Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint



ENGLISH 0861/01
Paper 1 Non-fiction October 2023
1 hour 10 minutes

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

INSTRUCTIONS
• Answer all questions.
• Use a black or dark blue pen.
• Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
• Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
• Do not write on any bar codes.

INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 50.
• The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
• The insert contains the reading passages.

This document has 8 pages.

10_0861_01/2RP
© UCLES 2023 [Turn over
 2

Section A: Reading

Spend 30 minutes on this section.

Read Text A, in the insert, and then answer Questions 1–6.

1 Look at the first paragraph (lines 3–5).

(a) What type of sentence is the first sentence? Tick () one box.

a simple sentence

a complex sentence

a compound sentence

a compound-complex sentence

[1]

(b) The reader’s understanding of the second and third sentences relies on the first sentence.
How?

[1]

2 Look at the second paragraph (lines 6–9). The writer begins three of the sentences with a
prepositional phrase.
Explain the effect this has.

[2]

3 Look at the third paragraph (lines 10–13).

(a) Give one phrase that means ‘at the same time as’.

[1]

(b) What is the effect of the sequence of nouns walk ... canter... gallop?

[1]

(c) How does the writer engage the reader in this paragraph?

[1]

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4 Look at the fourth paragraph (lines 14–19).

(a) Why might the reader expect to see the fourth paragraph at the beginning of the text?

[1]

(b) Why has the writer chosen to insert the fourth paragraph at this point in the text?
Tick () one box.

The writer

thinks that the reader already knows what foley is.

is about to introduce the reader to a different technique.

wants to explain how sound effects in films are recorded.

has finished giving an example of what a foley artist does.

[1]

(c) One of the themes of the text is sound.

Give two onomatopoeic nouns that demonstrate this.
•

[2]

5 Look at the fifth paragraph (lines 20–27).

(a) The idea of lots of different footsteps (lines 17–18) is repeated in the fifth paragraph.
Give a phrase in the fifth paragraph that repeats that idea.

[1]

(b) The writer asks a question and answers it.

What is the writer’s opinion of the answer?

[1]

6 Why is Barnaby Smyth happy when an audience is unaware of his work?

[1]

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Read Text B, in the insert, and then answer Questions 7–12.

7 Look at the first paragraph (lines 4–5).

What does Ashley tell the reader about herself? Tick () one box.

She only screams when she is frightened.

She changed the way she screamed as an actor.

She screams automatically at some things.

She got her first job only because of her scream.

[1]

8 Ashley uses the phrase a quieter life.

Why does that phrase seem surprising?

[1]

9 What is Ashley referring to when she uses the word peak?

[1]

10 Look at the last paragraph (lines 18–20).

What does Ashley emphasise by using a simple sentence?

[1]

11 Look at Text A and Text B. Foley artists and scream artists both add sounds to films at the same
stage of production.
Explain two other things that a foley artist and a scream artist have in common.
•

[2]

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12 Look at the second, third and fourth paragraphs (lines 6–17).

(a) Complete the table below using information from these paragraphs.

The type of work Ashley used

to do

The work Ashley does now

At what point in the making of

a film Ashley does her job

Something Ashley needs to

know to do her job

One reason why Ashley’s job

is necessary

One example of Ashley’s

work

[3]

(b) Summarise what it means to be a scream artist, using information from the table. Use up to
50 words.

[2]

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Section B: Writing

Spend 30 minutes on this section.

13 You have been asked to write an article for your school magazine about a new skill that you have
been developing either in school or outside of school.

You should think about:

• what the skill is and how you have been developing it

• where and when you use the skill
• how you could develop the skill further in future.

Space for your plan:

Write your article on the next page. [25 marks]

© UCLES 2023 0861/01/O/N/23

 7

© UCLES 2023 0861/01/O/N/23 [Turn over

 8

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2023 0861/01/O/N/23

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint

ENGLISH 0861/01
Paper 1 Non-fiction October 2023
INSERT 1 hour 10 minutes

INFORMATION


• This insert contains the reading passages.

• You may annotate this insert and use the blank spaces for planning. Do not write your answers on
the insert.

This document has 4 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

10_0861_01/RP
© UCLES 2023 [Turn over
 2

Text A

Inside the world of foley artists

It’s Monday morning and, in an ordinary-looking building that was previously a laundry, a man
named Barnaby Smyth is trying to sound like a horse. Trying and succeeding remarkably well.
Not neighing or whinnying, just making the sound of hooves on the ground. 5

On a big screen on the wall of a windowless room is the moving image of an armoured knight
astride a white warhorse. Barnaby squats in front of the screen, staring intently at it. In front of
him on the floor is a square of compacted earth with a microphone pointed at it. In each hand,
Barnaby holds a small metal rod wrapped in tape.

On the screen, the knight turns his white horse and moves off; Barnaby hits the earth with his 10
rods exactly in sync with the hooves, first at an accelerating walk, then a little stumble into a
canter before settling into a rhythmic gallop. If you were here, watching the screen and ignoring
Barnaby, you would believe you really were hearing a heavy horse galloping away.

Welcome to the weird and rather wonderful world of foley. Named after Jack Donovan Foley,
who pioneered many of the techniques in the 1920s, foley is the name given to the art of adding 15
everyday sound effects to film or television after filming – incidental sounds such as the squeak
of a chair, bottles chinking in a fridge door or the swish of clothes. And footsteps, lots of different
footsteps, both human and non-human. Foley ‘steers the narrative, where to look, how to feel,’
Smyth says.

The room is an odd mix: part hi-tech modern recording studio, part junk shop. There are trays 20
and trolleys of bottles and glasses for chinking and rattling, and there are shoes, shelf upon
shelf, hundreds of them. There are banks of drawers labelled ‘medical’, ‘belts’, ‘sports’, ‘police’,
‘bones’, ‘makeup’, ‘gloves’. Barnaby shows me how he makes the sound of a pigeon flying
away by flapping a pair of leather gloves together. There are crates filled with different kinds of
ground to walk on: leaves, bark, forest soil, mossy soil. Smyth shows me how to make the noise 25
of a boot on snow by twisting a pillowcase full of cornflour. You want scrunchier, more compact
snow? Just add salt.

As for the viewing public, they are mostly unaware that foley even exists; that there are people
like Barnaby Smyth out there. That’s okay with Smyth: ‘Not to be noticed is really the biggest
compliment we can have.’ 30

© UCLES 2023 0861/01/INSERT/O/N/23

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Text B

My scream is famous

An actor called Ashley Peldon discusses her career.

If I see a bug, I will scream. I’ll shriek when I’m scared or startled. It’s just so natural, it comes
right out. This ability to scream played a huge part in getting my first acting jobs. 5

By my twenties, I’d done more than 40 films and TV series. In search of a quieter life, in the late
2000s I made a shift from being an on-camera performer to a post-production voiceover actor. I
was lucky to get parts where I was able to really use and play with my voice a lot, and
screaming became something that I was known for.

As a scream artist you have to know the subtle differences between screams and determine 10
whether they should peak at certain points or remain steady for a very long time. I have to think:
‘Okay, the character is scared here, but are they scared because their life is in danger or are
they just startled?’ Those screams will sound very different.

We are like stunt people, doing the hard stuff that could be damaging to an actor’s voice or is
out of their range. When the dinosaurs are attacking in the 2015 Jurassic World movie, my 15
screams are in that sequence. I saw that the characters were grabbing at their hair, falling and
then getting up, so I tried to match that and create all of the energy and movement in the sound.

Thanks to my unique career, I probably scream more on average than the normal person would.
There’s something really relaxing about it. When I’m not working, I take care of my voice, but I
did lose it once by getting a little too excited on the rides at an amusement park with my kids. 20

© UCLES 2023 0861/01/INSERT/O/N/23

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BLANK PAGE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2023 0861/01/INSERT/O/N/23

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint


ENGLISH 0861/02
Paper 2 Fiction October 2023
1 hour 10 minutes

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

INSTRUCTIONS
• Answer all questions.
• Use a black or dark blue pen.
• Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
• Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
• Do not write on any bar codes.

INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 50.
• The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
• The insert contains the reading passages.

