Use this diagnostic to find which Unit 2 topics to revisit: one multiple-choice question for each of the seven topics, then three written questions that combine them.
These are original Marlbridge practice questions, not past exam questions. Passages were written by Marlbridge for practice. The diagnostic is not calibrated and gives no predicted score. Allow about 30 minutes; answer everything before opening any answer. No calculator is needed.
Question 1 (multiple choice · 2.1)
Which of the following is a belief (a view about what is true) that an audience of town councillors might hold, as opposed to a value?
- (A) Children’s safety matters most.
- (B) Cycle lanes make short journeys by bike quicker than by car in town centres.
- (C) Fairness to every resident is essential.
- (D) Public money should be spent responsibly.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). A belief concerns what is true; the other three concern what the audience cares about or considers right. If you missed this, read the Topic 2.1 study guide.
- (A) is wrong: a value: it says what matters.
- (C) is wrong: a value: it says what is right.
- (D) is wrong: a value: it says what ought to be done.
Question 2 (multiple choice · 2.2)
The flat sentence “The corner shop is closing” is being revised for neighbours who value community. Which revision best relates to their emotions and values while staying credible?
- (A) The corner shop is closing, which is a total disgrace.
- (B) Shops sometimes close.
- (C) I am very sad about the shop.
- (D) The corner shop, where three generations have bought their bread and their gossip, closes on Friday after fifty-one years.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (D). It adds concrete detail and a shared experience and keeps the facts. If you missed this, read the Topic 2.2 study guide.
- (A) is wrong: it relies on an exaggerated judgement and gives no detail.
- (B) is wrong: it is flat and arouses no feeling.
- (C) is wrong: it centres on the writer’s feelings.
Question 3 (multiple choice · 2.3)
“As a nurse for twenty years, I can tell you that this ward is dangerously understaffed.” The primary appeal is to
- (A) ethos
- (B) logos
- (C) pathos
- (D) none
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). The sentence establishes the speaker’s experience and credibility. If you missed this, read the Topic 2.3 study guide.
- (B) is wrong: no statistic or reasoning is given.
- (C) is wrong: it does not evoke a scene or story, though it may alarm.
- (D) is wrong: it uses a recognised appeal.
Question 4 (multiple choice · 2.4)
“Not one shop but twelve; not a month but six years.” Which job does this evidence mainly do?
- (A) Set a mood
- (B) Define a term
- (C) Amplify the scale of the problem
- (D) Cite an expert
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). The parallel contrasts raise the sense of scale. If you missed this, read the Topic 2.4 study guide.
- (A) is wrong: no atmosphere is created.
- (B) is wrong: no term is defined.
- (D) is wrong: no expert is cited.
Question 5 (multiple choice · 2.5)
A writer claims that “all Year 9 pupils find homework stressful” and supports it with a survey of one class of 26 pupils. What is the best way to improve the match between claim and evidence?
- (A) Add more adjectives
- (B) Remove the survey
- (C) Narrow the claim to the class surveyed, or survey a representative sample of Year 9
- (D) Repeat the claim
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). A claim about all pupils needs a broader, representative sample, or the claim must be limited to what the evidence supports. If you missed this, read the Topic 2.5 study guide.
- (A) is wrong: adjectives do not supply evidence.
- (B) is wrong: removing evidence worsens the problem.
- (D) is wrong: repetition adds no support.
Question 6 (multiple choice · 2.6)
Read this passage, written by Marlbridge. “The council reports that the new bus lane saved commuters three minutes a trip. Cyclists say it made their route safer. Yet the lane removed forty parking spaces, and several shops have since closed. A scheme that helps travellers while ruining the street they travel to is no improvement.” Which sentence is the thesis?
- (A) The last sentence
- (B) The first sentence
- (C) The second sentence
- (D) The third sentence
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). The last sentence states the writer’s overall position, which the earlier sentences set up and complicate. If you missed this, read the Topic 2.6 study guide.
- (B) is wrong: a fact that sets the scene.
