First Language English, 0500, Paper 2, Grade A

Key:

Question
Student Response
Examiner’s Comment

Paper 0500/02 largely tests reading skills, but, in the first and last questions on the
paper, writing is also assessed, albeit not as the main component. .

The two passages on the paper introduced two hotels to candidates - The Shamrock
Hotel, a remote dilapidated hostelry in Victoria, Australia in Passage A, and The
Technocrat Hotel, a futuristic, impersonal, soulless place in Passage B.

Question 1 required candidates to write a letter to Mr and Mrs Doyle, explaining why
(surprisingly) they had enjoyed a visit to the Shamrock Hotel so much. The best
answers were enthusiastic, clever and convincing in using the details of the text to
convert a distinctly unpromising situation into a memorable sojourn.

Question 2 focused explicitly on the language of the writer, asking candidates to

explain how the writer makes the descriptions of, firstly, the animals, then Michael
Doyle effective. The challenge here for candidates was to make pertinent, high-
quality comments on language.

Question 3 instructed candidates to summarise the worrying and annoying aspects of,
firstly, the Technocrat Hotel, then the Shamrock Hotel. Candidates who could
accumulate points in a focused, efficient manner would score high marks in this
question.

Part 1
Read Passage A carefully, and then answer Questions 1 and 2.
Passage A

This story was written a long time ago. It is about a hotel in the state of Victoria,
Australia.

The Shamrock Hotel

Not a day’s tramp from Ballarat, set well back from a dusty track that started nowhere
in particular and had no destination worth mentioning, stood the Shamrock Hotel. It
was a low, rambling, disjointed structure, and bore strong evidence of having been
designed by an amateur artist in a moment of drunken frenzy. It reached out in
several well-defined angles, and had a lean-to building stuck on here and there;
numerous outhouses were dropped down about it at random; its walls were propped
up in places with logs, and its moss-coloured shingle roof, bowed down with the
weight of years and a great accumulation of stones, hoop-iron, jam-tins, broken
glassware, and dried possum skins, bulged threateningly on the verge of utter
collapse. The Shamrock was built of sun-dried bricks, of an unhealthy, bilious tint. Its
dirty, shattered windows were plugged in places with old hats and discarded female
apparel, and draped with green blinds, many of which had broken their moorings,
and hung despondently by one corner. Groups of ungainly fowl chased succulent
grasshoppers before the bar door; a moody, distempered goat rubbed her ribs
against a shattered trough roughly hewn from the butt of a tree, and a matronly old
bitch of spare proportions wallowed complacently in the dust of the road, surrounded
by her yelping brood.

A battered sign hung out over the door of the Shamrock, informing people that
Michael Doyle was the licensed owner, and that good accommodation could be
afforded to both man and beast at the lowest current rates. But that sign was
unreliable. Bed and board were quite out of the province of the Shamrock. There
was, in fact, only one couch professedly at the disposal of the weary wayfarer, and
this, according to the statement of the few persons who had ever ventured to try it,
seemed stuffed with old boots and stubble; it was located immediately beneath a
hen-roost, which was the resting place of a maternal fowl, addicted on occasion to
nursing her chickens on the tired sleeper’s chest. The turnover at the Shamrock was
not at all extensive for, saving the occasional agricultural labourer who came from
‘beyond’ – which was the versatile host’s way of designating any part within a radius
of five miles – to revel in an occasional spree, the trade was confined to the passing
cockatoo farmer, who invariably arrived on a bony, drooping horse, took a drink, and
shuffled away amid clouds of dust.

Landlord Doyle was of Irish extraction; his stock was so old that everyone had
forgotten where and when it originated; but Mickey assumed no unnecessary style,
and his personal appearance would not have led you to infer that there had been a
king in his family, and that an ancestor of his had once killed a landlord. Micky was a
small, scraggy man, with a mop of grizzled hair and a little, red, humorous face, ever
bristling with auburn stubble. His trousers were the most striking thing about him;
they were built on the premises, and always contained enough stuff to make him a
full suit and a winter overcoat. Mrs Doyle manufactured those pants after plans and
specifications of her own designing, and was mighty proud when Michael would yank
them up into his armpits, and amble around, peering about discontentedly over the
waistband. ‘They were a great saving in waistcoats,’ she said.

You have recently stayed at the Shamrock Hotel and, most surprisingly, you
thoroughly enjoyed your stay.

Write a letter to Mr and Mrs Doyle explaining the reasons why you liked the hotel so
much. You know that the Doyles will use your letter to advertise the hotel in future.

Base all that you write on Passage A.

You should write between 1 ½ and 2 sides, allowing for the size of your handwriting.
Up to fifteen marks will be available for the content of your answer, and up to five
marks for the quality of your writing.

[20 marks]
 The Mall
New York 8752
The United States of America
PO Box 5138

Shamrock Hotel, Wednesday 10th May 2006

Victoria 8672
Australia
P.O. Box 7142

Dear Mr and Mrs Doyle,

After an eventful long weekend which I have spent at the Shamrock Hotel, I
have written to thank-you for providing such an exquisite experience. The
memories of the fun times have been engraved in my memory and I would love to
revisit the adventures. Your hospitality combined with the beauty of the
Shamrock Hotel made me thoroughly enjoy my stay.

