Cambridge O Level English Language 1123: Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, in the style and at the standard of the examination. They are not reproduced past-paper questions — examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board.

Related: O Level English Language revision notes

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Section A

1. State the three things you must identify before beginning any directed writing task. [3]

2. Explain the difference between a summary and a paraphrase. [2]

Section B

3. You are asked to write a speech to your school persuading students to volunteer at a local shelter.

(a) State the register you would use and justify it. [2] (b) Identify three features of a speech you must include. [3] (c) Explain two persuasive devices suitable for this audience. [4]

4. Explain the approach to a summary question in five steps. [5]

5. For a descriptive composition entitled “The Market at Dawn”:

(a) Explain how you would structure it. [3] (b) Explain how to use the five senses effectively, and one common mistake to avoid. [4]

6. Explain how to answer a comprehension question worth 3 marks, and explain why quoting a whole sentence often loses marks. [4]

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Section C

7. A source reads: “The scheme reduced congestion by 20%. It also cut air pollution. However, small shopkeepers reported a fall in trade, and some elderly residents found the new routes confusing.” Select the relevant points and write them as continuous prose, in your own words, in no more than 40 words. [4]

8. A student writes: “The writer uses a metaphor to make it more interesting.” Explain why this would earn no marks for a Use of Language question, then rewrite it as a strong response analysing the effect of the metaphor “the crowd was a river.” [3]

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Answers

1. The purpose — to persuade, inform, advise or argue [1]; the audience — who will read or hear it [1]; the form — letter, speech, report, article, each with its own conventions [1].

2. A summary selects only the relevant points and compresses them, so it is much shorter than the original [1]. A paraphrase restates the whole passage in different words at roughly the same length [1].

3. (a) Semi-formal [1] — the audience is fellow students, so it should be warm and direct rather than stiff, but it is a formal school occasion, so slang would undermine credibility [1]. (b) A direct opening address to the audience (“Good morning, everyone”) [1]; signposting between sections so listeners can follow without rereading [1]; a clear, memorable closing call to action [1]. (c) Any two, 2 marks each: rhetorical questions — invite the audience to answer privately and feel they reached the conclusion themselves [1] [1]; the rule of three — memorable in speech, where listeners cannot go back and reread [1] [1]; personal anecdote — makes the shelter concrete and emotionally real rather than an abstraction [1] [1]; inclusive pronouns (“we”, “our school”) — creates shared responsibility [1] [1].

4. Read the question carefully and underline exactly what is being asked for — many marks are lost by summarising the wrong thing [1]. Read the passage and underline only the relevant points, ignoring examples and repetition [1]. List the points in your own words, checking none is a duplicate [1]. Write them as continuous prose in one paragraph, linked with connectives, not as a list [1]. Check the word count and cut examples and adjectives first, since only the points earn marks [1].

5. (a) Use a clear time or spatial progression — for example from the empty square before dawn, through the arrival of the traders, to the first customers [1]; begin with a striking image rather than an explanation [1]; end by returning to the opening image, changed, which gives a sense of shape [1]. (b) Use sight, sound, smell, touch and taste, but do not attempt all five in every paragraph [1]; choose one or two per moment and develop them precisely — “the sting of woodsmoke” rather than “it smelled nice” [1]; anchor each to a specific, concrete detail rather than a general statement [1]. Common mistake: turning the description into a narrative with a plot, which loses the descriptive focus [1].

6. Identify how many separate points the mark allocation requires — 3 marks usually means three distinct points [1]. Answer in your own words wherever the question asks you to explain, using short quotations only as evidence [1]. Keep each point brief and directly answering the question asked [1]. Quoting a whole sentence loses marks because it does not demonstrate understanding — the examiner cannot tell whether you have identified which part of the sentence answers the question, and “own words” questions explicitly require you to show comprehension by rewording [1].

7. Points: congestion fell by a fifth [1]; air quality improved [1]; small shopkeepers/businesses lost trade [1]; older residents struggled with the new routes [1]. Model answer, in continuous prose and the student’s own words: “Traffic levels dropped by a fifth and the air became cleaner, though small retailers saw takings decline and older people found the altered routes difficult to follow.” Any answer capturing all four points in continuous prose, in the student’s own words, within the limit, earns full marks.

8. Naming a device (metaphor) without explaining its effect on the reader demonstrates nothing — Use of Language marks reward how the writer achieves an effect, not device-spotting [1]. Strong response: “The metaphor ‘the crowd was a river’ suggests the people moved as one uncontrollable mass, emphasising the narrator’s helplessness within it.” — briefly quoting, then explaining the specific effect the image creates [2].

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Where marks are usually lost

• Ignoring the specified audience and writing in the wrong register.
• Writing a summary as a bulleted list instead of continuous prose.
• Including examples and repetition in a summary when only points earn marks.
• Lifting whole sentences from the passage in “own words” questions.
• Naming a literary device (metaphor, simile) without explaining its effect on the reader.
• Writing a summary answer as a list of separate points rather than joined, continuous prose.