Language Practice Booklet 3 forPaper 2

Name:

Grade: 10 IGCSE

Division: Wakanda

INDEX
Topic Page Marks Teacher’s Sign Parent’s Sign
No. Scored

Overview of Paper 2 3 - - -

Formal Vocabulary Bank 5 - - -

Rubric - Directed Writing 7 - - -

Response Genres 9 - - -

Sample Article 11 - - -

Sample Speech 16 - - -

Sample Letter 21 - - -

DiWri. Practice 1 - Article 26

DiWri. Practice 2 - Article 31

DiWri. Practice 3 - Speech 36

DiWri. Practice 4 - Speech 40

DiWri. Practice 5 - Letter 45

DiWri. Practice 6 - Letter 50

Creative Writing 55

Points to Remember - Descriptive 56 - - -

How to plan for a Descriptive Essay 58 - - -

Word List - Sensory Details 59 - - -

Ornamental Words 60 - - -

Sample Descriptive - 1 61 - - -

Sample Descriptive - 2 63 - - -

Practice Planning and Structuring 65 - - -

Points to Remember - Narrative 66 - - -

How to plan for Narrative Writing 68 - - -

Alternatives - Vocabulary 69 - - -

Sample Narrative - 1 70 - - -

Sample Narrative - 2 72 - - -

Rubric - Descriptive / Narrative 74 - - -

Composition Practice 1 77

Composition Practice 2 80

Composition Practice 3 83

Composition Practice 4 86

Composition Practice 5 89

Composition Practice 6 92

Composition Practice 7 95

Composition Practice 8 98

2
 Overview of Paper Pattern

Paper 2 Writing

2 Hours - 80 Marks - 50% passing

Sections Questions Type of Description Word Limit Marks

task

Content Style

A 1 Directed Response to one/two texts 250 - 350 24 16

Writing in a
argumentative/persuasive
nonfiction genre: article,
speech or letter

2 or 3 Descriptive One of two titles

B 350 - 450 24 16
4 or 5 Narrative One of two titles

*In this Practice Booklet we will be solving questions related to Composition of Descriptive or Narrative
essays.

3
Directed
Writing

4
 Formal Vocabulary Bank

Connectives:

Rhetorical strategies:
The ways authors organise evidence and make connections between their audience and the information they provide.
Here are some examples:

● Cause and effect

● Comparing and contrasting
● Classifying and dividing
● Defining
● Describing
● Explaining a process
● Narrating

5
Phrasal Verbs:

6
 Rubric - Directed Writing

Please note that this rubric is not provided to gamble marks but to help you draft Band 6 level of
response.
Writing (Style)

Band Descriptors Marks

6 ● Expression convincing and effective 22-25

● Well-organised and efficiently structured
● Wide range of mature and precise vocabulary
● Highly appropriate style for purpose and audience
● Almost no spelling, grammar or punctuation errors

5 ● Expression consistently suitable 18-21

● Generally well structured
● Wide range of suitable vocabulary
● Consistently appropriate style for purpose and audience
● A few minor errors of spelling, grammar and punctuation

4 ● Expression mostly suitable 14-17

● Mostly well sequenced
● Mostly varied and appropriate vocabulary
● Mostly appropriate style for purpose and audience
● Some errors of spelling, grammar and punctuation

3 ● Expression sometimes suitable 10-13

● Little attempt to re-order material in text
● Vocabulary simple, repetitive or sometimes lifted from text
● Some use of appropriate style for purpose and audience
● Frequent and sometimes serious errors of spelling, grammar and
punctuation

2 ● Expression rarely suitable and sometimes unclear 6-9

● Lack of sequence of ideas.
● Rare use of own words
● Little use of appropriate style for purpose and audience.
● Many serious errors of spelling, grammar and punctuation

1 ● Expression unsuitable and often unclear 1-5

● Unsequenced and jumbled ideas
● Mainly copied
● Inappropriate style for purpose and audience
● Persistent serious errors of spelling, grammar and punctuation

0 ● Expression unclear Inappropriate content 0

● Entirely copied No or very brief response

7
Reading (Content)

Band Descriptors Marks

6 ● Confident analysis of well-selected explicit and implicit ideas 13-15

● Well-assimilated and well-developed ideas

5 ● Competent analysis of selected explicit and implied ideas 10-12

● Range of detailed and supported ideas

4 ● Reasonable selection and analysis of explicit ideas 7-9

● Relevant ideas reasonably well explained

3 ● Selects a few relevant ideas 5-6

● Comments on explicit ideas

2 ● Recognises a few explicit ideas 3-4

● Response is insubstantial with little use of evidence

1 ● Fails to recognise relevant ideas 1-2

● Response is limited and lacks evidence

0 ● No or very brief response 0

8
 RESPONSE GENRES

The same genre will not be set in both papers of the same exam session.

1. Magazine Article*

Purpose Discursive

Structure A balance range of views on a topic

The writer’s opinion may be stated at the end, but no view is conclusive

Style Quotations and reported speech are often included to convey the views of relevant experts
and interviewees

Voice More colloquial and indicative of personality than other types of response, but still
professional

2. Letter*

Purpose Persuasive or argumentative (depending on whether the writer is trying to gain something
for their own self-interest)

Structure The structure is three or four paragraphs: the first explains why you are writing with
appropriate references; the second/third give the details of the complaint, request or case
being presented; the final paragraph asks for the desired response, e.g. for an issue to be
reconsidered, or for a refund

If the recipient is addressed by name, then the sign-off is 'Yours sincerely'; otherwise it is
'Yours faithfully'

In the exam context there is no need for the addresses and date which would be required in
reality

Style Formal in terms of sentence structures and vocabulary, in order to sound impressive and
authoritative

Voice Even when expressing strong demands or opinions, it must be impersonal and polite

9
3. Speech*

Purpose Argumentative

Structure Introduce the issue and make it sound current and relevant; summarise the alternative
viewpoint in one paragraph; say why this view is invalid or incomplete; continue to present a
case, making a series of points each supported by evidence and examples; conclude with
an urgent warning of what will happen if nothing changes / your argument is not accepted

Style Includes a full range of rhetorical devices; sentences structured for effect; provocative and
strong vocabulary; inclusive personal pronouns and use of 'I'

Voice Passionate and authoritative

10
 Sample - Article

Read Text 1A and then read the question given below. Along with the sample response, analysis of
the same is also provided to improve your understanding of Style and Content.

Text 1A
This is the transcript of a radio interview discussing whether the pursuit of fitness has gone too far.

Asya Koh: Mr Medlanov, thank you for finding time in your gruelling schedule to give this interview about
fitness, a subject which affects us all. Could you explain to our listeners what it is that you actually do as
a personal trainer?

