Cambridge Igcse First Language English Language and Skills Practice Book
Cambridge Igcse First Language English Language and Skills Practice Book
Cambridge Igcse First Language English Language and Skills Practice Book
978-1-108-43892-6 — Cambridge IGCSE® First Language English Language and Skills Practice Book
Marian Cox
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3 a Next to each of the above words, write which part of speech it is, as used in the passage.
b Study the words and then write out without looking (in a notebook) those you did not know
2 how to spell.
5 Select relevant material from the passage and write a news report in six paragraphs, with a
suitable headline, for the next day’s local newspaper.
D Reading
6 Read the following encyclopedia article.
F
ireworks are believed to have and the phenomenal New Year display in
been invented more than 2000 years Dubai in 2014 was masterminded by the
ago in China, where they were used Italian-American Phil Grucci.
in the form of firecrackers to accompany
Every year, people in China celebrate the
many festivities, in order to ward off
invention of the firecracker on 18th April.
evil and invoke prosperity. It is believed Fireworks are also an integral part of the
that the first firecrackers were actually Chinese New Year celebrations. The big
accidental: chunks of bamboo thrown occasion for fireworks in the UK is Guy
onto a fire. (Bamboo traps air inside the Fawkes Night (5th November) to celebrate
segments so that when heated, it expands the failure of the Gunpowder Plot to blow
and bursts through the sides, and this up parliament. France uses fireworks to
could have started the idea.) China is celebrate Bastille Day, commemorating
the largest manufacturer and exporter of the storming of the prison during the
fireworks in the world; 90% of all fireworks French Revolution. Firework displays are
originate from there. They are still made by also a major part of Independence Day
hand, and it is a hazardous job assembling celebrations in the United States.
the sections of the cardboard tubes.
4 The world record for the largest firework display
In 1240, the Arabs acquired knowledge of before January 2014 in Dubai consisted of 77 282
gunpowder, and in the same century firecrackers fireworks set off in Kuwait in November 2011 as part
arrived in Europe, with the crusaders or Marco of the country’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The
Polo. The key ingredient in making fireworks is largest firework rocket –13 kilograms – was produced
gunpowder, which consists of saltpetre (potassium and launched in Portugal in 2010. The biggest annual
nitrate), charcoal and sulphur. Early fireworks were firework display event in Europe is the International
enjoyed less for the show than for the sound; simple Festival concert held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in
gunpowder explodes quickly with a terrific bang but which no fewer than a million fireworks are set off
with little colour. Over time, people discovered that in less than an hour. A string of firecrackers lasting
using chemical compounds with greater amounts 22 hours marked the New Year’s Day celebrations
of oxygen made the explosives burn brighter and in Hong Kong in 1996. The world’s largest single
longer. At first fireworks were only orange and white. firework was seen at a festival in Japan in 1988;
In the Middle Ages, new colours were achieved by the burst was over a kilometre across and the shell
adding different minerals. They had least success weighed over half a tonne. A rocket can reach
with blue. This became available with the discovery speeds of 240 kilometres per hour, and the shell can
of copper compounds, but this is an unstable metal reach as high as 200 metres. People will always see
and so is less frequently used. the explosion of a firework before hearing it. This is
It wasn’t until the 1800s that fireworks developed because although they both travel in waves, light
into what we know today. Italy was the first country travels at 1080 million kilometres per hour whereas
sound travels only at 1225 kilometres per hour.
in Europe to truly master and experiment with
pyrotechnics, by loading firecrackers into cannons In public shows today, specialists use computers to
and shooting them into the air. Multi-hued displays control the electronic ignition of fireworks, as well as
were an innovation of the 1830s, when metals that to synchronise the aerial bursts with music. Firework
burn at high temperatures and create colours, sparks displays are becoming ever more spectacular and are
and noises were added to gunpowder. The Italians an established way of celebrating any global, national
are still at the forefront of pyrotechnic development, or local event or anniversary.
8 Look at the five underlined words in Passage B and consider how they are used. Fill the blanks in
the paragraph below with one of these words. (You may want to use some words more than once,
and some not at all.)
9 Use given that (used in the last sentence of the paragraph above) correctly in a sentence of your own.
c Which country held the world record for a coordinated firework display before New Year’s
Eve 2014?
d Explain in your own words why we see fireworks before we hear them.
G Directed writing
13 Write a blog article called ‘Who needs fireworks?’ Engage with some of the ideas and use some
of the facts contained in Passages A and B in order to present the view that too much money is
wasted on this form of brief, childish and destructive entertainment.
H Composition
Descriptive writing
a Describe the environment and atmosphere of a venue waiting for an exciting event to start.
Answer the following questions:
● Where is the venue and what kind of place is it?
● How are the people showing their excitement while they are waiting?
● When and where did you go to see it, and who did you go with?
Narrative writing
c Write a story which involves an explosion.
Include the following aspects:
● the scene and atmosphere where the event occurs
8
d Continue this story opening: ‘I had been really looking forward to New Year’s Eve ...’
Think about how you can achieve the following:
● convey the personality and circumstances of the main character
● explain what happened to spoil their expectations and end with a reference to the opening.