Shamrock Hotels exquisite architecture, enhanced by the nature surrounding it,

is marvellous. Its modern built emphasizes the creativity of the architect, as it
is a lot ahead of its time. The style could be described as modern eclectic with
enhancements by the owner. The overwrought appeal of the building indulges
the senses. At dusk the entire hotel being cast in a gorgeous golden glow would
reek of unearthly beauty as we sat outside enjoying the company of the animals
that you have kept.

The accommodations provide the traveller a rustic atmosphere. The sofa was a
heavenly bliss to relax on and to my utter delight I discovered the fowl. A
weary traveller wakes up refreshed to the gorgeous sight of a mother hen
nursing her chicks atop the guest. The soothing experience gave me a chance to
relax away from the hustle and bustle of city life. It allowed me to adapt to a
different sort of life, one of peace and rustic comfortability.

There is a lot to discover as you venture within and around the walls of the
Shamrock Hotel. With you, my kind host as a guide many pleasures were
discovered. The animals needed constant care and this was an activity that the
guest would gladly join in. The visitors to the bar also provided excellent
company and a chance to hear the views of many different types of people.

The genuine hospitality offered by both of you is exquisite and this was an
experience that I would happily relive. You offered a different atmosphere and
this new way of life is very relaxing in the sense that it takes away stress. An
added enhancement is the beauty of the Shamrock hotel.

Yours sincerely,
Content: 9
Writing: 4
The candidate here responded to the letter writing task with a well organised, very
competent representation of the key details of the passage, which accumulated quite
impressively. This was a highly conscientious reading, and a polite, effective letter. It
was not an entirely convincing picture, perhaps, and there were opportunities missed
to capture the atmosphere of the hotel, but it was a thorough coverage of the key
features, without being fully encouraging or persuasive.
Re-read the descriptions of
(a) the animals you might find at the Shamrock, in paragraph 1
(b) Michael Doyle, in paragraph 3.

By referring closely to the language used by the writer, explain how he makes these
descriptions effective.

[10 marks]

The language used by the writer in the passage makes all the descriptions in the
very effective. The animals you might find at the Shamrock are described
exquisitly by the author. Vivid imagery is used in order to emphasise how the
animals are in contrast to their surroundings. Everything about the Shamrock
exudes a delipatated air and this is also present in the behaviour of the animals.

By referring to the fowl as ungainly the writer contrives a negative effect. This
image is effective because it portrays the fowl as unworthy and depleted. This
image emphasizes the pity the writer has for everything about the Shamrock
Hotel. The fowl is also portrayed as wild, ‘chased succulent grasshoppers,’ this
contrast in description between the grasshoppers and the fowl is portrayed with
irony. It is almost inflicting damage upon the grasshoppers to be allowed to be
hunted by the fowl.

The description of the goat is effective because it refers to the animals

personality. It is portrayed as ‘moody’ and ‘distempered’ which also suggests a
forlorn atmosphere. The characteristics are important as the imagery is strong.
An effective portrayal of the goat allows the reader to form an accurate image
of an angry goat. The word ‘ribs’ is effective in portraying her as scrawny
therefore effective visual imagery creates a very strong image.

The dog ‘wallowed’ this provides a sense of hopelessness. There is nothing to do

as is suggested by the writer because of the ‘dust of the road’. It is
emphasizing the sense of depletion that is listed by the author throughout the
first paragraph.

The description of Michael Doyle is effective because his appearance reflects

the persona of the Shamrock Hotel. The writer suggests that everything is
surrounded by an air of neglectance, because ‘Mickey assumed no unnecessary
style’. The landlord does not put on airs and people around him are aware of
that. The writer uses this characteristic effectively to portray the landlord
effectively. He is seen as rugged. His simplicity portrays his downfall. He is in
search for better days like the ‘king in his family’.

Vivid visual imagery is used in order to describe Michael Doyle’s appearance. It

is very strong in complieing with the appearance of his surroundings. He is ‘a
small scraggy man’ use of alliteration to portray his lack of decorum. His ‘mop of
grizzled hair’ makes him appear wild and admonishes to the characteristics of
the Shamrock Hotel. The writer also portrays him as gentile with a ‘humorous
face’ this subdues the harshness of his appearance.

The writer uses effective description in order to describe the animals you might
find at the Shamrock Hotel and the description of Michael Doyle.

8 marks

The strength of the answer to Question 2 was the sound approach to comments made
about the description of the animals and Mr Doyle. By no means all of the comments
were sustainable against a close inspection, but the technique was good, and the
candidate’s intention was always to search for probing comments, rather than to state
the obvious, or to fall back on a decontextualised technical term.
 Part 2
Read Passage B carefully, and then answer Question 3, which is based on both
Passage A and Passage B.

Passage B
The Technocrat Hotel

Mr Rapadi was a much-travelled man, a great critic of the hotels he visited around
the world. ‘In the end,’ he would say, ‘they are all much like each other.’ He dreamed
of creating a hotel which would outshine all others in its modernity, would cause all
who saw it to gasp and would attract the famous and the successful. He would call it
The Technocrat.

