These are original Marlbridge practice questions, not past exam questions. Unless a source is credited, every passage and every figure was written by Marlbridge for this page and is invented for practice. 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 sentence uses a transition to introduce a counterargument?
- (A) “First, the scheme saves money.”
- (B) “Some critics argue that the scheme saves nothing.”
- (C) “In conclusion, the scheme should continue.”
- (D) “The scheme began in 2019.”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). “Some critics argue that” tells the reader that an opposing view is coming.
- (A) introduces the writer’s own point.
- (C) signals a conclusion.
- (D) is a statement of fact with no transition to an opposing view.
Question 2 (multiple choice · core)
A writer addresses a hostile audience. Which placement of the main counterargument is most likely to keep them reading?
- (A) At the very end, after the conclusion
- (B) Early in the essay, so that their main concern is acknowledged before the case is built
- (C) Never
- (D) In a footnote
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). A hostile audience tends not to listen until its concern has been recognised.
- (A) leaves the concern unanswered for most of the essay.
- (C) ignores the objection the audience is thinking about.
- (D) hides the answer where few will read it.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
Which statement about counterarguments is consistent with the course?
- (A) Every argument must explicitly address a counterargument.
- (B) Not all arguments explicitly address a counterargument.
- (C) A counterargument must always appear in the introduction.
- (D) Counterarguments are never effective.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). Some effective arguments, such as commemorative speeches, do not name an opposing view.
- (A) overstates the requirement.
- (C) A counterargument can go in several places.
- (D) Counterarguments can be very effective.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
Which sequence of transitions best fits the pattern introduce, concede, pivot, return?
- (A) “Some argue… Admittedly… However… Therefore…”
- (B) “First… Second… Third… Finally…”
- (C) “However… However… However… However…”
- (D) “Therefore… Admittedly… Some argue… However…”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). “Some argue” introduces, “Admittedly” concedes, “However” pivots and “Therefore” returns to the thesis.
- (B) is a sequence of the writer’s own points.
- (C) repeats the same pivot with no structure.
- (D) puts the steps in an illogical order.
Question 5 (multiple choice · stretch)
In which sentence does “however” introduce a true counterargument (an opposing view)?
- (A) “The first experiment was small; however, the second involved four hundred pupils.”
- (B) “Some say the museum is too costly; however, visitor numbers have doubled.”
- (C) “The road is narrow; however, it is well lit.”
- (D) “I like tea; however, I prefer coffee.”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). “Some say the museum is too costly” states an opposing view, and “however” turns to evidence against it.
- (A), (C) and (D) use “however” for a contrast between the writer’s own statements, not an opposing position.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
Thesis (written by Marlbridge): “Schools should start lessons with ten minutes of silent reading.” The strongest objection is that the time would be better spent on exam preparation.
Write a short paragraph (four to five sentences) that introduces and answers this counterargument, using transitions that signal each move. Name the placement you have chosen and why. (7 marks)
Sample answer and suggested rubric
Sample. “Some teachers argue that the ten minutes would be better spent on exam preparation. Admittedly, time is limited in the weeks before exams. However, pupils who read regularly score higher on comprehension papers, which carry marks in every subject, so the reading time can be part of exam preparation, not a rival to it. Therefore, the school should keep the reading period and use it to build the skills that exams reward.”
Placement. Early in the body, because teachers (the likely audience) will think of exam time first, and the objection should be answered before the case continues.
| Mark | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introduces the opposing view fairly with a transition |
| 1 | Concedes something true |
| 1 | Pivots with a transition |
| 1 | Responds with a reason or evidence |
| 1 | Returns to the thesis |
| 1 | Names a placement |
| 1 | Justifies the placement by the audience’s likely thoughts |
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
You have 40 minutes to write an argument essay on: “Should cities limit the number of tourists they admit?”
(a) Name the strongest likely objection to a position in favour of limits. (1 mark) (b) Say where you would place it and why. (2 marks) (c) Say how much space you would give it and one thing you would avoid. (2 marks)
Sample answer and suggested rubric
(a) That limits would harm local businesses that depend on tourism, and so harm residents’ jobs.
(b) In the second body paragraph, after a first case for limits (overcrowding and cost to residents), so that the reader sees the benefits before weighing them against the economic concern.
(c) A paragraph or a few sentences, using concede, pivot and return, for example by showing that limits can be matched with higher prices per visitor. Avoid a long digression on a minor objection, or inventing an objection that no reasonable reader would raise.
| Mark | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Names a strong, realistic objection |
| 1 | Chooses a position |
| 1 | Justifies the position |
| 1 | Gives a proportionate amount of space |
| 1 | Names something to avoid (strawman, over-long digression) |
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
(a) Thomas Paine wrote in The American Crisis (1776, public domain): “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” Explain how the transition “yet” works in the sentence. (3 marks)
(b) The Gettysburg Address (1863, public domain) does not explicitly name or answer an opposing position. Explain how a writer analysing the speech should handle this fact. (3 marks)
Sample answer and suggested rubric
(a) The first clause concedes the difficulty of the struggle (“not easily conquered”), which his discouraged audience would feel. “Yet” is the pivot: it turns from the concession to a counter-consolation, that difficulty makes the eventual victory more glorious. So the sentence answers the thought “it is too hard” within a single sentence.
(b) The analyst should say that the speech has no explicit counterargument rather than inventing one. The analysis can then describe how the speech manages doubt implicitly, for example by presenting the soldiers’ sacrifice as a reason to take “increased devotion” to their cause, and by framing the war as a test of the principle that “all men are created equal”.
| Mark | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | (a) Identifies the concession in the first clause |
| 1 | (a) Identifies “yet” as the pivot |
| 1 | (a) Explains the effect on the discouraged audience |
| 1 | (b) States that the speech has no explicit counterargument |
| 1 | (b) Warns against inventing one |
| 1 | (b) Describes at least one implicit way the speech handles opposition |
How did you do? If you missed Questions 1 to 5, reread “Transitions that introduce a counterargument” and “Where to put a counterargument”. If you lost marks in 6 to 8, check that your counterargument was fair, signalled by transitions and tied to the reader’s likely thoughts.