IGCSE FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH [0990]: MAY/JUNE 2020 PAPER 12

 Read Text A, and then answer Questions 1(a)–1(e) on the question paper.

 

Text A: Paper is back: why ‘real’ books are on the rebound

 

Digital books (also called e-books) are electronic versions of books designed to be read on a tablet or screen (e-reader).

 

The latest numbers for book sales are reported to be surprising and encouraging. For the first time since the invasion of their newest enemies, e-books and e-readers, real books are fighting back.

 

The result of the battle looks more like co-existence than conquest. For now.
Publishers, tracking what readers are buying, found the number of paper books sold	5
went up 2.4 per cent last year, in all types of bookstores. At the same time, e-books
have hit a plateau.
Apparently, print books are selling better than they have since sales of e-books exploded
in 2010. The paper book hit rock bottom in 2012, but has since fought back in lucrative
categories such as children’s books. Students, apparently, are rediscovering paper.	10
Several recent studies find a strong preference for printed textbooks, notably among
those in colleges and universities who have tried both types. In one survey, 57 per cent
preferred print; only 21 per cent preferred an e-textbook.
Multiple studies find that we pitiful humans read differently when given the same text
on the screen of a tablet and on a printed page: less of what we read electronically	15
sticks in our minds. Many e-books aimed at kids are designed to include animations,
games and other technological temptations. On tablets, adults find navigating the book
less natural and can be distracted by notifications of incoming email and social media.
Some people still like the feel, even the smell, of a book. There is also brilliant, large
cover art and the ever-present reminder that you own a book: it’s there on your shelf.	20

 

The near-term future won’t be ‘paper-or,’ but ‘paper-and pixels’¹: until and unless the two become indistinguishable to the reader in terms of factors, features and feel.

 

 

 

¹ pixels: small dots which are combined to form an image or text on an electronic screen

Read Text A, Paper is back: why ‘real’ books are on the rebound, in the insert and then answer Questions 1(a)–(e) on this question paper.

 

Question 1

 

(a) Give two examples of enemies of real books according to the text.
• .........................................................................................................................................
• .........................................................................................................................................	[1]

(b)    Using your own words, explain what the text means by:

(i)      ‘real books are fighting back.’ (lines 2–3):

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

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

(ii)    ‘more like co-existence than conquest.’ (line 4):

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

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

(c)    Re-read paragraph 3 (‘Publishers plateau.’). Give two reasons why the rise in the number of paper books sold was significant.

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

(d)    Re-read paragraphs 4 and 5 (‘Apparently, print books media.’).

(i)      Identify two reasons why sellers of e-books might be worried about those categories where print book sales have increased since 2012.

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

 

(ii)    Explain why reading e-books may be less efficient than reading real books, according to the text.

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

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

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

 

(e)    Re-read paragraphs 6 and 7 (‘Some people feel.’).

Using your own words, explain why people are unlikely to give up real books altogether in favour of e-books.

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

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

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

ANSWERS:

1a. e-books & e-readers

1bi). 

~ paper books [or print books] (do not put down both)

~ gaining popularity again

1bii). 

~ live alongside each other

~ rather than one winning and the other being defeated

1c) 

•   (it was in) all types of bookstores

•   (at the same time) e-book (sales) have/had hit a plateau

[ ‘went up 2.4 per cent’ is not accepted as an answer]

1di)

•	lucrative (categories)
•   students have tried both types of textbook (and prefer print)

1dii).

Award 1 mark for each idea, up to a maximum of 3. [meaning only write 3 answers and not more]

•   humans take in less information on screen / less information sticks

•   (children’s) books designed to include distracting features

•   (adults find) less intuitive to navigate the book on a tablet

•   device is not just used for reading so emails / social media facilities

distract too

1e)

Award 1 mark for each idea, predominantly in own words, up to a
maximum of 3.
Answers which are entirely in the words of the text should not be
credited.
•   real books appeal to the senses
•   physical object you/others can see / ownership
•   designs and illustrations
•   they are different experiences / offer different experiences for the reader

[if you copy from the passage, you will not get any mark for this question]

