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 describes the significance of evidence?
- (A) How the evidence relates to the previous sentence
- (B) Why the evidence matters for the argument as a whole
- (C) Whether the evidence is a statistic
- (D) Where the evidence appears on the page
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). Significance concerns the evidence’s importance to the thesis and the line of reasoning.
- (A) is wrong: that is closer to a local link between sentences.
- (C) is wrong: type of evidence is a different question.
- (D) is wrong: location is not significance.
Question 2 (multiple choice · foundation)
Which sentence is bridge-level commentary?
- (A) “The survey included 200 pupils.”
- (B) “118 pupils said it was the only quiet place.”
- (C) “The library is a building.”
- (D) “If teenagers have no other place to go, who else is in the same position?”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (D). It links the point just made to the next question and moves the reader to the next paragraph.
- (A) is wrong: states a fact.
- (B) is wrong: gives evidence.
- (C) is wrong: gives a fact.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
A paragraph quotes a statistic and then says, “This is very significant.” What is the main problem?
- (A) It does not say why the evidence is significant
- (B) The statistic is too long
- (C) The paragraph has no thesis
- (D) It is written in the present tense
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). A claim of significance needs an explanation of what the evidence changes for the argument.
- (B) is wrong: nothing indicates length is the problem.
- (C) is wrong: nothing indicates the paragraph lacks a thesis.
- (D) is wrong: tense is not the issue.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
In his 1852 speech Douglass says, “This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.” Which statement best explains the significance of the pairing “You may rejoice, I must mourn” for the speech as a whole?
- (A) It shows that the speaker dislikes holidays.
- (B) It is a statistic about slavery.
- (C) It makes the same day carry opposite meanings for different people, preparing his larger claim that the nation’s ideals contradict its practice.
- (D) It is a description of the weather.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). The parallel structure sets two experiences side by side, which is the first step in his argument about contradiction.
- (A) is wrong: the pairing is about exclusion, not a dislike of holidays.
- (B) is wrong: it contains no figures.
- (D) is wrong: it does not concern the weather.
Question 5 (multiple choice · core)
Which technique best helps keep an argument connected across several paragraphs?
- (A) Using as many different words as possible so as not to repeat
- (B) Placing all the evidence in one paragraph
- (C) Repeating a central key idea in different paragraphs and echoing the thesis at the end of each
- (D) Avoiding commentary between paragraphs
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). A recurring term and an echo of the thesis create a thread the reader can follow.
- (A) is wrong: varying every word can hide the connections.
- (B) is wrong: it would separate evidence from commentary and from the claims it supports.
- (D) is wrong: bridge commentary is what connects the paragraphs.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
Read this paragraph, written by Marlbridge with invented data.
Opening hours matter most to those with the fewest alternatives. In a survey of 150 pensioners, 96 said the library reading room was the only warm place they could sit during the day. [A] [B]
(a) Write the commentary [A] that explains what the figure shows and why it is relevant. (b) Write one bridge sentence [B] that links to a following paragraph about job-seekers.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. (a) “Nearly two thirds of the pensioners surveyed rely on the reading room for warmth, which means that closing it in the afternoon does not just inconvenience them; it removes a basic comfort that many cannot afford to replace at home.” (b) “If those with the fewest alternatives are hit hardest in the afternoon, the same must be true for people who use the building to look for work.”
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Correctly interprets the figure (96 of 150 is 64 percent, nearly two thirds). |
| 1 | Explains relevance to the claim about those with fewest alternatives. |
| 1 | The commentary adds more than the evidence says. |
| 1 | The bridge sentence links the two groups. |
| 1 | The bridge shows the direction of the argument. |
96/150 = 0.64.
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
A student’s paragraph ends: “These figures are very significant and show that the library matters.” (a) Explain two weaknesses of this commentary. (b) Rewrite the sentence so that it explains the significance for a thesis that “libraries are the one public place where people without money can belong”.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. (a) It is vague (“very significant” does not say why) and it merely restates the claim (“the library matters”) without explaining what the figures show. (b) “The figures matter because they show that the people who use the library most are exactly those who cannot pay for another warm, quiet place, which is what makes the library a place where they can belong.”
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Identifies vagueness. |
| 1 | Identifies restating. |
| 1 | The rewrite explains significance by linking to the thesis. |
| 1 | The rewrite refers to the specific people or evidence. |
| 1 | The rewrite is clear and grammatical. |
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Douglass says, “The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me.” (a) Explain the relevance of this sentence to the paragraph’s claim that the nation’s inheritance is shared by the audience and not by him. (b) Explain its significance for the speech’s larger argument.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. (a) The sentence supports the claim by turning a shared natural good, sunlight, into evidence of unequal treatment: the same sun that brings life and healing to the audience brings stripes and death to him. It makes the abstract inheritance concrete and shows what exclusion means. (b) The sentence is significant because the speech argues that the nation’s professed ideals contradict its practice. By choosing an image of something universal (sunlight) that has opposite effects, he shows that the contradiction is built into the audience’s daily life and not merely a matter of opinion, which sets up his challenge to their celebration.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Explains how the image supports the paragraph’s claim (relevance). |
| 1 | Refers to specific wording (sunlight, stripes and death). |
| 1 | Explains the significance for the larger argument (contradiction between ideals and practice). |
| 1 | Distinguishes relevance from significance. |
| 1 | Includes an effect on the audience. |
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.