This document has 8 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

10_0861_02/3RP
© UCLES 2023 [Turn over
 2

Section A: Reading

Spend 30 minutes on this section.

Read the Text in the insert and then answer Questions 1–9.

1 Look at lines 4–6.

Give one phrase that tells the reader who the imperiled heiress is.

[1]

2 Look at lines 7–15.

(a) Why does the writer use capital letters in the phrases the Peach of Toll and the Perfectest
Peony? Tick () one box.

to show that the words are spoken in a loud voice

to draw the reader’s attention to the alliteration

to show that they are Beamabeth’s official titles

to emphasise the importance the speaker gives them

[1]

(b) Explain what they did (line 11) refers to.

[2]

3 Look at lines 16–19.

(a) What does the first sentence tell the reader about the streets?

[1]

(b) Explain why the writer chooses the word catalogue.

[2]

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4 Look at lines 20–29.

(a) What time of day is it?

[1]

(b) What meaning does Clent intend by using the word poor?

[1]

(c) Mosca corrects Clent.

Give one word in Clent’s reply that shows he acknowledges her correction.

[1]

(d) Explain what the phrase lemon juice running through your veins tells the reader about
Mosca’s feelings.

[2]

5 Look at lines 30–40.

The footmen behave arrogantly towards Clent and Mosca.
Give two pieces of evidence from the text that tell the reader this.
•

[2]

6 Look at lines 41–50.

Explain one way the writer uses sentence structure to add detail to the description of Beamabeth.
Support your explanation with a quotation.

[2]

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7 Look at lines 51–56. Beamabeth’s words explain something that is mentioned earlier in the text.
What is it? Tick () one box.

the tone of the voice that Mosca hears in her head

the footman’s expression when he invites the visitors in

the way Clent speaks to the footmen who open the door

the length of time it takes Clent and Mosca to reach the castle

[1]

8 Look at lines 57–63. Clent respects Beamabeth’s high social status.

Explain two ways that he shows this. Support each explanation with evidence from the text.

First explanation:

Evidence:

Second explanation:

Evidence:
[4]

9 Look at the whole text.

Which of these statements do you agree with more? Tick () one box.

Mosca was jealous of Beamabeth before she met her.

Mosca changed her opinion of Beamabeth after she met her.

Give two reasons for your choice. Support each reason with evidence from the text.

First reason:

Evidence:

Second reason:

Evidence:
[4]

© UCLES 2023 0861/02/O/N/23

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Section B: Writing

Spend 30 minutes on this section.

10 You have decided to enter a writing competition in an online magazine. Write a story with the title
‘The Message’. Your story should be about one or more characters who must deliver an
important message to someone face to face.

You should think about:

• what the message is and who the characters who deliver it are
• who the message is for and why it is important
• the journey the characters make to deliver their message.

Space for your plan:

Write your story on the next page. [25 marks]

© UCLES 2023 0861/02/O/N/23 [Turn over

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© UCLES 2023 0861/02/O/N/23

 7

© UCLES 2023 0861/02/O/N/23

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BLANK PAGE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2023 0861/02/O/N/23

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint

ENGLISH 0861/02
Paper 2 Fiction October 2023
INSERT 1 hour 10 minutes

INFORMATION


• This insert contains the reading passages.

• You may annotate this insert and use the blank spaces for planning. Do not write your answers on
the insert.

This document has 4 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

10_0861_02/RP
© UCLES 2023 [Turn over
 2

Text for Section A, an extract from ‘Twilight Robbery’ (known as ‘Fly Trap’ in the US) by Frances
Hardinge.

Clent, Mosca and her pet goose called Saracen have travelled to a town called Toll.

***

After finding an inn, Clent, Mosca and Saracen set off to track down the imperiled heiress.
Fortunately, this proved to be relatively easy. The mere mention of ‘the mayor’s daughter’ 5
brought gleaming smiles to the faces of the guards at the Clock Tower.

‘Ah, you’ll mean his adopted daughter, Miss Beamabeth Marlebourne! Oh, we all know of her,
thank you, sir. She’s the Peach of Toll, the Perfectest Peony. Mayor Marlebourne’s family live in
the old judge’s lodgings, up in the castle courtyard. Ask anyone as you go, they’ll all know
where to send you.’ 10

And indeed they did.

‘Ah, you’re going to speak with Miss Marlebourne? Then I envy you, sir, for she is the finest
sight within Toll’s walls.’

‘Miss Beamabeth Marlebourne? Sweetest creature on ten toes. Smile like a spring day. Yes,
just take this alley to the end…’ 15

Toll was a hill town, and all its streets knew it. By the time Clent and Mosca reached the central
plaza, Mosca was out of breath, and completely, utterly out of patience with the catalogue of
Beamabeth Marlebourne’s charms. Every time Beamabeth’s name was mentioned, faces lit up
as though reflecting some distant radiance.

By the time they reached the castle grounds, the sun was dipping towards the horizon. The 20
judge’s house was attached to the inside of the castle’s perimeter wall and built of the same
bristling grey flint.

‘At last.’ Clent halted at the oaken door and pulled down the frayed hem of his waistcoat. ‘Now,
child, let us bring warning to this poor–’

‘Rich,’ corrected Mosca. 25

‘To this affluent but imperiled girl,’ finished Clent. ‘And do try not to scowl as if you have lemon
juice running through your veins, child.’

Mosca settled for stony instead of bitter as Clent rapped the knocker. A few moments later the
door opened to reveal two footmen in mustard-coloured livery.

Both footmen subtly craned their necks to read the designs on Clent’s name brooch before 30
deciding how stiffly and respectfully to hold themselves. Mosca and the impatiently champing
Saracen merited only the briefest, most disdainful slither of a glance.

‘I am Eponymous Clent,’ Clent declared with aplomb, ‘and I need to speak with Miss
Beamabeth Marlebourne on a Matter of the Gravest Urgency and Gravity.’ Mosca ground her
teeth as both footmen went quite cross-eyed with adoration at the mention of Beamabeth, and 35
then one of them ran inside with the message. In a few moments he returned, surprise lifting his
eyebrows so high that they were lost in his wig.

‘Miss Beamabeth will see you, sir.’

© UCLES 2023 0861/02/INSERT/O/N/23

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It’s just the name they’re all in love with, said the bitter, stinging voice in Mosca’s head. But it’ll
be all right. You’ll see her, and she’ll have a squint, and a voice like a peeled gull. 40

The guard led them along a short hall into a comfortable-looking reception room. A young
woman in a green silk dress rose as they entered.

Beamabeth Marlebourne was about sixteen, Mosca realized. Somehow, despite the mention of
suitors, she had been half expecting to see someone younger, a girl her own age. Beamabeth
had honey-colored hair that had been trained into a shimmering mass of ringlets, but she 45
managed to look natural rather than tortured. Her skin was creamy pale, with two pretty little
coffee-coloured freckles just at the corner of one of her dark gold eyebrows. Her blue eyes were
large and well spaced, her brow small, her nose short, and her chin daintily pointed in a fashion
that made her look a bit like a kitten. She smiled, and her eyebrows rose as if the pleasure of
seeing them was almost painful. Her expression was as open as a flower. 50

It was hopeless. She was flawless. She was a sunbeam. Mosca gave up and got on with hating
her.

‘It is very late for visitors,’ said Beamabeth, as she looked the new arrivals up and down, her
voice soft and carrying more of the local accent than Mosca had expected from anyone in a silk
dress. Her tone made her words sound more like an apology than a criticism. ‘Usually Father 55
likes to have the house locked up from an hour before dusk till an hour after dawn.’

‘Rest assured, ma’am, when you understand the urgency–’

‘Would you like to sit down?’ Beamabeth interrupted Clent without apparently realizing she was
doing so. Clent and Mosca obediently sat, Mosca keeping a tight hold on Saracen’s leash in
case anything in this elegant room appeared edible. 60

‘Miss Marlebourne, I must come to the point, and I hope you will forgive me if my tidings distress
you. You are, I fear, the target of an odious and felonious scheme. In short, there is a plan afoot
to kidnap you…’

DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE

© UCLES 2023 0861/02/INSERT/O/N/23

 4

BLANK PAGE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2023 0861/02/INSERT/O/N/23

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint


ENGLISH 0861/01
Paper 1 Non-fiction April 2024
1 hour 10 minutes

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

INSTRUCTIONS
• Answer all questions.
• Use a black or dark blue pen.
• Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
• Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
• Do not write on any bar codes.

INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 50.
• The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
• The insert contains the reading text.

This document has 8 pages.

04_0861_01/4RP
© UCLES 2024 [Turn over
 2

Section A: Reading

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

Read the text in the insert, an extract from a book about design, and answer Questions 1–8.

1 Look at the first paragraph (lines 2–7).

(a) The caller is impressed with the object she is describing.

Give one phrase that tells the reader this.

[1]

(b) Why does the writer use inverted commas ( ‘ ’ ) in the first paragraph?
Tick () one box.

to quote exactly what someone has said

to indicate an unusual meaning for a word

to add stress to a word

to show that a word has been invented

[1]

(c) The first paragraph introduces the idea of everyday objects.

How does the final sentence of the first paragraph support this idea?

[1]

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/A/M/24

 3

2 Look at the second paragraph (lines 8–12).

(a) Give one word that tells the reader that the object is usually treated differently from the way
the caller treats it.

[1]

(b) Other people agree with the caller’s opinion of the object.
According to the writer, which two things do they like about it?
Tick () two boxes.

It has a name that everyone can remember.

It offers a clever solution to a problem.

It is easy to clean and store.

It serves a useful function.

It is simple to describe.

[2]

3 Look at the third paragraph (lines 13–18).

Explain how the information in the second and third sentences is connected to the last sentence.

The second and third sentences:

The last sentence:

[2]

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/A/M/24 [Turn over

 4

4 Look at the fourth and fifth paragraphs (lines 19–28).

The writer tells the reader that the woman who is a fan of the plastic tripods is writing in an ironic
way on her website.
Choose two quotations from the website and explain how they tell the reader that the woman is
being ironic.

First quotation:

Explanation:

Second quotation:

Explanation:
[4]

5 Look at the sixth, seventh and eighth paragraphs (lines 29–44).

(a) The manufacturer’s name for the plastic tripod is given as ‘pizza saver’.
Give two other noun phrases from the seventh paragraph (lines 32–41) which the writer
uses to name the object.
•

[2]

(b) The writer describes the tripod as squat.

How does this quality relate to the function of the object?

[1]

(c) What idea in the sixth paragraph (lines 29–31) is repeated in the eighth paragraph
(lines 42–44)?

[1]

6 Look at the ninth paragraph (lines 45–53).

(a) What does the repetition of some convey to the reader?

[1]

(b) Give one phrase that the writer uses to avoid repeating the word eggs from earlier in the text.

[1]

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/A/M/24

 5

7 The seventh, eighth and ninth paragraphs (lines 32–53) each begin with a short sentence.
Explain the function of these short sentences.
Give two ways.

Way 1:

Way 2:
[2]

8 Look at the whole text.

(a) Complete the table below with information about pizza savers:

Pizza saver

Appearance

Material

Intended use

Disadvantages of
this use

Other uses
•

[3]

(b) Using information from the table, write a summary to describe what pizza savers are and the
different ways they can be used.
Write up to 40 words.

[2]

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/A/M/24 [Turn over

 6

Section B: Writing

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

9 Here is the topic for this year’s school writing competition:

Annual School Writing Competition

‘Small is Beautiful’

You can win this year’s prize by writing about an object you use at home
or in school and is small enough to hold in your hand.

Think about:

• what your object is

• how and when you use it
• what you like about it.

Use the box below to plan your answer.

Write your answer on the lines on the next page.

Space for your plan:

Write your report on the next page. [25 marks]

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/A/M/24

 7

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/A/M/24 [Turn over

 8

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/A/M/24

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint

ENGLISH 0861/01
Paper 1 Non-fiction April 2024
INSERT 1 hour 10 minutes

INFORMATION


• This insert contains the reading text.

• You may annotate this insert and use the blank spaces for planning. Do not write your answers on
the insert.

This document has 4 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

04_0861_01/2RP
© UCLES 2024 [Turn over
 2

Small things considered: the pizza tripod

During a US radio show that was discussing the design of everyday objects, the host invited the
audience to phone in with their favourite examples. One caller hesitatingly began describing an
object that she was not sure anyone else would appreciate but which she marvelled at when
she had a pizza delivered, to eat at home, and opened the box: the ‘thingy’ that keeps the top of 5
the box from getting stuck to the melted cheese. Though she did not know what it was called,
the white plastic tripod she described was immediately recognisable to the listeners.

The caller’s enthusiasm for the object made it clear that she thought the pizza-box insert was
the epitome of good design. She told of washing and saving the little tripods, hoping someday to
find new uses for them. No one called in to ask for a better description of the throwaway thing, 10
or to give its actual name. But such identification was not needed for it to be recognised,
admired for its ingenuity, and appreciated for its purpose.

After the show was broadcast, another listener, an artist, sent an email, saying that she also
admired the design of the white plastic objects, which she called ‘triangle platforms’. She
described shortening their legs and using them as spacers between stacked paint palettes in 15
her storage box. She had also used them for a different purpose, turning them upside down to
support spherical objects for display. Things are often used for purposes other than their
intended design.

Another fan of the plastic tripods finds them ideal for holding eggs, to which she applies
sequins, beads, and other festive trimmings to make decorations. For this admirer, the simple 20
devices are definitely not throwaway items. In fact, on the website explaining her utilisation of
these objects, they are described in an ironic way:

‘The plastic tripod is very expensive, costing somewhere around $10 US, but it is worth it for the
ease of working with the eggs. It’s probably the packaging that makes the tripod so expensive. It
comes packaged with a carry-out pizza. The pizza and the cardboard box protect the plastic 25
tripod, though some would assert that the box and tripod protect the pizza. Regardless, the
pizza and box can be discarded in some ecologically sound manner and the tripod used to hold
the egg as a work in progress.’

However you look at it, the pizza-box platform is a fine example of something designed to be
very functional. It is not, though, something most of us would think to put on display in our 30
windows – or something that has a purpose that is apparent out of context.

No object is ever truly without a name. In fact, the plastic tripod is sold as a ‘pizza saver’ by the
family business that provides hotels and restaurants with this item, as well as other items, such
as plastic spoons and toothpicks. The three-legged speciality item, offered in the catalogue as a
tripod to ‘keep the top of the pizza box from sticking to the cheese’ is indeed a benefit to fussy 35
pizza lovers, and its tiny feet barely disturb the toppings. As a designed object, however, it

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/INSERT/A/M/24

 3

might be criticised for being too blandly functional and cheap looking. It is not difficult to imagine
some critics objecting to its lack of style, others to the fact that it is made of plastic, and still
others to the way strings of cheese stick to the spindly legs. Admirers of the little box-top-
propping scaffolds might respond by saying, ‘So, design something better.’ In the case of the 40
pizza saver, most people will say, ‘Who needs something better? It works just fine.’

Nothing is perfect. The pizza saver, like the typical flat box in which it is found, is efficient but
not especially beautiful. The squat tripod does the job it was designed to do, but if it were first
encountered in a kitchen drawer, that job would not be obvious.

Design is nothing if not decision making. Someone somewhere at some time had to make 45
decisions about what the pizza-box device would look like. In order for it to be made, someone
had to decide on the number, shape and size of its legs and how they would be joined.
Someone had to specify the material to be used and its colour. The resulting design, which
sufficiently satisfies the requirement of preventing the box top from touching the pizza, is
certainly good enough for the modest role that it plays in the real world. That the pizza-box 50
tripod can also serve, albeit unintentionally, for holding round and ovoid objects for display and
decoration just makes its design all the more satisfying. Indeed, though it may never win
awards, admirers appreciate its beauty.

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/INSERT/A/M/24

 4

BLANK PAGE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/INSERT/A/M/24

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint


ENGLISH 0861/02
Paper 2 Fiction April 2024
1 hour 10 minutes

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

INSTRUCTIONS
• Answer all questions.
• Use a black or dark blue pen.
• Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
• Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
• Do not write on any bar codes.

INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 50.
• The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
• The insert contains the reading text.

This document has 8 pages.

04_0861_02/5RP
© UCLES 2024 [Turn over
 2

Section A: Reading

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

Read the text in the insert, and answer Questions 1–13.

1 Look at lines 4–7. The man in the grey suit is trying to move without attracting attention.
Give one phrase that tells the reader this.

[1]

2 Look at lines 8–11.

Why does the writer use commas ( , )?

[1]

3 Look at lines 12–17.

What does the man’s response to Hector’s question tell the reader?
Tick () two boxes.

The man enjoyed the magic show that Hector performed.

The man is trying to avoid answering Hector’s question.

The man has been looking forward to meeting Hector.

The man expects Hector to greet him more politely.

The man is meeting Hector for the very first time.

[2]

4 Look at lines 18–21.

How do Hector’s actions in this paragraph link back to the action in line 8?

[1]

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/A/M/24

 3

5 Look at lines 22–24.

How does the man’s statement relate to the comments Hector made earlier?
Tick () one box.

It shows that Hector has misjudged the man’s feelings.

It expresses an opinion different from Hector’s.

It confirms what Hector thinks about the man’s opinion.

It criticises the tone of Hector’s comments.

[1]

6 Look at lines 25–31.

(a) Hector emphasises the word magicians.

Why?

[1]

(b) Hector uses a metaphor to compare himself to other magicians.

Explain what this tells the reader about what Hector thinks of himself.

[2]

7 Look at lines 32–35.

What does the man intend to convey about the audience’s reaction with the word perplexing?
Tick () one box.

The audience should have applauded Hector more.

The audience gave Hector more praise than he deserved.

The audience were unable to understand Hector’s tricks.

The audience were disappointed by the mistakes Hector made.

[1]

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/A/M/24 [Turn over

 4

8 Look at line 36.

Explain how the narrative changes focus at this point.

[2]

9 Look at lines 37–38.

What does the exclamation mark ( ! ) tell the reader about Hector’s feelings?

[1]

10 Look at lines 39–42.

How does the reader’s understanding of the second sentence depend on the first sentence?

[1]

11 Look at the dialogue between Hector and Celia (lines 43–57).

Hector and Celia have a good relationship. Do you agree?
Tick () one box.

Yes

No

Give two reasons for your choice.

Support each reason with a quotation.

First reason:

Quotation:

Second reason:

Quotation:
[4]

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/A/M/24

 5

12 Look at lines 58–68.

(a) Give a phrase that emphasises the effort Celia makes when demonstrating her ability to the
man.

[1]

(b) What does Celia do that changes the man’s opinion of her?

[1]

13 Look at the whole text.

(a) Why does the writer refer to one character as the man in the grey suit throughout the text?

[1]

(b) Do you think that Hector wants to gain the respect of the man in the grey suit?
Tick () one box.

Yes

No

Give two reasons for your choice.

Support each reason with a quotation.

First reason:

Quotation:

Second reason:

Quotation:
[4]

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/A/M/24 [Turn over

 6

Section B: Writing

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

14 Write a story in which one of the characters has a special power that must be kept secret until the
time comes when it is necessary to use it.

Think about:

• who the character is and what the special power is

• when and where they have to reveal the power for the first time
• what happens when they use the power.

Use the box below to plan your answer.

Write your answer on the lines on the next page.

Space for your plan:

Write your story on the next page. [25 marks]

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/A/M/24

 7

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/A/M/24 [Turn over

 8

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/A/M/24

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint

ENGLISH 0861/02
Paper 2 Fiction April 2024
INSERT 1 hour 10 minutes

INFORMATION


• This insert contains the reading text.

• You may annotate this insert and use the blank spaces for planning. Do not write your answers on
the insert.

This document has 4 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

04_0861_02/3RP
© UCLES 2024 [Turn over
 2

Text for Section A, an extract from The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

A man in a grey suit has been watching an entertainer Hector Bowen, with the stage-name
Prospero, who has just finished performing a magic show.

***

After the performance has concluded, the man in the grey suit navigates the crush of patrons in
the theatre lobby with ease. He slips through a curtained door leading to the backstage dressing 5
rooms unnoticed.

He raps on the door at the end of the hall with the silver tip of his cane.

The door swings open of its own accord, revealing a cluttered dressing room lined with mirrors,
each reflecting a different view of Prospero.

His tailcoat has been tossed lazily over a velvet armchair. The top hat which featured 10
prominently in his performance sits on a hatstand nearby.

‘You hated it, didn’t you?’ he asks without turning away from the mirror, addressing the ghostly
grey reflection. He wipes a thick residue of powder from his face with a handkerchief that might
once have been white.

‘It is a pleasure to see you too, Hector,’ the man in the grey suit says, closing the door quietly 15
behind him.

‘You despised every minute, I can tell,’ Hector Bowen says with a laugh.

He turns and extends a hand the man in the grey suit does not accept. In response, Hector
shrugs and waves his fingers dramatically in the direction of the opposite wall. The velvet
armchair slides forward while the tailcoat floats up from it like a shadow, obediently hanging 20
itself in a wardrobe.

‘Sit, please,’ Hector says.

‘I cannot say I approve of such exhibitions,’ the man in the grey suit says, taking off his gloves
and dusting the chair with them before he sits.

Hector tosses the powder-covered handkerchief onto a table littered with brushes and tins of 25
greasepaint.

‘Not a single person in that audience believes for a second that what I do up there is real,’ he
says. ‘That’s the beauty of it. Have you seen the contraptions these magicians build to
accomplish the most mundane feats? They are a bunch of fish covered in feathers trying to
convince the public they can fly, and I am simply a bird in their midst. The audience cannot tell 30
the difference beyond knowing that I am better at it. Can I get you a drink?’

‘No, thank you,’ the man in the grey suit says. ‘I found your performance curious, and the
reaction of your audience somewhat perplexing. You were lacking in precision.’

‘Can’t be too good if I want them to believe I’m as fake as the rest of them,’ Hector says with a
laugh. 35

‘Your letter said you had a proposition for me.’

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/INSERT/A/M/24

 3

‘I do, indeed!’ Hector walks over to a door mostly hidden by a long, standing mirror. ‘Celia,
dearest,’ he calls into the adjoining room before returning to his chair.

A moment later a small girl appears in the doorway, dressed too nicely for the chaotic
shabbiness of the surroundings. All ribbons and lace, perfect as a shop-fresh doll save for a few 40
unruly curls escaping her braids. She hesitates, hovering on the threshold, when she sees that
her father is not alone.

‘It’s alright, dearest. Come in, come in,’ Hector says, beckoning her forward. ‘This is an
associate of mine, no need to be shy.’

She takes a few steps closer and executes a perfect curtsey, the lace-trimmed hem of her dress 45
sweeping over the worn floorboards.

‘This is my daughter, Celia,’ Hector says to the man in the grey suit. ‘Celia, this is Alexander.’

The man in the grey suit gives her a polite nod.

‘I would like you to show this gentleman what you can do,’ Hector says. He pulls a silver pocket
watch on a long chain from his waistcoat and puts it on the table. ‘Go ahead.’ 50

The girl’s eyes widen.

‘You said I was not to do that in front of anyone,’ she says. ‘You made me promise.’

‘This gentleman is not just anyone,’ Hector replies with a laugh.

‘You said no exceptions,’ Celia protests.

Her father’s smile fades. He takes her by the shoulders and looks her sternly in the eye. 55

‘This is a very special case,’ he says.

The girl nods gravely and shifts her attention to the watch, her hands clasped behind her back.

After a moment, the watch begins to rotate slowly, turning in circles on the surface of the table.

Then the watch lifts from the table, floating into the air and hovering as though it were
suspended in water. 60

Hector looks to the man in the grey suit for a reaction.

‘Impressive,’ the man says. ‘But quite basic.’

Celia’s brow furrows over her dark eyes and the watch shatters, gears spilling out into the air.

‘Celia,’ her father says.

She blushes at the sharpness of his tone and mumbles an apology. The gears float back to the 65
watch, settling into place until the watch is complete again, hands ticking the seconds forward
as though nothing has happened.

