2026 Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English (0475) 模拟试题及答案详解

Explore how Judith Wright strikingly conveys the impact of the encounter with the snake in 'Hunting Snake'.

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In what ways does Seamus Heaney vividly portray the relationship between father and son in 'Follower'?

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How does Gillian Clarke make 'Lament' such a powerful expression of grief and destruction?

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In what ways does Boey Kim Cheng vividly convey grief and environmental devastation in 'Report to Wordsworth'?

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Explore how Heaney powerfully portrays the changing relationship between father and son in 'Follower'.

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How does Dharker make 'These are the Times We Live in' such a disturbing portrayal of surveillance and modern identity?

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Read the following extract and then answer the question that follows:

Mr Bennet watched his second daughter pace the narrow perimeter of the library carpet, her skirts whispering against the mahogany wainscoting with an agitated cadence. The morning post had brought two letters, both heavy with seal-wax and expectation, yet neither had contained the surrender she so ardently desired.

'My dear Lizzy,' said he, laying aside his volume of voyages with deliberate tranquility, 'if you continue to wear a trench into the floorboards, we shall be obliged to apply to your mother for a new rug, and you know well what manner of discourse that negotiation will provoke.'

Elizabeth halted by the tall sash window, gazing out across the frost-silvered shrubbery where the bare boughs of the chestnuts stood like iron fretwork against a pale winter sky. 'It is not the discourse of my mother that disquiets me, sir. It is the unyielding complacency of those who believe that fortune entitles them to dictate the sentiments of every person within their sphere.'

'Then you have resolved upon martyrdom?' Mr Bennet enquired, adjusting his spectacles with faint amusement dancing at the corners of his eyes. 'An admirable pursuit for a young woman of twenty, though rarely beneficial to the digestion. I had always understood that when an imposing relation delivers a command, one either complies with a curtsey or laughs in one’s sleeve. You, it appears, prefer to fume in private.'

'I cannot laugh when insult is disguised as benevolence,' she replied, turning swiftly, her dark eyes flashing with suppressed indignation. 'To be told that one's family is an insurmountable barrier to another's happiness—and in the very breath that offers alliance—demands something more than amused indifference.'

Mr Bennet surveyed her with a sudden sobriety that silenced the library. 'Lizzy, I have lived long enough to know that pride will always build its own fortress, but wounded affection will dig the trenches around it. Be very certain which of the two is directing your march before you sound the trumpet for battle.'

(from Chapter 36)

How does Jane Austen make this such a revealing and tense moment between Elizabeth and Mr Bennet?

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Read the following extract and then answer the question that follows:

Kingshaw sat on the edge of the stone balustrade, watching the shadow of Warings creep across the formal gardens. It was six o'clock, and the air held the close, suffocating stillness that came before a summer storm. Somewhere inside the Red Room, Hooper was laughing—not loudly, but with that dry, rhythmic snigger that seemed to vibrate straight through the floorboards.

A crow dropped down onto the lawn, its feathers glossy and black as wet slate. It tilted its head, bead-eyed, staring directly up at him. Kingshaw pressed his palms flat against the rough stone until the grit bit into his skin. He wanted the pain; it gave him a boundary, something definite to hold on to against the vast, smothering weight of the house.

Footsteps echoed along the corridor behind him—slow, deliberately measured, stopping just before the doorway. Hooper didn't come out onto the terrace. He never did when he wanted to corner him. He stood in the aperture of the French windows, half-swallowed by the gloom of the interior.

'You left your sketchpad on the dining table,' Hooper said. His voice was entirely neutral, polite enough for any drawing room, but the edge underneath was razor-sharp. 'I had a look at your pictures of the copse. You aren't very good at trees, are you? The roots look like dead fingers.'

Kingshaw did not turn round. If he turned round, Hooper would see the tremor in his jaw. 'Leave them alone. They aren't yours.'

'Everything in this house belongs to my father,' Hooper murmured, leaning his shoulder against the frame, 'which means it will all belong to me. Even the things you try to hide under your mattress, Kingshaw. Even those.'

(from Chapter 5)

Explore how Susan Hill creates a disturbing atmosphere of power and psychological menace in this extract.

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Read the following extract and then answer the question that follows:

The elders sat in a wide semi-circle beneath the great silk-cotton tree, whose roots coiled over the earth like sleeping pythons. Okonkwo sat among them, his heavy brows drawn together until they formed a dark ridge across his forehead. He did not look at the messenger who stood in the clearing, but his right hand remained clamped upon the wooden handle of his machete, his knuckles white and rigid.

The messenger was an emissary from Mbaino, a tall young man whose voice trembled slightly as he spoke, though he held his staff of office upright. 'We have brought three bags of cowries and the virgin girl as decreed by the Oracle,' he said, his eyes darting towards the masked figures of the egwugwu sitting silent upon their mound of earth. 'The youth is also here, outside the sacred grove, waiting upon the verdict of Umuofia.'

