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IGCSE Reading - Exam Practice - Exercise 5: Answer Key

Reading Comprehension Reference

A.Reading Comprehension

1. True
2. False
3. True
4. True
5. True
6. False
7. True
8. True
9. False

B. Summary

The aim of the project is to encourage young children to take up cricket. The best approach to teaching cricket to young children is to get the children's concentration, keep everyone active and involved as well as let all the children have some time to hit the ball. At William Davies school, the project links with the interest children's families, who are largely Asian, already have in cricket. It is also popular because it introduces children to the ideas of team work, fair play, and the mental attitudes required to learn a game successfully. (96 words)

Source: Success International by Marian Barry

IGCSE Reading - Exam Practice - Exercise 5

Photo Credit

A. Reading Comprehension

Read this article on kwik cricket and answer the questions which follow it.

Cricket is not the easiest sport to introduce to youngsters. The traditional game demands time and patience and a high level of skill, something that small children do not always possess. They like action and non-stop involvement compressed into short periods of the primary school day.

The London Schools' Cricket Project has met these difficulties head-on. Desperately keen that more youngsters should be introduced to the sport, it sends coaches to hundreds of primary schools to give concentrated instruction and supervision of Kwik cricket.

The William Davies School in Forest Gate, East London did not have the most cheerful of January afternoons last week to introduce youngsters to England's traditional summer game. The sun may have been shining but a sharp wind cut across the playground. With 30 pupils eager to exercise, it did not seem a suitable day for refining individual technique.

Yet, what was remarkable was the amount of individual tuition that was possible by one coach, while still keeping the interest of the rest of the class. During bowling practice, the youngsters would deliver their balls and then run across the tarmac to swap places with their partners.  In this way, not only did they keep warm, but they also got more exercise.

Vic Griffith, the coach said: "I always try to get their attention, to get them to focus on me and, while they are in the cold, to get them in move up and down. They should have as much enjoyment and exercise as possible.

At this co-educational school, he is preaching, if not always to the converted, at least to the interested. 95% of the 250 pupils come from the ethnic minorities, particularly the Indian sub-continent.

Gill Gordon, the head teacher said: "They know far more about cricketers than footballers and their fathers will often play cricket with them on the park. They support England against Australia or the West Indies, but when England are playing India or Pakistan, they sometimes don't know where they are."

She has always welcomed the Project's suggestion to send in a coach for five sessions a year.

"Cricket teaches teamwork and the discipline of learning a game, with its rules and need for fairness,"

The project has a budget of about £100,000 for this year to help pay for two full-time and ten part-time coaches to tour the London schools. This total includes £5,000 from Tesco - the supermarket chain - plus a further £5,000 from the government and funds from charitable and cricket trusts and donations from the schools.

Oliver McClintock, the debuty coordinator of the Project, says: "We are not only creating the players of the future. We are also creating the parents and paying public of the future."

This hour-long session ended with 25 minutes of Kwik cricket, which allows everyone to have a go either hitting Griffith's deliveries across the playground to everyone's delight or missing the ball."

One pupil, Bilal Hassan, 9, said: " I like whacking the ball a long way." He was bowled by one ball that may have turned on the tarmac. "The ball went wonky", he said.

(a) Are the following statements true or false?

1. Traditional cricket is an ideal game for young children.

2. Secondary schools have been involved in the Project.

3. The coach tries to keep children as active as possible.

4. The William Davies School is a multi-cultural school for boys and girls.

5. The parents have encouraged their children's interest in cricket.

6. The head teacher is disappointed with the benefits the children get from the game.

7.  A number of organisations have contributed money to the Project.

8. The Project hopes to make an impact on cricket in the future.

9. Not all the children get a chance to hit the ball during the session.

 

(b) Read the article again and write a summary describing the aim of the project, the best approach for teaching cricket to young children, and the reasons why the William Davies School supports the project. Your summary should not be longer than 100 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Source: Success International by Marian Barry

IGCSE Reading & Writing - Exercise 5 - Summary Writing

What to Expect

In Exercise 5 of the IGCSE Reading & Writing Papers, you will have to read a text and provide a summary based on specific issues of the text relating to the task.

Example:

Read the following article about the jaguar, and then write a summary about why the jaguar needed help and how the species has been preserved in Belize. Your summary should be about 100 words.

Summarising is an excellent way of making sure that you understand and remember what you have read. The practice of summarising a text from notes you have made is a useful safeguard against the temptation to use the words of the original or lift chunks of language.

