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UK GCSE NOV 2010 : Higher Tier, English Paper 1

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General Certificate of Secondary Education November 2010 Paper 1 Higher Tier G2903 English [G2903] MONDAY 8 NOVEMBER, MORNING TIME 2 hours. INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES Write your Centre Number and Candidate Number on the Answer Booklet provided. Answer all four questions. Answer the three questions in Section A and the one question in Section B. Spend one hour on Section A and one hour on Section B. INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES The total mark for this paper is 60. Figures in brackets printed down the right-hand side of pages indicate the marks awarded to each question. 5615 Section A This section tests reading skills. Spend about 15 minutes reading the passage carefully. Answer all three questions. This story is set in the future, in a very different type of city called Ash Harbour. Cleo lives there. A huge domed roof protects its inhabitants from deadly storms and Arctic temperatures as the oceans have turned to ice. Resources are very limited so, to buy luxuries, she has to go to a dangerous part of the city below ground level, to the black market. The black market is where goods that are in short supply may be bought illegally. Here she goes to one of the traders called Cortez. The trams did not descend into the guts of the city. To reach the lowest levels, you had to take the tram to a point above your destination and take steps or the lift down. Cleo preferred the stairs the lifts were becoming unreliable. From her tram stop she descended one hundred and fifty-eight steps to the district three levels below the street. On the way down Cleo passed the exposed workings of the city. Drive-shafts carrying the city s power whirred, causing the steps to tremble beneath her feet. The heated air was drawn out from the machine rooms and along pipes that kept the temperature in the city at the required level. Pipes wove through all levels, carrying not only hot air: water, steam, sewage all gurgled along as well as contaminated air and methane from the sewers. Heavily insulated cables snaked along the catwalks and stairs for ease of maintenance. People tapped into these in the densely populated lower levels, drawing illegal power from the city for their own use. It got dark as she descended. There was little light from the dome down here. Dust grew thicker, with no winds or rain to clear it, and cockroaches thrived. The city s most abundant mammal, the rat, had made its home in the countless nooks and crannies. Cleo had learned once in history class that the rat had conquered the world alongside mankind. Rats, not humans, would be the last animal to die. And cockroaches would be around a long time after that. As the richer countries slowly became frozen wastelands, those who had the money moved south. Ordinary people had begged, bargained and cheated their way in. Many, many more were turned away by force. However, some managed to worm their way into the safety of the city. They took over the sublevels and lived by whatever means they could. Now, the black market was vast and that was what had drawn Cleo down to this area on Sunday morning. As she neared the bottom of the steps, Cleo spotted a tortoise wandering among the feet of the crowd. She bent down to pick it up. Cortez s place was a small, incredibly cluttered stall. It was filled with all manner of merchandise, from handmade toys to herbal medicine. A web screen sat on the counter with an animated screensaver cycling through an ad for something called chocolate. Behind the counter a mountainous man with a scarred face sat, dozing fitfully. Cleo knew that there would be other, more watchful guards nearby. Cortez himself was a chubby man in his sixties, who wore old-fashioned, half-moon glasses and dressed as if he was always cold. This morning he had a woman s shawl draped 5615 2 5 10 15 20 25 30 [Turn over over his shoulders and a thick cotton hat on his balding head. His flat, wide face split into a smile when he saw Cleo and he stood up from his little stool. Ahhh! Little Cleo, come to warm an old man s heart! Come in, come in! He turned to the little girl with a small mouth and big eyes who stood hugging the frame of the door that led to the back room. Granddaughter, bring some tea for our guest! Be quick now! Cleo knew better than to refuse the tea, although she never liked staying long down here. Morning, Cortez, she said with more confidence than she actually felt. I m looking for some guitar strings. Of course, of course. He waved at her to slow down, as if she was in danger of hurting herself if she spoke too fast. All in good time. First, you have to tell me how you ve been. Ahhh! And you ve found Mayon! Good girl, you know what he s like, eh? Mayon was the name of the tortoise, Cortez s tortoise. He was always wandering out of the store and into the street. Somebody always found him and brought him back. Everyone knew Cortez s tortoise he was the safest creature in the district. Now, Cortez said, putting Mayon on the floor, from where the tortoise immediately set off on another expedition, I haven t seen you in an age. You ve grown since you were last here! Given that it had only been about a month since her last visit, Cleo thought that unlikely, but she smiled anyway. Cortez smiled back and patted the stool beside him. Reluctantly, Cleo sat down and asked him how business was. He always insisted on this sort of small talk when she came to see him. She wondered was he like this with all his customers or was it only her. Maybe he was just a friendly old man. Life is always the same down here, in the depths, Cortez told her. We wait for visitors to brighten our day. Tell me, how is your friend, young Estella? Such a sweet girl. She hasn t been to see me in a long time I hope nothing is wrong with her? Cleo smiled again, weakly this time. Estella who came from these sublevels and knew all about Cortez, was constantly needling Cleo about her dealings with Cortez, pleading with her to stay away from him. She s fine, she replied. Headstrong as ever. Cortez nodded. And your family? How are they? Very well, thank