‘Now that is a bit more impressive,’ the man in the grey suit admits.

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/INSERT/A/M/24

 4

BLANK PAGE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/INSERT/A/M/24

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint


ENGLISH 0861/01
Paper 1 Non-fiction October 2024
1 hour 10 minutes

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

INSTRUCTIONS
• Answer all questions.
• Use a black or dark blue pen.
• Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
• Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
• Do not write on any bar codes.

INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 50.
• The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
• The insert contains the reading text.

This document has 8 pages.

10_0861_01/6RP
© UCLES 2024 [Turn over
 2

Section A: Reading

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

Read the text in the insert, an article about the living root bridges of Meghalaya, in north-eastern
India, and answer Questions 1–11.

1 Look at the first paragraph (lines 2–7).

(a) Why does the writer start the first sentence with a subordinate clause?
Tick () one box.

to tell the reader where the village is located

to introduce the type of weather condition

to explain the reason for crossing the stream

to define the timeframe of the rainy season

[1]

(b) How does the word Instead link the ideas in the third sentence to the second sentence?

[1]

2 Look at the second paragraph (lines 8–14).

Why was it important for Syiemlieh’s ancestors to be able to cross the flooded rivers?

[1]

3 Look at the third paragraph (lines 15–20).

Explain how the words anchoring and elasticity show that the Ficus elastica is the ideal tree for
creating a natural bridge.

Anchoring:

Elasticity:
[2]

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/O/N/24

 3

4 Look at the fourth paragraph (lines 21–27).

(a) Give another phrase from the fourth paragraph which means the same as coax them across
the river.

[1]

(b) Give a phrase from this paragraph which means ‘support a heavy weight’.

[1]

5 Look at the fifth paragraph (lines 28–32).

Why has a dash ( – ) been used instead of a comma?

[1]

6 Look at the sixth paragraph (lines 33–37).

The writer refers to the bridge as a form of architecture.
Explain how this idea contrasts with bridge building in Meghalaya in the first paragraph.

[2]

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/O/N/24 [Turn over

 4

7 Look at the seventh paragraph (lines 38–49).

(a) Complete the list of advantages of living root bridges over conventional bridges.

• part of their surroundings

[3]

(b) Using information from the list of advantages of root bridges, write a summary to describe
how natural root bridges help preserve the environment.
Write no more than 50 words.

[2]

8 Look at the eighth paragraph (lines 50–57).

Why are the bridges suitable to be UNESCO world heritage sites?

[1]

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/O/N/24

 5

9 Look at the whole text.

Explain why architects do not incorporate living root bridges in urban places in the world.
Give two reasons in your own words.
Support each reason with a quotation from the text. An example has been given.

Reason: It would look out of place in an urban surrounding (rather than a forest valley).

Quotation: The bridge (not only) blends perfectly into the landscape…

Reason 1:

Quotation:

Reason 2:

Quotation:

[4]

10 Draw lines to match the paragraphs to the ideas that they focus on.
There is one extra idea which is not used.
One example has been done for you.

Paragraphs Ideas

conservation of the bridges

Third and fourth
benefits to the landscape
Fifth and sixth
the building process
Seventh
the impact of climate change
Eighth
the benefits to the villagers
[3]

11 What features make this text a formal piece of writing?

Give two ways.
•

[2]

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/O/N/24 [Turn over

 6

Section B: Writing

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

12 A website guide to your local area is being created. You have been asked to write an article
about a landmark or area that you think is special to be included in the guide.

You could think about:

• what and where the landmark or area is

• why it is important to you and others
• why it should be included in the guide.

Use the box to plan your answer.

Write your answer on the lines on pages 7 and 8.

Space for your plan:

Write your article on the next page. [25 marks]

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/O/N/24

 7

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/O/N/24 [Turn over

 8

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/O/N/24

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint

ENGLISH 0861/01
Paper 1 Non-fiction October 2024
INSERT 1 hour 10 minutes

INFORMATION


• This insert contains the reading text.

• You may annotate this insert and use the blank spaces for planning. Do not write your answers on
the insert.

This document has 4 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

10_0861_01/3RP
© UCLES 2024 [Turn over
 2

The living bridges of Meghalaya

When monsoon clouds bring pelting rains to the community of Tyrna, local villager Shailinda
Syiemlieh needs to take the nearest bridge to cross the flooded stream. The bridge is no
conventional bridge made of concrete or metal. Instead, it is constructed – or cultivated – from a
single giant fig tree that grows by the riverbank. The structure that Syiemlieh walks over is a 5
tangle of exposed aerial roots that have knotted and woven together. This bridge not only
blends perfectly into the landscape, it also helps to support the natural ecosystem.

Tyrna lies in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya, which is home to hundreds of these
bridges. For centuries, they have helped the indigenous Khasi and Jaintia communities to cross
swelling rivers in monsoons. Meghalaya includes some of the wettest locations on Earth. In the 10
past, when monsoon downpours periodically isolated the remote villages from nearby towns,
the villagers trained the living exposed roots of Indian rubber fig trees (Ficus elastica). ‘Our
ancestors were so clever,’ says Syiemlieh. ‘When they couldn’t cross rivers, they made the
living root bridges.’

Building these bridges takes decades of work. It begins with planting a young sapling of Ficus 15
elastica – a tree that grows abundantly in the subtropical climate of Meghalaya – in a good
crossing place along the riverbank. First the trees develop large anchoring roots and then, when
stabilised, after about a decade the maturing trees sprout secondary, aerial roots from further
up the trunk. These aerial roots have a degree of elasticity, allowing them to be joined and
intertwined to form stable structures. 20

Using a method perfected over centuries, the bridge builders entwine the aerial roots onto a
bamboo or other wooden scaffolding, coax them across the river and finally implant them on the
opposite bank. Over time, the roots shorten, thicken and produce offshoots called daughter
roots, which are also trained over to the other side. The builders intertwine these roots with one
another or with branches and trunks of the same or another fig tree. They all fuse together – 25
and weave into a dense frame-like structure. This network of roots matures over time to bear
loads; some bridges can hold up to 50 people at once.

The generations that follow the initial bridge builders continue to maintain and develop the
bridge. While only one person may take care of a small bridge, most bridges require the
collective effort of families or even an entire village – sometimes several villages. This process 30
of care and development down the generations can last for centuries, with some bridges being
up to 600 years old.

Living bridges are a regenerative form of architecture, growing stronger with time. ‘When it rains
heavily, small cement bridges wash away and steel bridges tend to rust, but living root bridges
withstand the rains,’ says Syiemlieh. ‘People came to realise that root bridges are much more 35
durable than modern alternatives, and they cost absolutely nothing. So villagers now repair root
bridges they had abandoned in the forest valleys.’

Root bridges do not outperform the conventional kind in every sense. For example, a
conventional bridge can bear more weight. Unlike conventional bridges though, root bridges are
part of their surroundings. Besides producing their own building material, the trees absorb 40
carbon dioxide. Over their lifetimes, they help to stabilise the soil and prevent landslides. While
conventional bridges can disrupt the soil layers, root bridges can anchor different soil structures
which helps to protect against soil erosion. Fig trees are also a keystone species, promoting
biodiversity around them: moss grows on them, squirrels live in their branches, birds nest within
their canopy, and they support insects that help with pollination. The process of turning these 45
trees into bridges can help larger animals to thrive in their habitat as well. The living root bridge
is embedded within the forest and animals do not differentiate between the bridge and natural
forest. Bark deer and clouded leopards are known to use root bridges to move from one part of

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/INSERT/O/N/24

 3

the forest to another.

As well as being beneficial to local nature, the root bridges are part of Khasi culture and have 50
always brought economic benefits to the community. In the past, a network of bridges kept
villages connected with nearby cities during the monsoon season, providing a pathway for
locals to transport and sell betel nut and broom grass. Today, there is the tourism economy they
bring, says Syiemlieh. Already popular with tourists, the bridges have been submitted to
UNESCO’s1 provisional list for the coveted world heritage site status. This status is awarded to 55
a landmark or area for its cultural, historical or scientific significance. It is hoped that this will
preserve the bridges for future generations and also help to boost tourism in the area.

