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 hospital notice begins: “All ward nurses: from Monday, the sharps bins on Levels 2 and 3 will be emptied at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.” Which description of the primary audience is best?
- (A) Patients on Levels 2 and 3
- (B) Ward nurses, who handle the sharps bins
- (C) Anyone who reads hospital notices
- (D) The hospital’s visitors
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). The notice opens with direct address to ward nurses and concerns a task they carry out.
- (A) is wrong: patients are not addressed and do not handle the bins.
- (C) is wrong: too vague. The text names a group.
- (D) is wrong: visitors are neither addressed nor affected by the schedule.
Question 2 (multiple choice · foundation)
Which sentence best describes the context of a graduation address given in a university hall to a class completing their degrees in June?
- (A) It is meant to inspire the graduates.
- (B) It was given by a respected scientist.
- (C) It says that education is valuable.
- (D) It was delivered in a university hall at a graduation ceremony in June.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (D). Context is time, place and occasion: June, a university hall and a graduation.
- (A) is wrong: describes a purpose.
- (B) is wrong: describes the writer or speaker.
- (C) is wrong: describes the message.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
A newspaper columnist writes: “I know many of you have been told that this bypass will save you ten minutes. I used to believe that too, until I drove it for a week.” Which audience feature does the first sentence show the writer considering?
- (A) What readers have already been told and believe
- (B) The readers’ expertise in traffic engineering
- (C) The readers’ age
- (D) The readers’ political party
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). “Many of you have been told” anticipates a belief the audience holds because of what it was told, and the writer builds his argument by first sharing that belief.
- (B) is wrong: there is no sign the audience has specialist knowledge.
- (C) is wrong: age is not mentioned or implied.
- (D) is wrong: no party is mentioned.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
A speaker addressing a crowd of striking factory workers in 1913 says, “We have stood outside these gates for nine weeks.” Which effect of the pronoun “we” is most accurate?
- (A) It separates the speaker from the crowd.
- (B) It suggests the speaker is a manager.
- (C) It places the speaker among the workers and builds common ground with the audience.
- (D) It makes the sentence less specific.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). “We” includes the speaker in the group’s experience, which builds solidarity with the listeners.
- (A) is wrong: “you” would separate; “we” joins.
- (B) is wrong: nothing indicates he is a manager.
- (D) is wrong: the sentence is specific (nine weeks, outside the gates); the pronoun doesn’t change that.
Question 5 (multiple choice · core)
A draft letter to local councillors about a new pedestrian crossing contains the sentence: “Honestly, the road is a total mess and everyone knows it.” Which revision is best suited to the audience?
- (A) “The road is a disaster, so just fix it.”
- (B) “I am so worried and sad about the road.”
- (C) “Between September and December, there were four collisions at this junction, which suggests the present layout does not protect pedestrians.”
- (D) “Roads are important in every town.”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). Councillors respond to specific, verifiable evidence delivered in a measured tone. The revision supplies figures and a restrained conclusion.
- (A) is wrong: it is demanding and offers no support.
- (B) is wrong: it centres on the writer’s feelings and offers nothing the councillors can act on.
- (D) is wrong: it is too general to affect a decision.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
Below are two openings to the same announcement, written by Marlbridge.
Opening 1: “Hi everyone! Quick heads-up: the climbing wall is shut for a bit while we sort a safety thing.”
Opening 2: “The climbing wall will be closed from 3 to 24 March while an inspection is carried out and any necessary repairs are completed. Members whose bookings fall in this period will be refunded in full.”
Evidence in the text suggests that one is for teenage members and the other for adult members who pay fees. Match each opening to its likely audience and explain two choices that show it.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. Opening 1 is written for teenage members: the greeting “Hi everyone!”, the casual idiom “quick heads-up” and “a safety thing” are informal and brief, with no detail they would not need. Opening 2 is written for fee-paying adults: it gives precise dates, the reason (inspection and repairs) and the consequence that matters to them (full refund), in formal, precise language.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Matches Opening 1 to young members and Opening 2 to adult fee-payers. |
| 1 | First choice explained: informal diction or tone in Opening 1. |
| 1 | Second choice explained: formal diction or precise detail in Opening 2. |
| 1 | Links at least one choice to a specific need of the audience (what happens next or a refund). |
| 1 | Quotes or closely refers to words in the openings. |
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
Rewrite this sentence for two different audiences, first for local councillors and then for primary-school pupils, then explain in two sentences what you changed and why.
“The new recycling scheme will reduce landfill waste by about a third.”
Answer and explanation
Model answer. For councillors: “Projections from the pilot area indicate that the new recycling scheme would divert about a third of household waste from landfill, lowering disposal costs.” For pupils: “If we all sort our rubbish properly, a third of what we throw away won’t end up buried in the ground!” I added evidence terms and a cost angle for councillors, who must justify spending; I used simple words, “we” and an image the children can picture, because they need to feel involved.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Version for councillors is formal and includes institutional vocabulary or a consideration councillors care about (cost, evidence). |
| 1 | Version for pupils uses simple vocabulary or a direct, inclusive voice. |
| 1 | Both versions keep the original meaning. |
| 1 | Explanation names at least one change linked to the audience’s needs or values. |
| 1 | Explanation does not simply say one is easier. |
Accept any pair of versions that differ in a way tied to the readers’ needs.
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Booker T. Washington spoke at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta on 18 September 1895 with the image: “Cast down your bucket where you are.” (a) Describe the context. (b) Explain why his audience was divided. (c) Explain how the image could be heard differently by two groups in the audience.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. (a) A large public exposition in the American South in 1895, about thirty years after the Civil War, in an era of increasing segregation. It was a showcase of progress and commerce. (b) The audience included white Southern business and political leaders, Black Southerners and, through the press, a national public, groups with very different beliefs and needs about race and the economy. (c) White business leaders could hear the image as an assurance that cooperation and economic partnership were possible without immediate challenge to the existing order; many Black listeners and later critics such as W. E. B. Du Bois heard it as accepting too little. The image works because its practical wording allows more than one hearing.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Context includes time, place and occasion. |
| 1 | Identifies at least two distinct groups in the audience. |
| 1 | Explains why the groups’ beliefs or needs differ. |
| 1 | Explains how the image is heard by one group. |
| 1 | Explains how the image is heard by a second group, or how the ambiguity helps the speaker. |
Marlbridge note: describe the speech neutrally; the point is audience and context, not a verdict on the speaker.
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.