Okonkwo shifted his weight. To him, the delay in accepting the reparations was a sign of weakness. Why should men of valour spend the midday heat debating terms when the blood of a daughter of Umuofia had been spilled in the market-place? His breath came thick and loud, like the bellows of a blacksmith’s forge. He remembered his father, Unoka, who had always recoiled from the sight of blood and had wasted days in gentle speech while his debts mounted. The thought of Unoka always brought a bitter taste of copper to Okonkwo's tongue.

Ogbuefi Ezeugo rose, leaning upon his carved staff. 'Umuofia does not rush into war like a foolish hunter who shoots before he has seen the horns of the antelope,' the old man proclaimed, his voice carrying the deep resonance of a wooden gong. 'We take what justice gives us, but we do not let our wrath blind our wisdom.'

Every elder nodded in assent, save Okonkwo, whose fingers tightened even further around the hilt of his weapon.

(from Chapter 2)

In what ways does Chinua Achebe vividly convey Okonkwo's inner conflict and the values of Umuofia in this extract?

Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing.

Read the following extract and then answer the question that follows:

The heat in the courtroom had reached that heavy, liquid consistency where even the ceiling fans seemed to labour in vain, merely stirring the scent of damp wool, tobacco, and red dust. Scout leaned her elbows against the rough pine railing of the coloured balcony, peering down through the haze at the back of Atticus's jacket. A single dark patch of sweat had bloomed between his shoulder blades, yet he stood as straight as a surveyor's pole.

Mayella Ewell was crying into a handkerchief that had once been white but was now the grey of a dirt dauber’s nest. Her shoulders hitched with every sob, but whenever she lowered the linen, her eyes darted about the room with a sharp, feral alertness that had nothing to do with sorrow.

'Miss Mayella,' Atticus said, his voice dropping into that quiet, conversational cadence he used when he was reading the paper by the hearth, 'I just want to ask you once more: did you or did you not call Tom Robinson inside the fence on the evening of November twenty-first?'

Mayella stiffened. Her chin jerked upward, and when she looked at Atticus, her expression hardened into pure, concentrated spite. 'I done told you what happened,' she spat, her voice scraping against the hush of the room. 'He come up on me, and he choked me, and he beat me. You sit there with your fine words and your polite manners, tryin' to make out like I'm dirt. But you can't mock me—none of you can't! A bunch of fancy lawyers and high-and-mighty folks...'

Judge Taylor tapped his gavel once, softly, like a carpenter testing the grain of a beam. 'That's enough, witness. Answer the question.'

(from Chapter 18)

How does Harper Lee make this such a powerful and dramatic moment in the trial?

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Read the following extract and then answer the question that follows:

Sampath had climbed to the highest fork of the guava tree, where the leaves formed a green umbrella so dense that the dusty world below was reduced to broken mosaics of light. From here, the town of Shahkot seemed negligible—a chaotic tangle of tin roofs, braying donkeys, and shrieking scooter horns that could no longer reach him.

Below, his father, Mr Chawla, paced between the exposed roots, waving a crumpled notebook with frantic rhythm. 'Sampath! Do you hear me? The district magistrate’s clerk is coming at noon! People do not pay fifty rupees a consultation to hear a boy tell them to listen to the wind! You must give them prophecies about promotions, about boy children, about dowry negotiations!'

Sampath reached out and plucked a ripe guava. He bit through the pale green skin into the sweet, grainy flesh, letting the pink seeds scatter among the branches. A langur monkey sat three feet away, watching him with solemn, human-like eyes. Sampath broke off a piece of the fruit and extended his arm. The monkey reached out a grey, leather-gloved paw and accepted it with grave dignity.

'Look at you!' Mr Chawla’s voice climbed an octave, cracking like dry kindling. 'Communing with vermin while your family’s honour goes up in smoke! We could have had a television set by now! We could have bought a Maruti car!'

Sampath closed his eyes and leaned back against the smooth bark. A warm breeze ruffled his hair, smelling faintly of river mud and crushed cardamom. He had never felt so utterly, deliciously, unmistakably sane.

(from Chapter 8)

Explore how Kiran Desai uses humour and vivid contrast to present Sampath's escape from society in this extract.

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Read the following extract and then answer the question that follows:

Eilis stood on the corner of Fulton Street, holding her leather handbag tightly against her coat. The autumn wind blowing off the East River was sharper than anything she had known in Enniscorthy, smelling of petrol, saltwater, and roasting nuts from a vendor's cart on the kerb. The sheer height of the brownstones and commercial buildings made her feel as though she were walking at the bottom of a dry trench, where the sky was only a thin grey ribbon pinned between rooftops.

