CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS

International General Certificate of Secondary Education

MARK SCHEME for the May/June 2013 series

0500 FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH

0500/12 Paper 1 (Reading Passage – Core),
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 May/June 2013 series for most IGCSE, GCE
Advanced Level and Advanced Subsidiary Level components and some Ordinary Level components.
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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.

Question 1

This question tests Reading Objectives R1–R4 (30 marks):

• Understand and collate explicit meanings
• Understand, explain and collate implicit meanings and attitudes
• Select, analyse and evaluate what is relevant to specific purposes
• Understand how writers achieve effects.

(a) What is the name of the underwater hotel described in the passage? [1]

The Jules Verne Lodge.

(b) From paragraphs three and four (Opened in…designer pyjamas.), explain, using your
own words, what the rooms are like in the underwater hotel. [2]

• They have bunks/can accommodate six people.

• It’s like being in a caravan.
• They have large, round, windows (looking out to sea).
• There are curtains.

1 mark for each point, up to a maximum of 2.

(c) What effect does the writer achieve by using the short sentence ‘But it is exclusive.’
(line 12)? [2]

• He emphasises the exclusivity.

• He finds the idea humorous (as they’re on the sea bed it would be exclusive!)
• It signals a change in direction.

1 mark for a partial understanding; 2 marks for a full explanation of two or more of these
details.

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(d) Explain fully, using your own words:

(i) what happens in the ‘aquatic habit orientation programme’ described in

paragraphs five and six (When you check in...pushing you in.) [2]

• You’re made accustomed to salt water.

• You’re taught how to put on/use flippers.
• You’re taught how to breathe using compressed air.
• You’re taught how to put on a wetsuit and clean your mask.

1 mark for each point, up to a maximum of 2

(ii) how the writer’s description of the programme suggests that he is being sarcastic
about it. [2]

• The way in which the writer states the obvious (about wearing flippers and so
on), presumably reflecting the instructions.
• The way he is making fun of the programme by using inverted commas for ‘Pro’
mermaid.

2 marks for a clear explanation; 1 for partial explanation

(e) From paragraph seven (After a short…) explain, using your own words, how guests
reach and enter the hotel [2]

• Wear oxygen masks.

• Make a (short) downward swim.
• They have to go underneath the hotel.
• They enter through the dive port (allow ‘dive port’ not in own words).

1 mark for each point, up to a maximum of 2.

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(f) Explain, using your own words, what the writer means by the words in italics in the
following phrases:

(i) ‘self-proclaimed water sports capital of the world’ (line 4) [2]

• It calls itself; the leading place.

2 marks for a clear explanation in own words; 1 for partial understanding.

(ii) ‘veered off the road in your large hi-tech caravan’ (lines 10–11) [2]

• Swerved; latest electronic gadgetry.

2 marks for a clear explanation in own words; 1 for partial understanding.

(iii) ‘limitless opportunities’ (line 15) [2]

• Unrestricted; chances.

2 marks for a clear explanation in own words; 1 for partial understanding.

NB: the definitions above contain the essence of an answer. However, accept that
candidates may respond in different ways, e.g. at greater length.

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(g) Re-read paragraphs three to five (Opened in…go far wrong’).

The writer uses the following phrases to make fun of what he finds on his visit to the
underwater hotel.

Choose three of the following phrases and then explain how each one of them helps
you to understand what amuses him:

• ‘more of a submerged caravan than a hotel’ (line 12)

• ‘only spies are fish such as barracudas’ (line 13)
• ‘colourful marine life…observing at close-range, tourists in their colourful
designer pyjamas’ (lines 17–18)
• ‘secret of putting flippers on is that there is no secret’ (lines 21–22) [6]

Award 1 mark for an explanation which show literal understanding of each phrase and 2
marks for an explanation which shows some appreciation of the writer’s use of language, up
to a maximum of 6.

An explanation of the phrase ‘more of a submerged caravan than a hotel’ such as ‘the word
“caravan” has associations with cheap and not very comfortable holiday accommodation,
which effectively ridicules the hotel’s claim to be luxurious’.

An explanation of the phrase ‘only spies are fish such as barracudas’ such as ‘the suggestion
that the fish are spying as if they were inquisitive’.

An explanation of the phrase ‘colourful marine life…observing at close-range, tourists in their

colourful designer pyjamas’ such as ‘the idea of people being watched in their pyjamas
makes the situation comic; the fact that it is marine life doing the watching makes it seem
absurd’.

