hour-and-a-half on school days hanging out with his 450 social network friends; maybe twice that at weekends. ‘I’d rather give up my diary than my phone,’ says Georgia. Sadly, many teenagers would rather stay at home than go on a vacation with their families if they were going to an area where there was no mobile signal or no broadband. Teens, eh? Not how they were when I was young. Nor the way they talk to each other. Let’s frighten ourselves first. For a decade the Pew Research Centre has been the world’s most authoritative source of data on the internet’s impact on our lives. This includes the way teens have used mobile phones and text messaging since 2006. Their findings reveal the fact that 75 per cent of all teenagers (and 12 per cent of 12-year-olds) now have a mobile phone. Almost 90 per cent of phone-owning teens send and receive texts, most of them daily. Half send 50 or more texts a day; one in three send 100. But phones do more than text, of course. More than 64 per cent share the pictures they take with others, 46 per cent play games, 32 per cent swap videos, and over 23 per cent access social networking sites. The mobile phone, in short, is now the favoured communication hub for the majority of teens. However, if texting, swapping, ‘hanging’ and generally spending their waking hours welded to their phones wasn’t enough, 73 per cent use social networking sites, 50 per cent more than three years ago! Digital communication is not just prevalent in teenagers’ lives. It is teenagers’ lives. ‘Cred-wise’, it’s important to have an impressive, active social network profile: lots of updates, lots of tagged photos of you, lots of ‘friends’. Sometimes, though, it ends in tears. Everyone has witnessed cyber bullying, but for some less-outgoing teens this can tip them over the edge into depression and withdrawal from cyber life and even real life. ‘It’s quite easy for young people to feel belittled and isolated on these sites,’ says Roma, a victim of cyber bullying. There is also another downside. Following huge recent publicity, teens are increasingly afraid of the dangers of online predators, adult strangers seeking to strike up ‘friendships’ with young, vulnerable people. The question that concerns most parents is whether such an unprecedented surge in non face-to- face communication is somehow changing our teenagers, diminishing their ability to conduct more traditional relationships – turning them into screen-enslaved, socially-challenged adults. Young people should also be aware of the fact that their so called ‘private’ activity on social networking sites is being used for more sinister reasons that will affect their future plans for further education and jobs. A 2009 survey found up to 45 per cent of US companies are now checking job applicants’ activity on these sites, and 34 per cent reported rejecting people because of what they found. Universities and colleges, similarly, are starting to look online. ‘You need to be careful,’ says Cameron, astute at 14. ‘Stuff can very easily get misunderstood.’ What about us as parents? Do we enjoy the peace of our offspring quietly communicating with 300 friends online, or would we rather have the noise and chaos of school friends sharing pizza in the kitchen and telling us about their day?

4 0500/31/O/N/12 © UCLES 2012 Section 2: Composition Write about 2 sides, allowing for the size of your handwriting, on one of the following: Argumentative/Discursive Writing 2 (a) ‘Parents and teachers place too much pressure on teenagers and expect them to work too hard at school and at home.’ What are your views on this statement? [25] OR (b) ‘Charity begins at home; therefore each country should help itself rather than helping others.’ Argue for or against this claim. [25] Descriptive Writing 3 (a) A major cycling race is coming through your town centre. Imagine you are at the front of the crowd waiting for the cyclists to appear. Describe the sense of expectation and the arrival of the competitors. [25] OR (b) You are accidentally locked in your school after everyone has left. Describe the atmosphere and how this makes you feel. [25] Narrative Writing 4 (a) Write a story entitled ‘Caught in the Act’. [25] OR (b) Begin a story with a character who has lost something important. [25] Copyright Acknowledgements: Question 1 © ADAPTED; Jon Henley; Teenagers and technology; http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/16/teenagers-mobiles-facebook- social-networking?INTCMP=SRCH; 16 July 2010. 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. University of 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.

CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS International General Certificate of Secondary Education MARK SCHEME for the October/November 2012 series 0500 FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH 0500/31 Paper 3 (Directed Writing and Composition), maximum raw mark 50 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 will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes. Cambridge is publishing the mark schemes for the October/November 2012 series for most IGCSE, GCE Advanced Level and Advanced Subsidiary Level components and some Ordinary Level components. www.XtremePapers.com

Page 2 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE – October/November 2012 0500 31 © Cambridge International Examinations 2012 Note: All Examiners are instructed that alternative correct answers and unexpected approaches in candidates’ scripts must be given marks that fairly reflect the relevant knowledge and skills demonstrated. Nonetheless, the content must be clearly related to and derived from the passage. Section 1: Directed Writing Question 1 This question tests Writing Objectives W1–W5 (15 marks): • articulate experience and express what is thought, felt and imagined • order and present facts, ideas and opinions • understand and use a range of appropriate vocabulary • use language and register appropriate to audience and context • make accurate and effective use of paragraphs, grammatical structures, sentences, punctuation and spelling. AND aspects of Reading Objectives R1–R3 (10 marks): • understand and collate explicit meanings • understand, explain and collate implicit meanings and attitudes • select, analyse and evaluate what is relevant to specific purposes. Read the article opposite. Write a letter to the journalist, Dennis Nadel, in which you comment on his views and argue for your own views about teenagers and digital communication. In your letter you should give the advantages of digital communication for teenagers, address the writer’s concerns and argue your own views. Base your letter on what you have read in the article. Be careful to use your own words. Begin your letter, ‘Dear Sir, I have read your article and would like to comment on your point of view…’. Write between 1½ and 2 sides, allowing for the size of your handwriting. Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 15 marks for the quality of your writing. [25]

Page 3 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE – October/November 2012 0500 31 © Cambridge International Examinations 2012 Candidates may use the following ideas: A Advantages (some of which are implicit) • Most teenagers own a mobile phone; it’s the easiest form of communication • Teenagers are able to use digital communication to: – share pictures/swap videos – play games on mobile phones (which prevents boredom) – share information and socialise with many friends on social network sites – stay in touch with friends made on holidays/school exchanges – learn about other countries and cultures • A defence against direct physical bullying in the playground/better action can be taken against cyberbullying online • Breaks down barriers • Provides 21st century skills that allow success in work B Response to the views of the journalist (evaluative) • Not every teenager has 450 social network friends/know the difference between real friends and online acquaintances • Not all teenagers are fixated on texting or broadband/lead healthy lives that include sport, music or meeting up in cafés • Mobile phones are essential in this day and age; some may go overboard, but many keep parents informed (e.g. where they are/that they are safe) • It is the ‘here and now’ way of communicating and adults also rely on this • Many teenagers derive a lot of happiness or fun from activities conducted using this communication • Astute enough to know about the dangers of predators/the pitfalls of cyberbullying – only affects a few • Teenagers have as many face-to-face friendships as adults had when they were young • Question the legality of companies and universities and colleges, prying into private online social network pages – some may mention the furore over journalists’ hacking C Potential arguments with the journalist’s views (implicit) • This is how the world communicates now and it is how we deal with others • As our parents did in their teens, we are also establishing our own identities/becoming independent • Favourite musicians, writers and community projects advertise on social network sites • Keep up-to-date with newest developments • Some feel safer communicating online/by text before we meet up with others/dating • Learn how to think before we send texts/reply online, which makes us more thoughtful/mature • More aware of dangers/privacy than you think because we pass on information • We have a sense of community online/at the end of a phone so we can share concerns • We have friends in countries across the world who we may want to meet • We use digital communication to discuss homework and widen our views Accept all other relevant ideas derived from the passage and relevant to the question as a basis for the letter.

Page 4 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE – October/November 2012 0500 31 © Cambridge International Examinations 2012 The question is marked out of 10 for Reading and 15 for Writing. Use the following table to give a mark out of 10 for Reading. st v Band 1 9 – 10 Gives a thorough, perceptive, convincing evaluation. Reads effectively between the lines. Shows understanding by developing much of the reading material and integrating it into a response to the task. Band 2 7 – 8 Some evidence of evaluation, engaging with a few of the main points with success. Uses reading material to support the argument. Occasionally effective development of ideas in the material. Band 3 5 – 6 Reproduces a number of points to make a satisfactory response. The response covers the material adequately, but may miss opportunities to develop it relevantly or at length. Band 4 3 – 4 Selects points from the passage rather literally and/or uses the material thinly. Does not combine points into a connected response. Band 5 1 – 2 Parts of the response are relevant, though the material may be repeated or used inappropriately. Band 6 0 Response does not relate to question and/or too much unselective copying directly from the material to gain a mark in Band 5. ariant Mark Scheme Use the following table to give a mark out of 15 for Writing. Band 1 13 – 15 Consistent sense of audience; authoritative and appropriate style. Fluent, varied sentences; wide range of vocabulary. Strong sense of structure, paragraphing and sequence. Virtually no error. Band 2 10 – 12 Sense of audience mostly secure; there is evidence of style and fluency; sentences and vocabulary are effective. Secure overall structure; mostly well- sequenced. Writing is mainly accurate. Band 3 8 – 9 Occasional sense of audience; mostly written in correctly structured sentences; vocabulary may be plain but adequate for the task; mostly quite well structured. Errors minor. Band 4 5 – 7 Inconsistent style; simple or faultily constructed sentences; vocabulary simple; basic structure. Frequent errors, including sentence separation. Band 5 3 – 4 Inappropriate expression; the response is not always well sequenced. Serious errors in sentence structure/vocabulary/grammar/punctuation. Band 6 1 – 2 Expression unclear; flawed sentence construction and order. Persistent serious errors interfere with the conveying of meaning. Band 7 0 Problems of expression and accuracy are too serious to gain a mark in band 6.

