7161/01 London Examinations GCE English Language Ordinary Level Tuesday 9 May 2006 — Afternoon Time: 3 hours Materials required for examination {tems included with question papers Answer book (ABI6) Passage One Passage Two Instructions to Candidates Answer ALL questions, In the boxes on the Answer Book, write the name of the examining body (London Examinations), your centre number, candidate number, the subject title (English Language), the paper reference (7161), your surname, other names and signature, Answer your questions in the Answer Book. Make sure your answers to parts of questions are clearly numbered. Use additional answer sheets if necessary Information for Candidates The total mark for this paper is 100. The marks for each question are shown in round brackets: e.g. (2). This paper has 10 questions. Page 4 is blank. The questions in this paper are based on the two passages inserted with this paper. You should spend IS minutes reading these passages before answering the questions. Advice to Candidates Write your answers neatly and in good English weszo7y YIN tenor edexcelSE ION A. The following questions are based on Passage One and Passage Two. You should spend about 40 minutes answering the questions in this section, rst, read Passage One, an interview with an Australian expert. Now answer the following questions: 1. Give three reasons why people are interested in fires, according to Phil Cheney. @) 2. What three sounds does Phil Cheney associate with forest fires? 8 What could you smell, for some time, afier the Canberra fire had gone out? ay 4. In your own words, identify four mistakes that people make which mean that their lives and/or their houses are in danger from forest fires. (4) In your own words, explain what the firemen could have done before the Canberra fire, and how this would have made the damage less severe. 8) Now read Passage Two, an extract from a story set in an English seaside town. 6. Give four reasons why people might visit Aldeburgh (4) 7. ‘This passage describes or suggests a fire which is lil on a Windy day. Give one short quotation which describes or suggests the wind and one short quotation which describes the fire. In each case, explain briefly how the writer's language is effective in bringing the passage to life. (6) Now consider both passage 8. Passage One and Passage Two are linked by the subject of fire but are written in very different styles. Write about some of the differences you have noticed between them, and indicate which passage you prefer and why. ‘Comment on the content, language and style of both passages. Use your own words as far as possible but include brief quotations to support your answer. (6) TOTAL FOR SECTION A: 30 MARKS.SE TION B You should spend about one hour on this section. 9, Use information and ideas from Passage Two only in this answer. Imagine that you are the lady (line 34) whose window was broken by the thing which shot out of the fire, You watched the whole incident and you are very angry. Write a letter to your local newspaper expressing your anger. Describe what happened on this particular day and how it has affected you. Include as many relevant facts from the passage as you can, Use your own words as far as possible, as direct copying will be penalised. Do not write more than 220 words in the main body of your letter. GB TOTAL FOR SECI 5 MARKS. SECTION C You should spend about one hour on this section. 10. Choose one of the following tasks or titles cn which to write in an interesting way. Do not base your swer directly on the content of either of the passages in the examination paper, You are advised to write between 350 and 400 words. Either (a) Write a story (rue or imaginary) in which you and your family are threatened by a natural disaster. Or (b) “The Crowd" Or “The Audience Describe a group of people who have gathered to watch or list nto something together. or (c) Write an article for a travel/ourist guide about the area in which you live. You should outline what might attract visitors and what they should avoid (35) TOTAL ION C: 35 MARKS ENDBLANK PAGE Edexcel gratefully acknowledges the following sources used in the preparation of this paper Passage One —- Adapted from an interview by Rachel Navak, New Seientist, March 2004 Photograph, AP/Worldwide Photos 232074 47161/01 London Examinations GCE English Language May 2006 Ordinary Level : Passage One M232974 MIN Pm ve eae ene eee edexcel INTERNATIONALThe ire Man Phil Cheney, Australia’s top forest fire expert, is being interviewed about his working life. Canberra, which is referred to below, is the capital city of Australia. Why do you think that we all show such interest in fires? People, by and large, like lighting fires. It’s fascinating to watch flames, and you get a lot of comfort from them, But you grew up in a fishing village — how did you end up in forestry? Forestry seemed an cas er life than fishing! But it wasn’t — at least not once you moved into studying forest fires. What's close to one? it like being It makes you feel very small, and quite inadequate. The day is always hot, 30° C 10 40° C. I's very dark — it’s the middle of the day but it’s like night, Suddenly everything lights up. The reflection of bright red flames on the smoke above you gives the illusion that the flames are exceedingly high, even when they are relatively low. You cannot hear yourself talk because of all the noise: the wind noise, the roar of the fire, and this low frequency thumping that is, going on behind it — that’s pockets of gas burning very quickly. How intense are these flames? A fire with flames around a metre high releases about 1000 kilowatts of energy per metre of e perimeter. In the heart of the Canberra fire last year, in the hills where fuel was plentiful, it was around 250,000 kilowatts per metre. There was nothing people could do except try to protect their individual properties, What was the aftermath like? For