Comprehension IGCSE (First Language) Practice 3

 

Item 3:

IGCSE/ First Language English/ Paper11 / November 2019

Passage A

In this passage, the writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, describes his experience on first arriving by

ship in New York over 120 years ago.

Of my wanderings in New York City, I hesitate to tell. I had a thousand and one things to do;

only the day to do them in, before starting a journey across the continent in the evening. It

rained with patient fury. Every now and then I had to get under cover for a while in order to give

my raincoat a rest as it began to grow damp on the inside from this continued drenching. I went

to banks, post offices, railway offices, restaurants, booksellers, money changers, and wherever

I went a pool would gather about my feet, and those who were concerned about the state of

their floors looked at me with unfriendly eyes.

The same traits struck me about the people I met; everyone I met seemed to be surprisingly

rude yet surprisingly kind. The money changer cross-questioned me like a prosecution counsel,

asking my age, my business, my average income, and my destination, dismissing my attempts

at evasion, and receiving my answers in silence. When our business was over, however, he

heartily shook hands with me, and sent his assistant four hundred metres in the rain to get me

books at a reduced price.

Similarly, in a very large bookselling establishment, a man, who seemed to be the manager,

received me in a way I had certainly never before been received in any normal shop. He implied

that he put no faith in my honesty, and refused to look up the names of books or give me

the slightest help or information, on the grounds that it was none of his business. Finally, I

lost my temper, said I was a stranger in America and not familiar with American customs; but

I would assure him, if he were a customer in any bookshop in England, he would be much

better treated. This may have been an exaggerated claim but it had the desired effect. The

manager went at once from one extreme to the other and, from that moment, he loaded me

with kindness. He gave me all sorts of good advice and addresses of those who might help me.

He even came out bareheaded into the rain to point me out a restaurant, where I might lunch –

even then he seemed to think that he had not done enough. These examples are typical of the

manners of America.

I was so wet when I got back to my hotel that evening, that I found the best thing was to shed

my shoes, socks, and trousers, and leave them behind for the benefit of New York City. No fire

could have dried them before I was due to start on the next stage of my journey and packing

them in their present condition would ruin my other possessions. With a heavy heart I said

farewell to them as they lay in a sodden heap in the middle of the floor of the hotel’s kitchen. I

wonder if they are dry by now.

The hotel owner hired a man to carry my luggage to the station, which was nearby, accompanied

me there himself, and did all he could to help me on my way. No one could have been kinder. I

would recommend his hotel to other travellers as they will get decent meals and find an honest

and obliging landlord.

 

Answer all questions using your own words as far as possible.

 

Question 1

(a)    Using your own words, explain what pressures the writer was under when he visited New

 

York City (paragraph 1, ‘Of my wanderings …’).

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

 

(b). Using your own words, explain the effects that the rain had on the writer (paragraph 1,

 

‘Of my wanderings …’).

_______________________________________________________________ [2]

 

(c). Using your own words, explain what the writer means by ‘dismissing my attempts at evasion’

 

(lines 10–11).

_____________________________________________________________________

 [1]

 

(d). Using your own words, explain how the manager of the bookshop at first behaved towards the writer and how the writer reacted to this behaviour (paragraph 3, ‘Similarly, in a …’).

 

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

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

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

 

(e). Give one example of the way that the manager’s behaviour changed towards the writer (paragraph 3, ‘Similarly, in a …’).

 

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

 [1]

 

(f). Using your own words, explain:

 

(i). what the writer did with his wet clothes when he returned to the hotel (paragraph 4,

‘I was so wet …’).

___________________________________________________________________ [1]

 

(ii). why he decided on this course of action (paragraph 4, ‘I was so wet …’).

 

                        _____________________________________________________________                      [1]

 

(g)  Give the meaning of the underlined words in the following three phrases as the writer uses them. Then explain how the phrases help to suggest the narrator’s thoughts about his experiences with the weather conditions and the people he met in New York.

 

          ‘It rained with patient fury.’ (lines 2–3)

 

Meaning of the underlined word as the writer uses it:

______________________________________________________________[1]

 

(ii)      Explanation of the whole phrase:

 

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

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

 [2]

 

(iii)      ‘The money changer cross-questioned me like a prosecution counsel’ (line 9)

 

Meaning of the underlined word as the writer uses it:

______________________________________________________________[1]

 

(iv)      Explanation of the whole phrase:

 

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

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

 

(v)      ‘I said farewell to them as they lay in a sodden heap in the middle of the floor’ (lines 29–30)

 

Meaning of the underlined word as the writer uses it:

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

 

(vi)      Explanation of the whole phrase:

 

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

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

 

[Total: 20]

 

 

Answers:

1a.

•   problem of doing jobs in the rain/many jobs
•   he had to do them all in that day/he was leaving New York that
		night/pressure of time

1b.

 •   he (frequently) had to find shelter/go inside

	•   it rained so hard that his raincoat was becoming: wet on the inside/he got
	very wet/drenched/soaked.
	(NB:	‘clothes’ or ‘shoes’ getting wet – not accepted)
•   he left a puddle on the floor/dripped all over the floor of every building/all
the places he entered

1c.

•   ignoring/discounting my efforts to avoid the question/not allowing him to
	avoid the question
•   he (the writer) tried/attempted to avoid answering the question

1d.

•   the Manager treated the writer with suspicion/thought he was dishonest
•   he refused to give the writer any assistance/help him look up books/was
rude/unkind
•   the writer lost his temper/told him he was a stranger and didn’t expect this
kind of treatment/said it wouldn’t happen in England

1e.

•   examples accepted: he gave addresses (of those who could help)/came
out in the rain/directed him to a restaurant
•   he went out of his way to help/became very helpful

1fi.

he left his (wet) clothes (shoes, socks, trousers) behind/he did not pack
them/threw them on kitchen floor   1fii. there wasn’t time to dry them out/they were too wet to pack/they would  have made all the rest of his possessions wet if he had packed them. 1gi composed/unemotional/implacable/calm/continual/sustained

1gii

•   ‘patient fury’ is an oxymoron/
•   rain is relentless and non–stop/heavy/strong
•	has (controlled) anger

1giii.

•   lawyer/barrister/solicitor (seeking to prove a defendant guilty).

1giv.

•   the money–changer’s attitude is that the writer is dishonest or guilty/a
Criminal
•   he is questioning him forensically/in detail/he is trying to catch him out
(accept ‘interrogating’	on its own)
•   he feels it is unnecessarily intrusive

1gv.

soaked/soggy/water–logged/saturated

1gvi.

•   the writer knows he will never see them again/they are past their useful
life/
•   they are so full of water/they are unlikely ever to dry out/they are
unrecognisable
•   he feels sad or regretful to leave them