These are original Marlbridge practice questions, not past exam questions. The outline was written by Marlbridge for this practice. Mark points are a suggested Marlbridge rubric, not an official scoring guideline. Multiple-choice questions have four options.
Outline 3G (written by Marlbridge) of an invented novel, The Lantern Keeper.
- Wren, the apprentice at a lonely lighthouse, is told by the keeper, Aldous, that she must never open the locked cupboard in the lamp room.
- A storm drives a stranger, Mr. Pell, ashore. Aldous refuses to let him stay.
- Wren hides Pell in the boathouse and brings him food.
- Pell asks Wren to open the cupboard for him. She refuses.
- In a second storm the lamp fails and Aldous is too ill to move. Wren opens the cupboard to find the spare mantle and finds letters addressed to Pell.
- Wren relights the lamp, and a ship passes safely.
- In the morning Wren gives Pell his letters and tells Aldous what she has done.
Question 1 (multiple choice · core)
Which event is most directly the result of Aldous’s refusal in Event 2?
- (A) Wren hides Pell in the boathouse (Event 3)
- (B) The lamp fails (Event 5)
- (C) A ship passes safely (Event 6)
- (D) Wren is told not to open the cupboard (Event 1)
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). Aldous refuses to let Pell stay; Wren responds by hiding him. The link is cause and effect.
- (B) is caused by the storm and the lamp’s failure, not by the refusal.
- (C) follows from Wren’s relighting of the lamp.
- (D) comes before Event 2, so it cannot be a result of it.
Question 2 (multiple choice · core)
The most likely function of Event 4 (Pell asks Wren to open the cupboard, and she refuses) is to
- (A) develop the conflict by testing Wren’s loyalty to the rule against her sympathy for Pell
- (B) resolve the conflict between Wren and Aldous
- (C) introduce the storm
- (D) show that Pell is a ship’s captain
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). The request puts the rule and Wren’s kindness to Pell in tension. She refuses, which keeps the cupboard a source of suspense for later.
- (B) is wrong because the conflict is only starting to develop.
- (C) is wrong because the storm has already occurred.
- (D) is not supported by the outline.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
Event 5 is most accurately described as
- (A) a scene that forces a conflict between obedience and conscience to a decision
- (B) a minor episode with no effect on later events
- (C) the exposition of the novel
- (D) a flashback
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). Wren must break the keeper’s rule to save the light, and she finds the letters. The event raises the stakes and makes her choose.
- (B) is contradicted by its consequences in Events 6 and 7.
- (C) is wrong because exposition belongs near the beginning.
- (D) is not suggested by the outline.
Question 4 (multiple choice · stretch)
If Event 5 were removed from the novel, which of the following would be lost?
- (A) The reason Wren relights the lamp, the discovery of Pell’s letters and the choice that leads to her confession
- (B) The setting of the lighthouse
- (C) The existence of Mr. Pell
- (D) Aldous’s illness only
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). The event causes the relighting, the discovery and the later confession, so removing it would leave Events 6 and 7 without their cause.
- (B) and (C) are established earlier.
- (D) understates the loss: the illness is only one part of what Event 5 sets in motion.
Question 5 (multiple choice · stretch)
Event 6 (Wren relights the lamp and a ship passes safely) mainly functions to
- (A) resolve the immediate external crisis while leaving the question of the cupboard open
- (B) end the novel
- (C) introduce a new conflict with the ship
- (D) show that Wren has forgotten the cupboard
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). The urgent danger (the failed lamp) is settled, but Wren has broken a rule and holds Pell’s letters, so the personal conflict remains for Event 7.
- (B) is wrong because Event 7 follows.
- (C) has no basis in the outline.
- (D) contradicts Event 7.
Question 6 (multiple choice · core)
Which event most directly shows a development in Wren’s character?
- (A) Event 1, in which she is given a rule
- (B) Event 3, in which she hides Pell
- (C) Event 7, in which she hands over the letters and tells Aldous what she has done
- (D) Event 2, in which she watches the stranger come ashore
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). Telling the keeper the truth, after hiding Pell in Event 3, shows her choosing honesty and taking responsibility.
- (A) shows her under authority and does not show change.
- (B) shows an earlier choice made in secret.
- (D) is an observation, not a choice.
Question 7 (constructed response · core)
Explain the significance of Event 5 for the conflict in The Lantern Keeper and for Wren as a character.
Answer and explanation
Sample response. Event 5 is the turning point of the novel. It brings the conflict between obedience to Aldous’s rule and Wren’s responsibility for the ship to a decision: she opens the cupboard to save the light. It also gives her the letters addressed to Pell, which link the cupboard to the man she has been hiding. For Wren it marks a step from keeping the rule to acting on her own judgement, which leads to the relighting in Event 6 and to her confession in Event 7.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (4 points).
| Point | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| 1 | Identifies the conflict (rule against conscience, or Wren against Aldous’s secret) |
| 2 | Explains what Event 5 changes in the conflict (forces a decision, reveals the letters) |
| 3 | Explains what it shows about Wren (acts on her own judgement) |
| 4 | Names at least one later event that depends on it |
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Choose one event other than Event 5 and explain its function in the plot of The Lantern Keeper. State the conflict it relates to.
Answer and explanation
Sample response (Event 3). Wren’s decision to hide Pell in the boathouse is the first time she acts against Aldous. It develops the conflict between Wren and Aldous by making her a secret participant in the dispute over Pell. It also sets up Event 4, because Pell asks her for more once he is under her protection. The event shows that her loyalty is already divided, which makes the later cupboard decision believable.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (3 points).
| Point | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chooses an event and names the conflict it relates to |
| 2 | Explains what the event causes or changes |
| 3 | Links the event to a character’s development or to a later event |
Any other event earns full marks if its function is explained with reference to the conflict.
How did you do? If you missed Questions 1 to 3, reread “What makes an event significant” in the study guide. If you missed Questions 4 to 6, reread Worked example 2. Then check the checklist.