QUESTION 1f

Read Text B, and then answer Question 1(f) on the question paper.
Text B: The rebirth of the bookshop
This article explains how bookshops have changed in recent years.
Time was when bookshops appealed for being old-world and fusty with their confusing
layouts, musty smells and eccentric proprietors. Now a new breed of bookshops is
emerging. Luminous and spacious – the very opposite of the traditional bookstore.
Changing tastes in architecture and interior design are partly responsible for this trend,
but so, too, are economics and new book-buying habits. Fierce competition from online	5
retailers, cut-price supermarkets and e-books has seen the market for physical paper
books dwindle, causing many bookshops to close, but booksellers are fighting back.
One of their tactics is to hire cutting-edge architects to design shops with an alluring,
contemporary feel to help attract customers day and night.
A case in point is Foyles bookshop, London, once famous for its quaintly chaotic warren	10
of rooms with books piled up everywhere – not just on shelves but in nooks under tables.
Last June, however, the mammoth store relocated. Interviewed recently, Foyles’ chief
executive, Sam Husain, said that one reason why the shop moved was that its original
layout was old-fashioned – ‘higgledy piggledy and inefficient’. By contrast, the new shop
boasts 6.4 kilometres of orderly bookshelves and stocks over 200,000 titles. Its interior	15
is clean-lined, minimalist and easy to navigate, geared to convenience in an age when
customers are used to snapping up goods online at lightning speed. Customers can
also use an in-store mobile search tool to see if the book is in stock and, if so, where.
With the aid of an interactive map, the book can be located.
Another survival tactic for this new generation of bookshops is to operate as a cultural	20
centre, not just a bookstore. To use that retail cliché, shops today must offer an
‘experience’ – not just a ‘shopportunity’ – if they are to succeed. According to retail
expert Matthew Brown: ‘Shops have never been about buying stuff – we can get that
online. We expect hospitality and service.’
Worldwide there’s an emergence of a new wave of bookstores – businesses which	25
have diversified their product ranges, have increased their scope. Bookstores like
Livraria Cultura in São Paolo also sell electronics, DVDs, toys and stationery, and they
function as event and meeting spaces for book and product launches. Livraria Cultura
boasts an exhibition space, conference area and garden café. It’s as much a
see-and-be-seen hangout as a bookshop. White bookshelves incorporating LEDs,	30
laminate surfaces and glass handrails on the staircases all contribute to the shop’s
luminous, transparent feel. The shop also has two basement levels, with the lower one
devoted to children’s books, and featuring a funky, rainbow-striped ramp providing
access to shelves, and beanbags to recline on and read.
In short, bookshops are turning over a new leaf as they battle to survive in the internet	35
age. QUESTION Read Text B, The rebirth of the bookshop, in the insert and then answer Question 1(f) on this question paper.  Question 1  (f)     According to Text B, how and why have bookshops had to change to attract customers? You must use continuous writing (not note form) and use your own words as far as possible. Your summary should not be more than 120 words. Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 5 marks for the quality of your writing.

ANSWERS

[DO NOT LIST DOWN YOUR ANSWERS IN THE BULLET POINT FORM. YOU MUST USE PARAGRAPHS]

how :

 

•          (more) spacious / airy

•          improved lighting / well-lit / luminous

•          cutting-edge design / contemporary feel

•          easy to navigate / interactive map to locate book(s)

•          cultural centre(s) / fashionable

•          diversified product ranges / increased range of product(s)

•          functional space (for business / meetings / conferences)

•          targeting younger audience / child-friendly

 

why:

 

•          (traditional bookstore(s)) considered old fashioned / lost appeal

•          inefficiency of layout

•          online shopping more convenient / quicker to buy online

•          bookshops were not providing good service

Read Text C, and then answer Questions 2(a)–2(d) and Question 3 on the question paper.

 

Text C: Mr Penumbra’s 24-hour bookstore

 

The narrator, Clay, is young and talented, but struggling to find a new job. After months of searching, including walking the streets each day looking for advertisements in shop windows, he finds just one job to apply for.