Yevgeny Medlanov: Well, some people say that I help busy people to look better for their public. But I
would say that what I do is to transition them to a sustainable peak of fitness, to instil in them a healthy
approach to the physical side of their life, and to make them obligatory exercisers', as they are now
called. If that makes them look stunning on their Instagram feed, all well and good. But what is important
to me professionally is that they should live twenty years longer and have a more fulfilled life.

AK: So you really believe that these extreme training regimes which you promote benefit more than just
your bank balance, and the makers of fitness equipment and clothing, even though obsessive exercising
is now a recognised addiction?

YM: [laughs] Inevitably they do. My clients are people who do not believe that 15 they have the time to
keep fit. I explain to them how their sedentary existence at a desk or in front of a screen, or being
chauffeured between meetings, will lead to obesity, heart disease, even cancer. As a start, they need to
acquire new habits: run when they could walk, walk when they could ride, take the stairs not the elevator,
visit the gym instead of sitting on a sofa watching movies, run in the park before breakfast, go shopping
for real rather than buying everything online and having it delivered to the door. Of course, this lifestyle
improves their social interactions as well as their health and fitness: they will meet a range of people and
talk to them, do fitness activities together, join sports teams, sign up for charity fundraising events... This
is all true for everyone, of course, but busy people have to have someone to tell them these things.

AK: But surely there are more simple and cheaper ways of adopting a more healthy lifestyle? Eating less
junk food, reducing portion size, spending more time outdoors, and yes, going for a jog - none of which
require a personal trainer.

YM: [smiles) Miss Koh, you make it sound so easy. If it were, I and all of my kind would indeed be
superfluous. But, as you see, we are not. More and more people are requiring our services. What my
clients are buying is a boost to their willpower, and what they get in return when they accept that they
must take the advice which they are expensively paying for is the euphoric serotonin rush, which comes
from extreme exercise and pushing one's body to its limits.

AK: You are very persuasive, Mr Medlanov, and that is no doubt why you are so successful, but isn't all
11
this in reality just a fad or a response to social pressure? Ostentatiously buying membership of a
fashionable gym does not equal a commitment to attending it, and personal fitness monitors are often
worn just for decoration. Taking steroids to enhance body image is actually dangerous. Some fitness
fanatics are so obsessed that they have no time for anything else in their lives and their relationships
suffer. And what about the 95-year-olds who take part in marathons, and those who have heart attacks or
collapse from exhaustion when they over-do their exercise regime? Surely that's taking fitness too far?

YM: Of course for some people it is being able to show off that matters, not whether they are truly fit.
Some boast about having the most expensive personal trainer but do no training. But it isn't possible to
be 'too fit', and more die from being unfit than from going too far. A rigorous dedication to fitness is
purely beneficial, for mental as well as physical health the link between inactivity and depression is well
proven. We are living longer nowadays, but there is no point is 50 reaching an older age without mobility
and a positive attitude, and for this one has to follow a regular exercise routine throughout one's life, not
just have a few goes on a rowing machine or fixed bike when one remembers to..

AK: Thank you for sharing with us your views on this topic. It will be interesting to see how far our
listeners, of any age, agree with you.

12
★ Question

Imagine that you are interested in sport and fitness and heard the radio interview in Text 1A

Write an article for your school magazine to raise the issue in a school context.

In your article you should:

- evaluate the arguments about exercise regimes given by both speakers in the text
- give your own views, based on what you have read, about whether the pursuit of fitness has gone too
far.

Base your article on what you have read in Text, but be careful to use your own words. Address each of
the two bullet points.

Begin your article with the words, “Today we are constantly told about the importance of keeping fit…”

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 25 marks for the quality of your
writing.

★ Decoding the Text

Factual details (Explicit Ideas)

● Case for believing that insufficient attention is given to fitness:

- jobs increasingly sedentary
- people use transport more and walk less
- people spend more time indoors / at a screen
- increasing number of people are obese / at risk of heart conditions
- online shopping has reduced time spent on the move
- most people only exercise intermittently and find excuses/forget to do it
- fitness activities encourage social interactions
- physical fitness improves mental outlook
- students need to escape from studying and do something physical.
- not enough people know the exhilaration after having exercised
- ageing population needs to keep in good physical shape for longer
● Case for believing that excessive attention is given to fitness:
- has been named as an addiction and is causing concern
- social media creates impossible demand for perfect bodies/outfits
- common sense is all one needs, not expensive personal trainers

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 - dangerous/can be fatal to overtax one's body
- doesn't leave enough time for other pursuits / a balanced life
- students need to spend a lot of time studying as their future depends on it
- bodybuilders take steroids to look more fit

Developing Points (Implicit Ideas)

- personal trainers are exploitative and unnecessary

- majority of people still don't do enough exercise so hasn't yet gone far enough
- more die from diseases caused by unfitness than from extreme training
- obesity epidemic among children in some cultures / more exercise is crucial
- diet is more important than exercise in determining fitness
- increasing mental health issues linked to increasing unfitness of populations
- social media give incentive to become fit so perform a useful service
- nothing which is compulsive and out of control is healthy
- fitness fanatics are boring and self-obsessed

‘Give your opinion based on what you have read’

How/what to assert in your opinion?

- exercise is necessary but must be kept at a reasonable level

- fitness is important but only one aspect of a balanced life
- really fit people don't have personal trainers / don't need an external incentive
- people should keep fit for their own benefit and not in order to impress others
- mental health is actually more important than fitness in determining quality of life

P.T.O.

14
★ Student Y’s Response:

Today we are constantly told about the importance of keeping fit, at school and in the media,
which tries to scare us with tales of obesity among schoolchildren and encourage us with
reports of marathons, cycle races and other athletic achievements. We are made to do PE at
school and expected to do extra curricular sport too.

This is a good thing, as we spend a lot of our time sitting in front of a screen, and when we
get a job it may be even worse as many of them are desk-based. If we don't make it a habit
to get regular exercise and fresh air, we are likely to fall ill sooner or later, in addition to
putting on weight. Fitness activities are often communal- and even benefit the community by
fundraising for good causes and give us a chance to extend our social circle. Because few
students walk to school nowadays, and many people live a long distance from their work so
have to use transport or even work from home so don't go anywhere we should compensate by
factoring in plenty of exercise. It's too easy to only do what is physically comfortable and
undemanding. like watching tv, shopping online and driving around, and to forget that when
we're older and our bodies start to stiffen up we will wish we'd spent more time keeping in
shape.

There are claims that we actually care too much about fitness these days. because of social
media pressure, and that some students spend so many hours in the gym. playing sports or
posing on instagram that they underachieve at school, which causes problems for their later
education and careers. Rich people all have personal trainers because it's the cool thing to do,
whether or not it makes any difference to their fitness.