Page 5 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE – October/November 2012 0500 31 © Cambridge International Examinations 2012 Section 2: Composition Questions 2 (a), 2 (b), 3 (a), 3 (b), 4 (a) and 4 (b). Give two marks: • the first mark is out of 13 for content and structure: see Table A • the second mark is out of 12 for style and accuracy: see Table B The maximum overall mark for the Composition is 25. Write the total clearly at the end as follows: C7 + S10 = 17 (C standing for ‘content and structure’, S for ‘style and accuracy’). Argumentative/Discursive Writing 2 (a) ‘Parents and teachers place too much pressure on teenagers and expect them to work too hard at school and at home’. What are your views on this statement? [25] OR (b) ‘Charity begins at home; therefore each country should help itself rather than helping others.’ Argue for or against this claim. [25] Descriptive Writing 3 (a) A major cycling race is coming through your town centre. Imagine you are at the front of the crowd waiting for the cyclists to appear. Describe the sense of expectation and the arrival of the competitors. [25] OR (b) You are accidentally locked in your school after everyone has left. Describe the atmosphere and how this makes you feel. [25] Narrative Writing 4 (a) Write a story entitled ‘Caught in the Act’. [25] OR (b) Begin a story with a character who has lost something important to them. [25]

Page 6 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE – October/November 2012 0500 31 © Cambridge International Examinations 2012 COMPOSITION TASKS: TABLE A – CONTENT AND STRUCTURE ARGUMENTATIVE/ DISCURSIVE TASK DESCRIPTIVE TASK NARRATIVE TASK Band 1 11 – 13 • Consistently well developed, logical stages in an overall, at times complex, argument. • Each stage is linked to the preceding one, and sentences within paragraphs are soundly sequenced. • There are many well- defined, well-developed ideas and images, describing complex atmospheres with a range of details. • Overall structure is provided through devices such as the movements of the persona, the creation of a short time span, or the creation of atmosphere or tension. There is no confusion with writing a story. Repetition is avoided and the sequence of sentences makes the picture clear to the reader. • The narrative is complex and sophisticated and may contain devices such as sub-texts, flashbacks and time lapses. Cogent details are provided where necessary or appropriate. • Different parts of the story are balanced and the climax carefully managed. Sentence sequences are sometimes arranged to produce effects such as the building up of tension or providing a sudden turn of events. Band 2 9 – 10 • Each stage of the argument is defined and developed, although the explanation may not be consistent. • The stages follow in a generally cohesive progression. Paragraphs are mostly well sequenced, although some may finish less strongly than they begin. • There is a good range of images with interesting details which contribute to a sense of atmosphere. • These are formed into an overall picture of some clarity, largely consistent and effective. There may be occasional repetition, and opportunities for development or the provision of detail may be missed. Sentences are often well sequenced. • The writing develops some interesting features, but not consistently so. Expect the use of detail and some attention to character or setting. • Writing is orderly and the beginning and ending are satisfactorily managed. The reader is well aware of the climax even if it is not fully effective. Sequencing of sentences provides clarity and engages the reader in events or atmosphere.

