IGCSE English 0500: Relevant Evidence from a List. Street-Food Passage

Read the passage, then answer the questions that follow.

Deniz had run the same corner stall for six years, selling grilled corn and spiced flatbreads to commuters outside the station, but the invitation to the city's autumn food festival was the first time anyone from outside the neighbourhood had noticed his stand. The festival organisers charged a flat fee for the pitch, non-refundable regardless of how many customers turned up, and Deniz had already spent most of his savings on a larger griddle so he could serve faster during the expected rush.

Two days before the festival, the forecast changed from mild sunshine to steady rain for the whole weekend, and Deniz knew from years at the station that rain kept commuters moving quickly past his stall rather than stopping to queue. He also learned, from a message in the vendors' group chat, that four other stalls at the festival would be selling very similar grilled flatbreads, undercutting his prices by nearly a third. His daughter Elif offered to help him print new signs highlighting the stall's slow-cooked spice mix, something none of the other vendors used, but the printer at the library was broken until Monday, one day after the festival ended.

On the morning of the festival itself, the rain held off until midday, and by then Deniz had already sold out of flatbreads twice.

Focus for this task: the reasons Deniz feared his stall might fail at the festival, before it began.

From the list below, the four statements are: Statement 1: Deniz had run the same stall for six years. Statement 2: The weather forecast changed to steady rain for the festival weekend. Statement 3: Four other stalls would be selling similar food more cheaply. Statement 4: The rain held off until midday on the day of the festival itself.

(a) Identify the TWO statements that are RELEVANT evidence for this focus, and for each, give the supporting quotation from the passage. [4]

(b) Explain briefly why Statement 1 and Statement 4, although both true, are NOT relevant evidence for this particular focus. [2]

Assessment focus

This question isolates the skill of distinguishing relevant from irrelevant detail by presenting a closed list of statements, all genuinely drawn from the passage, and asking candidates to test each one against a precisely worded focus. This mirrors a common 0500 pitfall: including a plausible, on-topic, true detail that nonetheless does not answer the actual question asked.

Part (a): Selecting the relevant statements

The focus asks specifically for reasons Deniz feared failure before the festival began. Two statements meet this test:

Statement 2, the changed forecast. Quotation: “the forecast changed from mild sunshine to steady rain for the whole weekend.” This is relevant because Deniz’s own experience tells him “rain kept commuters moving quickly past his stall rather than stopping to queue”, i.e. bad weather threatens his sales before the event even starts.
Statement 3, the competing stalls. Quotation: “four other stalls at the festival would be selling very similar grilled flatbreads, undercutting his prices by nearly a third.” This is relevant because cheaper, similar competition is a direct commercial threat discovered before the festival.

Mark scheme, up to 4 marks: 2 marks for each correctly identified statement (1 for correct identification, 1 for an accurate supporting quotation), to a maximum of two statements. No credit for Statement 1 or Statement 4.

Part (b): Explaining why two true statements are not relevant

Statement 1 (six years running the stall) is background/context establishing Deniz’s experience. If anything, it is a reason for confidence, not fear, so even though it appears early in the passage and seems important, it does not answer a focus specifically about reasons for fearing failure.
Statement 4 (the rain holding off until midday) describes an event during the festival itself, and moreover shows things going well, not badly. It cannot be a reason Deniz feared failure “before it began,” both because of its timing and because of its content.

Mark scheme. Up to 2 marks: 1 mark for correctly explaining why Statement 1 is irrelevant (background/confidence, not a reason for fear), 1 mark for correctly explaining why Statement 4 is irrelevant (happens during/after the festival starts, and describes a positive outcome, not a pre-existing fear).

Common pitfalls specific to this text

Some candidates select Statement 4 because it also mentions rain, assuming any weather-related statement must support the same point as Statement 2. A reminder that relevance depends on the specific claim within a statement, not just its general topic.
Candidates sometimes credit the sign-printing detail (mentioned in the passage but not among the four statements) as if it were part of this task; the question restricts creditable answers to the four listed statements only.