However, in my view, students need more time away from their studies and their computer
games not less. Going for a long run refreshes the mind and makes the body feel good, so we
should embrace the fitness trend in pursuit of a long and healthy life.

➢ This response has scored:

- Writing: Band 6, marks 22
- Reading: Band 5, marks 12

➢ Examiner’s comments:
- The response is written in a suitably confident argumentative style, successfully applying the
topic to a school context.
- It includes effective use of vocabulary and sentence structures.
- There is evaluation of explicit and implicit ideas, including supporting textual and other detail.
- It is accurately written and clearly sequenced within an overall structure.
- However, the response is not fully developed and presents a one-sided view.

15
 Sample - Speech

Read Text 2A and 2B, then read the question given below. Along with the sample response, analysis of
the same is also provided to improve your understanding of Style and Content.
Text 2A
This material is from a website promoting veganism, the exclusion of eating or using animal products.

For the animals

Preventing the exploitation of animals is not the only reason for becoming vegan, but for many it remains
the key factor in their decision to go vegan and stay vegan. Having emotional attachments with animals
may form part of that reason while many believe that all sentient creatures have a right to life and
freedom. Specifics aside, avoiding animal products is one of the most obvious ways you can take a
stand against animal cruelty and animal exploitation everywhere. A more detailed overview on why being
vegan demonstrates true compassion for animals can be found here.

For your health

Well-planned vegan diets follow healthy eating guidelines, and contain all the nutrients that our 15 bodies
need. Both the British Dietetic Association and the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
recognise that they are suitable for every age and stage of life. Some research has linked vegan diets.
with lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and lower 20 rates of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and
sorrie types of cancer.

Going vegan is a great opportunity to learn more about nutrition and cooking, and improve your diet.
Getting your nutrients from plant foods allows more room in your diet for health-promoting options like
whole grains, fruit, nuts, seeds and vegetables, which are packed full of beneficial fibre, vitamins and
minerals.

For the environment

From recycling our household rubbish to cycling to work, we're all aware of ways to live a greener life.
One of the most effective things an individual can do to lower their carbon footprint is to avoid all animal
products. This goes way beyond the problem of cow flatulence!

Why is meat and dairy so bad for the environment?

The production of meat and other animal products places a heavy burden on the environment-from crops
and water required to feed the animals, to the transport and other processes involved from farm to fork.
The vast amount of grain feed required for meat production is a significant contributor to deforestation,
habitat loss and species extinction. In Brazil alone, the equivalent of 5.6 million acres of land is used to
grow soya beans for animals in Europe. This land contributes to developing world malnutrition by driving
impoverished populations to grow cash crops for animal feed rather than food for themselves. On the
other hand, considerably lower quantities of crops and water are required to sustain a vegan diet making
the switch to veganism one of the easiest, most enjoyable and most effective ways to reduce our impact
on the environment. For more on how veganism is the way forward for the environment, see our
environment section.
16
For people
Just as veganism is the sustainable option when it comes to looking after our planet, plant-based living
is also a more sustainable way of feeding the human family. A plant-based diet requires only one third of
the land needed. to support a meat and dairy diet. With rising global food and water insecurity due to a
myriad of environmental and socio-economic problems, there's never been a better time to adopt a more
sustainable way of living. Avoiding animal 60 products is not just one of the simplest ways an individual
can reduce the strain on food as well as other resources, it's the simplest way to take a stand against
inefficient food systems which disproportionately affect the poorest people all over the world. Read more
here on how vegan diets can help people.

Text 2B
This passage is a magazine article by a chef attacking veganism.

Dietary exclusion has become a common signifier of identity and social status. Veganism shouts purity,
superiority and virtuousness. The ability to refrain from messy, animalistic pleasures of eating meat and
dairy implies to vegans that they're more civilised than the rest of us.

Regrettably, this strength of feeling leaves them susceptible to false beliefs. Prominent vegans are prone
to sharing vile, baseless pseudoscience concerning diseases such as Alzheimer's, osteoporosis and
cancer.

Perhaps most damaging of all is the view that a vegan diet is necessarily healthy. In reality, any health
benefits of plant-based eating come from what is added, not excluded. Vegans will usually eat large
quantities of fruit and vegetables, fresh ingredients and plan their mealtimes carefully. All these
strategies are available to meat eaters, but vegans are often more motivated, if only so they can be
overbearingly smug and self-righteous about it later on.

As part of a varied diet, meat, fish, eggs and dairy are not damaging to most people's health. Although
oft-cited studies reveal links between processed meat and cancer, these show only small increases in
risk for unusually high rates of consumption. The vast majority of us eat amounts well in line with health
recommendations, and many are looking to reduce their intake-a far more sensible approach than
exclusion.

In fact, excluding animal products entirely comes with many dangers, because a solely plant-based diet
is not nutritionally complete. Plant sources of essential vitamins and minerals, such as iodine and
vitamin D, are hugely unreliable. Lack of B12, a vitamin not produced by plants, is a particular problem
and has the potential to cause many devastating and irreversible conditions.

An increasing number of aspirational celebrities are adopting vegan diets and veganism is fast
becoming an ultra-fashionable lifestyle regime. In this context, it is a restrictive weight-loss diet
masquerading as a healthy one. Previous generations of vegans may have lacked the glamorous
aesthetic of their modern counterparts, but they at least took care to ensure their diets were safe, healthy
and sustainable. Millennial veganism seems to be more concerned with Instagram likes.

17
★ Question

Imagine that you are a student in an international boarding school.

Write a speech to be given in a school assembly, giving your views on whether or not the school should
switch to a vegan diet.

In your speech you should:

- evaluate the views on diet given in both texts

- give your own views, based on what you have read, about healthy eating.

Base your speech on what you have read in Text, but be careful to use your own words. Address each
of the two bullet points.

Begin your speech: “Are you happy with school food?”

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 25 marks for the quality of your
writing.

★ Decoding the Text

Factual details (Explicit Ideas)

● Text A
- traditional diets involve cruelty to animals
- scientifically proven nutritional benefits to being vegan
- helps avoid disease
- vegan crops need less water
- the poor suffer from land use for meat production
● Text B
- veganism is status symbol/makes political statement
- vegans think they are superior/more civilised
- misled by false scientific beliefs
- not really any healthier than meat-eating
- animal products not harmful in moderation / as part of balanced diet
- plant-based diets can lead to deficiencies and diseases
- celebrities become vegan just to lose weight or get attention.

