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)
Which of the following is a claim that requires a defence?
- (A) The school has 840 pupils.
- (B) The school should keep its library open until 6 p.m. so that pupils without quiet space at home can study.
- (C) The school’s library is open until 4 p.m. on weekdays.
- (D) Many pupils use the school library.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). It is a position (a policy) that a reasonable person could dispute, and it needs reasons and evidence about need and cost.
- (A) is wrong: a checkable fact.
- (C) is wrong: a checkable fact about opening times.
- (D) is wrong: a statement of observation, not a position, and not in dispute.
Question 2 (multiple choice · foundation)
A student writes: “I like to read in the evenings.” Which label fits best?
- (A) Claim of policy
- (B) Claim of cause
- (C) Topic
- (D) Preference
Answer and explanation
Answer: (D). It reports a personal habit or taste. No reader could prove it wrong, so it needs no defence.
- (A) is wrong: it does not say what anyone should do.
- (B) is wrong: it does not say one thing causes another.
- (C) is wrong: a topic is a subject word or phrase, whereas this makes a statement about the writer.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
Which revision turns the weak claim “Exercise is good for people” into the strongest claim?
- (A) “Schools should timetable twenty minutes of daily exercise for pupils, because it improves concentration in later lessons.”
- (B) “Exercise is good for people of all ages.”
- (C) “Exercise is something many people do.”
- (D) “Many studies have been done on exercise.”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). It names an agent (schools), an action, a group (pupils) and a reason that can be supported. It is arguable and specific.
- (B) is wrong: still broad and almost no one disputes it.
- (C) is wrong: a fact, not a position.
- (D) is wrong: a statement about research, with no position.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
Read this passage, written by Marlbridge. “The council has painted new cycle lanes on Harbour Road. Cyclists use them in large numbers. But the lanes have made the road more dangerous, because they have narrowed the lane for lorries and forced drivers to pass too close.” Which sentence states the claim?
- (A) “The council has painted new cycle lanes on Harbour Road.”
- (B) “Cyclists use them in large numbers.”
- (C) “But the lanes have made the road more dangerous…”
- (D) None. The passage contains only facts.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). It states a disputed position (the lanes cause danger), which readers would want supported. The earlier sentences are facts that set the scene.
- (A) is wrong: a checkable fact.
- (B) is wrong: an observation that could be counted.
- (D) is wrong: the third sentence asserts a causal position.
Question 5 (multiple choice · core)
Which description of the kind of claim best fits “The town council should restore the library’s opening hours”?
- (A) A claim of definition
- (B) A claim of existence
- (C) A claim of policy
- (D) A preference
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). It argues what should be done, which is the defining feature of a claim of policy. It must be defended with a problem (hours cut) and a remedy (restore them).
- (A) is wrong: it does not argue what something counts as.
- (B) is wrong: it does not argue that something exists.
- (D) is wrong: it is a position for debate, not a taste.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
Read this passage, written by Marlbridge.
Our high street has twelve empty shops. Rents have doubled in six years. The council could fill those shops by offering rent-free periods to local start-ups; other towns that tried it saw footfall rise. Rent-free periods are the cheapest way to save a high street.
(a) Quote the sentence that states the main claim. (b) Explain, in one or two sentences, why it requires a defence. (c) Name one fact in the passage that serves as evidence.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. (a) “Rent-free periods are the cheapest way to save a high street.” (b) It asserts that one approach is the cheapest and that it will “save” the street, which a reasonable person (a landlord, an economist, a councillor) could dispute, so the writer must compare costs and show results. (c) “Our high street has twelve empty shops.” (or “Rents have doubled in six years.”)
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (4 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Quotes the claim sentence accurately. |
| 1 | Explains why it can be disputed (comparison with other options, uncertain outcome). |
| 1 | Explains that this means the writer owes evidence or reasoning. |
| 1 | Identifies a fact as evidence rather than another claim. |
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
Each of the three statements below is true but cannot serve as a claim. Rewrite each as a claim that requires a defence.
- “Pupils use phones at school.”
- “The city has a lot of cars.”
- “Reading is a skill.”
Answer and explanation
Model answers (many are possible). 1. “Schools should ban phones during lessons, because even silent phones reduce pupils’ attention.” 2. “The city should charge cars to enter its centre, because traffic makes the air unsafe to breathe.” 3. “Schools should teach reading as a daily skill beyond age eleven, because pupils who stop practising it lose fluency.”
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Rewrite 1 takes a position that a reasonable person could dispute. |
| 1 | Rewrite 2 takes a position that a reasonable person could dispute. |
| 1 | Rewrite 3 takes a position that a reasonable person could dispute. |
| 1 | At least two rewrites are specific (name a group, place or action). |
| 1 | At least one rewrite includes or implies a reason that could be supported with evidence. |
Award marks for any defensible rewrite; reject rewrites that are still obvious facts.
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Henry David Thoreau wrote in “Civil Disobedience” (1849): “I heartily accept the motto, ‘That government is best which governs least’; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically.” (a) Explain why this sentence is a claim rather than a fact. (b) Name the kind of claim. (c) Give one reason a reader might dispute it.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. (a) It asserts a judgement about what makes a government good and about how fast it should be applied, which cannot be settled by checking a record, so a reasonable reader could disagree and the writer must defend it. (b) A claim of value and policy: it judges that limited government is best and urges that it be applied more fully. (c) A reader might hold that governments should do more, for example by providing education, protection and services that individuals cannot supply alone, so that less government would harm the people who most depend on it.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Explains that it is a judgement or position, not a checkable fact. |
| 1 | Explains why a reasonable person could disagree. |
| 1 | Names value or policy as the kind of claim, with a reason. |
| 1 | Gives a plausible objection or alternative position. |
| 1 | Writes in precise language, with no summary of the whole essay. |
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.