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 writer explains inflation by saying: “Inflation is like a leaking bucket: the more it leaks, the less each pound holds.” What is the primary job of this evidence?
- (A) To set a mood
- (B) To clarify a complex idea through an analogy
- (C) To increase the writer’s fame
- (D) To list statistics
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). A familiar object explains an unfamiliar concept.
- (A) is wrong: it does not create an atmosphere.
- (C) is wrong: it says nothing about the writer’s reputation.
- (D) is wrong: no numbers are given.
Question 2 (multiple choice · foundation)
Which choice would be most strategic for an audience of finance-minded councillors who must justify spending?
- (A) A poem about a river
- (B) A photograph of smiling children
- (C) A story about the writer’s holiday
- (D) A costed comparison with the price of doing nothing
Answer and explanation
Answer: (D). Councillors need figures that support a defensible decision.
- (A) is wrong: it is irrelevant to the decision.
- (B) is wrong: it sets a mood but gives no support for spending.
- (C) is wrong: it is irrelevant.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
Read this sentence, written by Marlbridge: “On a grey Sunday the high street has the hush of a waiting room.” Which job does the sentence most clearly do?
- (A) Set a mood
- (B) Cite expert opinion
- (C) Provide a statistic
- (D) State the claim
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). The simile and the detail of a grey Sunday create a quiet, expectant, slightly bleak atmosphere.
- (B) is wrong: no expert is cited.
- (C) is wrong: no figures are given.
- (D) is wrong: no position is asserted.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
Lincoln’s phrase “A house divided against itself cannot stand” (1858) was drawn from the Gospels. What is the most likely strategic reason to use a phrase from a text the audience knew well?
- (A) To show that Lincoln had read the Gospels more than others
- (B) To avoid explaining his claim
- (C) To associate his claim with an authority and a wording his audience already respected
- (D) To give a statistic
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). A well-known text lends authority and familiarity. Readers already accept the saying, so the claim that follows feels natural.
- (A) is wrong: the aim is persuasion, not display.
- (B) is wrong: he does explain his claim afterwards.
- (D) is wrong: no statistic is involved.
Question 5 (multiple choice · core)
A writer arguing that a cycle path should be built quotes a study that found fewer injuries on roads with separate cycle paths, but leaves out that the study was funded by a company that sells cycle-path materials. Which is the most accurate comment?
- (A) The writer’s evidence is more credible because it is a study.
- (B) The omission has no effect.
- (C) The omission could weaken the writer’s credibility if the audience learns of the funding, because it suggests the evidence may be biased.
- (D) The study proves the claim beyond doubt.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). A source’s independence matters. If the audience finds out about the funding, trust in both the study and the writer may fall.
- (A) is wrong: being a study does not guarantee credibility without independence.
- (B) is wrong: it could affect how trustworthy the evidence is.
- (D) is wrong: one possibly biased study does not prove anything beyond doubt.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
A student wants to persuade a school council to keep the vending machine that sells fruit. He has the following evidence (invented for practice): (i) 214 of 600 pupils buy fruit from it each week; (ii) the machine costs the school nothing because a supplier pays for it; (iii) a pupil says, “It’s the only thing that stops me going hungry at 11.” (iv) a picture of fruit in a bowl.
Choose two pieces of evidence that would be most effective for a council worried about cost and pupil welfare. For each, name the job it does and explain why it suits this audience.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. (ii) is strategic for a council worried about cost: it shows the service costs the school nothing, so it strengthens the validity of the argument and answers the likely objection. (i) quantifies the need: 214 of 600 pupils is more than a third, which exemplifies broad use and gives the council a figure it can cite. The pupil’s quotation (iii) would add a human voice and appeal to welfare, and the picture (iv) only sets a pleasant mood and adds little.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chooses two sensible pieces of evidence (e.g. (i) and (ii), or (ii) and (iii) with reasoning). |
| 1 | Names the job of the first piece (e.g. strengthens validity, quantifies). |
| 1 | Names the job of the second piece. |
| 1 | Links each choice to the audience’s cost or welfare concern. |
| 1 | Explains why at least one of the unchosen items is weaker. |
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
Read this passage, written by Marlbridge.
The closure of the swimming pool is not a small matter. Last summer, between nine and eleven each morning, the shallow end held a grandmother learning to float after her hip operation, three toddlers and a lifeguard who had taught half the town to swim. Take away the pool and you take away the one room where those people, all at once, were safe and unembarrassed in water.
Explain what the second sentence does for the argument. Name at least two jobs of evidence and refer to details.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. The sentence exemplifies who uses the pool: a grandmother, toddlers and a lifeguard represent different ages and needs, which supports the claim that the closure is not small. It illustrates the pool in use with a concrete scene (a grandmother learning to float after a hip operation), making the loss visible, and it appeals to values of care and community by showing vulnerable people safe and unembarrassed. The detail that the lifeguard “had taught half the town to swim” amplifies the pool’s importance to the whole community.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Names one job accurately (for example exemplify). |
| 1 | Names a second job accurately (for example illustrate, amplify or appeal to values). |
| 1 | Refers to a specific detail for each job. |
| 1 | Links the sentence to the claim (that the closure is not a small matter). |
| 1 | Explains the effect rather than only labelling. |
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
In 1858 Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.” Explain how the first sentence works as evidence for the claim in the second. Refer to at least two of the following jobs: clarify, associate, amplify.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. The first sentence clarifies by turning an abstract problem, a nation divided over slavery, into a familiar picture of a house where the occupants disagree about its foundations. It associates the claim with a saying his audience knew from the Gospels, so it carries authority and sounds like common wisdom. It also amplifies the stakes: “cannot stand” implies collapse and not merely discomfort. Because the audience accepts the picture, the explicit claim in the second sentence appears to follow naturally.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Explains how the image clarifies. |
| 1 | Explains how it associates with a respected source or familiar wisdom. |
| 1 | Explains how it amplifies the stakes. |
| 1 | Explains how the first sentence prepares the audience for the second. |
| 1 | Writes about effect on the audience, not only the label of a device. |
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.