18
 Developing Points (Implicit Ideas)

● Text A
- everything evolves, so why not diet?
- meat and dairy unnecessary when the need for physical labour is declining
- obesity, especially among children, a major international concern; diets need to
change/become healthier.
- water shortages are a global problem so crops requiring less should be planted
- use of land for cattle/fast food chains causing ecological problems
- inconsistent to claim to care about animals and yet eat them
- non-meat-eating societies live longer
● Text B
- both sides claim health benefits/disease prevention; which is true?
- there have been several scares about meat products being mislabelled/ contaminated/of low
quality
- diet has always been a status symbol, previously only the rich could afford meat
- vegans may live longer but that's only because they have a healthier lifestyle
- vegans accused of being smug/self-righteous because meat-eaters feel guilty

‘Give your opinion based on what you have read’

How/what to assert in your opinion?

- it doesn't matter why people become vegan; the benefits and good example set are still valid,
whatever the reason
- people could eat less meat even if they don't give it up completely, with personal and global
benefits
- vegetarianism is a compromise; dairy animal products are still part of the diet
- free range animal products are better quality and less cruel than battery-farmed or processed ones
so should be subsidised to bring prices down and make them affordable to everyone
- fast food chains should be limited to prevent further rainforest destruction
- public should be further educated about the effects of diet on health and land use so they can
make informed choices

P.T.O.

19
★ Student W’s Response:

Are you happy with school food? Our school gives our students a balanced diet, including all
varieties of food. But, is this beneficial to us? Many people argue whether we should or should
not switch onto a vegan lifestyle. A vegan lifestyle consists on not consuming anything provided by
animals, not only their meat, but their products as milk and eggs are banned too.

Why should we switch? Primarily for animals: not only for our emotional connection but also to
fight against animal cruelty. Instead of being born to be eaten, we should give them freedom.
Moreover, for ourselves! It has been prooved that the lack of animal products would help our
society abolish the world's biggest health issues like coronary heart diseases, obesity, diabetes
and cancer. If this is not enough. think on others, if those who can afford a healthy vegan diet
decide to choose it over a meat based one, those in impoverished populations, will be able to eat
the meat that they farm rather than having the need to sell it. This way, the carbon emissions
would be reduced too, due to the crops and water required for them to grow. combined with the
transport from the farm to your plates. Stop the carbon emissions!

On the other hand, vegans are the main carriers of diseases such as Alzheimer. osteoporosis and
cancer due to the lack of vitamins and minerals. Additionally, we believe that vegans have a
healthier diet than the rest. but this is not necessarily true as any balanced diet is healthy.
Although some studies suggest that cancer is lowered by eating less animal-based products, the
increases are so low, that they could have been caused by any other circumstance. In fact,
removing animal products is worse for our body, the lack of iodine, vitamin D and B12. the most
dangerous one as the conditions caused are irreversible. Lastly, vegan lifestyle is a new fashion,
and many have simply adopted it for fashion and to post images in search of likes.

In my opinion, animal-based products are not the best for our bodies. Contrarily. not eating is also
bad, therefore I strongly support the idea of reducing the consumption but not removing it
completely. This is because eggs, milk and meat are essential for the development of a student
and also for health on an adult. Thanks for listening and hope you take into consideration my
suggestions.

➢ This response has scored:

- Writing: Band 5, marks 18
Examiner’s Comment: Expression consistently suitable; generally well structured; a few minor errors

- Reading: Band 5, marks 10

Examiner’s Comment: Competent analysis of range of ideas; uses detailed support

20
 Sample - Letter

Read Text 3A and 3B, then read the question given below. Along with the sample response, analysis
of the same is also provided to improve your understanding of Style and Content.

Text 3A
This text is a newspaper opinion column arguing against the existence of zoos
We have family membership to the zoo and we visit it a lot as an alternative to the park. There are bits we
scoot past very fast - my daughter especially hates the idea of monkeys being in cages-and bits we linger
over, like the giraffes, for which I have a particular fondness.

Later, as I was watching a tv wild-life documentary series, I couldn't stop thinking about the giraffes. The
first episode showed a giraffe walking for miles across the Kalahari and another giraffe outrunning a lion.
All the while in my head I was picturing the giraffe enclosure at the zoo, which is, let us say, not large.
And then thinking back to the giraffe running across vast expanses of desert. And finally thinking: there
is no sense in which this is right, cooping animals up like that. It is categorically wrong.

It's not the first time I've thought about this. I have previous distressing memories of the zoo. I remember
the polar bear, specifically, rocking from side to side like a creature that had lost its mind, and I recall
looking at the rhines and feeling deeply sorry for them, stranded in a European city centre being gawped
at. I remember monkeys picking at their own fur and big cats pacing up and down and up and down
again and again, because there was nothing else to do.

The point about all this is that I am not especially an animal lover, so I don't say this from any strident
animal rights position, but it just seems wrong to me, this zoo business in the 21st century-wrong and
ugly.

I know zoos do valuable conservation work, and I don't want any more species to become extinct. But I
don't fully understand why it is impossible to carry out conservation work in situ rather than, for example,
by freighting pandas over from China to Scotland.

My argument to myself, even as I felt uncomfortable at the sight of caged animals in various stages of
distress, was always as follows: a) how amazing that my children should be able to get close to a tiger;
b) these animals are lovingly cared for and looked after by amazing keepers; c) it's not ideal but it's more
or less fine,

However, I have changed my mind. I don't think it's fine any more to keep enormous creatures in captivity
for our entertainment. Yes, clapping eyes on a tiger is an amazing thing, but HD or 3D television isn't bad
either. I don't believe that in 2020 anyone's life is enhanced by gazing into the eyes of a gorilla that should
be in Congo.

21
 Text 3B
This material is from a blog supporting the work of zoos.

A couple of weeks ago, there was an accident at Cincinnati zoo. A child fell into an enclosure with a
gorilla named Harambe, and to protect the child the gorilla was shot. What this event has done is reignite
the debate over the role of zoos (and aquaria). Whilst much of the attention generated is unfortunately
negative, it does give folks like me an opportunity to shout about the great and critically important work
zoos do for conservation. Many zoos are reluctant to speak up, so with the debate being a little
one-sided, here's five reasons why zoos are critical to conservation.

1. There are 39 animal species currently listed by the IUCN as Extinct in the Wild. These are species that
would have vanished totally were it not for captive populations around the world, many of which reside
in zoos.

2. For species whose survival in the wild looks in doubt, zoos often set up insurance populations. These
are captive groups of animals that could in a worst case scenario assist in reintroduction to the wild,
should the original population go extinct

3. In 2014, 700 million people visited zoos worldwide. Surely that number of visits had to create some sort
of connection with the natural world that might not have occurred otherwise.

