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 statement best defines a line of reasoning?
- (A) A list of sources
- (B) The logical sequence of claims, evidence and commentary that leads the reader to the thesis
- (C) A single sentence with a claim
- (D) A summary of facts
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). A line of reasoning is the path that moves the reader from a starting point to the thesis.
- (A) is wrong: a list of sources is not a path of reasoning.
- (C) is wrong: a single sentence is not a sequence.
- (D) is wrong: a summary of facts has no direction.
Question 2 (multiple choice · foundation)
A writer states her thesis in the first paragraph and then uses each later paragraph to give a separate reason for it. Which pattern is this?
- (A) Reasoning, then claim
- (B) No pattern
- (C) Narration
- (D) Claim, then reasoning
Answer and explanation
Answer: (D). The thesis comes first and the reasons follow.
- (A) is wrong: in that pattern the thesis comes last.
- (B) is wrong: there is a clear pattern.
- (C) is wrong: narration is a method of development, not a pattern of thesis placement.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
Which sequence best shows a problem-then-solution line of reasoning for an essay arguing that schools should provide breakfast?
- (A) Evidence that many pupils arrive hungry; the effect on learning; a breakfast programme as a remedy; an answer to the cost objection; the recommendation
- (B) Recommendation, objection, evidence of hunger, conclusion
- (C) Objection, recommendation, evidence
- (D) A list of foods
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). It moves from problem to effect to remedy to objection to recommendation.
- (B) is wrong: it begins with the recommendation and objection before any problem is shown.
- (C) is wrong: it begins with an objection and gives no path.
- (D) is wrong: it presents no argument.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
In his address at Gettysburg (1863), Lincoln moves from the founding of the nation, to the present war that tests it, to a charge to “us the living”. Which ordering principle does this show?
- (A) Alphabetical
- (B) Least to most important only
- (C) Chronological: past, present, future
- (D) No ordering principle
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). The three sections follow the order of time, and the ending turns toward the audience’s task.
- (A) is wrong: nothing is arranged alphabetically.
- (B) is wrong: importance is not the principle that organises the speech.
- (D) is wrong: the sequence is deliberate.
Question 5 (multiple choice · core)
Paragraph 2 of an essay argues that bus fares should be cut because they are higher than in neighbouring towns. Paragraph 3 begins: “However, cutting fares would raise ridership.” What is wrong with the transition?
- (A) Nothing; “however” is always correct
- (B) The sentence is too short
- (C) “However” signals a contrast, but paragraph 3 extends the argument in the same direction, so “Moreover” or “In addition” would fit better
- (D) It contains a statistic
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). A transition should state the real relation. The second claim supports the first, so a contrast word misleads the reader.
- (A) is wrong: “however” signals contrast and does not always fit.
- (B) is wrong: length is not the issue.
- (D) is wrong: nothing in the sentence is statistical.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
Map the line of reasoning of this three-paragraph argument, written by Marlbridge, and state whether it supports the thesis.
P1. Our school’s recycling bins are rarely used, and they stand empty at lunch when hundreds of cans and bottles go into general waste.
P2. The bins are unused because they are in the corridors, not where pupils eat, and because they are not labelled for different materials.
P3. The school should therefore move the bins to the canteen and label them clearly.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. Thesis: the school should move the recycling bins to the canteen and label them clearly. P1 states the problem (bins unused, recyclables thrown away). P2 explains the cause (location and labelling). P3 draws the recommendation that follows from the cause. The order is problem, cause, remedy. Each step leads to the next: the remedy answers the causes named in P2. There are no detours, so the line of reasoning supports the thesis. A possible gap is that no evidence shows that moving the bins would change behaviour.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | States the thesis accurately. |
| 1 | Summarises each paragraph’s role (problem, cause, remedy). |
| 1 | Identifies the logical links between paragraphs. |
| 1 | Judges that the line supports the thesis, with a reason. |
| 1 | Notes a possible gap or weakness. |
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
Put these five claims (written by Marlbridge) in an order that forms a line of reasoning for the thesis “The council should fund free swimming lessons for every child”, and justify your order in two or three sentences.
(a) The council should fund free swimming lessons for every child. (b) Critics say the council cannot afford new programmes. (c) Lessons would cut the number of children who cannot swim at eleven. (d) One in four children in the town leaves primary school unable to swim. (e) Children who cannot swim are at greater risk near water.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. One order is (d), (e), (c), (b), (a). The sequence runs from the problem (d), through why it matters (e), to the remedy (c), then the objection (b), and ends with the recommendation (a). Each step prepares the next: a reader who accepts the problem and its danger will see the point of lessons, and the cost objection can be answered before the conclusion. Another defensible order starts with (a) and then gives (d), (e), (c) and (b), as a claim-then-reasoning pattern.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Places the problem before its significance. |
| 1 | Places the remedy after the problem. |
| 1 | Places the objection near the end (or answered), before or after the thesis as the pattern requires. |
| 1 | Gives a reason for the order that refers to the logic. |
| 1 | Order is coherent (accept (a) first or last with a consistent pattern). |
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Explain how the three sections of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (1863) form a line of reasoning that ends with a charge to “us the living”. Refer to the past, present and future sections.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. The first section sets out the promise on which the nation was founded, that “all men are created equal”, which establishes the standard. The second states that the present civil war tests whether such a nation can endure, linking the founding promise to the battle and to the ceremony. Because the nation was founded on that promise and the war tests it, the third section can draw the consequence: the living must dedicate themselves “to the unfinished work”. The sequence is therefore a reasoning-then-claim pattern, in which the thesis, that government of the people shall not perish, comes at the end, as a conclusion the earlier sections have prepared.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Describes the first section and its role (founding promise). |
| 1 | Describes the second section and its role (the test). |
| 1 | Describes the third section and its role (the task). |
| 1 | Explains the logical link: because of the first two, the third follows. |
| 1 | Identifies the pattern (reasoning then claim) or the ordering principle (chronological). |
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.