GCE O LEVEL 2024 P2 ANSWERS 261018 205555

GCE O LEVEL 2024 PAPER 2 ANSWERS SECTION A No. Question & Answer Marks 1 Look at the poster (Text 1). Tick the sentence that best conveys the overall message of the poster. Young people really know how to have fun in their free time. Young people can learn and grow while having fun in group activities. Young people can develop a sense of responsibility for others through having fun. Note: There was no reference about having a sense of responsibility for others in the poster. Hence opton 3 is out. Option 1 was too superficial in capturing only the fun aspect which students may have inferred from the heading ‘Fun is not wasted from the young’. However, the word ‘wasted’ suggests that there is more to just having fun for the sake of having fun. Hence, option 1 did not quite address the message of the poster. Cambridge markers’ comments: Virtually all candidates responded correctly to Question 1, which is a multiple-choice question focusing on the principal message of the main image. 1 2 How do the three smaller images support what the poster is saying about Outdoor Adventurers? The Three smaller images depict groups of young people smiling as they take part in a variety of outdoor activities. This supports what the poster says about having the opportunity to take part in a range of exciting outdoor activities with other young people. Note: Question requires students to make the link between what is seen in the images with what is written in words in the poster. Hence, it is a good practice to start with a brief visual description of the images. Cambridge markers’ comments: Question 2 is a straightforward question, but many candidates focused on the main image and on the idea of ‘smiling/having fun’ instead of on the smaller images and on what the information in the poster was ‘saying’. Some candidates focused on the individual activities and did not connect the suite of images to the idea of ‘a range’. A number of candidates, however, did answer correctly, sometimes using their own words, usually ‘different’ or ‘various’, to do so. 1 3 What information does Text 2 give to support the idea from Text 1 that young people can have their say? Text 2 states that young people can join in and help to organise the activities and plan some great adventures for the next year. 1

Cambridge markers’ comments: Virtually all candidates responded correctly to Question 3 which asks for a quotation from text 2 to support one of the ideas portrayed in text 1. 4a The tone of the language used in both texts is… Reassuring Compelling Encouraging Note: While there may have been parts of text 2 which suggests an encouraging tone, what was present in both texts was a stronger and compelling tone. eg. Text 1: You have a right to be listened to and a chance to have your say. Join one of our groups… Text 2: Get in touch to find out how you can join in and help us… Cambridge markers’ comments: The responses to Question 4(a), which is a multiple-choice question focusing on the tone of both texts, were more varied, with some candidates being misled by distracting information in the text describing a sense of enthrallment rather than persuasion. 1 4b The purpose of Text 2 is… To help young people become more physically active. To persuade young people to participate in the organisation. To give young people details of the activities planned. Note: No explicit reference made to being physically active. There were also no details of activities planned. Readers were instead informed that the organisers are embarking on the planning process. Cambridge markers’ comments: Virtually all candidates responded correctly to Question 4(b), again a multiple-choice question, focusing on the purpose of text 2. 1 SECTION B No. Question & Answer Marks 5 In para 1, in what two ways did the father show that he was unfamiliar with the house?

The father was looking all around him when he came inside. He later acknowledged the new surroundings. Cambridge markers’ comments: Question 5 focuses on how we know that the father was unfamiliar with the house. Most candidates were able to identify at least one idea. Finding the second idea seemed to cause more difficulty, and even when identified was often given as an over-long lift that included irrelevant information about the removal of the father’s shoes. 6 What does ‘it was one of the many habits of her upbringing’ refer to (line 8)? It refers to the habit of taking off one’s shoes before entering a home. Cambridge markers’ comments: The habit of taking off one’s shoes before entering a home was the focus of Question 6. The majority of candidates gave a correct answer though a small minority were not specific enough, only giving the action rather than action and place. 7 What does para 2 suggest about Ruma’s childhood? It suggests that Ruma did not have a privileged childhood as her family was not rich or well to do. Cambridge markers’ comments: The narration of the tour begins with a flashback to the house that the daughter was brought up in as a child which is compared to her home. We are told her present house has ‘larger and more gracious’ rooms ‘than the humble ones that had sheltered her as a child’. Question 7 asks candidates what this information suggests about Ruma’s childhood. This question assesses inference and candidates are required to piece together the evidence given to find a plausible answer. Many candidates were successful and gave a correct response, though some gave explicit answers which paraphrased the information given instead of suggesting what the information implied. 8a Para 2 tells the reader that Ruma ‘felt she had done justice to the house’ (line 15). What had she done to achieve this? She furnished the house slowly and thoughtfully with expensive and tasteful furniture. Cambridge markers’ comments: Question 8(a) and 8(b) focus on Ruma’s present home and how and why she has furnished and decorated it the way she has. The vast majority of candidates gave the correct answer; the more successful ones narrowed their response to one specific phrase from the text. Most candidates understood the connection to the architect and gave the correct answer as to why she had decorated the house so beautifully, though a few were misled by the idea of Ruma trying to impress her father, which was not relevant here. 8b Why do you think she felt the need to do this?

She felt the need to preserve/maintain the beauty of the house (with well chosen furniture) since it was designed and owned by an architect. Cambridge markers’ comments: See comments reflected in 8a 9 Paragraph 3 describes the view of the mountains from the balcony. Explain how language used in this paragraph emphasises the beauty of the scene. Support your answer with two details from paragraph 3. The expression “a large window framing the lake” makes the lake look like a picture in a picture frame, which is the large window, conveying how picturesque the lake is. ‘snowy peaks seemed crafted from the same billowing white of clouds’ suggests that the highest point of the Olympic Mountains appear like they were specially made from the clouds Not accepted: ‘snowy peaks seemed crafted’ suggests the mountains appear picturesque as though they were deliberately / carefully / specially made. ‘billowing white clouds drifting above them’ suggests the softness / fluffiness of the clouds surrounding the mountains, contributing to its calm splendour. Cambridge markers’ comments: The narrative goes on to describe the wonderful view from the living room and the even more spectacular view from the screened balcony. Comprehension of the descriptive language used is assessed in Question 9 and this question proved challenging. A few candidates focused on the wrong part of the text, but the majorit