This document consists of 3 printed pages and 1 blank page.

DC (ST) 129188/2© UCLES 2017 [Turn over

Cambridge International ExaminationsCambridge Ordinary Level

*0915235583-I*

ENGLISH LANGUAGE 1123/21Paper 2 Reading October/November 2017INSERT 1 hour 45 minutes

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

This Insert contains the two reading passages.

2

1123/21/INSERT/O/N/17© UCLES 2017

Passage 1 – Chocolate

1 Chocolate isadelicious foodmadefromthecocoatree’sbeans,whichhaveabitter tasteandmustbefermentedtodevelopflavour.Afterfermentation,thebeansaredried,cleanedandroasted.Theshellsarethenremovedtoproducecocoanibs,whicharethengroundintococoamass,whichcanbeseparatedintotwocomponents:cocoasolidsandcocoabutter.While chocolate in its purest form is dark,milk chocolate ismanufactured by addingmilkpowder.Whitechocolatecontainscocoabutter,sugarandmilk,butnococoasolids,andsopuristswouldsaythatitisnotrealchocolate,althoughwhitechocolatehasthebesttasteofall.

2 Chocolatewasfirstpreparedasadrink2000yearsago,andindeedthereisevidencefrom

a Mexican archaeological site to prove this. Documents dating from 1 500 years ago in the Mayan civilisation state that the drinking of chocolate played an important part in cultural ceremonies.Bythefifteenthcentury,theAzteccivilisationhadgainedcontrolofalargepartof Central America and incorporated chocolate into their religion as well as their culture; they associatedchocolatewithoneoftheirgodswho,accordingtolegend,wasbanishedbytheother gods for sharing chocolate with humans. Such was the importance of chocolate to the Azteccivilisationthatcocoabeansbecameaformofcurrency.

3 By the sixteenth century, chocolate had reachedSpainwhen, after theSpanish conquest

oftheAztecs,itwasintroducedtotheeliteofthatcountry.Itspopularitywasincreasedwiththe addition of sugar to combat its naturally bitter taste.At first, productionwas hinderedbecauseeverythinghadtobedonebyhand.Nevertheless,withinacentury, thechocolatecrazehadspreadtootherEuropeancountries.TheDutch,EnglishandFrenchcreatedcocoaplantationsinCentralAmerica,butthelocalworkforcewasunfortunatelyunderpaidandtheirnumbers depleted by disease. Chocolate remained a treat for the wealthy until the Industrial Revolution,whichbroughtsteam-poweredenginestospeeduptheprocessingofthecocoabean;thefirstofthesewasbuiltbyaFrenchinventornamedDubuissonintheearly1700s.

4 In 1815, aDutch chemist invented a presswhich could separate the natural fat from the

liquid,whichmadechocolatecheapertoproduce.Thispressintroducedthemoderneraofchocolateasitfacilitateditsmanufactureinsolidform,withtheyear1875seeingthefirstmilkchocolatebar.Aroundthistimeaprocesscalledconchingwasinvented,whichproducedarichtasteandasmoothtexture;sincetheprocesswassoimportanttothefinishedarticle,chocolatemanufacturers kept the details of their conchingprocessa total secret, as theycontinue to do even today.

5 Nowadays, it is widely thought that chocolate can have positive effects on our health by

improvingcirculation.It isalsoarichsourceofantioxidants,whichreducesubstancesthatcausedamagetocellsinthebody,thussuggestingthatchocolateconsumptionevenworksagainst some types of cancer. Some research suggests that consumption of dark chocolate may reduce cholesterol. Of course, added fats, sugar and, sometimes, milk mean thatchocolatehasahighcalorificcontent,thuslinkingittoobesity,anditisimportanttobearinmindthatthebenefits ingeneralreferto limitedconsumption,perhapsoneortwosquaresper day. Some scientists claim that eating chocolate may even boost thinking skills and cognitivefunction.Thereissomesuggestionthatchocolatemaybeaddictive,butonceagainmoderation is the key.

6 Today 50 000 000 people worldwide depend on chocolate for their livelihood; the production

of chocolate provides jobs formany people, particularly in the IvoryCoast, where almosthalf of theworld’s chocolate is nowmade.Chocolate production unfortunately has led tounfairtreatmentofworkersandmanychocolatebuyersnowadaysareattractedtoFairtradechocolate,aninternationalsystemwhichensuresfairwagesforworkers,andthusbooststhepopularity of chocolate.

7 Thesedays,peopleliketogiveboxesofchocolatesaspresents,asasignofloveorfriendship,oras tokensofappreciation toahostwhohas invited themto theirhome.Additionally,aswiththeAztecsallthoseyearsago,chocolatehasasymbolicroletoplayinsomereligiousfestivals,suchasChristianEasterandJewishHanukkah.