Page 7 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE – October/November 2012 0500 31 © Cambridge International Examinations 2012 Band 3 7 – 8 • There is a series of relevant points and a clear attempt is made to develop some of them. These points are straightforward and logical/coherent. • Repetition is avoided, but the order of the stages in the overall argument can be changed without adverse effect. The sequence of the sentences within paragraphs is satisfactory, but the linking of ideas may be insecure. • There is a selection of relevant ideas, images, and details, which satisfactorily address the task. An attempt is made to create atmosphere. • The description provides a series of points rather than a sense of their being combined to make an overall picture, but some ideas are developed successfully, albeit straightforwardly. Some sentences are well sequenced. • A straightforward but cohesive story with identification of features such as character and setting. • While opportunities for appropriate development of ideas are sometimes missed, overall structure is competent, and some features of a developed narrative are evident. Sentences are usually sequenced to narrate events clearly. Band 4 5 – 6 • Mainly relevant points are made and they are developed partially with some brief effectiveness. • The overall argument shows signs of structure but may be sounder at the beginning than at the end, or may drift away from the topic. There may be some repetition. The sequence of sentences may be occasionally insecure. • Some relevant ideas are provided and occasionally developed a little, perhaps as a narrative. There are some descriptive details, but the use of event may overshadow them. • There is some overall structure, but the writing may lack direction and intent. There may be interruptions in the sequence of sentences and/or some lack of clarity. • Responds relevantly to the topic, but is only a series of chronological events with occasional references to character and setting. • Overall structure is sound, but there are examples where particular parts are too long or short. The climax is not effectively described or prepared. Sentence sequences narrate events and occasionally contain irrelevances.

Page 8 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE – October/November 2012 0500 31 © Cambridge International Examinations 2012 Band 5 3 – 4 • A few relevant points are made and may be expanded into paragraphs, but development is very simple and not always logical. • There is weakness of sequencing overall and within paragraphs. Paragraphing is inconsistent. Repetition and an inability to sustain relevant argument are obvious. • Content is relevant but lacking in scope or variety. Opportunities to provide development and detail are frequently missed. • The overall structure, though readily discernible, lacks form and dimension. Paragraphing is inconsistent. The reliance on identifying events, objects and/or people sometimes leads to a sequence of sentences without progression. • A very simple narrative; it may consist of nonsensical or confusing events. • Unequal or inappropriate importance is given to parts of the story. Paragraphing is inconsistent. Dialogue may be used ineffectively. There is no real climax. Sentence sequences are used only to link simple series of events. Band 6 1 – 2 • A few points are discernible but any attempt to develop them is very limited. • Overall argument only progresses here and there and the sequence of sentences is poor. • Some relevant facts are identified, but the overall picture is unclear and lacks development. • There are examples of sequenced sentences, but there is also repetition and muddled ordering. • Stories are incoherent and narrate events indiscriminately. Endings are absent or lack effect. • The shape of the narrative is unclear; some of the content has no relevance to the plot. Sequences of sentences are sometimes poor, leading to a lack of clarity. Band 7 0 • Rarely relevant, little material, and presented in a disorderly structure. Not sufficient to be placed in Band 6. • Rarely relevant, little material, and presented in a disorderly structure. Not sufficient to be placed in Band 6. • Rarely relevant, little material, and presented in a disorderly structure. Not sufficient to be placed in Band 6.

Page 9 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE – October/November 2012 0500 31 © Cambridge International Examinations 2012 COMPOSITION TASKS: TABLE B – STYLE AND ACCURACY Band 1 11 – 12 Writing is consistent, stylistically fluent, linguistically strong and accurate; has sense of audience. Look for: • appropriately used ambitious words • complex sentence structures where appropriate. Band 2 9 – 10 Writing is mostly fluent, sometimes linguistically effective and largely accurate; may have some sense of audience. Look for: • signs of a developing style • some ability to express shades of meaning. Band 3 7 – 8 Writing is clear, competent (if plain) in vocabulary and grammar; errors perhaps frequent, but minor. Look for: • mostly correct sentence separation • occasional precision and/or interest in choice of words. Band 4 5 – 6 Writing is clear and accurate in places, and uses limited vocabulary and grammar; errors occasionally serious. Look for: • simple sentences • errors of sentence separation. Band 5 3 – 4 Writing is simple in vocabulary and grammar; errors are distracting and sometimes serious, but overall meaning can be followed. Look for: • definite weaknesses in sentence structures • grammatical errors such as incorrect use of prepositions and tense. Band 6 1 – 2 Writing is weak in vocabulary and grammar; serious, persistent errors; meaning is blurred. Look for: • faulty and/or rambling sentences • language insufficient to carry intended meaning. Band 7 0 Writing is difficult to follow because of inadequate language proficiency and error.