These are original Marlbridge practice questions, not past exam questions. Any passage not credited to a named public-domain author was written by Marlbridge for practice; quotations from named authors are public-domain texts quoted briefly. The rubrics are a suggested Marlbridge rubric to help you check your own work; they are not an official scoring guideline. There is no calculator. Try each question before opening its answer.
Question 1 (multiple choice · foundation)
A school headteacher writes a letter to parents after a storm closes the building for two days. The letter explains new pick-up arrangements and asks parents to be patient. Which is the exigence of the letter?
- (A) The headteacher’s wish to appear organised
- (B) The storm and the closure of the building
- (C) The parents’ hope that school reopens quickly
- (D) The request that parents be patient
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). The exigence is the event or problem that prompts the writing. The letter exists because the storm closed the school and arrangements had to change.
- (A) is wrong: that would be a possible by-product, not what prompted the letter.
- (C) is wrong: this describes the audience’s need, not the trigger.
- (D) is wrong: asking for patience is part of the purpose or message, not the cause of the writing.
Question 2 (multiple choice · foundation)
Which description of a context is the most complete?
- (A) A speech about courage
- (B) A speech meant to inspire its listeners
- (C) A speech by a retired matron respected in her profession
- (D) A speech given to graduating nurses in a hospital hall during a staffing shortage in the spring
Answer and explanation
Answer: (D). Context is time, place and occasion. The correct option names the occasion (graduation), the place (a hospital hall) and a time-linked circumstance (a staffing shortage, spring).
- (A) is wrong: names a topic, not a context.
- (B) is wrong: names a purpose.
- (C) is wrong: describes the writer, not the context.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
Read this extract, written by Marlbridge. “Residents of Mill Lane, I know many of you have lived here for forty years and have watched the river rise twice. So when I say the new flood wall is worth paying for, I say it as someone whose own cellar flooded last March.” The speaker is a local councillor. Which statement best describes the audience?
- (A) Residents of Mill Lane who have long experience of local flooding
- (B) Anyone interested in flood defences
- (C) Councillors from other districts
- (D) Engineers who designed the flood wall
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). The opening address and the references to forty years of residence and two floods identify the audience directly: long-term residents with first-hand experience of the river.
- (B) is wrong: too vague. The text names a specific group.
- (C) is wrong: nothing in the extract addresses other councillors.
- (D) is wrong: the speaker mentions the wall but does not address its designers.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
In the extract from Question 3, the speaker says the flood wall is worth paying for “as someone whose own cellar flooded last March.” Which component of the rhetorical situation does this phrase most directly develop?
- (A) The exigence
- (B) The context
- (C) The writer’s credibility and connection to the audience
- (D) The message
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). The speaker mentions a personal experience to show that he shares the audience’s problem. This builds the writer’s credibility and a bond with the listeners.
- (A) is wrong: the exigence would be the trigger of the speech, such as the council’s flood-wall proposal.
- (B) is wrong: the flood is part of the setting, but the phrase works mainly to position the speaker.
- (D) is wrong: the message is the claim that the wall is worth paying for, which the phrase supports rather than states.
Question 5 (multiple choice · core)
Which pair correctly distinguishes message from purpose for a letter that argues, “A town’s library is part of its identity”, and asks the council to reverse a cut in hours?
- (A) Message: reverse the cut. Purpose: a library is part of a town’s identity.
- (B) Message and purpose are both: reverse the cut.
- (C) Message: a library is part of a town’s identity. Purpose: persuade the council to reverse the cut.
- (D) Message: the council voted last Tuesday. Purpose: a library is part of a town’s identity.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). The message is the main idea the text communicates; the purpose is what the writer hopes the text will achieve. Persuading the council to reverse the cut is the aim of the letter.
- (A) is wrong: reverses the two terms.
- (B) is wrong: merges them, but a text can state an idea (message) without that being the action it seeks (purpose).
- (D) is wrong: the date of the vote is the exigence or context, not the message.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
Read this passage, written by Marlbridge for practice.
Fellow volunteers: on Saturday our river clean-up pulled 212 bags of rubbish from a two-kilometre stretch, and the council has just announced that the bins along that path will be removed next month. I have organised this clean-up for eleven years. If the bins go, I fear our work will be undone within a summer. Please sign the petition at the gate before you leave, and come to the council meeting on 9 June.
Identify the exigence, the writer, the primary audience, the purpose and one aspect of the context, citing a detail from the passage for each.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. Exigence: the council’s announcement that bins along the path will be removed. Writer: the clean-up’s organiser of eleven years, whose experience gives credibility. Primary audience: the volunteers, addressed directly as “Fellow volunteers” and on hand at the gate. Purpose: to persuade volunteers to sign the petition and attend the council meeting on 9 June. Context: just after Saturday’s clean-up, a month before the removal, with a meeting on 9 June as the next opportunity to act.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (6 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Exigence correctly identified as the council’s announcement of bin removal (not the clean-up itself or the writer’s worry). |
| 1 | Writer identified with a detail, for example eleven years as organiser. |
| 1 | Primary audience identified as volunteers, with evidence such as the opening address. |
| 1 | Purpose stated as an action or effect (sign, attend), not a topic. |
| 1 | A context element (time, place or occasion) with textual evidence. |
| 1 | Each identification is tied to a detail from the passage rather than stated in general terms. |
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
A student writes: “The audience is people, the purpose is to talk about bins and the context is a long time ago.” Rewrite each of the three statements about the passage in Question 6 so that it is precise, and explain in one sentence what makes your versions better.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. Audience: volunteers who have just helped clear the river path, and, secondarily, council members who may hear of the petition. Purpose: to persuade readers to sign the petition and attend the 9 June meeting so the bins stay. Context: the weekend after a clean-up, a few weeks before bins are scheduled for removal, with a council meeting as a deadline. The rewrites are better because they name who, what action and when, using details from the text, so they could not describe a different passage.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Audience rewritten to name a specific group (volunteers), not “people”. |
| 1 | A secondary audience or additional reader group is recognised (optional alternatives such as the wider community are acceptable). |
| 1 | Purpose rewritten as an effect on the audience (sign, attend, keep the bins), not a topic. |
| 1 | Context rewritten with a time, place or occasion drawn from the passage. |
| 1 | Explanation names specificity or textual detail as the improvement. |
Award marks for any precise, text-based version; there is more than one good answer.
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Susan B. Anthony opened a speech in 1873 with: “Friends and fellow citizens: I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote.” Explain how two components of her rhetorical situation shape this opening sentence.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. Her exigence was the indictment for voting in the 1872 election, and the sentence names it at once, so the audience knows the stakes and why she is speaking. Her audience was local citizens who might later sit on a jury or read about the case, and “Friends and fellow citizens” treats them as equals and treats her own citizenship as settled, which is the point in dispute. The cautious legal phrasing “alleged crime” and “lawful right” fits an audience being asked to weigh the law itself.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Identifies one component accurately (for example exigence: the indictment). |
| 1 | Links that component to a specific word or phrase in the sentence. |
| 1 | Identifies a second component accurately (for example audience or writer). |
| 1 | Links the second component to a specific word or phrase. |
| 1 | Explains an effect or reason for the choice, not just a label. |
How did you do?
Count the multiple-choice questions you got right and compare your written answers with the rubric points. For anything you missed, reread the matching section of the study guide, then tick off the topic checklist.