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

3

1123/21/INSERT/O/N/17© UCLES 2017

Passage 2 – Aoife

In this passage a girl called Aoife has a condition called dyslexia. This means that she has difficulty with reading because she is unable to identify, and focus clearly on, the shapes of letters which make up words.

1 EverydayasAoifelabouredupthestairsofherapartmentblock,shewasawareofthesecretshe was hiding from others. She never took the elevator. The sign next to where she stood leaningon thehandrailwould toanyoneelsehavesaid ‘SixthFloor’,butAoife turnedherheadaway,avoidingit.Theprintedwordwasdangerousandnottobetrusted.Oneminutethesignmightsay‘SixthFloor’,thenextminutetheletterswouldhaveshiftedwithsickeningsuddennessinto‘GutFlour’.Shecouldnotread.Thatwasherownprivatetruth.Becauseofit,shehadtoleadadoublelife.Butnobodyknew.Notherfriends,nothercolleaguesandcertainlynother family.Shehadkept it fromallof them, feelingherselfbrimmingwith thesecret of it her whole life.

2 Shehad,overtheyears,perfectedanumberofimplausibleexcusestocoverupherproblem.

She said shewas short-sighted or had forgotten her glasses or even that her eyesweretired. In restaurants she would shut her menu – never too fast – and ask her companion to order for her. She had a casual way of passing a page to someone next to her and asking forittobereadtoher.Withacunningwhichcameoutofnecessity,shespottedthekindofpeople who were only too happy for a chance to show off how well they could read. Then shelistenedcarefullyandwithgreatconcentration.Sheappearedtotheworld,sheknew,asslightlyeccentric,alittledetachedassheopenedupthepartofhermindthatrememberedthingssothat,ifanyoneweretoquestionheraboutthecontentofthetext,shecouldrepeatitback to them flawlessly.

3 Aoife worked in an art store and one day she saw through the shop window the famous

photographerEvelynNemetov,standingonthepavementasifshewerejustanothermemberofthehumanrace.Aoifewilledhertocomeintothestore,andshedid.WhileAoifesoldherwhatsheneeded,theystruckupaconversationandshefoundherselfwithajobasEvelyn’sassistant. She would be going on photography shoots with her; there was no mention of dealingwithcontractsoransweringletters.Aoifecouldn’tbelieveherluck.

4 However,onher fifthdayatwork,Evelynhandedheracontractandaskedher to fill it in.

Aoifetook itand laid itonthetableand,whenEvelynhad left theroom, itwasdifficult forAoife to draw breath into her lungs. She scanned the undulating string of letters that made up thewords.Thewhitepageonthetablewascrammedwithtext,impossiblysmalltext,letterswhich looked to her like lines of ants crawling over the page. They clustered and rearranged themselvesbeforeher.Secondslater,inAoife’seyesthetextappearedtochange:thelettersbeganmoving fromhorizontal linesgoing from left to right, until theygradually regroupedthemselvesintolongverticalcolumnsgoingfromtoptobottom,likegrassesswayinginthewind.SuffocatingpaniccrammedAoife’sthroat.Shewasfightingbacktears,knowingthatitwasover,thatthisjobwasdoomedlikesomanyotherjobsbeforeit,andshewasweighingup the pros and cons of just walking out when she heard Evelyn coming back along the corridor.Asshecameintotheroom,shesaid,‘Allfinishedwiththecontract?’

5 Aoifeliftedthecontractwithonlythetipsofherfingers.Shewasn’tawareofthemomentinwhich she made the decision but it felt to her as if the contract radiated toxic material. She slid it into a blue folder and put the blue folder into a box on top of the filing cabinet. Because shewantedthisjobsobadly,sheturnedround,smiledherconfidentialhalf-smile,andsaid,‘Yes,thework’salldone.’Sincethatday,overthemanymonthsshehadworkedforEvelyn,the blue folder in the box on the top of the filing cabinet had swelled and grown. Every bit of papershewashanded,everylettersheopened,everyrequestorcontractorapplicationthatcamethroughthedoor,sheputinthere.Anydaynow,shethought,shewouldgetdownthefolder,whichwasbulging,sidesstraining,anddealwithit.Somehow.

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

4

1123/21/INSERT/O/N/17© UCLES 2017

BLANK PAGE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Everyreasonableefforthasbeenmadebythepublisher(UCLES)totracecopyrightholders,butifanyitemsrequiringclearancehaveunwittinglybeenincluded,thepublisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

Toavoidtheissueofdisclosureofanswer-relatedinformationtocandidates,allcopyrightacknowledgementsarereproducedonlineintheCambridgeInternationalExaminations Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download at www.cie.org.uk after the live examination series.

CambridgeInternationalExaminationsispartoftheCambridgeAssessmentGroup.CambridgeAssessmentisthebrandnameofUniversityofCambridgeLocalExaminationsSyndicate(UCLES),whichisitselfadepartmentoftheUniversityofCambridge.