2
Read Text A and answer Question 1 and Question 2 on the question paper.
Text A: Where it all began
In this extract from a story set a long time ago in Italy, the writer has just started as a kitchen
worker in a grand palace. One of his duties is to transport heavy blocks of ice from the ice
house in the palace gardens to the kitchen.
1 The first time I did this, the curiosity of playing with the frozen slabs – of seeing how they slid
away from me like eels, how I could ride them down the slope, or best of all shoot them at
the kitchen wall from a distance and watch them shatter into jewel-like shards – enchanted
me so much that, in a state of childish enthusiasm, I neglected my other duties.
2 When Ahmad, my master, found me in the courtyard, surrounded by ruined ice blocks, he 5
showed none of the displeasure which I knew my ill-discipline warranted. ‘Come with me,’ he
said without expression.
3 He took me to the ice house and ushered me in, apparently closing the door tight shut
behind me. Inside, in pleasant contrast to the stifling heat outside, it was the temperature at
which water becomes ice. Initially, though dressed in a thin shirt and short breeches, I stood 10
congratulating myself on avoiding the task of cleaning up. After a few minutes, I began to
shiver. The cold felt like a flame. A few more minutes and I was shaking from the searing
cold. My confidence crumbled. Feebly, I leant against the door, which surprisingly swung
open to reveal Ahmad waiting patiently outside.
4 I never again played with the ice. 15
5 Each night, exhausted, I crawled into the kitchen to sleep next to the huge open fireplace
the cooks used to roast meats. The cooks grew used to me. I watched them as they worked:
observing how they pureed fruits to intensify the flavours; how they extracted the perfumes
of flowers to flavour creams and liqueurs. But when I suggested to Ahmad that we could use
these techniques, he waved me away. ‘We are engineers, not cooks,’ he would proclaim. 20
‘Cooking is women’s business. We know the secrets of ice.’
6 Indeed, these were ancient secrets known to few, passed down within two families who
supplied frozen ices to the royal court. Some of this knowledge was contained in stained
leather-bound notebooks, but most was kept only in Ahmad’s head, in a set of rules he had
no desire to question. 25
‘To five measures of crushed ice, add three…’ he would recite.
‘Why?’ I would say.
‘Why what?’
‘Why must the ice be crushed?’
‘What does it matter? Stir the mixture clockwise…’ 30
7 I had been working for Ahmad almost two years before I dared to ask what the ices we made
tasted like. ‘What does the taste matter to you, child?’ answered Ahmad.
‘Sir, I’ve seen how the cooks try their dishes as they make them. I think I’ll understand better
how to make these ices if I know how they are meant to taste.’ We were making an ice
flavoured with a tempting syrup of small, sweet oranges. 35
‘Very well,’ Ahmad said casually. ‘Try some.’
8 Before he could change his mind, I grabbed a spoon, scooping out a little and putting it
to my lips. Ice crystals cracked and crunched against my teeth, dissolving on my tongue
with a sparkling sensation. I gasped with delight, then pain, as the cold gripped my throat. I
spluttered. Ahmad’s lip curled with amusement. 40
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9 ‘Now, perhaps, you understand this is not a dish for us. We are here to entertain, boy. We
are like singers, or actors, for the wealthy and the great. No one but them will ever be able
to waste so much expense on something that melts to nothing.’ But, once I’d got over the
initial strangeness, I found I could not forget that extraordinary flavour, nor the cold, frozen
grittiness. It was as if the ice itself was enticing, daring me on. From then on, without Ahmad 45
knowing, I tasted every ice confection we made.
10 I sometimes wondered why Ahmad shared his knowledge so readily with me, but soon
realised that to him I was simply a workhorse, a creature incapable of reason. He taught me
what he knew, not because he wanted to share his secrets, but because he wanted to share
the labour. And so I learnt the subtle art of more complex water ices: ‘sorbetti’, in which the 50
syrups themselves were frozen, transforming magically to mounds of glittering crystals; and
‘sherbets’, the most difficult and enchanting of all, expertly infused with fragrant cardamom,
and resembling refrozen snow.