4. Zoos are a living museum. What we learn about wild animals in captivity can help us manage and
conserve them in the wild, from animal behaviour to reproductive rates to dietary requirements.

5. Zoos raise money for conservation efforts. By enabling people to experience wildlife first hand, and
using that as a vehicle for telling a story, we can increase participation in international conservation
efforts.

★ Question

Imagine that you have recently visited a zoo and the experience made a strong impression on you.

Write a letter to a national newspaper, giving your views on whether or not zoos should exist

In your speech you should:

- evaluate the views given in both texts about the work of zoos and the experience of visiting them
- give your own views, based on what you have read, about whether zoos should continue to exist in the
twenty-first century.

Base your letter on what you have read in Text, but be careful to use your own words. Address each of
the two bullet points.

Begin your letter: “Dear Editor, I wish to express my views on a topical issue.....”

Write about 250 to 350 words.

22
★ Decoding the Text

Factual details (Explicit Ideas)

● Text A
- visitors don't like to see animals in cages
- wild animals need freedom / space to run
- animals get depressed and bored in zoos
- conservation work should be done in animal's native habitat
- zoo animals can endanger the public/ are shot to protect public
- zoos can't be justified as entertainment
- zoos are obsolete / films show animals in action in the wild
● Text B
- children can get close to animals/forge links with nature
- animals are well looked after by specialists
- some species would be extinct if it weren't for zoos
- endangered species are safer in captivity
- zoos popular with visitors
- study of captive animals aids management of wild populations
- zoos raise money for / awareness of need for conservation

Developing Points (Implicit Ideas)

● Text A
- wildlife parks and open zoos are not in the same category as those with cages
- some zoos are better than others / animals have more space and food
- breeding programmes can only be carried out in captivity
- seeing animals on film is not the same as close contact
- zoos teach children about animals/ to love animals
- what would happen to the zoo animals/ not able to survive if returned to wild
● Text B
- some zoos do not care for animals properly / only care about profits
- dangerous animals escape from zoos
- zoos are a throwback to a previous era when they were the only way to learn about the
animals of other countries
- emphasis all on conservation, not on the lives of the individual animals; just

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 - being used for scientific purposes

‘Give your opinion based on what you have read’

How/what to assert in your opinion?

- zoos should be improved but not abolished safaris and game parks are the best way to see
animals in their habitats
- conservation is a global issue and should be funded at government and international levels
- animals should be left alone: human interference results in poaching; experimentation; loss of
habitat and migration routes; species being endangered
- animals need human expertise and protection in order for species to survive

P.T.O.

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★ Student T’s Response:

Dear Editor

I wish to express my views on a topical issue: the existence of zoos in the twenty first century. I
recently visited a zoo, and I was shocked and horrified by the experience. Some say a trip to the
zoo strengthens your bond with nature, but all I felt was sadness and pity for the animals locked
up in cramped enclosures. Giraffes, which in the wild can travel across huge distances, are having
to suppress their instincts and spend their days in confinement. The distress of all the zoo
animals is evident: majestic lions pace back and forth or lie down. bored, while monkeys inspect
their own fur.

I don't deny that zoos play an invaluable role in the conservation of animals. Wildlife that is
extinct or not far from it can be kept safe, and, in addition, 2005 enable scientific research to
be carried out that helps us learn about and better assist endangered populations. As more
people become aware of the importance of conservation, more money can be raised for this
worthy cause.

However, exploiting these animals merely for entertainment is cruel and wrong. Even though the
animals may be well looked after their quality of life in a 200 is nothing compared to that in the
wild, where they are free. Some animals such as pandas, are shipped from their native habitat
just so that visitors can exclaim over new and exotic creatures. But the same experience could be
enjoyed from high-quality television documentaries.

Moreover, zoos are not actually always safe: accidents are bound to happen when wild animals are
imprisoned and frustrated, as with the incident in Cincinnati Zoo when a small child fell into the
gorilla Harambe's enclosure. and the gorilla was shot just as a precaution.

In a world of declining animal populations conservation is important, but zoos are not the answer.

➢ This response has scored:

- Writing: Band 6, marks 22

- Reading: Band 6, marks 14

➢ Examiner’s Comments:
- Convincing and effective response, concisely and accurately expressed, which
includes a range of details for effect.
- The sequence and structure are clear and the ideas well linked and developed.
- Own ideas and those of the texts are well assimilated.
- The voice and tone are mature and confident.
- The evaluation is balanced and the conclusion effective.

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 Directed Writing Practice 1
Article

Read Text carefully, and then answer Question on the Question Paper, here.

Text A : Green shopping won’t save the planet

The following text is an article about individuals and the environment.
It’s easy being green ... too easy. From adorable reusable shopping bags to plastic-free beauty products,
the proliferation of green goods makes doing our bit for the planet fun. Indeed, a poll released recently
found that most Americans, for example, are shopping for the good of the planet: 76 per cent said they’d
bought a product specifically because they thought it was better for the environment.

Shopping habits have become one manifestation of how saving the planet has become a matter of
personal change rather than of collective action. However, every example of major environmental
progress – reducing acid rain, improving air quality, restoring the ozone layer – has been the result of
national legislation or a global treaty. We reduced acid rain by restricting industry’s emissions, not by
going all out and sprinkling bicarbonate on sensitive forests and lakes. Ozone-chomping CFC chemicals
were banned by international laws, not by everyone giving up spray cans and air conditioning.

Environmental progress is made by forcing people and industry to stop doing environmentally bad things
and start doing environmentally good things, not by relying on individuals’ green goodwill. Recycling
figures are up in most countries but acquiring consumer goods, a very environmentally damaging
pursuit, is also up. In the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra, recycling is the last resort, after all.

Just to be clear: recycling, cutting energy use, buying locally and the rest of the ‘what you can do’ agenda
is better than the opposite. I use public transport (easy in cities, of course), walk almost everywhere else,
recycle, sun-dry clothes, keep the house cold in winter and hot in summer – some sacrifice for the sake
of the planet, let me tell you! The problem with the emphasis on changing individual behaviour is this: it
makes too many of us believe we have done our part.

In her new book, ‘Green Gone Wrong’, journalist Heather Rogers calls the emphasis on individual green
acts – especially shopping – rather than collective ones, ‘lazy environmentalism’. But it’s nearly
ubiquitous. When Rogers gives speeches about garbage, someone always tells her they thought ‘we
could cure our environmental ills by consuming the right products,’ she writes.

The message that we cannot consume our way out of climate change, or shop our way out of crashing
fisheries, or vanishing species or depleted seas isn’t as much fun as, ‘Buy green!’ Compared with the
scale of the disaster, changing individual behaviour is pathetically inadequate.

