VIBGYOR HIGH

FIRST TERM EXAMINATION

2020 – 2021
GRADE: 9 IGCSE Max. Marks: 80
SUBJECT: FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH (0500)
Paper: 1 Reading (INSERT) Time: 2 hours

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Candidate No: Centre No:

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• This insert contains the reading texts for the paper.

• Do not write your answers on this Insert. However, you may use the blank spaces for planning and
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This document has 6 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

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 Text A: Chess

Chess is one of the oldest games in the world, in which two opponents, each with sixteen
pieces, play on a board of sixty-four squares. Such a complex game could not have been
created by a single person, but has clearly been the product of a long process of evolution. It
5 has been around for centuries, and a look at its development opens a fascinating window on
numerous cultures, transporting our minds to distant lands and eras.

The earliest form of chess originated in India before the sixth century, where its Sanskrit name
– chaturanga – meant ‘four divisions’ and referred to the different sections of the army: soldiers
on foot, on horseback, on elephants and in chariots. From India the game spread to Persia:
10 the story is told of an Indian ambassador who took it as a present to the Persian king, and a
manuscript dating from that period describes the excitement generated by this gift. The
popularity of chess in Persia meant that it became an integral part of the education of young
noblemen. The game evolved because the development of strict rules, and the need to adhere
to them, added to its appeal. When the Arab countries conquered Persia, chess was taken up
15 by the people of the Muslim world, who were attracted by the logical processes the game
entailed. Furthermore, when Buddhist pilgrims travelled from India along the Silk Road, they
introduced chess to the Far East, where variations were developed, resulting in many other
games which are still known today.

When chess spread to Europe, it was seen as a prestigious pastime associated with the
20 nobility: the social value attached to it can be seen in the exquisitely beautiful chessboards of
medieval Europe. It also became a subject for art, and necklaces and other jewellery were
often decorated with chess pieces. High-ranking soldiers, or knights, were required to have
other, non-military skills in order to be worthy of their title, and one of these skills was the
ability to play chess. Chess became more popular with the invention of the chequered board,
25 made of alternate black and white squares, which made it easier to distinguish between the
squares than it had been when the board was all one colour. Such was the popularity of this
wonderful game that writings about theories and tactics for winning began to appear in the
fifteenth century.

In modern times, chess tournaments contribute to the continuing popularity of the game; the
30 first of these took place in London in 1851, and they have become the standard form of
competition among serious players. In the Chess Olympiad, which occurs every two years,
the game is played by teams representing various countries globally; it resembles the Olympic
Games in that its international flavour attracts both players and spectators, keen to see their
own country perform well. The foundation of the World Chess Federation popularised chess
35 because, by acting as the governing body of international chess competition, it defines the
rules of the game and the ratings of players. Modern media keep spectators in touch with
championships; for example, the final of the 2012 World Chess Championship was broadcast
with live commentary on the internet. An innovation in chess has been the invention of chess
computers, technology which actually takes on the role of the opponent and enables players
40 to practise and improve their game.

Chess is more interesting than other board games because the different pieces have different
powers. There are several types of chess pieces ranging from the majestic king to the humble
pawn, representing a servant or foot soldier, and part of the attraction of the game is that these
various pieces move in different ways. Moreover, chess is probably unique in that victory for

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45 one particular player depends on the fate of only one of the pieces, the king; merely taking
piece after piece is not sufficient. Chess is no ordinary game, because it demands skill and
concentration: there is no element of luck as in, say, some card games. Furthermore, chess
players are given a sense of continuity with the past, of belonging to a great chess-playing
family which extends through centuries and embraces many nations.

Text B: Studying Abroad

Nowadays it’s a small world. A flick of the television switch shows us images of events
happening thousands of miles away, some of them happy and, unfortunately, some of them
sad. Modern tourists are able to soak up the new experiences offered by foreign travel,
sometimes for no other reason than curiosity to explore foreign places. One consequence of
5 this new perception of the planet has been an increase in the number of students travelling
abroad to study.

Students who travel to another country to study derive many benefits. Living overseas gives
young people the chance to gain information about another culture and way of life; finding out
about ordinary things like clothes, food, or even just a different climate can be exhilarating.
10 Then there’s the chance not only to learn about but also to participate in another culture, for
example, in festivals or celebrations which were before unknown to you – imagine watching
the liveliness of, say, Chinese New Year for the first time! Moreover, living abroad teaches
young people a healthy tolerance of others, and that we are sisters and brothers, not rivals.
Despite the homesickness which might happen when studying abroad, new friends can be
15 made, often with other students who are just as homesick for their own country as you are for
yours. Some young people may travel overseas to study in a country where the main language
spoken is not their own, giving them the valuable opportunity to learn a new language at first
hand, much easier than learning it from a textbook.

Overseas students are sometimes able to study subjects which are unavailable in their own
20 country. Indeed, that is often the main motivation for going overseas to study. Thus they are
bringing knowledge and a level of expertise home with them which would not otherwise have
existed there; the engineers, doctors and teachers, for example, of many countries studied
abroad. On their return, they can contribute to the improvement of the living standards in their
country and local community. Increased levels of maturity are usually noticed by parents of
25 overseas students when they return – the shy, dependent teenager had been transformed into
a confident, self-assured adult, better able to cope with the practicalities of modern living. The
caterpillar has become a butterfly! Often those who have studied abroad feel a sense of
personal satisfaction that they have responded to a challenge, that they have somehow
passed a test they set themselves.

