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 description best matches synthesis?
- (A) Reporting what each source says in the order given
- (B) Using several sources together to support the writer’s own position
- (C) Copying a source’s best sentences
- (D) Ignoring the sources
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). Synthesis integrates others’ arguments into one’s own, with the writer’s position in control.
- (A) is wrong: that is summary.
- (C) is wrong: copying is not integrating, and may be plagiarism.
- (D) is wrong: synthesis requires using sources.
Question 2 (multiple choice · foundation)
A student reads a statistic in a source and restates it in his own words without naming the source. This is
- (A) acceptable because the words are his own
- (B) good practice
- (C) only a problem for quotations
- (D) a failure to acknowledge the source, because the idea came from it
Answer and explanation
Answer: (D). Ideas and statistics taken from a source need attribution even when reworded.
- (A) is wrong: originality of wording does not remove the duty to credit the idea.
- (B) is wrong: it is not good practice.
- (C) is wrong: paraphrases and summaries also need credit.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
Which sentence best integrates a source into the writer’s own argument? (Sources invented for practice.)
- (A) Trams may reduce congestion, as Source A reports, but Source B’s account of construction costs suggests the saving would come only at a price the town must be ready to pay.
- (B) Source A says that trams reduce congestion. Source B says that trams are costly.
- (C) Source A.
- (D) Trams are a topic.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). It connects two sources, attributes each, and makes a point of its own that serves a position.
- (B) is wrong: summarises the sources in turn with no relation.
- (C) is wrong: is not a sentence.
- (D) is wrong: it is only a topic.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
In a paragraph, the writer says that a second source “shows the first source’s figure is only half the story”. Which synthesis move is this?
- (A) Support
- (B) Ignore
- (C) Complicate
- (D) Quote
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). Saying that a source shows only part of the story complicates or qualifies another source’s claim.
- (A) is wrong: support would confirm the figure.
- (B) is wrong: the writer engages with both sources.
- (D) is wrong: nothing is quoted in that clause.
Question 5 (multiple choice · core)
Which of these needs no citation?
- (A) A direct quotation from a source
- (B) A paraphrase of a source’s argument
- (C) The statement that the Earth orbits the Sun
- (D) A statistic learned from a source, restated in your words
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). It is common knowledge. The other three come from a source and must be credited.
- (A) is wrong: quotations always need credit.
- (B) is wrong: paraphrases need credit.
- (D) is wrong: statistics from a source need credit.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
Use these invented sources.
Source A (council traffic report). After a 20 mph limit was introduced on Mill Road, recorded injuries fell from 14 in the year before to 6 in the year after.
Source B (shop owners’ survey). 22 of 30 shop owners said the lower limit had not affected trade.
Source C (bus company letter). Journey times on Mill Road rose by an average of 3 minutes and some services are now late for connections.
Prompt: “Should the 20 mph limit stay on Mill Road?” Write a thesis and a paragraph of five to six sentences that synthesises at least two sources and cites them by letter.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. Thesis: The 20 mph limit should stay on Mill Road, provided the council works with the bus company to protect connections. Paragraph: The strongest argument for the limit is safety: injuries fell from 14 to 6 in a year (Source A), a reduction of more than half. The limit also appears not to have harmed the street’s businesses, since 22 of 30 shop owners reported no effect on trade (Source B). The bus company’s complaint is real, as journey times rose by an average of three minutes (Source C), but it concerns a delay that can be addressed by retiming services, whereas the injuries cannot be undone. A limit that protects pedestrians and leaves trade untouched is worth keeping, so long as the council treats the connections problem as a cost to be solved, not a reason to repeal the rule.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Thesis takes a position and (optionally) a qualification. |
| 1 | Uses at least two sources with correct letters and accurate facts. |
| 1 | Groups or connects sources instead of summarising each in turn. |
| 1 | Includes commentary that links sources to the claim. |
| 1 | Acknowledges a counter-source or qualification and responds to it. |
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
Fix the following paragraph so that it synthesises instead of summarising. Use the same sources as in Question 6.
Source A says injuries fell. Source B says shops were not harmed. Source C says journeys are slower. So there are different views about the 20 mph limit.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. The 20 mph limit has clear benefits: injuries on Mill Road fell from 14 to 6 (Source A) and most shop owners report no loss of trade (Source B). The bus company’s evidence of three-minute delays (Source C) is a genuine cost, but it falls on one service and can be reduced by retiming, while the safety gain affects every pedestrian. Taken together, the sources suggest that the limit is worth keeping if the council also supports the bus service.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | States a clear position, not ‘many views’. |
| 1 | Groups sources by idea (benefits against costs). |
| 1 | Attributes each source accurately. |
| 1 | Provides commentary connecting sources to the position. |
| 1 | Ends by returning to the position. |
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Henry David Thoreau wrote in “Civil Disobedience” (1849): “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.” Write two or three sentences that quote Thoreau briefly, attribute him, and then either extend or qualify his idea in your own words. State which move you made.
Answer and explanation
Model answer (qualify). Thoreau argues that “the true place for a just man is also a prison” when a government imprisons people unjustly, which suggests that the objector should accept the penalty. That standard fits cases where jailing the objector exposes the injustice, but it fits less well where imprisonment silences the objector and leaves the injustice in place; there, an objector might do more good by staying free to organise. I have qualified Thoreau by limiting when his rule works best.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Quotes Thoreau accurately and briefly. |
| 1 | Attributes the idea to Thoreau. |
| 1 | Makes a clear extension or qualification in the writer’s own words. |
| 1 | Names the move made. |
| 1 | Gives a reason for the extension or qualification. |
Accept an extension or a qualification, provided it is reasoned and does not simply repeat Thoreau.
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.