Use this diagnostic to find which Unit 9 topics to revisit: at least one short question per topic.
These are original Marlbridge practice questions, not past exam questions. All passages are written by Marlbridge, and all details are invented for practice. The diagnostic is not calibrated and gives no predicted score.
How to take it. Allow 25 minutes and answer everything before opening any answer. No calculator is needed. The two written questions need only a few sentences each.
Question 1 (multiple choice · 9.1)
A writer begins an essay on school uniforms without mentioning any of the arguments already made for or against them. What is the likely weakness?
- (A) The essay will be too short.
- (B) The essay does not enter the existing conversation, so it may repeat points already answered.
- (C) The essay will have too many sources.
- (D) The essay will not have a thesis.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). Entering a conversation means engaging the positions already argued.
- (A) Length is not the issue.
- (C) The writer has not used sources.
- (D) The essay may still have a thesis; the problem is that it ignores the debate.
If you missed this: Topic 9.1 study guide.
Question 2 (multiple choice · 9.1)
Which signal verb best describes a source that takes a premise for granted without proving it?
- (A) “demonstrates”
- (B) “assumes”
- (C) “concedes”
- (D) “illustrates”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). To assume is to rely on an unproven premise.
- (A) means to show with evidence.
- (C) means to grant something against one’s own side.
- (D) means to give an example.
If you missed this: Topic 9.1 study guide.
Question 3 (multiple choice · 9.2)
Thesis: “Free school breakfasts improve attendance.” Which evidence is best described as complementary?
- (A) “Schools with free breakfasts had 6 per cent higher attendance.”
- (B) “Free breakfasts also reduce the number of pupils who report headaches in the morning.”
- (C) “In two schools, attendance fell after the scheme began.”
- (D) “There are no breakfast schemes in the town.”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). It adds a related benefit that extends the case without directly proving the effect on attendance.
- (A) supports the thesis directly.
- (C) contradicts it, at least in part.
- (D) does not bear on the effect of breakfasts.
If you missed this: Topic 9.2 study guide.
Question 4 (multiple choice · 9.3)
“Critics are right that the scheme cost more than planned; even so, it has saved lives.” This sentence
- (A) concedes a portion of the opposing claim and then pivots back to the writer’s claim.
- (B) refutes the critics with evidence.
- (C) ignores the critics.
- (D) concedes the entire thesis.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). “Critics are right that…” accepts a portion as correct, and “even so” is the pivot.
- (B) No evidence is used to demonstrate that the critics are wrong.
- (C) The critics are named and answered.
- (D) The writer keeps the claim that the scheme saved lives.
If you missed this: Topic 9.3 study guide.
Question 5 (multiple choice · 9.4)
Which statement correctly defines refuting?
- (A) Demonstrating, using evidence, that all or part of a competing claim is invalid
- (B) Accepting a competing claim
- (C) Offering a new thesis with no reference to the competing claim
- (D) Repeating the writer’s own claim more loudly
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). A refutation shows with evidence that a claim does not hold.
- (B) describes conceding.
- (C) ignores the competing claim.
- (D) repetition is not demonstration.
If you missed this: Topic 9.4 study guide.
Question 6 (multiple choice · 9.5)
Which statement about counterarguments is consistent with the course?
- (A) Transitions may be used to introduce counterarguments, and not all arguments explicitly address a counterargument.
- (B) Every argument must name an opposing view in its first sentence.
- (C) A counterargument may never appear in the middle of an essay.
- (D) Counterarguments should be invented if none is obvious.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). Both statements are in the course framework.
- (B) overstates the requirement.
- (C) A counterargument can appear in the middle.
- (D) An invented objection is a strawman.
If you missed this: Topic 9.5 study guide.
Question 7 (short answer · 9.3 and 9.4)
Opposing claim: “Online classes are always worse than in-person classes.” Write one sentence that concedes part of the claim and one that rebuts the rest.
Answer and explanation
Sample. Concession: “It is true that some pupils find online classes harder to concentrate in.” Rebuttal: “But ‘always’ ignores that pupils who live far from school or who have health needs often do better with online options, so the question is which pupils the format suits.”
Marking guide. Full credit for a concession that accepts something true and a rebuttal that offers a contrasting perspective or alternative evidence aimed at the absolute.
Question 8 (short answer · 9.1, 9.2 and 9.5)
Thesis: “Schools should teach financial skills.” Name one objection a careful reader would raise, write one transition that introduces it, and say where you would put it in a timed essay.
Answer and explanation
Sample. Objection: the timetable is already full, so adding financial skills would displace other subjects. Transition: “It might be objected that the timetable is already full.” Placement: in the second body paragraph, after a first case for the thesis, answered briefly by conceding the pressure on time and showing that financial skills can be taught within existing maths lessons.
Marking guide. Full credit for a realistic objection, a transition that introduces it as an opposing view and a justified placement.
Where to go next
Go back to the study guide for every question you missed, then try the Unit 9 mixed review. If you are secure on all of them, consolidate with the exam-skills guides for the course.