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 Text B : Giving up hope won’t save the planet
The following text is an interview given by a well known conservationist.
We are destroying the world at a very rapid rate; many people are giving up hope and thinking, ‘Well,
there’s nothing I can do on my own.’ The rain forests are disappearing everywhere. Big dams are draining
whole countries of their water supply as water becomes more precious than gold; there’s mining, there’s
fracking, there’s drilling for oil. We’re in the middle of a great species extinction; we’re losing biodiversity
everywhere and we’re burning fossil fuels very, very fast.

We are breeding billions of animals just to eat them. This means that whole habitats are being destroyed
to grow grain; fossil fuels are being used to take the grain to the animals, the animals to slaughter, and
the meat to the table. In addition, the animals are producing masses of methane gas, and that’s a very
virulent greenhouse gas which speeds up climate change.

We need to start thinking about how everybody can lead more sustainable lives. The wealthy need to
start thinking about their environmental footprint – What do I buy? What do I eat? What do I wear? How
was it made? Where did it come from? – and thinking whether they need all the stuff that they buy, the
meat they eat and the plastics they use.

I support an environmental project for young people called Roots and Shoots. It started with 12 high
school students in Tanzania, and now has members from kindergarten to university in 100 countries. The
project’s main message is that every individual, every school or college, every community makes a
difference every day. Every group chooses itself three projects that are important to the area around
them and that can make things better for people, for animals and for the environment – everything from
planting trees to recycling, from reducing waste or changing what money is spent on within their
organisation, to growing organic food.

Young people care about the planet and their future on it. We have a window of opportunity for making
some changes, for slowing down climate change. But it’s going to require a lot of effort.

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Question

Write an article for your school or college magazine with the title, ‘Small Change, Big Difference?’

In your article you should:

- evaluate the views given in both texts about saving the planet
- give your own views, based on what you have read, about whether your school or college can make a
difference and how.

Base your article on what you have read in Text, but be careful to use your own words. Address each of
the two bullet points.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 25 marks for the quality of your
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 Directed Writing Practice 2
Article

Read Text carefully, and then answer Question on the Question Paper, here.

Text A : Who are the real experts?

This passage explores the idea of expertise.
Last week, I needed to book lunch in a city that I didn’t know well, and began searching for a suitable
restaurant. Years ago, I’d have done that by turning to a restaurant guide or travel book. In the world I
grew up in, it was normal to seek advice from the ‘experts’. Nowadays, it wouldn’t occur to me to do that.
Instead, I typed what I needed into my phone, scrolled through long lists of online restaurant
recommendations from people who said they’d eaten in them – and picked one. Risky, yes: estimates
suggest 20 percent of comments posted on review websites are fake, but there were enough voices for
me to feel able to trust the wisdom of the cyber crowds. Lunch was nothing special.

This is a trivial example of a bigger change underway. Citizens of the cyber world no longer have faith in
anything that real experts say. People have had enough of experts. We increasingly rely on
crowd-sourced advice rather than properly qualified experts to choose our restaurants, holidays and
health care. We take advice from our peer group, our online ‘friends’ – people like us, and people we like.
In some senses, this is good news, but the problem of this new world is that people can fall prey to social
fads or groupthink. If I only listen to opinions from ‘a person like me’, I’m less likely to accept new facts or
arguments from anyone else.

We’re also far too interested in what celebrities have to say. This is more serious. Celebrities are too
often given a platform to air their views. Celebrities are better-looking and more entertaining than real
experts with their solemn speeches and statistics, but just because someone’s good at acting or sport,
should we trust their opinions on child-rearing, diet or global warming?

Of course, celebrities say they’re just getting ‘the message’ out to the public. Actually, they’re 20 helping
to devalue real expertise and reduce intelligent public discussion. We’re racing headlong towards some
dumbed-down future. Let’s face it, if you’re listening to celebrities on global affairs, you’re not really
asking the hard questions, are you?

Text B : Trust me, I’m an expert

This passage explores the relationship between trust and expertise.
Why do people trust some experts but reject others? Why do people seek medical experts for medical
issues, but distrust economic experts for economic issues? What makes us decide to place trust in, and
listen to, an expert when we need to solve a problem that’s beyond our understanding?

Luckily, there’s scientific research on the issue – if you trust that sort of thing.

Studies argue that to gain our trust an expert needs three characteristics: expertise, integrity and
benevolence. In other words, knowing stuff isn’t enough. For us to rate someone as a trustworthy expert
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they need to seem honest and good-hearted.

This can be problematic in a world where the idea persists that experts are remote geniuses full of their
own importance, or ambitious entrepreneurs blinding us with science. But where does this idea come
from? From my own experience with experts, and being one myself, I think that one reason we seem so
untrustworthy and self-centred is because of how we speak.

To many people expertise is a foreign language. When experts talk, they often use complicated words
and acronyms. Experts seem to want non-experts to rise to their level of sophistication, rather than
approaching non-experts with appropriate language.

As an expert on memory, I’m sometimes guilty of this. I really like uncommon words, despite knowing
they can scare people away. Even in my new book, The Memory Illusion, where I waffle on about the
importance of explaining things in plain English, on the very first page I use the word ‘parsimony’.

In my university lectures and books I consider using precise, elegant words part of the educational 20
experience. However, using words and phrases that most people don’t understand in everyday
conversation and the media is just showing off. Experts should stop blaming the public for not listening
to them and give themselves a stern talking to.

Experts need to demonstrate that they’re good, honest people with the public’s best interest at heart.
That’s easier for some; it’s simple to see how medical experts help others, but much harder with climate
scientists who we may only be able to properly thank when our cities aren’t underwater in 50 years’ time.

But maybe there’s hope yet. A recent online poll found that ‘in times like these’, people trust academics
and experts considerably more than their boss, family, or friends.

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Question

Write an article for young people about who they should listen to when faced with decisions in their own
lives.

In your article you should:

- evaluate the attitudes and opinions about experts in each of the texts
- give your own views, based on what you have read, about getting the best advice

Base your article on what you have read in Text, but be careful to use your own words. Address each of
the two bullet points.

Begin your article with a suitable title.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 25 marks for the quality of your
writing.

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 Directed Writing Practice 3
Speech

Read Text carefully, and then answer Question on the Question Paper, here.

Text A
The post below is from an online education forum in which a Headteacher argues for study
exchange visits to different countries by teenagers.
Many people in my country believe that study exchange visits by students to other countries have limited
educational value and offer little more than brief holidays subsidised by parents and their often
cash-strapped schools. Some say that older students need every minute in their own schools to give
them a chance of success in higher education and a competitive workplace in the future.