30 But there are disadvantages in studying overseas, many of these concerned with cost. The
course studied may be more expensive than a course of study at home, often causing financial
hardship to parents. Whereas some students are able to keep down the costs to their parents
by staying at home, this is clearly not possible in a foreign setting, and student accommodation
can be expensive. In addition, return trips home are often prohibitively expensive. Some
35 overseas students study an accelerated course, by cramming, say, three years of study into
two years; such pressure can have an adverse effect on health. Ironically, the intensity of such

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 study deprives the students of the opportunity to experience a new culture, which was one of
the advantages they probably anticipated when embarking on the course of study in the first
place. Some overseas students become very homesick, missing parents, siblings, friends, the
40 old way of life. Despite their best efforts to fit into a new cultural setting, they often find it
impossible to do so. These painful feelings are intensified by the knowledge that return trips
home can occur perhaps only annually, if at all.

Some people argue that overseas study deprives the home country of its best talent – the so-
called ‘brain-drain’; the truth is that some students will never return to their home country,
45 because they get the irresistible offer of a good job in the country of their studies. Another
downside of studying abroad – for the families of the students at least – is that students may
settle immediately in the foreign country and not wish to return home. Others may meet a
future spouse in their chosen country of study, and marry and settle there.

Whatever way we look at it, it seems that studying overseas will always be an attractive option
50 for some young people. This has indubitably been made easier by increased access to a wide
range of travel, particularly by air. There is every reason to think that, given our unprecedented
affluence, the attraction of studying overseas is likely to increase.

Text C: The Hospital

The night before my baby’s operation I lay awake anxiously; in the morning I packed her
pitifully small requirements and we went to the hospital. She cried when they took her away.
The world had contracted to the small size of her face and her clenching, waving hands; the
poignancy was intolerable. I went away, and walked around outside the hospital for hours.
5 When I went back at the appointed time, the senior nurse told me that the operation had been
successful and that Octavia was well. I could not believe that a mere recital of facts could thus
change my fate; I stood there dumbly, wondering whether she had got the wrong name, the
wrong data, the wrong message. When I got round to speaking, I asked if I could see her, and
they said to come back in the morning, as she was still unconscious. Such was my
10 nervousness that I did not ask again to see her. I went home and wept copiously.

It was only then that I began to be preoccupied with certain details about which I had not
previously dared to think. Would there be a nurse with Octavia at all times? Would they feed
her properly? Earlier these things had seemed trivial, but now their importance swelled in my
mind. Because the threat of fatality had been removed, life seemed to have gone back to
15 normal. It was the strangeness more than the pain, I thought, that would afflict her, for she
liked nobody but me, and strangers she disliked with noisy vehemence.

When I went round in the morning, the senior nurse told me that Octavia was comfortable.
Summoning some courage, I asked to see her, but was told that was impossible. ‘She will
settle in more happily if she doesn’t see you,’ she said. I didn’t like the sound of that word
20 ‘settle’; it suggested complete inactivity. ‘I’m afraid that for such small infants we don’t allow
any visiting at all,’ she continued. Octavia had never been settled in her short life, and I pictured
her lying there in a state of lethargy. Furthermore, it was now imperative to see her. Already,
we had endured the longest separation of our lives, and I began to see it stretching away,

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 indefinitely prolonged. Why would they not let me see the child? Had the operation not been
25 a success?

The senior nurse showed me the surgeon’s report. Although it was nothing but a mass of
technicalities to me, I felt better; for all the senior nurse knew, I might have had enough medical
knowledge to understand the report and she would not have taken that silly risk. By this time
I could tell that she considered my behaviour to be tedious, and I left.

30 But I had been outside the hospital for only a few moments when I thought of my baby’s
possible distress, and I went back inside. Two junior nurses greeted me nervously, repeating
the earlier message, but I told them I had no intention of not seeing my baby. Their voices
hardened. They had that whole building behind them and I had nothing behind me except my
intention. Just then, the senior nurse returned. ‘Well, well, you’re back again,’ she said. She
35 took my arm and began to push me towards the door. At first I was unable to resist her physical
propulsion, but then she took hold of my elbow and started to exert greater pressure, so I
started to scream. I screamed very loudly, shutting my eyes to do it, and listened in amazement
to the deafening noise. Once I had started, I could not stop. I stood there, motionless,
screaming, whilst they shook me and yelled that I was upsetting everyone.

40 Through the noise I could hear things happening and I felt I had to keep doing this until they
let me see her. Inside my head it was red and black and very hot. After a while I heard someone
shouting above the din: ‘For goodness sake, tell her she can see her baby.’ I instantly stopped
and opened my eyes. I looked at the breathless circle surrounding me: the surgeon himself
looking white with anger; the senior nurse crying; the junior nurses looking stunned. It was as
45 though I had opened my eyes on a whole new narrative in which I myself had taken no part.
But I had no interest in their story; I wished to know only my own. ‘Of course you can see the
baby,’ said the surgeon, kindly. ‘I will take you to see her myself.’

*****

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