Glossary
1
UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/INSERT/O/N/24

 4

BLANK PAGE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2024 0861/01/INSERT/O/N/24

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint


ENGLISH 0861/02
Paper 2 Fiction October 2024
1 hour 10 minutes

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

INSTRUCTIONS
• Answer all questions.
• Use a black or dark blue pen.
• Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
• Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
• Do not write on any bar codes.

INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 50.
• The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
• The insert contains the reading text.

This document has 8 pages.

10_0861_02/6RP
© UCLES 2024 [Turn over
 2

Section A: Reading

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

Read the text in the insert, and answer Questions 1–8.

1 Look at lines 4–9.

(a) What is the purpose of beginning the text in the middle of a conversation?

[1]

(b) Look at the second sentence.

What literary technique does the writer use to emphasise the exact setting of the story?

[1]

(c) Look at the third sentence.

Give one phrase to show the stars appear very bright.

[1]

(d) What does the word singular mean in this text?

Tick () one box.

unique

uncreative

particular

unpredictable

[1]

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/O/N/24

 3

2 Look at lines 10–15.

Explain how Robin’s behaviour shows he is becoming tired.
Give two ideas.
•

[2]

3 Look at lines 16–23.

Give one word or phrase that shows the boy is compared to a machine.

[1]

4 Look at lines 24–33.

(a) What does the writer compare the sky to?

[1]

(b) In his mind, the father approves of what Robin said.

How does the writer use sentence structure and length to show that?
Give two ways.
•

[2]

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 4

5 Look at lines 34–50.

(a) Do you think the cabin is a pleasant place to stay?

Tick () one box.

Yes

No

Explain your answer using information from the text.

Give two ways.

Way 1:

Way 2:
[2]

(b) Why are colons ( : ) used in these lines?

Tick () two boxes.

to present examples

to indicate a definition

to join two sentences

to introduce a list

to offer an explanation

[2]

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/O/N/24

 5

6 Look at lines 51–63.

(a) What reminds Robbie to go and bring a book outside?

[1]

(b) Why does Robbie think the flashlight is magic?

[1]

7 Look at lines 64–69.

(a) What does the verb that the writer uses tell the reader about how the father is woken?

[1]

(b) What does the way Robbie reacts to repeating the zeros tell the reader about his character?

[1]

(c) What is the purpose of using the word whole in these lines?

[1]

8 Look at the whole text.

(a) Why does the writer use capital letters for two sentences?

[1]

(b) The text consists of a mixture of short paragraphs and dialogue.

What does the dialogue do?

[1]

(c) Explain why you think Robbie and Alyssa are closely related.
Give two reasons for your answer.
Support each reason with a quotation from the text.

Reason 1:

Quotation:

Reason 2:

Quotation:
[4]

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/O/N/24 [Turn over

 6

Section B: Writing

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

9 You and some friends are on holiday in a remote place when something unexpected happens.
Write a story about the event.

You might want to think about:

• the setting: where is it and where are you staying?

• the characters: who are they and are there other people staying nearby?
• the event: why is it unexpected?

Use the box to plan your answer.

Write your answer on the lines on pages 7 and 8.

Space for your plan:

Write your story on the next page. [25 marks]

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/O/N/24

 7

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/O/N/24 [Turn over

 8

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/O/N/24

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint

ENGLISH 0861/02
Paper 2 Fiction October 2024
INSERT 1 hour 10 minutes

INFORMATION


• This insert contains the reading text.

• You may annotate this insert and use the blank spaces for planning. Do not write your answers on
the insert.

This document has 4 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

10_0861_02/4RP
© UCLES 2024 [Turn over
 2

Text for Section A, an extract from Bewilderment by Richard Powers

A father and son, Robin (who is called Robbie by his father), have gone to the mountains to
stargaze.

***

BUT WE MIGHT NEVER FIND THEM? We’d set up the scope1 on the deck, on a clear autumn
night, on the edge of one of the last patches of darkness in the east. Darkness this good was 5
hard to come by, and so much darkness in one place lit up the sky. We pointed the tube through
a gap in the trees above our cabin. Robin pulled his eye from the eyepiece – my singular, newly
turning nine-year-old.

‘Exactly right,’ I said. ‘We might never find them.’

I always tried to tell him the truth, if I knew it and it wasn’t lethal. He knew when I lied, anyway. 10

But they’re all over, right? You guys have proved it.

‘Well, not exactly proved.’

Maybe they’re too far away. Too much empty space or something.

His arms pinwheeled as they did when words defeated him. We were closing in on bedtime,
which didn’t help. I put my hand on his wild auburn mop. Her colour – Aly’s. 15

‘And what if we never heard a peep from out there? What would that say?’

He held up one hand. Alyssa used to say that when he concentrated, you could hear him
whirring. His eyes narrowed, staring down into the dark ravine of trees below. His other hand
sawed the cleft of his chin – a habit he resorted to when thinking hard. He sawed with such
vigour I had to stop him. 20

‘Robbie. Hey! Time to land.’

His palm pushed out to reassure me. He was fine. He simply wanted to run with the question for
another minute, into the darkness, while still possible.

If we never heard anything, like ever?

I nodded encouragement to my scientist – easy does it. Stargazing was finished for tonight. 25
We'd had the clearest evening, in a place known for rain. A full Hunter's Moon hung fat and red
on the horizon. Through the circle of trees, so sharp it seemed within easy reach, the Milky Way
spilled out – countless speckled placers in a black streambed. If you held still, you could almost
see the stars wheel.

Nothing definitive. That’s what. 30

I laughed. He made me laugh once a day or more, in good stretches. Such defiance. Such
radical scepticism. He was so me. He was so her.

‘No,’ I agreed. ‘Nothing definitive.’

Now, if we did hear a peep. That would say tons!

‘Indeed.’ There would be time enough another night to say exactly what. For now, it was 35

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/INSERT/O/N/24

 3

bedtime. He put his eye up to the barrel of the telescope for a last look at the shining core of the
Andromeda Galaxy.

Can we sleep outside tonight, Dad?

I’d pulled him from school for a week and brought him to the woods. I couldn’t very well bring
him all the way down to the Smokies2 only to deny him a night of sleeping outside. 40

We went back in to outfit our expedition. The downstairs was one great panelled room smelling
of pine. The kitchen reeked of damp towels and plaster—the scents of a temperate rain forest.
Sticky notes clung to the cabinets: Coffee filters above fridge. Use other dishes, please! A green
spiral folder of instructions spread on the battered oak table: plumbing quirks, fuse box location,
emergency numbers. Every switch in the house was labelled: Overhead, Stairs, Hallway, 45
Kitchen.

Ceiling-high windows opened onto what, tomorrow morning, would be a rolling expanse of
mountains beyond mountains. A pair of pilled rustic sofas flanked the flagstone fireplace,
emblazoned with parades of elk, canoes, and bears. We raided the cushions, brought them
outside, and laid them on the deck. 50

Can we have snacks?

‘Bad idea, buddy. Ursus americanus, the black bear. Two of them per square mile, and they can
smell peanuts from here to North Carolina.’

No way! But that reminds me!

He ran inside again and returned with a compact paperback: Mammals of the Smokies. 55

‘Really, Robbie? It’s pitch-black out here.’

He held up an emergency flashlight, the kind you charge by cranking. It fascinated him when we
arrived that morning, and he’d demanded an explanation of how the magic worked. Now he
couldn’t get enough of making his own electrons.

We settled into our makeshift base camp. He seemed happy, which had been the whole point of 60
this special trip. Lying down on beds spread out on the slats of the sagging deck, we fell asleep
under our galaxy’s four hundred billion stars.

***

HE WOKE ME IN THE NIGHT. How many stars did you say there are?

I couldn’t be angry. Even yanked from sleep, I was glad he was still stargazing.

‘Multiply every grain of sand on Earth by the number of trees. One hundred octillion.’ 65

I made him say twenty-nine zeros. Fifteen zeros in, his laughter turned to groans.

‘If you were an ancient astronomer, using Roman numerals, you couldn't have written the
number down. Not even in your whole lifetime.’