- (C) is wrong: a report of another view.
- (D) is wrong: a sub-claim that supports the thesis.
Question 7 (multiple choice · 2.7)
Which is the most defensible thesis for an essay on school start times?
- (A) School start times are a topic of debate.
- (B) This essay will discuss start times.
- (C) Schools start in the morning.
- (D) Secondary schools should start no earlier than 9 a.m., because teenagers’ sleep patterns make early lessons less productive.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (D). It takes a position, gives a reason and is specific. If you missed this, read the Topic 2.7 study guide.
- (A) is wrong: names a topic.
- (B) is wrong: an announcement.
- (C) is wrong: a fact.
Question 8 (constructed response · 2.1 to 2.3)
Read this passage, written by Marlbridge.
Parents, I know you have given up an evening to be here, and I know many of you have heard promises about this crossing before. I have been a lollipop lady on Mill Road for sixteen years. Last Tuesday, a boy stepped out between two parked vans and I grabbed his coat. I am not asking you to trust anyone’s promise. I am asking you to sign the petition on the table.
Identify two ways the writer shows an understanding of the audience, and name one appeal (ethos, logos or pathos) with the detail that creates it.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. First, the writer recognises that parents have given up an evening and have heard promises before, which shows an understanding of their time and their scepticism, and the writer shares that scepticism by saying “I am not asking you to trust anyone’s promise”. Second, the request is reduced to an easy action, signing a petition. Appeal: ethos, created by “I have been a lollipop lady on Mill Road for sixteen years”; the anecdote of the boy and the coat adds pathos.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Identifies an audience feature (time, scepticism) with a detail. |
| 1 | Explains how a choice responds to it. |
| 1 | Identifies a second way (easy request or alignment with scepticism). |
| 1 | Names an appeal correctly. |
| 1 | Gives the detail that creates the appeal. |
Question 9 (constructed response · 2.4, 2.5)
A student claims: “Our school should replace its vending machine with a fruit stall.” His evidence is: “My friend says he would buy more fruit.” (a) Explain why the evidence is insufficient. (b) Suggest two other pieces of evidence that would better support a narrower version of the claim, naming the type of each.
Answer and explanation
Model answer. (a) It is one personal opinion from a friend, so there is too little evidence of too poor a quality for a claim that the whole school should change, and it shows an intention, not behaviour. (b) A count of what pupils buy from the machine over two weeks (statistic) and a comparison with a school that introduced a fruit stall and saw fruit sales rise (comparison or example). The narrower claim might be that the machine should add a fruit option.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Explains the evidence is too little or unrepresentative. |
| 1 | Notes that it shows intention rather than outcome, or that it is personal. |
| 1 | Suggests a first stronger piece with a type named. |
| 1 | Suggests a second, different piece with a type named. |
| 1 | Links the evidence to a narrowed claim. |
Question 10 (constructed response · 2.6, 2.7)
(a) Quote the thesis of this passage, written by Marlbridge: “Every year the council spends more on grit for winter roads. Every year the grit runs out in January. A council that plans for the winter it has had ten times before should not be surprised by the eleventh.” (b) Write your own defensible thesis for an essay responding to the prompt “Should local councils spend more on preparing for winter?”
Answer and explanation
Model answer. (a) “A council that plans for the winter it has had ten times before should not be surprised by the eleventh.” It states the writer’s position, and the earlier sentences are evidence for it. (b) “Councils should spend more on preparing for winter, because the cost of a few extra tonnes of grit is small beside the cost of closed roads and missed hospital appointments.”
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (5 points)
| Points | What earns it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Quotes the thesis accurately. |
| 1 | Explains why it is the thesis (position that other sentences support). |
| 1 | Own thesis takes a clear position. |
| 1 | Own thesis gives a reason. |
| 1 | Own thesis is specific and not a plan or announcement. |
After the diagnostic
For every question you missed, read the study guide it names, then try the topic’s practice questions. When you are ready, take the Unit 2 mixed review.