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 sentence is the best example of commentary following the quotation “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”?
- (A) This is a quotation from Emerson.
- (B) By calling consistency a “hobgoblin”, an imaginary bogeyman, Emerson suggests that fear of contradicting oneself is a kind of needless terror.
- (C) Emerson says that consistency is foolish.
- (D) The quotation is famous.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). It explains a specific word and what it suggests, linking the evidence to a point.
- (A) is wrong: it only identifies the source.
- (C) is wrong: it restates the quotation and is inaccurate: he says a foolish consistency, not all consistency.
- (D) is wrong: it says nothing about meaning or support.
Question 2 (multiple choice · foundation)
A student writes: “The speaker uses a metaphor.” What is the main weakness of this commentary?
- (A) It is too long.
- (B) It contains a quotation.
- (C) It is written in the past tense.
- (D) It names a device without saying what the device does or how it supports the claim.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (D). Labelling a device is only level two of the commentary ladder; analysis explains the effect.
- (A) is wrong: it is very short.
- (B) is wrong: it contains no quotation.
- (C) is wrong: tense is not the issue.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
Claim: Roosevelt values effort more than judgement from the sidelines. Evidence: “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.” Which commentary best connects the evidence to the claim?
- (A) “By placing credit with the person ‘actually in the arena’, Roosevelt sets present, risky action against remote judgement, so effort, not commentary from outside, becomes the measure of worth.”
- (B) “The arena is a place for games.”
- (C) “This shows that Roosevelt values effort.”
- (D) “Roosevelt was a president.”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). It explains a word (“actually”), contrasts two roles and shows how the contrast supports the claim.
- (B) is wrong: a literal and irrelevant reading.
- (C) is wrong: repeats the claim without explanation.
- (D) is wrong: gives a fact with no connection to the claim.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
Which lead-in best introduces a quotation in a paragraph about Roosevelt’s views on criticism?
- (A) Quote: “It is not the critic who counts.”
- (B) There is a quotation about critics.
- (C) In his 1910 address in Paris, Roosevelt dismisses the idea that observers deserve credit, arguing that
- (D) A quotation follows.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). It names the source and occasion, states the point the quotation will support and uses a precise verb.
- (A) is wrong: drops the quotation in with no lead-in.
- (B) is wrong: vague, with no source and no point.
- (D) is wrong: announces a quotation but frames nothing.
Question 5 (multiple choice · core)
In which pair does the second sentence provide commentary and not just summary?
- (A) Claim: The poster makes safety urgent. Evidence: It shows a child near a road. Second sentence: The poster has a picture of a child.
- (B) Claim: The poster makes safety urgent. Evidence: It shows a child near a road. Second sentence: This is an image.
- (C) Claim: The poster makes safety urgent. Evidence: It shows a child near a road. Second sentence: Because the child is small and alone beside a wide road, readers feel the danger before they read a word.
- (D) Claim: The poster makes safety urgent. Evidence: It shows a child near a road. Second sentence: Safety is important.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). It explains how details (small, alone, wide road) create the effect on the viewer and so supports the claim.
- (A) is wrong: it restates the evidence.
- (B) is wrong: it labels without analysis.
- (D) is wrong: it repeats the claim in general terms.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
Rewrite the commentary in the paragraph below so that it reaches at least level four of the commentary ladder (explain and connect).
Lincoln wants to move the country toward reconciliation. He ends his Second Inaugural Address (1865) with the words “with malice toward none, with charity for all.” This shows that Lincoln wants reconciliation.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. Lincoln wants to move the country toward reconciliation. He ends his Second Inaugural Address (1865) by calling for action “with malice toward none, with charity for all.” The two phrases rule out both revenge and indifference: “malice toward none” removes the desire to punish, while “charity for all” extends goodwill even to those who have fought him. By expressing the principle in absolutes (“none”, “all”), Lincoln leaves no group outside the nation he hopes to rebuild.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Does not repeat the claim as commentary. |
| 1 | Explains the meaning of at least one phrase. |
| 1 | Connects the explanation to reconciliation. |
| 1 | Comments on a specific word or pattern (for example “none” and “all”). |
| 1 | Commentary is at least as long as the evidence. |
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
Read this paragraph, written by Marlbridge.
The new bus lane has clearly improved the high street. Before it opened, the average journey from the station to the market was 24 minutes; now it is 17. This shows that the bus lane has improved the high street.
Write two sentences of commentary to replace the final sentence. Your commentary should explain what the figures mean and connect them to the claim.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. “A seven-minute saving is almost a third of the original journey, which means shoppers and workers can reach the market faster and more reliably by bus. Because quicker journeys encourage more people to leave their cars at home and use the shops, the lane improves not only travel but trade on the high street.”
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Explains the figures (for example, seven minutes saved, about 29 percent). |
| 1 | Connects the saving to an effect on the high street. |
| 1 | Does not simply repeat the claim. |
| 1 | The reasoning is plausible and clearly linked. |
| 1 | Writes two sentences as asked. |
7 of 24 is 0.29; the model answer says ‘almost a third’. Accept any accurate explanation.
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Roosevelt (1910) describes the person who deserves credit as one “whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.” Write a short paragraph of commentary (three to four sentences) explaining how this phrase supports the claim that Roosevelt measures worth by effort and risk. Refer to at least two details of wording.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. The phrase “dust and sweat and blood” is a list that escalates from the mess of work to physical pain, so effort is shown as something that leaves a visible mark. The word “marred” would normally suggest damage, but Roosevelt applies it to the person who deserves credit, which turns the marks of struggle into a sign of participation and not of failure. Together the details persuade listeners to value someone who risks injury and embarrassment above someone who stays unmarked by staying on the sidelines. The claim is therefore that worth lies in the willingness to be marked by trying.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Explains the escalating list “dust and sweat and blood”. |
| 1 | Explains the word “marred” and its reversal of expectation. |
| 1 | Connects both to the claim about effort and risk. |
| 1 | Extends to the effect on the audience or the larger point. |
| 1 | Writes a coherent paragraph and does not just label devices. |
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.