Then, Dad…?

Glossary
1
scope: telescope
2
Smokies: a range of mountains in the United States

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/INSERT/O/N/24

 4

BLANK PAGE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2024 0861/02/INSERT/O/N/24

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint


ENGLISH 0861/01
Paper 1 Non-fiction April 2025
1 hour 10 minutes

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

INSTRUCTIONS
• Answer all questions.
• Use a black or dark blue pen.
• Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
• Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
• Do not write on any bar codes.

INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 50.
• The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
• The insert contains the reading text.

This document has 12 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

04_0861_01/6RP
© UCLES 2025 [Turn over
 2

Section A: Reading

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

Read the text in the insert, and answer Questions 1–12.

1 Look at the first paragraph (lines 6–8).

(a) What causes the writer’s shadow?

[1]

(b) Give one word which shows how bright the stars are.

[1]

2 Look at the second paragraph (lines 9–12).

(a) The writer uses imagery to make the landscape seem like a magical and undiscovered world.
Give two ways the writer does this.
•

[2]

(b) Why is it hard to see the hills at first?

[1]

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/A/M/25

 3

3 Look at the third paragraph (lines 13–17).

(a) Find an example of metaphorical language which is used to describe the flowers.
Explain what this tells the reader about the flowers.

Quotation:

Explanation:
[2]

(b) What is the purpose of the colon ( : ) in this paragraph?

[1]

(c) Which word in this paragraph means the same as ‘horses’?

[1]

4 Look at the fourth paragraph (lines 18–23).

(a) Which word in the text means the same as ‘looking at’?

[1]

(b) The information that the rangers give is more important than who says it.
What does the writer use to show this?
Tick () one box.

passive voice

present tense

reported speech

sentence length

[1]

5 Look at line 26 and the phrase, releasing them from any responsibility.
Give another phrase from the same paragraph which repeats this idea.

[1]

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/A/M/25 [Turn over

 4

6 Look at the sixth paragraph (lines 29–32).

(a) Why does the writer use a semi-colon ( ; ) in line 29?

Tick () one box.

to show the leisurely pace of events

to indicate an exclamation of disapproval

to show surprise at what happens next

to indicate a pause between two actions

[1]

(b) In lines 31–32, the writer uses a short simple sentence followed by a long complex sentence.
Explain why each sentence type is used.

short sentence:

long sentence:

[2]

7 Look at the seventh paragraph (lines 33–35).

Explain why the writer starts the paragraph with the word But.

[2]

8 Look at the eighth paragraph (lines 36–39).

Give one adverbial phrase used to show the change of mood.

[1]

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/A/M/25

 5

9 Look at the ninth paragraph (lines 40–46).

What is the key characteristic of the Mongol horses?
Tick () one box.

loyal

elegant

attractive

energetic

[1]

10 Look at the tenth paragraph (lines 47–50).

Explain why the horses are behaving nervously.

[1]

11 Look at the final three paragraphs (lines 51–60).

Why is the writer so worried about which bag might be missing?

[1]

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 6

12 Look at the whole text again.

The rangers called the reserve dangerous.
Do you think the group is in danger while travelling through the reserve?
Tick () one box.

Yes

No

Give two reasons for your opinion and support each reason with a quotation from the text.

Reason 1:

Quotation 1:

Reason 2:

Quotation 2:

[4]

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/A/M/25

 7

Turn over

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/A/M/25 [Turn over

 8

Section B: Writing

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

13 Write a travel article about a place you have visited while on holiday.

You should consider:

• type of transport
• surroundings
• travelling companions
• events which take place.

Use the space in the box below to plan your answer.

Do not use the space for your answer. You must write your answer on the answer lines on the
next page.

Space for your plan:

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/A/M/25

 9

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/A/M/25 [Turn over

 10

[25]

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/A/M/25

 11

BLANK PAGE

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/A/M/25

 12

BLANK PAGE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/A/M/25

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint

ENGLISH 0861/01
Paper 1 Non-fiction April 2025
INSERT 1 hour 10 minutes

INFORMATION


• This insert contains the reading text.

• You may annotate this insert and use the blank spaces for planning. Do not write your answers on
the insert.

This document has 4 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

04_0861_01/4RP
© UCLES 2025 [Turn over
 2

Text for Section A

In the following extract, travel writer Colin Thubron waits with his guide and the horsemen
carrying his supplies on the edge of a remote mountainous wilderness in Mongolia. They will
travel on horseback to the source of one of Earth’s least-known rivers, the Amur. But first they
need permission from rangers to enter the reserve: a strictly protected area. 5

I open my tent-flap on the cold dark, and catch my breath. My shadow falls black over the grass.
The night above me blazes with stars of the Milky Way, and across that immense Mongolian
sky, the stars sweep like an icy torrent.

Dawn spreads like the thin radiance of another planet. The world looks still unstained. In the
distances around us the sun is lifting a glistening mist above grasslands heavy with dew. It is as 10
if a great fire were burning over the plains. For a while it obscures the hills on the skyline, then
its haze dissolves as though we had imagined it.

The air grows warmer. Tiny moths are rising from the grasses, where invisible birds sing, and
the air fills with the click and whirr of grasshoppers. To walk here is to wade through a tide of
wildflowers: multicoloured asters, butter-coloured potentilla, peacock-blue columbines. Then 15
some local men on horses emerge, heavy in their native deel overcoats, their daggers at their
belts, to check our own tethered mounts.

It is well into morning before the rangers appear. They come to our tents on motorbikes, in their
outsize boots and piratical headbands. They carry little briefcases. They remain with us a long
time, eating our biscuits and scrutinising our papers. The country ahead of us is dangerous, 20
they say, and the remote marshlands almost impassable. The monsoon rains had been heavy
that summer. Now, in late August, the ground is flooded and treacherous. And there are bears.
Once inside the reserve, we will be beyond help.

Batmonkh, my guide and native of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, listens to them without
interest. He says they resent outside intruders in their land. Eventually the rangers present us 25
with a document to sign, releasing them from any responsibility, and at last they leave, bouncing
over the steppelands1 on their motorbikes after washing their hands of us. We should have
listened to them, of course.

For a moment we halt at the edge of the reserve; the next we are in underbush, following the
river where it descends from the east. Already the slopes are steepening and darkening into 30
forest. A late cuckoo calls. We are crossing the divide from grassland to woodlands, the scent of
crushed wildflowers fading under our hooves, and all of us elated by our release.

But soon the terrain becomes wetter. Sometimes the horses struggle in bog water that is still
flowing. Once, ominously, the ground beneath the leading horseman gives way, and his stallion2
collapses into a mud hole, and has to force itself up onto its feet again. 35

By early afternoon we are riding along hills above the river. Birds of prey are dropping low over
its swamp. For miles we brush through dense undergrowth, while conifer trees look down on us
from the mountainside valleys. The only sounds are our own. As the air sharpens, I sense the
deepening remoteness of our path, and feel an old excitement at entering another country.

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/INSERT/A/M/25

 3

My horse is a 12-year-old stallion who has no name. To the horsemen he is simply ‘the White 40
Horse’; any other label would be sentimental. He is tough and scarred. We ride in a straggling
procession of nine, our tents and food loaded onto five packhorses. These beasts are strong
and glossy after summer grazing – not the sickly creatures of late winter. Short-legged and
large-headed, they descend from the tireless horses of Mongol history, able to gallop 10 km
without pause, and we ride them in the Mongol way, with our legs bent back from the knees on 45
short stirrups3.

Towards evening comes the first hint of trouble. One of our packhorses is still untamed, and its
wild energy unsettles the others. Ahead of us, in low woodland, they are suddenly thrusting and
pushing against each other. Suddenly, the horses tear loose from their ropes, three of them
bolting back the way they came, their eyes large with fear, with the horsemen following. 50

Batmonkh and I tether the remaining pair of horses to trees and wait. We wait seemingly for
hours. When the horsemen return with the escaped horses, we find that the untamed packhorse
has thrown off its baggage, which now lies somewhere – anywhere – in the forest around us.

