These are original Marlbridge practice questions, not past exam questions. Unless a source is credited, every passage was written by Marlbridge for this page. The rubrics are a suggested Marlbridge rubric to help you check your work; they are not an official scoring guideline. No calculator is needed.
Question 1 (multiple choice · foundation)
A writer begins an article about school canteens: “Last Tuesday, 214 students at Orchard Park queued for a canteen that seats 90.” Which move does this opening mainly make?
- (A) A quotation from an authority
- (B) A statistic that shows the scale of a problem
- (C) A call to action
- (D) A summary of the argument
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). The sentence uses figures (214 and 90) to show scale and to set up a problem, which is the statistic or data move.
- (A) There is no quoted voice.
- (C) Nothing asks the audience to do anything; calls to act belong at the end more often than the start.
- (D) A summary gathers points already made. This is the first sentence, so nothing has been argued yet.
Question 2 (multiple choice · core)
A conclusion to an essay on community gardens reads: “In the end, a plot of soil is a small thing. But a street that has learned to feed itself has learned something about the way it treats its neighbours.” Which is the best description of its main purpose?
- (A) To summarise the essay’s three body paragraphs
- (B) To introduce a new counterargument
- (C) To explain the significance of the argument beyond the immediate case
- (D) To give statistical support for the thesis
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). The ending moves from the plot of soil to what the garden says about a community, which is significance in a broader context.
- (A) No point from the body is gathered or listed.
- (B) Nothing opposes the thesis here.
- (D) There is no number or data.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
Which introduction best orients, engages and focuses an audience of city councillors for an argument that the council should fund a night bus?
- (A) “Buses are important and many people use them every day, so it is a topic worth thinking about.”
- (B) “What is a bus? A bus is a large vehicle that carries many passengers along a fixed route.”
- (C) “Every night, about a hundred hospital cleaners finish their shift after the last bus has gone and walk home through unlit streets; a night bus on the Route 9 corridor would cost the council less than one new pedestrian crossing, and it should be funded.”
- (D) “In this essay I will discuss the night bus, giving three reasons and a conclusion.”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). It orients (council, night bus, route), engages with a concrete scenario about specific people, and focuses with a thesis and a reason (cost). It also suits a council audience by mentioning cost.
- (A) is vague and gives no claim.
- (B) offers a definition nobody disputes and does not engage or focus.
- (D) announces the plan of the essay rather than making an argument.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
A writer ends an essay on recycling with: “Next time you stand over the bin with a bottle in your hand, you will know which way the argument points. Put it in the blue one.” Which statement best describes the ending?
- (A) It makes a call to act and returns the audience to an everyday moment.
- (B) It introduces new evidence that the thesis needs.
- (C) It restates every claim in the order in which the claims appeared.
- (D) It presents the thesis for the first time.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). “Put it in the blue one” is a direct call to act, and the opening image (standing over the bin) places the reader’s own daily decision at the centre.
- (B) There is no evidence in the ending.
- (C) Nothing is restated.
- (D) The sentences presuppose an argument already made (“which way the argument points”); they do not introduce the thesis.
Question 5 (multiple choice · stretch)
An examiner’s note on a student’s introduction says: “The anecdote is engaging but the introduction does not focus the reader.” Which revision would best address the comment?
- (A) Add a second anecdote
- (B) Add a sentence after the anecdote that states the claim the anecdote illustrates
- (C) Delete the anecdote and begin with a definition
- (D) Move the thesis to the conclusion
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). Focusing means making clear what the argument is about. A sentence that links the story to the claim does exactly that, and it keeps the part that engages.
- (A) Adds more engagement but still does not focus.
- (C) A definition does not engage and may not focus.
- (D) Moving the thesis away from the opening makes the introduction less focused, unless the writer has a particular reason, which the comment does not suggest.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
Read the opening of a speech to a school assembly, written by Marlbridge.
“In October a Year 9 student told me she had not eaten since the previous afternoon. She wasn’t hiding it. She simply had no breakfast at home and no money for lunch. This school serves 240 meals a day, and none of them is free. I am asking you to support a free breakfast club, and I think by the end of this talk you will agree that we can’t afford to be without one.”