 

Lost in the shadows of the shelves, I almost fall off the ladder. I’m exactly halfway up.
The floor of the bookstore is far below, the surface of a planet I’ve left behind. The tops
of the shelves loom high above. It’s dark up there – books are huddled together, not
letting any light through. The air might be thinner, too. I think I see a bat. I’m holding
on for dear life, one hand on the ladder, the other on a shelf, fingers pressed white.	5
Many of the books have the look of antiquity – cracked leather, gold-leaf titles; others
are freshly bound with bright crisp covers. All are in such excellent condition that they
might as well be new.
My eyes search the spines. I spot it - the book I’ve been sent up for.
But wait – let me explain how I got here:	10
I was unemployed, a result of the great food-chain contraction sweeping through the
country, leaving bankrupt burger chains and shuttered sushi empires in its wake.
The job I’d lost was at the corporate headquarters of a very new company. It wrote
software to design and bake the perfect burger bun: smooth toasted skin, soft interior.
It was my first job out of art school. I started as a designer, making marketing materials	15
to explain and promote this tasty treat: menus, diagrams and posters for store windows.
There was lots to do: first, redesigning the company’s logo, then, the website. I was the
company’s voice on social media, attracting followers with a mix of fast-food trivia and
digital coupons.
Then the economy nose-dived. It turns out that in a recession, people want good	20
old-fashioned food, not smooth alien-spaceship snacks. I was jobless.
Next to the bus stop I’d seen the handwritten advertisement:
MR PENUMBRA’S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE
HELP WANTED
LATE SHIFT	25
I pushed the bookstore’s heavy wooden door, making a bell tinkle brightly, and stepped
slowly through.
Inside: imagine the shape and volume of a normal bookstore turned on its side. This
place was absurdly narrow and dizzyingly tall. The shelves went all the way up, fading
smoothly into the shadows as if they might just go on forever. Shelves were packed so	30
close together it felt like I was standing at the border of a forest – an old Transylvanian
forest, full of wolves, witches and dagger-wielding bandits all waiting just beyond

moonlight’s reach. There were ladders that clung to the shelves and rolled side to side,
stretching up ominously into the gloom. I stuck to the front half of the store, where bright
midday light pressed in.	35
‘Hello there,’ a quiet voice called from within. A figure emerged – a man, tall and skinny,
in a light blue cardigan. He tottered as he walked, running a wrinkled hand along the
shelves for support. He was very old.
He nodded at me. ‘What do you seek in these shelves?’
That was a good line; for some reason, it made me feel comfortable.	40
‘I’m looking for a job.’
Mr Penumbra blinked, then nodded and tottered over to the desk beside the front door.
It was a massive block of dark-whorled wood, a solid fortress on the forest edge.
‘Employment.’ Penumbra nodded again. ‘Have you ever worked at a bookstore?’
‘Well I said.	45
‘No matter,’ Penumbra said. ‘Tell me about a book you love.’ I knew my answer
immediately. No competition.
I told him, ‘The Dragon-Song chronicles.’
Penumbra smiled. ‘Good very good,’ he said, then squinted at me. His gaze went
up and down. ‘But can you climb a ladder?’	50
And that’s how I find myself on this ladder, up on the third ‘floor’ of Penumbra’s
Bookstore. The book I’ve been sent up to retrieve is over an arm-length to my left.
Obviously, I should return to the floor and scoot the ladder over. But down below,
Penumbra is shouting, ‘Lean across! Lean!’
And I really need this job	55

QUESTION 2

(a)    Identify a word or phrase from the text which suggests the same idea as the words underlined:

 

(i)      A lot of the books in the store seem to be from the ancient past.

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

(ii)    The narrator was looking at the outside edges of the books to check what they were called. 

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

(iii)   The narrator used to work in the main office of a software company.

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

(iv)   The narrator lost his job when the economy plunged dramatically downwards.

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

 

(b)    Using your own words, explain what the writer means by each of the words underlined:

I was unemployed, a result of the great food-chain contraction sweeping through the country, leaving bankrupt burger chains and shuttered sushi empires in its wake.

(i)	contraction .............................................................................................................	[1]
(ii)	sweeping................................................................................................................	[1]
(iii)	shuttered ...............................................................................................................	[1]

 

 

(c)    Use one example from the text below to explain how the writer suggests what the narrator thinks about the burger bun.

 Use your own words in your explanation.

The job I’d lost was at the corporate headquarters of a very new company. It wrote software to design and bake the perfect burger bun: smooth toasted skin, soft interior. It was my first job out of art school. I started as a designer, making marketing materials to explain and promote this tasty treat: menus, diagrams and posters for store windows.

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

 

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

 

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

ANSWERS

_____________________________________

2C

Question 2d: Writer's Effects

 

(d)    Re-read paragraphs 1 and 12.

