These are original Marlbridge practice questions, not past exam questions. Unless a source is credited, every passage was written by Marlbridge for this page, and the people, places and figures in it are invented. 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)
Which of the following is not one of the three forms of concession?
- (A) Accepting a portion of the opposing position as correct
- (B) Agreeing that the opposing position is correct under different circumstances
- (C) Acknowledging the limitations of one’s own argument
- (D) Pretending the opposing position does not exist
Answer and explanation
Answer: (D). Ignoring an opposing position is not a concession; it avoids engaging.
- (A), (B) and (C) are the three forms of conceding.
Question 2 (multiple choice · core)
Why does conceding usually enhance a writer’s credibility?
- (A) It makes the essay longer.
- (B) It shows that the writer has understood the other side and is fair-minded.
- (C) It proves that the writer is wrong.
- (D) It removes the need for evidence.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). Readers trust writers who take the strongest opposing points seriously.
- (A) Length is not a goal.
- (C) A concession does not make the thesis wrong.
- (D) Evidence is still needed for the writer’s claim.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
A student writes a paragraph that ends: “Critics are right that the cost is too high.” What is the main problem?
- (A) The sentence is too short.
- (B) The paragraph ends on the concession, so the reader is left with the opposing view and no return to the thesis.
- (C) The word “critics” is not allowed.
- (D) The sentence is a rebuttal.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). A concession should pivot back to the writer’s claim; ending on it leaves the opposing position as the last word.
- (A) Length is not the issue.
- (C) Naming critics is acceptable and even good practice.
- (D) The sentence accepts the critics’ claim; it does not rebut it.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
“A tax on sugary drinks would work in a country where healthy alternatives are cheap, but here they are not.” Which form of concession does this show?
- (A) Accepting a portion of the opposing position as correct
- (B) Agreeing that the opposing position is correct under different circumstances
- (C) Acknowledging the limits of the writer’s own evidence
- (D) No concession
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). The writer grants that the tax would work where alternatives are cheap, which is a different set of circumstances.
- (A) The writer does not accept the claim for this country.
- (C) The writer does not comment on the limits of his or her own evidence.
- (D) There is a concession to a different context.
Question 5 (multiple choice · stretch)
Which sentence places the concession in a subordinate clause and gives the writer’s claim both the main clause and the final position?
- (A) “The scheme has costs, and it saves lives.”
- (B) “Although the scheme has costs, it saves lives.”
- (C) “The scheme saves lives, although it has costs.”
- (D) “The scheme has costs; the scheme saves lives.”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). “Although the scheme has costs” is a dependent clause that concedes the cost, and “it saves lives” is the main clause in the end position.
- (A) and (D) give the two ideas equal weight (coordination).
- (C) also subordinates the cost, but the sentence ends on it, so the concession has the last word.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
Thesis (written by Marlbridge): “Schools should let students use calculators in all maths exams.”
(a) Write three concessions, one of each form. (3 marks) (b) Add a pivot back to the thesis to one of them. (1 mark) (c) Explain one risk of conceding too much. (2 marks)
Sample answer and suggested rubric
(a) (i) Accept a portion as correct: “It is true that calculators can hide gaps in basic arithmetic.” (ii) Correct in other circumstances: “In a test of mental arithmetic, calculators would defeat the purpose.” (iii) Acknowledge own limits: “My examples come from upper-secondary classes, so they may not apply to younger pupils.”
(b) “…but exams can include a non-calculator paper to test basic skills while allowing calculators for problem-solving.”
(c) If a writer concedes the central claim, such as that calculators damage understanding of maths, the thesis loses its reason, and the reader is left with the opposing view.
| Mark | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Concession of the first form |
| 1 | Concession of the second form |
| 1 | Concession of the third form |
| 1 | A pivot that returns to the thesis |
| 1 | Identifies a risk of conceding too much |
| 1 | Explains the consequence for the argument |
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
Read the paragraph below, written by Marlbridge.
“It is true that electric scooters can be dangerous on pavements, and the council is right to worry about complaints from walkers. Admittedly, the evidence I cite comes from a trial in one city, so it may not apply everywhere. But where scooters were limited to marked lanes, injuries fell by almost half. The council should therefore permit scooters in the lanes and ban them from pavements.”
Explain how the writer concedes and what the writer gains. (6 marks)
Sample answer and suggested rubric
Sample. The writer makes two concessions. The first, “It is true that electric scooters can be dangerous on pavements”, accepts a portion of the opposing view as correct, and “the council is right to worry” adds that the concern is legitimate. The second, “the evidence I cite comes from a trial in one city”, acknowledges the limits of the writer’s own evidence. The pivot, “But where scooters were limited to marked lanes”, returns to the writer’s claim, supported by the figure that injuries fell by almost half. The thesis is narrowed to a position that addresses the council’s concern: permit scooters in lanes and ban them from pavements. By conceding, the writer appears fair-minded, meets the likely objection and arrives at a claim that is harder to dismiss.
| Mark | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Identifies the concession of a portion of the opposing view |
| 1 | Identifies the concession of the limit of the writer’s own evidence |
| 1 | Identifies the pivot (“But…”) |
| 1 | Identifies the reasserted, narrowed claim |
| 1 | Explains the gain in credibility |
| 1 | Explains the gain in the defensibility of the claim |
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Frederick Douglass said in 1852 (public domain): “The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men too.”
Explain how this is a concession and why it might help his argument with this audience. (5 marks)
Sample answer and suggested rubric
Sample. Douglass grants something that his audience believes strongly, that the founders were great and brave. This is a concession of a portion of their view as correct, and it is sincere. It helps him in several ways. It shows he respects what the audience values, which lowers their resistance. It lets him identify with the nation’s ideals so that his later criticism of how the nation treats enslaved people is not an attack on those ideals but a demand that they be honoured. The short, plain sentences make the praise sound simple and genuine, which adds to his credibility.
| Mark | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Identifies the praise of the founders as a concession |
| 1 | Notes that the audience already holds this view |
| 1 | Explains the effect on the audience’s willingness to listen |
| 1 | Explains how it frames the later criticism |
| 1 | Comments on tone or style (short, plain sentences) or on credibility |
How did you do? If you missed Questions 1 to 5, reread “What it means to concede” and “The language of concession”. If you lost marks in 6 to 8, check that you named the form of concession, the pivot and what the writer gains.