(a) Identify two moves the introduction makes and explain the effect of each on an audience of students and staff. (4 marks) (b) Explain one change you would make to improve the focus of the passage. (2 marks)
Worked answer and suggested rubric
(a) Move 1: anecdote. The story of the Year 9 student is concrete and personal, so listeners feel the problem before they hear a policy. Move 2: statistic/contextualised information (“240 meals a day, and none of them is free”), which shows the school’s current provision and sets up the gap. A third acceptable move is the thesis in the last sentence, which tells the audience what is being asked.
(b) The thesis, “we can’t afford to be without one”, could be sharpened by stating the benefit (“because students who eat concentrate better and attend more”), so the audience knows the reason. Alternatively, remove “I think by the end of this talk you will agree”, which announces the speech and delays the claim.
| Mark | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Correctly names a move (for example anecdote) |
| 1 | Explains its effect on the stated audience (not only “it hooks the reader”) |
| 1 | Correctly names a second move |
| 1 | Explains its effect |
| 1 | Proposes a specific change tied to focus |
| 1 | Explains why the change would help the audience |
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
Write a conclusion (three to five sentences) for an essay that argues: Schools should teach students how to spot misleading statistics. Your conclusion must (i) use at least one of the conclusion moves from the study guide, which you should name in brackets after the sentence that makes it, and (ii) not simply repeat the thesis. (6 marks)
Sample answer and suggested rubric
Sample answer (written by Marlbridge). “A student who can ask how a number was gathered, and what it leaves out, has a defence that lasts longer than any single fact (significance). Every election, advertisement and headline will put a figure in front of her, and she will meet most of them long after the lesson is forgotten (implication). Teaching this skill takes a few weeks of a timetable; leaving it out leaves a lifetime of unexamined claims. So schools should treat statistical scepticism as a basic literacy and start with the next unit (call to act).”
| Mark | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Writes a conclusion that is coherent and aligned with the thesis |
| 1 | Uses a recognisable conclusion move |
| 1 | Names the move correctly |
| 1 | Adds significance, implication or action (not only repetition) |
| 1 | Keeps within the context of the argument (schools, students, statistics) |
| 1 | Shows a controlled ending: one idea builds to the last sentence |
Alternative valid approaches: end on an image, return to an opening anecdote, propose a specific classroom change.
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Anna Wells wants to persuade a sceptical local council to repair a footbridge. The first draft of her introduction is below (written by Marlbridge).
“The footbridge over the canal is old. Some people think it should be repaired, but others think there are more important things to spend money on. In this letter I will argue for repair.”
(a) Explain two weaknesses of the draft in terms of orienting, engaging and focusing. (4 marks) (b) Rewrite the introduction in two to three sentences, choosing a move suited to a sceptical council audience. Name the move. (4 marks)
Sample answer and suggested rubric
(a) It does not engage: “is old” gives the council no reason to care, and the “some people think” sentence is generic. It does not focus on a claim with a reason: “I will argue for repair” announces rather than states a position, and no benefit or cost is offered.
(b) Sample (contextualised information plus statistic): “The footbridge on Canal Lane is the only step-free route between two halves of the Ashgrove estate, and since the council closed the lower path, around 300 people a day have had to use it. Repair would cost far less than replacing the bridge after the next failed inspection, so the council should approve the repair this month.” (The figures are invented for practice.)
| Mark | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Identifies one weakness |
| 1 | Explains it with reference to orienting, engaging or focusing |
| 1 | Identifies a second weakness |
| 1 | Explains it |
| 1 | The rewrite orients (names the place and the decision) |
| 1 | The rewrite engages the council with stakes or numbers |
| 1 | The rewrite ends on a clear, defensible thesis with a reason |
| 1 | Names the move and links it to a sceptical audience |
How did you do? If you missed Questions 1 to 5, reread the move tables in the study guide. If you lost marks in 6 to 8, check whether you named the move and explained its effect on the stated audience, rather than only labelling it.