•       Paragraph 1 begins ‘Lost in the shadows and is about what Clay sees and feels as he climbs the ladder.

 

•       Paragraph 12 begins ‘Inside: imagine and describes the inside of the bookstore.

 Explain how the writer uses language to convey meaning and to create effect in these paragraphs. Choose three examples of words or phrases from each paragraph to support your answer. Your choices should include the use of imagery.

Write about 200 to 300 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer.

ANSWERS

Responses might use the following:

 

•          Clay’s thoughts and feelings in paragraph 1, beginning ‘Lost in the shadows.’

 Overview: dramatic sense of isolation, danger, threat.

 

lost in the shadows: unable to return, vulnerable, nightmarish

 

far below: only half way up ladder but at a great height, significant distance down to the floor

the surface of a planet (I’ve left behind): so high as if in outer space; other- worldly

 

loom high above: overhanging threat, great height

huddled together: clustered in groups as if for comfort

holding on for dear life: gripping the ladder tightly, believes there is a danger of death (cliché)

fingers pressed white: blood has drained from fingers due to pressure exerted, life draining away

 

•          The inside of the bookstore in paragraph [12], beginning ‘Inside: imagine.’

 Overview: exaggerated. not a ‘normal’ bookstore ... mystical and magical.

 

absurdly narrow: ridiculously thin, lack of space

 

dizzingly tall: unnerving height

fading smoothly into shadows (as if they might just go on forever): so tall tops cannot be seen; elegance, mystery

packed (so) close together: no gaps between the shelves, forbidding border of a forest / old Transylvanian forest:

about to go on an adventure / journey / quest

full of wolves, witches and dagger-wielding bandits: creatures of fairy-tales, myths ; scary though predictably so, childish

just beyond moonlight’s reach: in shadows so not lit by moonlight, cannot be seen though known to be there, witching hour; romanticised clung to: held on to

stretching up ominously: menacing, threatening, potent of doom

gloom: darkness, loss of hope to those who enter

Question 3: Extended Response

Imagine you are Mr Penumbra. Clay has been working in your store now for over a year and has suggested ways to improve the bookshop and increase trade. You reflect on your thoughts and Clay’s suggestions in your journal.

In your journal, you should:

 

•       remember what exactly happened the day you first met Clay and your impressions of him

 

•       reflect on the shop as it is now – what you like about it

 

•       outline the suggestions Clay has made for how he could help improve the bookstore.

Write your journal entry.

 Base your journal entry on what you have read in Text C, but be careful to use your own words. Address each of the three bullet points.

 Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 10 marks for the quality of your writing.

ANSWERS

A1: what exactly happened the day you first met Clay and your impressions of him

 

•          Clay answered advert (det. unemployed) [dev. keen to get job]

•          Inexperienced (det. young) [dev. has not worked in a bookstore before, a little nervous]

•          asked Clay about favourite book ( det. Dragon-Song Chronicles) [dev. enjoys reading, enthusiastic, imaginative]

•          set Clay task of retrieving book (det. climbed ladder) [dev.test, tricky, dangerous, brave]

•          Employed him (det. night shifts) [dev. to do physical work P finds hard]

               A2: the shop as it is now – what you like about it and your concerns about it

 

•          quantity of stock (det. packed close) [dev. any book you could think of]

•          quality of stock (det. leather, gold-leaf, antiquarian) [dev. valuable, attractive to collectors]

•          atmosphere/character of shop (det. Penumbra’s) [dev. reflects his interest and characters, personal and unique]

•          low tech (det. paper books, wooden desk

•          (too) quiet /peaceful (det. old) [dev. likes to be alone to read in shop in own world / aware needs more customers and needs support]

 

A3: the suggestions Clay has made for how he could help improve the bookstore and how these might make a difference

 

•          design signs/publicity material (det. advert for job was handwritten; talented artist) [dev. previous experience to advertise the shop more successfully)

•          computerise / modernise stock systems (det. shelf number, level number) [dev. make locating books easier]

•          create/run website (det. experienced with social media) [dev. reach new customers, increase footflow]

•          change shop front (det. wooden door) [dev. make it easier to see in(to) the shop]

•          redesign shelving (det. narrow, high) [dev. make accessing /browsing titles easier]

•          change counter area (det. massive wooden block of wood) [dev. creates barrier between Penumbra and customers, forbidding]