Cambridge International Examinations

Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education

FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH 0500/01

Paper 1 Reading Passages (Core) For Examination from 2019
SPECIMEN READING BOOKLET INSERT
1 hour 45 minutes

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

This Reading Booklet Insert contains the reading passages for use with all the questions on the Question
Paper.

You may annotate this Reading Booklet Insert and use the blank spaces for planning.
This Reading Booklet Insert is not assessed by the Examiner.

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

© UCLES 2016 [Turn over

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Part 1

Read Passage A carefully, and then answer Questions 1 and 2 on the Question Paper.

Passage A: Tiger Encounter

The following passage is set in Bandhavgarh National Park, India. The writer is describing a meeting
with a Bengal tiger, one of the world’s endangered species. The writer is accompanied by other visitors
and a guide called Anil.

It’s early morning and the sunlight is just breaking through the trees of the deep Bandhavgarh
forest. We’re driving down a dirt lane when suddenly the road is blocked by the massive grey
bulk which is Gautam, the lead elephant used for patrols, tiger monitoring, and tourist forays into
the jungle. Sitting astride Gautam, is Kuttapan, the keeper and ‘driver’ of the elephant. He has
been at Bandhavgarh for 24 years and knows more about its tigers than anyone. Kuttapan gets 5
my attention and points to something on the road. It’s the distinct impression of a tiger’s body
which has recently lain there. The imprint – torso, fore-paws and tail – lies clearly over any tracks
or disturbances which may have come in the night.

Suddenly we hear the distinct ‘bleep-bleep’ – the alarm call of the deer, announcing the presence
of a predator. Kuttapan and Gautam go off to investigate and we begin to drive around to intercept 10
them on the other side of the forest. Ten metres down the road, we hear a loud ‘varoom’, the call
of the tiger, and we slide to a halt. Walking directly towards us, at a distance of 100 metres, is a
large male tiger. It is one of the 3-year-old males known to share this territory with his brother.

We sit in stunned silence in open-topped jeeps. Some cameras continue to click and some
knuckles begin to whiten as grips tighten on the roll bars of the jeep. The tiger continues his 15
casual stroll directly towards us. About 20 metres from our jeep, he walks into a small clearing
off the road, turns to mark a tree with his scent, then comes back and walks past us, just a metre
away from the jeep. Suspension of all breathing is the easiest thing in the world at a moment like
this.

When the tiger is about 50 metres away, we hear a commotion in the forest across the road. Anil, 20
our guide, whispers loudly, ‘Wolves!’. There, propped up like little statues in a clearing, are two
Indian grey wolves. Rigid, alert, clearly in a state of alarm and agitation, they begin yelping at the
tiger. The tiger spins around and charges off into the forest after them.

We drive down the road to where we were originally going to meet Kuttapan and Gautam. There,
in an open clearing, stands the tiger, looking around as if to ask, ‘Where’d they go?’. We park the 25
jeeps and watch a silent drama unfold.

Out of the forest emerges the larger of the wolves, probably the male. The tiger turns his head
and the wolf scampers back into the forest. The tiger continues to walk away down the road. Out
of the forest comes the larger wolf again, moving cautiously to within a safe distance from the
tiger. This time the tiger turns round and glowers at the wolf, probably assessing the distance 30
between them and the speed it would take to catch the wolf. They stare at each other; the tiger
is still, and the wolf is nervously pacing back and forth. The muscles of the tiger begin to twitch
and off goes the wolf into the forest again. Finally, after one more of these encounters, the tiger
moves some distance away and the wolf disappears into the forest for one last time. We can only
assume that the aggressive and bold behaviour of the wolf meant he was protecting some cubs 35
and wanted to drive the tiger out of his territory.

The tiger, now left in peace, continues his stroll.

© UCLES 2016 0500/01/SI/19

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Part 2

Read Passage B carefully and then answer Question 3 on the Question Paper.

Passage B: Tiger Tourism

The following article explores whether India’s tiger conservation parks, which are a major tourist
attraction, do more harm than good.

India is home to the largest remaining wild populations of the tiger. They are the poster species of the
country’s tourism marketing, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors to visit the country every year.
So no wonder a suggestion to ban tourists from tiger conservation zones has led to a debate over the
connections between wildlife tourism and conservation.

In India the government and international wildlife organisations have devoted their time and funds to
protect tigers against poachers. As a result, the total Bengal tiger population has recovered slowly
during recent decades.

Increasing awareness of the animal’s endangered status is important, and tiger tourism has helped
to do this. It started slowly, but has grown greatly, and now the numbers of tourists visiting can cause
large crowds. The animals are adversely affected by disturbance from humans and the creation of new
roads and buildings to serve the tiger parks.

Yet local communities have become dependent on tourism funding, and much of it pays for work
that keeps poachers at bay – tourism revenue is used to fund projects for local villagers, who act
as gatekeepers against poachers. It also funds anti-poaching patrols, compensates villagers for
livestock killed by tigers, and pays for fence construction. The growth of tourism parks has also helped
reintroduce tigers. Simply put, if tourism money is cut abruptly, poaching will increase.

Visitors who come to see tigers bring their own problems. One concern is inappropriate driving by tour
guides as they compete aggressively for tips from tourists. This leads to breaches of wildlife-watching
rules, which aim to restrict vehicle speeds, animal-approach distances and crowding. It can also lead
to situations where tourists are put in danger.

Fitting vehicles with GPS units and cameras could help enforcement of the rules, but even if tigers are
disturbed by tourists getting too close to take photographs, at least it is only along roads and by day.

In India, some conservationists think tigers would be better off without tourists, but the parks agency,
tour operators and wildlife groups all believe a ban would cause more harm than good.

© UCLES 2016 0500/01/SI/19

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BLANK PAGE

Copyright Acknowledgements:

Passage A © Brian K Weirum; http://travelerstales.com/carpet/000135.shtml

Passage B © http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/6926978/Battle-to-save-tigers-intensifies-with-only-3200-left-on-Earth.html

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
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Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University of Cambridge Local
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© UCLES 2016 0500/01/SI/19