These are original Marlbridge practice questions, not past exam questions. The extracts 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.
Extract 3C (written by Marlbridge), two passages from an invented novel.
Early chapter.
Tomasz stood at the back of the hall, where the draught was, and clapped a half-second after everyone else. Mr. Brandt leaned on the lectern as if the hall belonged to him, and asked his questions in the tone of one who expects to be answered correctly. When he asked who would speak for the new workers, Tomasz studied his boots.
Late chapter.
Tomasz stood at the front of the hall, in the light, and when the clapping began he waited for it to finish. Mr. Brandt leaned on the lectern as if the hall belonged to him, and asked his question as before; but the hall, for the first time, did not hurry to answer correctly. “I will speak for the new workers,” Tomasz said. “I have been doing it quietly for years. I would like to do it where it can be heard.”
Question 1 (multiple choice · core)
In the early chapter, “stood at the back of the hall, where the draught was” most directly suggests that Tomasz
- (A) is physically ill
- (B) keeps a marginal and uncomfortable position
- (C) wishes to leave the building
- (D) has been given an honoured seat
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). The back of the hall and the draught suggest a position at the edge, away from the light and from authority.
- (A) is not stated.
- (C) goes beyond what the detail says.
- (D) is the opposite of the sense of the phrase.
Question 2 (multiple choice · core)
“Clapped a half-second after everyone else” most strongly suggests that early in the novel Tomasz
- (A) follows the crowd rather than leading it
- (B) disagrees with the speaker
- (C) is leading the applause
- (D) is deaf
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). A half-second delay shows that he waits to see what others do before acting.
- (B) is not shown; he does clap.
- (C) contradicts “after everyone else”.
- (D) is unsupported.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
In the late chapter, “when the clapping began he waited for it to finish” most directly shows that Tomasz now
- (A) is more composed and does not follow the crowd’s rhythm
- (B) is angry about the applause
- (C) is hiding at the back
- (D) has lost his voice
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). The earlier detail was a delayed clap; the late detail shows him waiting for the noise to end, a sign of self-possession.
- (B) misreads the neutral report.
- (C) contradicts “at the front of the hall, in the light”.
- (D) is contradicted by his speech.
Question 4 (multiple choice · stretch)
The change in Tomasz between the two extracts is best described as
- (A) only external, from a back seat to a front seat
- (B) internal and external: a new confidence that is also expressed in a new position
- (C) a change in the setting of the novel
- (D) a change that has not happened
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). The position moves from “back” to “the front of the hall, in the light”, and his speech shows new confidence.
- (A) ignores his willingness to speak.
- (C) mistakes the position in the hall for a change of setting.
- (D) is contradicted by the evidence.
Question 5 (multiple choice · stretch)
“I have been doing it quietly for years.” This statement most directly shows that
- (A) Tomasz’s concern for the workers is a continuity beneath the change
- (B) Tomasz is lying
- (C) Tomasz has just begun to care
- (D) Mr. Brandt has asked him to speak
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). The change is in willingness to speak publicly. His care for the workers, done “quietly”, is earlier. A reader should notice both.
- (B) has no support.
- (C) is contradicted by “for years”.
- (D) is not stated.
Question 6 (multiple choice · core)
Mr. Brandt is described in the same words in both extracts (“as if the hall belonged to him”). The most likely function of this repetition is to
- (A) show that Mr. Brandt is unchanged in manner while the hall’s response has changed
- (B) show that Mr. Brandt has changed his mind
- (C) show that the writer ran out of ideas
- (D) show that the two extracts are the same scene
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). The repeated phrase fixes Brandt’s manner; the difference is that “the hall, for the first time, did not hurry to answer correctly”.
- (B) contradicts the repetition.
- (C) misreads a deliberate pattern as a fault.
- (D) is wrong because the details of Tomasz and the hall differ.
Question 7 (multiple choice · stretch)
Tomasz’s choice to say “I will speak for the new workers” most directly
- (A) affects the outcome of the scene by changing who responds to Mr. Brandt
- (B) shows that he has forgotten the question
- (C) shows that he agrees with Mr. Brandt
- (D) has no effect on the plot
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). A dynamic character’s choice can affect the climax. His voluntary speech changes the scene: he answers the question that he once avoided.
- (B) is contradicted by “I will speak”.
- (C) is not suggested.
- (D) is wrong because his choice changes what happens.
Question 8 (constructed response · core)
Explain how two pairs of repeated details in the two extracts show that Tomasz has changed.
Answer and explanation
Sample response. The first pair is position: Tomasz stands “at the back of the hall, where the draught was” and later “at the front of the hall, in the light”. The move from the edge to the centre shows a growth in confidence. The second pair is his response to Brandt’s question: first he “studied his boots”, then he says “I will speak for the new workers”. The change from avoidance to speech shows an internal change that the physical positions already suggested.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (3 points).
| Point | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| 1 | Identifies two pairs of parallel details from the extracts |
| 2 | Quotes or accurately paraphrases both parts of each pair |
| 3 | Explains what the change shows (confidence, willingness to speak) |
Other pairs (for example, the clapping) earn marks if accurately used.
Question 9 (constructed response · stretch)
Explain the function of Mr. Brandt remaining unchanged in the two extracts.
Answer and explanation
Sample response. Mr. Brandt’s repeated manner (“as if the hall belonged to him”, questions asked “in the tone of one who expects to be answered correctly”) gives the reader a fixed point. Because he is the same, the reader can see exactly what has changed: Tomasz and the hall. Brandt’s final question is “asked … as before”, but “the hall, for the first time, did not hurry to answer correctly”, so his authority is unchanged in style but no longer unquestioned in effect. The static character therefore makes the dynamic change visible and shows that a change in others can alter a person’s power without altering the person.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (4 points).
| Point | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| 1 | Identifies Mr. Brandt as unchanged, with the repeated details |
| 2 | States that he measures or highlights the change in others |
| 3 | Uses at least two accurate details from the extracts |
| 4 | Explains what this shows (the hall’s changed response, authority no longer unquestioned) |
How did you do? If you missed Questions 1 to 4, reread “How to show that a character has changed” in the study guide. If you missed Questions 5 to 7, reread Worked example 3 and “Why change matters to the plot”. Then check the checklist.