They return to search for it, while Batmonkh and I worry about which of the giant saddlebags is
missing. If it holds my rucksack, I realise, my passport and visas will be gone, and our journey 55
ended. I tramp back along the way the horses disappeared, but the forest spreads around me in
a glaze of concealing birch scrub4.

After an hour we hear a far-off shout. And soon afterwards, the two men calmly return with the
lost saddlebags as if their recovery were expected. And when we unpack that evening, we find
that the recovered baggage contained our food. 60

Glossary
1
steppelands: grasslands
2
stallion: male horse
3
stirrups: light metal rings that hold the feet of a rider
4
birch scrub: an area of land covered with short trees and bushes

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/INSERT/A/M/25

 4

BLANK PAGE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2025 0861/01/INSERT/A/M/25

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint


ENGLISH 0861/02
Paper 2 Fiction April 2025
1 hour 10 minutes

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

INSTRUCTIONS
• Answer all questions.
• Use a black or dark blue pen.
• Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
• Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
• Do not write on any bar codes.

INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 50.
• The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
• The insert contains the reading text.

This document has 8 pages.

04_0861_02/7RP
© UCLES 2025 [Turn over
 2

Section A: Reading

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

Read the text in the insert, and answer Questions 1–8.

1 Look at the first and second paragraphs (lines 2–7).

(a) Which adverb tells the reader that the writer really wanted to visit the island?

[1]

(b) Give a four-word phrase which means doing something ‘before considering the
consequences’.

[1]

2 Look at the third paragraph (lines 8–12).

(a) Give a three-word phrase that makes a reference to both the size and neglect of the
building.

[1]

(b) Give one quotation which shows the theme of neglect extends beyond the building.

[1]

(c) Why does the writer use brackets ( ) in this paragraph?

Tick () one box.

to give an example

to explain text that follows

to define the meaning of a phrase

to emphasise previous information

[1]

© UCLES 2025 0861/02/A/M/25

 3

3 Look at the fourth paragraph (lines 13–22).

(a) Why is it possible to see the village from the house?

[1]

(b) Why is the orchard groaning?

Tick () one box.

There is too much fruit on the trees.

The fruit trees have been neglected for too long.

There are too many different types of fruit trees.

The trees are too old to produce much fruit.

[1]

(c) Why is the water beyond the crumbling steps so calm?

[1]

(d) The narrator refers to the island as a treasure.

Give one word from this paragraph that supports this idea.

[1]

4 Look at the fifth paragraph (lines 23–26).

The narrator uses personification to refer to the house.
Give the quotation.
Explain using your own words what the narrator feels about the house.

Quotation:

Explanation:
[2]

© UCLES 2025 0861/02/A/M/25 [Turn over

 4

5 Look at the sixth and seventh paragraphs (lines 27–41).

Do you think the description of the house interior makes it sound like a comfortable place?
Tick () one box.

Yes

No

Give two reasons for your opinion.

Support each reason with a quotation from the text.

Reason 1:

Quotation 1:

Reason 2:

Quotation 2:

[4]

6 Look at line 42.

The writer uses the pronoun them. How does this help to create tension?

[1]

© UCLES 2025 0861/02/A/M/25

 5

7 Look at lines 43–53.

(a) Give two words which show how violent the storm is.
•

[2]

(b) The writer builds up tension from line 48 to the end of the text.
Explain how the writer uses sentence structure and text structure to do this.
Give two ideas.
•

[2]

8 Look at the whole text again.

(a) How does the writer gain our attention in the first paragraph?

[2]

(b) In lines 2–3, the idea of an apple is first introduced. Why are apples important throughout the
rest of the text?
Give three ideas.
•

[3]

© UCLES 2025 0861/02/A/M/25 [Turn over

 6

Section B: Writing

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

9 Imagine you are one of the people who find the narrator in the house. Write a story about the
encounter.

You should consider:

• who you are and why you are in the house

• how you react to finding the narrator
• what happens next.

Use the space in the box below to plan your answer.

Do not use the space for your answer. You must write your answer on the answer lines on the
next page.

Space for your plan:

© UCLES 2025 0861/02/A/M/25

 7

© UCLES 2025 0861/02/A/M/25 [Turn over

 8

[25]
Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2025 0861/02/A/M/25

 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint

ENGLISH 0861/02
Paper 2 Fiction April 2025
INSERT 1 hour 10 minutes

INFORMATION


• This insert contains the reading text.

• You may annotate this insert and use the blank spaces for planning. Do not write your answers on
the insert.

This document has 4 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

04_0861_02/5RP
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Text for Section A, an extract from A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood

It all started with an apple. Trouble often does, I suppose, and this particular apple was a real
troublemaker – a Pendragon, red-fleshed and sweet, that I stole from someone else’s orchard.

I don’t know why I chose that particular day to make my way over to the island. After years of
staring longingly across the water, it seemed suddenly urgent that I make it there, that I put my 5
feet on the shore. When I arrived, I practically fell into the orchard, plucking the shining red
apple from its branch without a second thought. With the first bite of that apple I was lost.

By then the Cardew House in all its sprawling faded beauty had not seen a single friendly face
(or an unfriendly one, for that matter) in over five years. The walled orchard, like the house, had
been abandoned, growing tangled and wild until I crept in and started helping myself. After that 10
first taste I didn’t even try to stay away. I came back the next day, and the next, always
exploring a tiny bit further, pushing deeper into the secret island, making each part of it my own.

The house itself was on top of the island, a grand old building with far-reaching views. The front,
facing towards the village on the mainland, was long and low with tall windows cut into the
honey-coloured stone and tangled ivy. Rough steps reached down through overgrown gardens 15
to a sloping gravel driveway that stretched to meet the causeway1. At the back, a huge lawn
overlooked the changeable sea – at times a dazzling turquoise, at others a murky, mysterious
grey-green. The orchard that first drew me to the island curled around one side of the house,
groaning with apples or ruby-skinned cherries, or velvet plums depending on the time of year.
On the other side of the building, more crumbling steps wound their way down to a small hidden 20
cove of golden sand where the sheltered waters were still and warm. It was a jewel, this island,
a treasure left alone and unloved for too long.

A restless feeling hung over my visits, and I knew that it was only a matter of time before my
curiosity moved beyond the grounds to the building itself. I began by skirting around the house,
as though afraid of antagonizing it. When I discovered a broken window latch on the ground 25
floor, it felt as though the decision had been made for me.

The old building should have been unwelcoming in its emptiness, with the furniture draped in
sheets and the shutters closed up tight, but to me it felt calm and friendly. Odd shafts of light cut
through the gloom here and there, illuminating clouds of dancing dust particles and giving the
place an air of drowsy sadness. It seemed like the sleeping princess in a fairy tale just waiting to 30
be brought back to life.

For almost a year after that first apple I escaped to the house at any opportunity – to raid the
neglected library and to curl up on a faded oriental rug, enjoying the quiet. My own home was
never quiet, but all that noise didn’t stop me from feeling lonely at times. Somehow, despite
being more alone than ever, I never felt lonely when I came here. Slowly I began to feel that the 35
sleeping house and I were getting to know one another. I daydreamed about what it would be
like if it was full of people – about the conversations they would have, about the parties they
might throw and the way the rooms would come to life, full of blazing light. I wrote pages of
nonsense, scribbling furiously in my notebook, or I read detective novels and ate stolen apples,
throwing the cores into the fire that I lit to warm the huge, empty sitting room. 40
In the end it was the fire that gave me away.

It was a cold, wet Friday when I first saw them.

Grey sheets of rain pounded outside while waves hammered against the rocks to the back of
the house. I was oblivious to the noises, quite happily lost in an Agatha Christie novel, making
myself sick on too much fruit. I had been there a couple of hours, maybe more, when I heard a 45
sound: something new, something more than the usual groans of the old house settling. I froze,
the book dangling from my fingers, and strained my ears, listening carefully.

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Voices.

Someone was here.

Someone had finally come. 50

And more than one someone: I could tell that the voices belonged, that they fit into the house
like missing puzzle pieces. Footsteps clipped along the floors, echoing through the empty
hallways, growing louder as they came closer and closer to where I sat, still frozen.

Glossary
1
causeway: a raised road or track used to reach an island

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