about a month there was a stench of rotten meat in the forest. The only things moving, were carrion eaters, eagles circling around, but even they were few. We have no idea what was lost, absolutely no idea. It’s emotionally draining reconstructing events where people have been really badly affected. Very often, as firemen, we only want a small snippet of information, but in all faimess you have to relive the story with them and try to help them understand what has happened. In Australia, you are encouraged to stay and fight wildfires rather than evacuate — as you are in most countries. Why? It comes out of our history. In rural areas, if people stayed in their houses ~ even when everything else was burnt ~ they would be protected as the flames went over the roof’. In the dreadful fires of 1983, for example, more people were killed being overrun by the fire as they fled in their cars at the last moment, than were killed in their own homes.So what do you tell people? Are they prepared enough? If you are going to evacuate we advise you to evacuate early, but it would be better to prepare to stay and protect your property. You have to be physically and mentally capable of staying, however. There are always people who wear shorts and sandals without socks, and with that level of protection you can’t approach flames even a few centimetres high. In the old days, people would have cleared the area around their home and converted it to grass. The flames would have passed by in a few seconds with little smouldering debris remaining. But, nowadays, people tend to build houses in the forest without much clearing around them ~ and those properties cannot be defended. What would you do to prevent fires like the one that devastated Canberra? Managing the things that it burns ~ the fuel — is all we can do, We cannot change the weather. We need to start deliberate fires where you burn a lot of the natural fuel on the forest floor. If we'd done that, the Canberra fire would have been out in a day. Why do people abject so strongly to this type of controlled burning? Unless you have had recent experience of a terrible fire, it’s very difficult to comprehend why we do it, The autumn smoke goes up and people ask: ‘What are they doing out there? Why are they destroying the lovely bush?" They simply hate the smoke. But unless we do actually light fires at certain times, we have the real potential for extensive high-intensity fires that wipe out whole species and put many hundreds of human lives at risk M232974, 3 35 40 45 50BLANK PAG Man2978 4M23297A 7161/01 London Examinations GCE English Language May 2006 Ordinary Level Passage Two 2 a u 2 3 IN ed Turn over lexcel INTERNATIONALThis is an extract from a short story which takes place in the English seaside town of Aldeburgh. The little seaside town of Aldeburgh, on the east coast of England, wasn’t used to excitement On sunny days. families drove to the beach, made sandeastles, took a dip in the sea, and then ate fish and chips in one of the quaint, pastel-pink cafés before travelling back to their busy lives in London or other nearby towns and cities, Rich folk flocked to the famous concerts. or sat nodding sagely at poetry readings, regardless of whether they actually understood what was being said. But today was different, It was cold, biting November cold, and the greys of the sea merged with the greys of the sky and the land, It was windy too, and seagulls were being blown about like bits of litter. their wings unable to battle against the strength of the breeze. The fishermen had returned from their early morning trips out to sea. They had sold their fish, cleaned their boats and now — at approaching midday ~ were preparing for something else. something special. One or two people had gathered and — in the absence of anything better to do stopped to witness the spectacle. A fire was being lit on the beach, Not a small fire, but 4. mountainous one which towered over the tops of the little fishing huts which stood in a flimsy row between the beach and the road As the flames, fanned by the wind, pushed through the fuel of old newspapers. wooden pallets, driftwood and broken nets, more and more rubbish was tossed into the middle of it Plastic sheeting, an old kettle, half-full tins of paint and what seemed like hundreds of other unlikely articles were fetched from the huts by the fishermen and solemnly fed to the fire. The wind was now gusting into little gales as two men, seemingly spurred on by the weather. began to dismantle an entire hut. Its roof had been damaged in a recent storm, and they crowbarred the wooden sides from their foundations and threw them on too. This was followed by the floor and, Finally. by the long pillars of wood and iron whieh had anchored it to the land. AL first this had the effect of flattening out the flame. Little pockets of gas flickered blue and green through knotholes in the wood, and the whole area was choked in a foul-smelling pall of smoke. Then, suddenly, bright yellow flame burst from the fire's perimeter, The wood cracked and howled as an explosion of tiny orange fireflies erupted into the autumn air, And then there was another noise. An explosion. Something very loud and very chemical. A single object ~ perhaps an oar from one of the rowil mortar bomb. It shot over the little crowd, over the fishermen’s huts, over the road and straight through the window of one of the big hous shattered. And as smoke wafted ominously from where the window had once been, a very looking. came rush boats ~ was fired into the air like a 'S opposite. The erowd gasped. Glass well-dressed lady ~ doubtless preparing for a Mozart concert that same evening ng out info the street, screaming like a demon, and shouting very unladylike abuse in the dirvetion of the fishermen who, having paused momentarily to contemplate this peculiar sight, returned to their solemn task and the colourful magic of the fire. 10 20 30