These are original Marlbridge practice questions, not past exam questions. The passages were written by Marlbridge for this practice. Mark points are a suggested Marlbridge rubric, not an official scoring guideline. Multiple-choice questions have four options.
Passage D (written by Marlbridge).
By six the stallholders at Dunmere market had already set out their crates in the order their families had always used: the Hallorans by the fountain, the Pikes beside the church wall, the new man, Sandeep, at the far end where the cobbles gave way to mud. A gas lamp over the fishmonger hissed. Nobody had told Sandeep where to stand; he had simply found the space nobody else wanted, and nobody had asked him to move, which in Dunmere was the same as a welcome withheld.
Passage E (written by Marlbridge).
The waiting room at Eastgate Station had been painted green the year the line opened, and not since. A stove in the corner gave off more smell than heat. On the bench beside it sat an old man with a suitcase tied with string, who had been told twice that the last train was cancelled and who nodded each time as if he had been told something he already knew. Outside, through the one clean window, the rails ran off toward a town that had not wanted them.
Question 1 (multiple choice · core)
Which detail in Passage D most directly suggests that the setting belongs to an earlier period than the present day?
- (A) The stalls are arranged in family order
- (B) A gas lamp “hissed” over the fishmonger
- (C) Sandeep is described as “the new man”
- (D) The market is in front of a church
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). A hissing gas lamp is a technological marker of a period.
- (A) is a custom, which conveys values but does not fix a period.
- (C) concerns Sandeep’s status, not the time.
- (D) is a place detail; churches fronting squares occur in many periods.
Question 2 (multiple choice · core)
The phrase “in the order their families had always used” most strongly conveys that the community of Dunmere
- (A) is poorly organised
- (B) values tradition and inherited position
- (C) welcomes change
- (D) is mainly interested in trade
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). “Always” and “their families” point to inheritance and custom.
- (A) is wrong because the order is fixed, not chaotic.
- (C) is contradicted by the persistence of the old order.
- (D) is not what the detail shows; the emphasis is on family position, not trade.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
Sandeep is placed “at the far end where the cobbles gave way to mud”. Which best describes the function of this detail?
- (A) It shows that the market is badly maintained
- (B) It tells the reader that the story takes place in winter
- (C) It signals his social position as an outsider through his physical position
- (D) It creates a mood of fear
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). The edge of the square and the worst ground mirror his outsider status.
- (A) is only a surface reading; it ignores why he is placed there.
- (B) cannot be inferred. Mud suggests wet weather, not a season.
- (D) misreads the tone, which is quiet and unwelcoming, not frightening.
Question 4 (multiple choice · core)
“… which in Dunmere was the same as a welcome withheld.” This final phrase most directly shows that the setting
- (A) has unwritten rules that communicate a community’s attitude
- (B) is hostile to all newcomers in every circumstance
- (C) has a government that forbids outsiders
- (D) is physically dangerous
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). “Nobody had asked him to move” is a silence that works as a rule. The place shows its attitude by what it leaves unsaid.
- (B) overgeneralises; the phrase refers to this market and this man.
- (C) invents an official rule; the text says “nobody had told” him.
- (D) is not suggested by the passage.
Question 5 (multiple choice · core)
In Passage E, “painted green the year the line opened, and not since” most likely suggests that the station
- (A) is brand new
- (B) has been neglected over a long period
- (C) was once a theatre
- (D) is a popular meeting place
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). The time marker “not since” fixes the paint to an old date, so the room has not been cared for.
- (A) contradicts “not since”.
- (C) and (D) introduce ideas the passage does not mention.
Question 6 (multiple choice · stretch)
The last sentence of Passage E, in which the rails run “toward a town that had not wanted them”, most strongly
- (A) shows that the old man is travelling to the town
- (B) describes the railway as unwelcome, adding to the passage’s sense of disappointment
- (C) compares the old man to a train
- (D) predicts that the station will be repaired
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). The railway is described as unwanted, which fits the cancelled train, the stove that gives little heat and the old man’s nodding resignation.
- (A) is not stated; he is waiting for a cancelled train.
- (C) makes a comparison the text does not make.
- (D) has no support and goes against the tone of neglect.
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
Explain how two details in Passage E convey a mood. Name the mood and quote or closely paraphrase each detail.
Answer and explanation
Sample response. The mood is one of weary disappointment. The stove “gave off more smell than heat” is a sensory detail that suggests a place that promises comfort and fails to provide it. The old man who “nodded each time as if he had been told something he already knew” shows resignation, as if the cancellation matches his expectation of the place.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (3 points).
| Point | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| 1 | Names a mood that the passage supports (neglect, disappointment, resignation) |
| 2 | Identifies two specific details accurately |
| 3 | Explains how at least one detail creates the mood, not just repeats it |
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Explain how the setting of Passage D conveys the values of the Dunmere community. Use at least two details and say what difference the setting makes to Sandeep.
Answer and explanation
Sample response. The market’s arrangement conveys a community that values inheritance and belonging. The stalls are set out “in the order their families had always used”, and the established Hallorans and Pikes hold the fountain and the church wall, the central places. Sandeep, “the new man”, is at the far end “where the cobbles gave way to mud”. The setting limits his options: nobody told him where to stand, but the best places are already held, so he must accept the worst ground. The narrator’s phrase “a welcome withheld” shows that the community communicates through silence.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (4 points).
| Point | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| 1 | Identifies a value or attitude the setting conveys (tradition, hierarchy, exclusion) |
| 2 | Uses at least two accurate details as evidence |
| 3 | Explains how a detail conveys the value (position as social ranking, silence as rule) |
| 4 | States the effect on Sandeep (limited choice, outsider status) |
How did you do? If you missed Questions 1 to 4, reread “Reading time” and “Reading place” in the study guide. If Question 6 or 7 was hard, reread Worked example 1 and the section on strong and weak statements. Then check the checklist.