11 There were still secrets, special ingredients, described in the notebooks which Ahmad kept
to himself, to ensure that I would always know less than he did. If I suggested we try a new 55
flavour, Ahmad would say flatly, ‘It is not one of the flavours – look in the book.’ He was
taunting me, of course: he knew I could not read. Nor did I need to read it to know that only
four flavours were all its ancient pages permitted. Our ices had another drawback too –
that shooting pain which came from biting down on them. I longed to make an ice that was
smooth, soft and creamy: ‘ice cream’. 60
12 So began a period in which I lived a double life. By day, I followed Ahmad’s instructions
dutifully. But by night I was a kind of alchemist, the kitchen my laboratory as I experimented
wildly, without method or purpose, trying increasingly outlandish and ridiculous combinations
of flavours and ingredients. I froze soft cheeses, vegetable juices, even soups, hoping to
chance on something – some method, some key – something that could unlock the deepest, 65
frozen secrets of ice cream.
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Read Text A, Where it all began, in the insert and answer Question 1 and Question 2.
Question 1
(a) In paragraph 1, what did the writer enjoy the most about moving the ice blocks the first time
he did this?
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(b) Using your own words, explain what the text means by ‘I neglected my other duties.’ (line 4)
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............................................................................................................................................. [2]
(c) In paragraph 3, how did the writer feel at first about being in the ice house?
Give two details from the text to support your answer.
writer’s feeling ...........................................................................................................................
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details .......................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
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...................................................................................................................................................
[3]
(d) Explain what the writer was thinking when he leant against the door and it ‘surprisingly swung
open’. (lines 13–14)
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...................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................. [1]
(e) From paragraph 5, identify two techniques used by the palace kitchen cooks that the writer
thought could be useful to improve the flavour of the ices he is making with Ahmad.
• ..............................................................................................................................................
• ..............................................................................................................................................
[2]
(f) Give two reasons why the secrets of ice had remained ‘known to few’. (line 22)
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...................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................. [2]
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(g) In paragraph 7, the writer asked Ahmad what the ices they made tasted like.
(i) What reason did the writer give Ahmad for wanting to know?
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(ii) Suggest the real reason the writer was asking about the taste of the ices.
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..................................................................................................................................... [1]
(h) Explain using your own words the writer’s different feelings and opinions about Ahmad
while he was working for him.
Give three details from anywhere in the text to support your answer.
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...................................................................................................................................................
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............................................................................................................................................. [3]
[Total: 16]
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Question 2
(a) Read this sentence from the text:
‘Ice crystals cracked and crunched against my teeth, dissolving on my tongue with a sparkling
sensation.’ (lines 38–39)
What effect does the writer suggest about the sensation of the crystals dissolving on his
tongue by using the word ‘sparkling’ to describe it?
...................................................................................................................................................
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............................................................................................................................................. [2]
(b) Read this extract from the text:
‘But, once I’d got over the initial strangeness, I found I could not forget that extraordinary
flavour, nor the cold, frozen grittiness. It was as if the ice itself was enticing, daring me on.
From then on, without Ahmad knowing, I tasted every ice confection we made.’ (lines 43–46)
What does the writer want to suggest to the reader at this point in the story?
...................................................................................................................................................
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............................................................................................................................................. [1]
(c) Explain why the writer uses the word ‘creature’ rather than ‘boy’ in the expression ‘a creature
incapable of reason.’ (line 48)
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............................................................................................................................................. [1]
(d) What two impressions does the writer want to convey to the reader in the sentence:
‘And so I learnt the subtle art of more complex water ices: ‘sorbetti’, in which the syrups
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themselves were frozen, transforming magically to mounds of glittering crystals; and
‘sherbets’, the most difficult and enchanting of all, expertly infused with fragrant cardamom,
and resembling refrozen snow.’ (lines 50–53)?
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................. [2]
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(e) Identify one example of how the writer uses language effectively to convey his feelings once
he begins his double life, in this extract from the text:
‘So began a period in which I lived a double life. By day, I followed Ahmad’s instructions
dutifully. But by night I was a kind of alchemist, the kitchen my laboratory as I experimented
wildly, without method or purpose, trying increasingly outlandish and ridiculous combinations
of flavours and ingredients. I froze soft cheeses, vegetable juices, even soups, hoping to
chance on something – some method, some key – something that could unlock the deepest,
frozen secrets of ice cream.’ (lines 61–66)
Explain the impression the writer creates in the example you have identified.
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example ....................................................................................................................................
explanation ...............................................................................................................................
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...................................................................................................................................................
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[3]
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[Total: 9]
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