Eventually he built his hotel and it so happened that I was one of his first clients.
There was no mistaking it. It towered menacingly above the surrounding buildings,
resplendent in glass and shining metal. Everything about it was vast, its windows, its
entrance and the magnificent red letters that spelled out Technocrat.

I was humbled by this edifice. If I entered, I would be sure to be lost. But I was
attracted like a magnet and, as I approached, the doors slid noiselessly apart as if,
mysteriously, they expected me. I entered what appeared to be a bronze cavern with
coloured lights twinkling from a great height and some considerable way ahead lay
the reception desk.

No one stood behind the desk to make me feel welcome. However, a courteous
recorded voice, perhaps that of Mr Rapadi himself, wished me a very good afternoon
and requested my name and my credit card which a little machine graciously read
and returned to me. ‘Your room is on firty fiff floor,’ said the mechanical voice.
‘Please take identity disk from machine on right. Lifts on left side.’

There was a veritable bank of lifts — not the two or three you usually encounter in
inferior hotels but a whole line of them with glass doors, shooting up and down. I
stood nervously watching them as feet and heads came suddenly in and out of view.
I never saw anybody get in or out.

As I entered my lift, it recognised my identity disk and whisked me disconcertingly to

the thirty-fifth floor before I had time to press a button. I arrived before I had begun,
so to speak, and stepped onto a metal moving carpet which delivered me to my
room.

The door slid open automatically and I stepped into a technological wonderland. How
did the subdued lighting know my favourite colour? How could the TV set scan 150
channels to locate my type of culture? Email and internet devices burst out at every
corner and the bed, ah, the bed was capable of assuming all angles and of adapting
to the size of its most awkward customer.

To be truthful, I did not know where to turn. My stomach was still at reception and the
little voices of gadgets introducing themselves electronically to me set my brain in a
whirl. The food delivery system was too assertive, bullying me to listen to the menu
and to make my choice. ‘Vegetable sausage,’ I gasped to keep the thing quiet. ‘How
many times?’ it demanded. ‘Once only,’ I said and was rewarded by a piping hot
plateful that I did not really want but was too afraid to decline.

This cacophony of voices was insistent, destructive. It seemed that they were too
scarily human and that a riot might soon break out. I was too frightened to approach
the bathroom, for what contraption might leap out at me? What if the water sprinklers
detected my rising blood pressure and soaked the entire room?

As I stood near the window, a bottled voice said, ‘Fresh air, sir?’ and indeed I was
met by a rush of artificial wind that nearly knocked me off my feet.

Then it struck me. In all the time I had been in Mr Rapadi’s hotel, I had not met a
single person. Not one, apart from those strange bodies that went up and down in the
glass-fronted lifts.

As I left the room, the door shuddered, the moving carpet shrieked and I almost fell
into the lift. I crossed the lobby furtively and a voice rang out, ‘Your check, sir; your
identity disk, sir?’ and I escaped only just in time through the closing doors.

I spent that night in a comfortable family hotel up the road. A few weeks later I read
that the Technocrat had exploded mysteriously in the middle of the night, a victim
perhaps of its own success.

3 Read Passage B and re-read Passage A.

Summarise:
(a) the appearance and the facilities of the Technocrat Hotel that the writer appeared
to find worrying or annoying;

(b) the appearance and facilities, or the lack of them, of the Shamrock Hotel that a
visitor might find worrying or annoying.

You should write about 1 side in total, allowing for the size of your handwriting.

Up to fifteen marks will be given for the content of your answer, and up to five marks
for the quality of your writing.
[20 marks]

The writer found many things about the Technocrat Hotel which were worrying
or annoying. The building itself was very tall and appeared to be threatening
other buildings of inferior size. The elevators worked very fast although no-one
appeared to be using them. The electronical gadgets cause much confusion
amongst the customers. The food was delivered to the writer in such a way that
the gadget that took the order was hostile. The writer felt threatened by the
electronical mayhem that surrounded him. The insistent instructions issued by
the machines caused the writer a lot of distress as they appeared to be
dangerously overpowering.

A visitor will find a lot of things worrying or annoying about the Shamrock Hotel.
The depleted architecture of the actual building. The items that have collected
over the years atop the roof weighing it down so that is appears to give way at
any moment. Broken windows with green coverings which hang destructively.
The fowl that is kept by the owners wildly hunts for its food, grasshoppers, in
front of the bar. There are no proper accommodations for the visitors as there
are no beds and one sofa which is very uncomfortable. The hen chooses to nurse
its chicks atop the weary traveller resting on the sofa. The collection of thing
collected by the owner are ancient where no-one is aware of their origins.

Content: 10
Writing: 3
The third question was completed methodically, with clear positioning at the start and
an uncomplicated ‘listing’ of points within a piece of coherent prose. There was again
sound awareness of the demands of the task and once more a balanced coverage of the
texts. The candidate’s examination technique was well honed, justifiably helping the
sound overall performance to the grade A boundary.