you. Cleo was wary of telling him too much. She certainly did not want him to know that her dad was now out of a job. The little girl came in with two mugs of fragrant jasmine tea. Cortez could provide anything, the best of everything for a price. But he took hospitality seriously. Cleo took a mug and breathed in the delicately scented vapour. Cortez took the other mug and his granddaughter returned to her position, hugging the door frame and watching the proceedings. Cleo smiled at her, but the child did not smile back; she merely looked the other way, into the storeroom which was at the back of the stall. I m looking for A strings I m completely out of them and I m running low on Ds too. Do you have any? Cleo urged Cortez gently. Not here, at the moment, he replied, taking a sip of tea. But one of my boys can fetch some. Filipe, down the way, looks after my musical supplies. Just a moment. Without moving from his chair, he shouted into the storeroom. He rattled off a series of code numbers at an unseen person inside. A tired, overworked voice replied, and there was the sound of a door opening and closing. It ll be just a few minutes, Cortez assured her. How is the music coming along? Great, she answered, warming to her favourite subject. I m working on a new song. The band is really coming together now We were lined up to play the end-of-year dance but the Head cut us. 5615 3 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 [Turn over That s terrible! How could he turn down such an excellent band? To the best of her knowledge, Cortez had never even heard them play, but she supposed it was nice of him to say it. Said our lyrics were inflammatory ! Aren t young people s lyrics supposed to be like that? Cleo beamed at him, in spite of herself. Is there anything else you d like while you re here? Cleo shook her head. She didn t have enough money for what he was hinting at. Sipping the hot tea, she tried not to think of her dwindling supplies hidden up on the roof of the apartment block. Is it the money? he persisted. I could give you what you want on credit. No, thank you. Estella said that Cortez was no small-time operator. Cleo knew that his little store was just a front for his black-market activities. But even that was only the tip of Cortez s personal iceberg. Estella claimed that Cortez was head of the local Family, the gang that ran most of the district down here. The two short sticks he kept by his chair had a purpose: it was rumoured that, in his youth, this smiling old man had battled his way through a hundred street fights to the leadership of the gang. It was not a good idea to be in debt to a man like that. He shrugged. It s there if you want it, he said. The door in the back of the store opened and closed again, and a young man appeared out of nowhere. He had some guitar strings in his hand, but leaned down to whisper something in Cortez s ear. The old man nodded, took the strings and dismissed him. I m afraid I m going to have to leave you, my dear Cleo, he told her. Here are your strings. Let s call it twelve, if you please. She handed him three plastic notes, and he opened his till to give her change. As he put the money in her hand, she felt a small rice-paper bag folded around the coins. Without opening it, she knew exactly what it was a sample of the sugar her friends coveted. She was always able to impress her friends with her street contacts. Before she could halfheartedly refuse, Cortez was up, tucking his sticks under his arm and moving to the back door. Give my respects to your family, he told her. I m sorry I have to rush off, but duty calls. I ll see you again soon, my dear. And he knew he would. 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 from Small Minded Giants by Oisin McGann published by Doubleday. Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd 5615 4 [Turn over 1 Spend about 10 minutes on this question. Use evidence from lines 1 24 to support your answer. How does the writer create a sense that the underground area of the city is an unpleasant and threatening place? [8] 2 Spend about 15 minutes on this question. Use evidence from line 27 to the end to support your answer. What do you learn about Cortez? 3 [10] Spend about 20 minutes on this question. Use evidence from line 27 to the end to support your answer. How has the writer tried to capture and hold the reader s interest? You should consider how the writer: presents the visit from Cleo s point of view uses the conversation between Cleo and Cortez uses particular words and phrases to engage the reader. [12] TURN OVER FOR SECTION B 5615 5 [Turn over Section B This section tests writing skills: to review, analyse and comment. Write in a way that suits this type of task. To answer this question effectively, you should aim to write at least two sides. Leave enough time to re-read your work so that you can make any changes you feel are necessary. 4 Consider the following issue: Young people shouldn t waste their time and money on mobile phones! The opinions expressed below raise a series of points about mobile phones. The examiner wants you to review the points that you consider to be important. Analyse these in an extended piece of writing. You are also expected to include your own comments and conclusions on the topic. Owning a mobile phone makes you feel more safe and secure. It s easy to contact friends and family, especially during an emergency. Mobile phones are too expensive for young people. Even if basic models are cheap to buy, calls are expensive and charges soon mount up. Many young people run up huge bills and it s their parents who have to pay! Young people need to grow up making use of new technology such as mobile phones if they are to take their place in society. Mobile phones are making young people anti-social. Constant talking, texting and playing games are replacing proper socialising. [30] THIS IS THE END OF THE QUESTION PAPER 5615 6 [Turn over Permission to reproduce all copyright material has been applied for. In some cases, efforts to contact copyright holders may have been unsuccessful and CCEA will be happy to rectify any omissions of acknowledgement in future if notified. 2155-001-1 [Turn over

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