In her pocket lay the blue airmail envelope from Rose. It had arrived that morning at Mrs Kehoe’s boarding house, and Eilis had carried it around all day without breaking the seal, terrified that opening it would release a wave of homesickness so violent that it would sweep away the fragile routine she had built between Bartocci's department store and night classes at Brooklyn College.

She took shelter in the recessed doorway of a closed bakery. Her fingers trembled as she slid her thumb beneath the gummed flap of the envelope. The paper unfolded with a crisp sound, and there was Rose's handwriting—upright, elegant, and familiar as her own reflection in the hallway mirror at home.

My dearest Eilis,
Mother asks every morning if the postman has brought word. The town is very quiet now that the October rains have set in, and the shop is slow. Miss Kelly asked after you when I went into the grocer's yesterday, though of course she only wanted to know if you had found work in a shop or if you were still in service...

Eilis pressed the letter against her chest. She realized, with a sudden, painful clarity, that while she was walking down these wide, roaring avenues where nobody knew her name, life in Enniscorthy had closed over the space she had left, like water closing over a stone.

(from Chapter 2)

In what ways does Colm Tóibín movingly convey Eilis's loneliness and emotional division in this extract?

Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing.

Read the following extract and then answer the question that follows:

Nanda Kaul sat in the cane chair on the veranda of Carignano, listening to the cicadas drill into the dry afternoon. The sound was like a million tiny needles grating against the white limestone cliffs of Kasauli. She did not move her head. To move would be to invite the heat to settle upon her neck, to invite the dust from the plains to blow up the gorge and coat her grey silk shawl.

Below her, the garden sloped precipitously down to the ridge where the burnt pines stood like black matchsticks against the bleached sky. She loved this house precisely because it had been stripped down to its bare bones. No husband demanding tea with eight guests from the vice-chancellor’s office; no children tumbling through the drawing room with grazed knees and spilled ink; no servants quarrelling over the butter ration. Here, there was only rock, wind, and the solitary pine that clung to the ravine.

Then the gate creaked.

It was not a loud sound, but to Nanda Kaul it struck like a stone dropped into a dry well. The postman climbed the gravel path, his khaki uniform stained dark with sweat under the arms. He held a blue telegraph envelope between two fingers, flicking it against his thigh with careless familiarity as he walked.

Nanda Kaul closed her eyes, wishing she could turn into a grey lizard on the wall, invisible, cold-blooded, immune to arrival. But the gravel crunched under the postman’s boots, steady and relentless, destroying the stillness she had spent years constructing.

(from Part 1)

How does Anita Desai strikingly convey Nanda Kaul's desire for seclusion and her dread of intrusion in this extract?

Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing.

Read the following extract and then answer the question that follows:

Kemi watched the water level rise along the skirting boards of the ground-floor hallway. It had the brown, oily sheen of stagnant lagoon water, carrying bits of dry plastic, foam packaging, and sodden receipts that spun in slow, purposeless eddies. Outside, the rain continued to fall with the heavy, unremitting thud of gravel poured from a truck.

Her mother sat on the second landing of the staircase, her ankles pulled tightly up against her floral wrapper. She held the transistor radio to her ear, tapping the plastic casing whenever the static drowned out the announcer’s voice. 'They say the mathematical model failed in Sector Four,' her mother whispered, without looking up. 'The formula couldn't account for the sudden density of grief. That's what the man on the broadcast said.'

'Grief doesn't have weight, Ma,' Kemi said, though her voice lacked conviction. She looked up through the stairwell to the skylight, where the grey clouds pressed so low against the glass that the sky seemed about to cave inward.

'Everything has weight when it falls,' her mother replied. 'When your father was alive, he could look at a cloud and tell you how many gallons of sorrow were suspended in it. He said people think the sky is empty space, but it’s just waiting to drop what we cannot bear to hold inside us.'

A loud splash echoed from the front parlour as a mahogany sideboard overturned, spilling ceramic plates into the murky water below.

(from the title story, 'What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky')

Explore how Lesley Nneka Arimah creates a powerful sense of grief, danger, and surreal catastrophe in this extract.

Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing.

‘Okonkwo’s downfall is caused entirely by his fear of being thought weak.’

How far does Achebe lead you to agree with this statement?

In what ways does Austen present Charlotte Lucas’s views on marriage as practical rather than unprincipled?

Explore how Hill powerfully conveys the isolation of Charles Kingshaw throughout the novel.

How does Lee make Aunt Alexandra such a complex and evolving figure in the novel?

‘Sampath’s retreat into the guava tree is an act of foolish laziness rather than genuine spiritual wisdom.’

To what extent does Desai encourage you to agree with this view?

In what ways does Desai depict Carignano as a place of retreat and emotional entrapment for Nanda Kaul?

Explore how Arimah presents the struggles of mothers and daughters in at least two stories from What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky.

‘Eilis Lacey is a passive observer in her own life, shaped entirely by the expectations of others.’

How far does Tóibín lead you to agree with this view of Eilis?