An explanation of the phrase ‘the secret of putting on slippers is that there is no secret’ such
as ‘by stating the obvious in this way, the writer makes fun of the excessive seriousness with
which the mermaid treats the process of putting on flippers’.

Some candidates may produce better explanations than those above.

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(h) Re-read paragraph five (When you check-in…) to the end of the passage.

Write a summary of what happens when you stay at the underwater hotel from when
you check-in until you leave.

Write a paragraph of about 50–70 words. [7]

1 You have to show a diving certificate.

2 You may have to attend the orientation programme/you taste sea water/ you learn how
to put on flippers.
3 You meet a mermaid/Carla.
4 You learn how to breathe underwater/about your equipment.
5 You dive down to the hotel entrance.
6 You take off your equipment.
7 You go to your room.
9 You pass the time (eat, watch TV, make phone call, look at the sea, watch sea life, get
shoes cleaned).
10 You go to the surface and decompress.
11 You receive your certificate.

1 mark for each point up to a maximum of 7. Tick each point to be credited.

[Total: 30]

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Question 2

This question tests 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

AND Writing Objectives W1–W5 (10 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.

Imagine that you have just spent a night at the hotel described in the passage.

Write a letter to a friend in which you:

• describe your experience
• explain what your friend would and would not like about a visit there.

Start your letter ‘Dear...’.

You should base your ideas on what you have read in the passage, but do not copy from it.
Address each of the two bullet points.

You should write between 1 and 1½ sides, allowing for the size of your handwriting.

Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 10 marks for the quality
of your writing. [20]

General notes on the task

The most successful responses are likely to select details from the passage which describe features
of a stay in the underwater hotel and will also pick up on the implied criticisms and suggestions that it
is an ‘exclusive’ but ultimately boring experience. The most successful may well elaborate on the
writer’s description of the orientation programme. There will be a clear focus on the suitability or
otherwise of the experience for the recipients of the letter. Less successful responses are likely to rely
on lifting large amounts of the original and lose focus on the requirements of the task or to engage in
telling a story about an underwater adventure with little relevance to the passage or question.

Look for and credit an attempt to write in an appropriate register.

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Marking criteria for Question 2

(a) READING (Using and understanding the material)

Use the following table to give a mark out of 10.

Uses and develops several ideas, both factual and inferential, from the passage
Band
9–10 about the features of the hotel. Develops details to make perceptive and
1
convincing comments as to why and why not the friend would enjoy a stay there.

Band Refers to several details from the passage about the features of the hotel and
7–8
2 makes some mainly straightforward comments as to its suitability for the friend.

Uses some details from the passage to suggest some understanding of the
Band features of the hotel. Focuses on the question and on the passage, but uses
5–6
3 material simply and partially with limited comment about its suitability for the
friend.

There is some relevance to the question with a tendency to retell the passage
Band
3–4 rather than to focus on the requirements of the question. Focuses almost entirely
4
on the features of the hotel and the writer’s experience of staying there.

May retell the passage or give occasional relevant facts. There may be
Band
1–2 examples of misunderstanding or lack of clarity in attempting to use the
5
passage.

Band Very little/no relevance. General misunderstanding of task and passage.

0
6

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(b) WRITING (Core tier)

Use the following table to give a mark out of 10.

Sentences are fluent and there is a fairly wide range of vocabulary. Overall
structure is good and sentences generally follow in sequence. Most full stops are
Band 1 9–10
correct and errors are infrequent and minor. An appropriate register is
established.

Sentences are correct, though relatively simple. Vocabulary is adequate and

correctly used. Structure is generally sound. There are some sentence
Band 2 7–8 separation errors and quite frequent other errors, although minor. There are
some hints of an appropriate register.

Sentence structures and vocabulary are simple, but meaning is never in doubt.
Band 3 5–6 The order is reasonable. Error may be frequent, but it does not blur meaning.
There may be an inconsistent attempt at an appropriate register.

The response is very simply written and there are occasional examples of
Band 4 3–4 blurred meaning. The structure can usually be followed. Some error is serious,
affecting meaning. The response may be over-dependent on lifted material.

The response is difficult to understand. The extent of grammatical error seriously

Band 5 1–2 impedes meaning. The response may be almost entirely lifted from the original.

Band 6 0 The response cannot be understood.

Add the marks for Reading and Writing to give a total mark out of 20 for Question 2.

[Total:20]

© Cambridge International Examinations 2013