In my school, however, we’ve recently instigated an ambitious programme of exchange visits where
students in the second term of their course can spend a few weeks living and studying in a different
country, while keeping up with some of their home school’s work online. It’s proving incredibly popular.
Students apply to spend four weeks studying in a partner school overseas.They have to show enough
maturity and sense of responsibility to represent their school and their country, as well as benefit from
the experience personally.

If we choose carefully, our students return from their exchange visits enriched by exposure to new
cultures and different educational methods and principles. One of our brightest 14-year-olds recently
returned from a four-week visit to study in a school overseas where the resources available reflected the
country’s struggling economy. She learned that the teacher, not the shiny gadgetry, is the key to effective
learning. Other students have returned with aspirations to work in the countries they visited, fuelling their
ambition and drive to succeed.

There is more to educating our students than stuffing their heads with facts and knowledge. The
opportunities provided by study exchange visits – to develop young people’s personalities, resilience and
sense of adventure – cannot be replicated in the classroom. We’ve had young people return from
studying in other countries with renewed motivation and enthusiasm, more tolerant and open-minded
about the wider world. Now, that’s what I call education!

Text B
This post was written by another Headteacher in response to the Headteacher in Text A.

It’s said that travel broadens the mind and maybe it does. I don’t believe, however, that a school should
compromise on its primary role which is to equip students with the skills and knowledge to do well for
themselves, their families and their communities in later life.

A lot of learning happens in four weeks, and the huge time and effort involved in vetting host families,
planning and preparing for a lengthy exchange visit is very costly in teacher time. It’s also a very rare
14-year-old, in my experience, who can leave their family, school and country for four weeks and cope
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 well. Adolescence, especially these days, can be a traumatic enough time without such dubious
‘experiences’, and the school will be left to pick up the pieces.
Having taught in schools in different countries in the past, I know that educational practices and
principles vary widely across the globe. Students returning from four weeks studying abroad may have
some superficial views about the relative value of other ways of learning but their real education happens
in their own schools. How are 14-year-olds meant to judge what they see elsewhere? A snapshot of a
less challenging school environment could limit students’ expectations of themselves while a visit to a
school with small classes, plush surroundings and all manner of electronics may well induce resentment
in young minds. For some, that resentment may eventually drive them away from their own communities
where their education can do most good for others.

As for overseas students coming here to my school on an exchange visit, I would struggle to persuade
teachers to adapt lessons for someone whose progress, especially in examinations, is not their
responsibility. I wonder how the parents of students in my school would view the teacher time expended
on students who are temporary visitors. We have no way to measure what tangible benefits our students
would gain from a study exchange visit, but we might be measuring the disadvantages in poorer grades.
We already have close links with several foreign schools with whom our students correspond regularly,
developing their language skills and broadening their horizons.

Question

Imagine you are the parent of a student who attends a school that is considering a study exchange
programme.

Write a speech you give at a meeting for parents and teachers about whether it is a good idea for the
school to run a study exchange programme.

In your article you should:

- evaluate the ideas and opinions given in both texts

- give your own views, based on what you have read, about whether your child would benefit from a study
exchange visit.

Base your speech on what you have read both the Texts, but be careful to use your own words. Address
each of the two bullet points.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 25 marks for the quality of your
writing.

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 Directed Writing Practice 4
Speech

Read Text carefully, and then answer Question on the Question Paper, here.

Text A : Anyone up for a New Year challenge?

The article below discusses some strategies for keeping resolutions.
No one seems sure when the idea of making resolutions at the turn of a new year began. The ancient
Babylonians are believed to have celebrated the beginning of a new planting season by resolving to make
changes for the better. The Roman god Janus – the one that looks both backwards to the past and
forwards to the future – inspired citizens to promise improvements in the coming year. In the modern
world, many countries and cultures celebrate their new year with ‘wishes’ rather than resolutions, but
social media, perhaps inevitably, has ensured that personal struggles to exercise more / study harder /
eat more healthily / be kinder have become collective experiences.

Most people will not succeed with challenges for more than a few weeks: willpower is not a talent that a
lucky few are born with, according to some research. Willpower is a skill to be practised. Frank Ryan,
author of ‘Willpower for Dummies’, explains: ‘Our level of willpower fluctuates according to our
motivation in any given situation. Everybody can learn to use their willpower more effectively.’

To maximise our chances of sticking to resolutions, Ryan says, we should identify our ‘willpower profile’.
‘Some people are more impulsive than others. That comes down to personality. For some, scheduling
time to reflect on your progress by keeping a diary can be helpful. For others, signing up for a group
where everyone has a common goal can help to strengthen your resolve, as can sharing even small
progress with others.’

Magdalena Bak-Maier, a neuro-scientist and coach, encourages people to make a written plan which sets
specific goals. ‘You might have announced: this year I’m going to write a novel or I’m going to run a
half-marathon, but those are just ideas, not plans. A plan is: I’m going to get up at 6:30 Monday to Friday
and write 500 words of my screenplay before I leave for work. Or I’m going to sign up for 10 water-colour
classes and go every Monday at 18:00.’

Finally, be kind to yourself. ‘Anticipate lapses and plan for them,’ says Ryan. ‘Changing habits, or
establishing new ones, is a motivational marathon, with inevitable trips along the way.’ It’s important to
stay optimistic. ‘Feeling negative and self-critical actually reduces your willpower,’ says Ryan. ‘Negative
moods are the enemy of willpower and self-blame is the main culprit.’

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 Text B
The article below is about some of the benefits of making resolutions.

I like a challenge, and what better way to push myself than at the start of the New Year with wholly
ridiculous resolutions?

One year, I randomly decided I’d practise yoga every day for the following 12 months without ever having
tried yoga before – very ambitious. Last year I promised myself I’d go bouldering every single Thursday
... indefinitely. And of course, for the past two years, I’ve attempted to have a plant-based diet for the first
month of the year knowing I love cheese more than most things in this life. Needless to say, all my
grandiose New Year’s resolutions have been a tremendous flop.

Essentially every year I set myself up for failure. Normally I feel exceptionally guilty about how much of a
slob I’ve become by the end of the year and try to rectify it by attempting resolutions that are ambitious
at best and delusional at worst.

Luckily, I’m not alone with my futile declarations as 80 per cent of New Year’s resolutions fail within
weeks. I lasted 27 days the first time I attempted a plant-based diet – all it took was one encounter with
a margherita pizza and all my hard work was undone 4 short days before the end of the challenge. And
when it came to bouldering, I got a (not so cheap) 10-day pass to a climbing centre, and let’s just say a
year later there’s still about four visiting passes left to use.

