These are original Marlbridge practice questions, not past exam questions. The extract 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.
Extract 3L (written by Marlbridge), from an invented novel.
The auctioneer held up Mrs. Lisle’s clock, and the room, which had been loud, grew polite. It was a plain clock, eight-day, with a chipped dial, and it had sat on her mantel for forty years, where its ticking could be ignored. Now it was being described. “Good going order,” said the auctioneer. A man at the back bid; the clock went to someone who would not have known that it lost three minutes a week. When the hammer fell, Mrs. Lisle’s daughter, who had come to see everything sold, was the only one to wince, and she winced at the sound, as if something had been closed.
Thesis for Questions 1 to 4. The passage shows how a sale turns a lifetime’s familiar object into a commodity, and what that change costs the family.
Question 1 (multiple choice · core)
Which of the following is commentary, and not evidence or paraphrase, on the detail that the clock “had sat on her mantel for forty years, where its ticking could be ignored”?
- (A) The clock was on Mrs. Lisle’s mantel for forty years.
- (B) The words “forty years” and “could be ignored” suggest that the clock was so familiar that it had become part of the background, so being described at the auction makes it noticeable for the first time.
- (C) “Its ticking could be ignored.”
- (D) Mrs. Lisle kept the clock for a long time and did not listen to it.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). It names the words that carry the meaning, says what they suggest and links to the thesis (the clock becoming noticeable as a commodity).
- (A) and (D) paraphrase.
- (C) quotes without explaining.
Question 2 (multiple choice · core)
Which commentary best explains the function of the auctioneer’s phrase “Good going order”?
- (A) The auctioneer is describing the clock accurately.
- (B) The phrase reduces the clock to a trade description, so the language of the sale values it by condition and not by the forty years it has been in the house.
- (C) The auctioneer likes clocks.
- (D) “Good going order” means the clock works.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). It says how the phrase works (trade language) and links to the thesis (commodity against familiar object).
- (A) and (D) paraphrase.
- (C) is unsupported and irrelevant to the thesis.
Question 3 (multiple choice · stretch)
A student writes: “The clock went to someone who would not have known that it lost three minutes a week. This shows the clock was sold.” What is the main weakness of this commentary?
- (A) It does not explain how the detail works or why it matters to the thesis
- (B) It contains too many quotations
- (C) It is too long
- (D) It disagrees with the thesis
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). “This shows the clock was sold” paraphrases the plot and gives no interpretation. A strong version would say that the buyer’s ignorance of the clock’s fault contrasts with Mrs. Lisle’s long knowledge of it, so the sale transfers the clock to someone who cannot know it.
- (B) is wrong because there is no extra quotation.
- (C) is wrong because the sentence is short and unsupported.
- (D) is wrong because the sentence does not disagree.
Question 4 (multiple choice · stretch)
Which order of claims would form the most logical line of reasoning for the thesis?
- (A) The clock is long familiar to the family; the auction describes it in trade terms; the buyer cannot know it; the daughter’s wince shows the cost.
- (B) The daughter’s wince shows the cost; the buyer cannot know the clock; the auction describes it in trade terms; the clock is long familiar.
- (C) The buyer cannot know the clock; the clock is long familiar; the daughter’s wince shows the cost; the auction describes it in trade terms.
- (D) The auction describes it in trade terms; the daughter’s wince shows the cost; the clock is long familiar; the buyer cannot know it.
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). The order moves from the familiar object, to its conversion into a commodity, to the buyer who cannot know it, to the cost felt by the family. Each claim prepares for the next.
- (B) reverses the argument, so the cost comes before its cause.
- (C) and (D) break the movement from familiar to commodified to costly.
Question 5 (multiple choice · core)
Which statement best describes the function of a transition such as “More than a change of language, the buyer’s ignorance shows…” between paragraphs?
- (A) It shows how the second claim builds on the first, making the line of reasoning visible
- (B) It adds decoration
- (C) It repeats the previous paragraph
- (D) It changes the subject
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). A transition that says what the new claim adds shows the logical link between claims.
- (B) is a misconception: transitions carry logic.
- (C) would repeat and not build.
- (D) is the opposite of the purpose.
Question 6 (constructed response · core)
Write three to four sentences of commentary on the evidence “she winced at the sound, as if something had been closed”. Say what it shows, how it works and why it matters to the thesis.
Answer and explanation
Sample response. The daughter reacts not to the loss of the clock but to “the sound” of the hammer, which shows that the sale has made a physical, final noise out of what was a long relationship. The simile “as if something had been closed” gives the hammer the sound of a door or a lid, so that the sale seems to close off the family’s past with the object. This matters to the thesis because the only person who feels the cost is the one who sees the clock as more than a lot. It also contrasts with the room, which “grew polite” and did not feel the loss.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (4 points).
| Point | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| 1 | Says what the detail shows (the daughter alone feels the loss) |
| 2 | Explains how the words work (the sound; the simile “as if something had been closed”) |
| 3 | Links to the thesis (commodity against family cost) |
| 4 | Uses an accurate quotation and does not simply paraphrase |
Question 7 (constructed response · stretch)
Here is a thin paragraph:
The auctioneer says “Good going order.” This is how he describes the clock. It shows the clock is for sale.
Rewrite it as a paragraph with a claim, one quotation and at least two levels of commentary (how it works and why it matters).
Answer and explanation
Sample response. The auction changes the clock from a household object into a lot. When the auctioneer says “Good going order”, he describes it in the language of trade, which measures it by whether it works and not by the forty years it has been on Mrs. Lisle’s mantel. The phrase is brisk and practical, and the clock that was once “ignored” because it was so familiar is now evaluated for the first time. The contrast between the two ways of seeing the clock supports the claim that the sale turns a familiar object into a commodity.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (4 points).
| Point | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| 1 | A claim that needs defence |
| 2 | An accurate, embedded quotation |
| 3 | Commentary that explains how the words work |
| 4 | Commentary that links to the claim or thesis (why it matters) |
Question 8 (constructed response · stretch)
Write a line of reasoning for the thesis above as three claims in logical order. For each claim, name one piece of evidence from Extract 3L and write one sentence of commentary.
Answer and explanation
Sample response.
- Claim: The clock was so familiar that it was unnoticed. Evidence: “forty years, where its ticking could be ignored”. Commentary: The detail shows an object that is part of daily life, so its loss will be felt as an absence and not as a change in ownership.
- Claim: The auction recasts it as a lot. Evidence: “Good going order”. Commentary: The trade phrase values it by function, which contrasts with the family’s long familiarity.
- Claim: The cost is felt only by those who knew it. Evidence: “she winced at the sound, as if something had been closed”. Commentary: The daughter’s reaction to the hammer shows what the sale ends for her, while the room remains “polite”.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (4 points).
| Point | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| 1 | Three distinct claims that each support the thesis |
| 2 | A logical order in which each claim builds on the last |
| 3 | Accurate evidence for each claim |
| 4 | Commentary that explains the link between each piece of evidence and its claim |
How did you do? If you missed Questions 1 to 3, reread “Evidence, paraphrase and commentary” and “Levels of commentary” in the study guide. If you missed Questions 4 and 5, reread “The line of reasoning”. For the written questions, compare with the rubrics and then check the checklist.