A good summary:

• conveys the information in fewer words
• expresses the content in fewer sentences
• omits information of little importance
• leaves out details and examples
• departs from the vocabulary and structure of the original text
• doesn't include your own opinions or feelings

To write a good summary follow these steps:

• Scan the text (read it quickly) to get the general meaning and underline or highlight the main points relating to the task.
• Read the text again and make notes of the main points.
• DO NOT look at the original text and write out your summary based on your notes.
• Don't forget to use linking words!!! ( First, secondly, finally, however, moreover, in addition etc)
• Read through your summary making sure you have not copied in extent from the original text or included irrelevant points. You can use words or short phrases from the original text but your summary must be your own writing!
• DO NOT exceed the word limit!

.

 

 

IGCSE - Exam Practice - Answer Key

Reading: Exam Exercise 2 (Extended)

Planning and Running a School Library

Answers

a. A library card

b. By getting a list from the school office or personnel department

c. It is placed inside the reader ticket, filed alphabetically.

d. If it has been requested by another user

e. Any four from:

• get students to design them
• include school logo
• tickets could be colour copied
• write users' names on tickets
• tickets could be laminated or put into plastic pockets

f. They are more durable and reduce librarian time, but they can be more costly.

g. Because it can cause damage.

 h.

• lack of use
• damaged beyond repair
• information is out of date
• information has become culturally insensitive

IGCSE - Exam Practice

 

Reading: Exam Exercise 2 (Extended)

The following article is about how a school library should be organised. Read it carefully and answer the questions which follow.

 Issuing Resources manually

In order to borrow books and other materials, all users need a library card. The librarian can obtain a list of staff and pupils from the school office or personnel department in order to prepare library cards.

The normal length of borrowing depends on the person running the library, but two weeks is the suggested period of loan. The book to be borrowed is stamped two weeks in advance. The catalogue card is removed from the book, placed inside the reader ticket, and the tickets are then filed alphabetically in trays displaying the due-back date. Readers can renew any resource if not requested by another user.

Usually, fines are set if users fail to return items on or before the due date. The librarian sets the fines if chosen to do so.

Some items, such as videos or reference-related materials, might be borrowed on an overnight loan; again, libraries can set the rules on how resources may be borrowed.

Issuing resources using an automated system

Details of all pupils and staff using the library are imported on the system. Any additions can be entered in the "borrower" record field. All users are issued with a library ticket. These may be made manually. The following suggestions may be helpful in producing library tickets for your school:

• The tickets could be designed by the students (as a competition) and copied.
• The school logo and the name of the school should be included.
• The tickets should be colour copied or just photocopied on to card. You should be able to get at least eight tickets per sheet of card. The tickets can then be cut and barcoded.
• Write the users' names on the tickets.
• Go to the borrower's records on the system. Find the borrower's name and scan in the barcode to register the user.
• When all the borrowers have been registered, the library tickets can be laminated or put into plastic wallets.

Alternatively, there are reputable companies who produce library cards for schools and other organisations, tailored to the purchaser's needs. Although these may work out more costly, the cards are more durable and reduce valuable librarian time.

When a resource is loaned, the barcode on the ticket is scanned, which brings up a screen with the borrower details; the barcode on the resource is then scanned, thus recording the loan. Due-back dates can be set within the system.

Maintaining resources in good condition

Resources should be kept clean and any minor repairs dealt with immediately. All paperbacks should be covered with either a plastic jacket or plastic covering. This prolongs the life of the books, especially when heavily borrowed, and the cover can be easily cleaned. Avoid using sticky tape on any resource, instead, use recommended book tape for carrying out any maintenance or minor repairs on books as sticky tape can cause damage.

An annual check of all stock is recommended in order to ascertain missing resources, resources in need of repair, and resources to be withdrawn from stock. The latter may be necessary, due to lack of use or because the resource has been damaged beyond repair; alternatively, the information contained within the resource may have gone out of date or have become culturally insensitive.

Adapted from "Planning and running a school library", University of Cambridge International Examinations, June 2002.

a. What must a user have in order to borrow something from the library? [1]

b. How can the librarian know who needs a library card? [1]

c. What two things happen to the catalogue card after it is taken out of the book? [2]

d. When is it not possible to renew a book? [1]

e. Give four pieces of advice about the design of library tickets.[2]

f. What are the advantages and disadvantages of buying ready-made library cards? [2]

g. Why should sticky tape not be used on books? [1]

h. Based on what you have read, make a list of four reasons why a resource may need to be removed from a school library. [4]

[Total: 14]

Source: IGCSE English as a Second Language - Coursebook 2 by Peter Lucantoni (p. 36)