Yes, my resolutions never go to plan, but they have taught me a wealth of new, sometimes pointless,
skills. I’m often too hard on myself and forget all the days I did actually stick to my challenges and what
I’d gained from them. I lasted 27 whole days as a vegan yet I was more upset about the four days that I
didn’t manage. I stuck at it the next time though, learning from my mistakes.

The fully vegan diet didn’t stick but I now know how to realistically work more plant-based meals into my
diet rather than going cold turkey (excuse the pun) and spending a whole month in near starvation. And I
didn’t do yoga every day, because that’s ridiculous, but I did practise it daily for the first few months and
continued on and off long after that – it truly made me feel stronger and happier in myself. I definitely
don’t go climbing as often as I’d like to but the point is I still go when I can.

Being realistic in my expectations is where I really fail every year. Daily challenges, massive changes to
my diet and physical activity can’t just happen overnight.

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Question

Write a speech to give to an audience of young people suggesting how they can make changes
effectively in their lives.

In your article you should:

- evaluate the views given in both texts about making resolutions

- give advice, based on what you have read, about how young people might manage the changes they
want to make in their lives.

Base your speech on what you have read both the Texts, but be careful to use your own words. Address
each of the two bullet points.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 25 marks for the quality of your
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 Directed Writing Practice 5
Letter

Read Text carefully, and then answer Question on the Question Paper, here.

Text A: Why can’t some people just keep still?

The following text discusses why some people fidget more than others.
Not long ago, handheld toys called fidget spinners became so popular that they had to be banned from
some schools. They were marketed as useful ‘stress relievers’ but had become distracting in
classrooms. However, it’s not just kids who like to fidget. Look around your office and you will probably
see people bouncing their legs up and down, turning pens over in their hands, chewing, doodling – not
because there’s something wrong with them: they’re just fidgety people!

We all know someone who can’t keep still, but why do some people fidget more than others? And if
fidgeting really helps to relieve stress, does that mean we should all embrace it?

Research suggests fidgeting or moving around might help us to increase or lower our attention,
depending on what is required – either calming or energising us.

People who fidget tend to do so when their minds are wandering and their fidgeting can affect
concentration. Memory and comprehension are sometimes badly affected by fidgeting, but for some
people it can provide a solution. Fidgeting could provide physiological stimulation to bring our attention
and energy to a level that allows our minds to better focus on the task at hand.

Supporting this, one study found that people who were allowed to doodle or draw during a conversation
remembered more facts from it than those who weren’t. We also know that some children with specific
attention problems perform better when they are engaged in spontaneous physical activity, though no
such effect was seen for children without such problems.

Fidgeting might also help us to unconsciously maintain our weight. How can such tiny movements make
a difference? Well, it turns out fidgeting while sitting or standing actually increases the calories you burn
and can use up around 800 calories a day. One study following 12,000 adults over time found that high
levels of fidgeting reduced mortality amongst those with more sedentary lifestyles.

You can’t learn to become a fidgety person – it seems some people are just born fidgeters. Studies show
that levels of spontaneous physical activity do run in families.

One final explanation for fidgeting is that it is a behavioural coping mechanism for stress. It seems that
being bored can cause stress. Physiological signs of stress rise significantly during periods of sustained
attention, such as listening in lessons, so learners may fidget to relieve that stress.

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 Text B : The fidget fad

The following text, written by a teacher, is about the use of fidget gadgets in their lessons

Having already endured many teenage fads, I was beginning to hope that we could make it to the end of
the academic year without another craze. Then came various so-called fidget gadgets.

One example is the Fidget Cube, the brainchild of dynamic business partners Dominic and Yvonne
Duchamp. It has graced many classrooms recently. It is a small plastic device with temptingly clickable,
twistable and flickable surfaces. The makers claim the cube reduces more disruptive fidgeting such as
rulers being wobbled on the edge of tables. They also claim it increases memory capacity and boosts
creativity. To be fair, my mother can’t sit still either, even in old age – she knits all the time – and many
workers’ devices are packed with pleasantly distracting apps and games.

Many users of fidget gadgets defend them as a relief to classroom tedium. The Duchamps hoped to
highlight that fidgeting itself ought not to be ‘stigmatised and mocked’. I agree that these gadgets benefit
some students in certain situations, but to claim that they will destigmatise fidgeting is spurious.

My problem with these devices is not with the dubious claims of the beneficial effects on users but with
the effect they have on others in the home or the classroom. They’re an inescapable distraction. While
most adults at work may use these devices responsibly, teenagers lack the self-discipline to avoid
making a display of their new toy.

If I were a parent, I would want to maximise my child’s learning in whichever way I could but where’s the
evidence these gadgets work? I would simply ask them to consider whether their child really needs one.

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Question - Purpose = to convince / Audience = headteacher / Style =
ethos/pathos/logos/rhetorical devices

The headteacher of your school or college is considering whether or not to allow learners to use fidget gadgets in
lessons. Write a letter to the headteacher giving your views.

In your letter you should:

● evaluate the ideas, opinions and attitudes in both texts

● give your own views about the possible effects on learners and teachers of allowing fidget
gadgets to be used in lessons.

Base your letter on what you have read in both texts, but be careful to use your own words.

Address both of the bullet points.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 25 marks for the quality of your
writing.

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 Directed Writing Practice 6
Letter

Read Text carefully, and then answer Question on the Question Paper, here.

Text A : Why I hate museums

Sophisticated travellers visit museums. Forget beautiful parks, and trendy cafés – what tourists really
want, you’re told by the tour guide, is to spend an ‘unforgettable hour’ inside the city’s thrill-a-minute Pencil
Museum. Apparently, it hosts drawing workshops for families and the biggest pencil collection in the world
... can’t wait.

Before entering, ask yourself honestly whether this is really what you want to do. On a recent day trip to a
capital city, I was told that I shouldn’t leave without visiting a particular museum. When my friend and I
arrived there, queueing times were estimated at 45 minutes. I was torn, but she simply asked: ‘What do
you really feel like doing?’ We left the museum, bought street food from a nearby stall and spent two hours
relaxing by the river, enjoying idle conversation. It was wonderful.

If you want to witness busloads of school parties shuffling in silence down hospital-like corridors and
bored security guards waiting to pounce on anyone who dares to laugh or eat a biscuit, then museums are
for you.

There are some decent museums. I enjoyed a trip to the Old Operating Theatre and Museum in London but
perhaps that’s because I find human organs in pickling jars and medical equipment endlessly compelling.
Ceramics, on the other hand, are just dull and old paintings all look the same.

Museum visitors, and staff, are pretty clueless when it comes to, say, Oriental tapestry, yet museums offer
painfully little information about the items on display. How useful is a notice that reads ‘clay pot,
1200–1300, Russia’?

In 2005, street artist Banksy managed to hang a piece of fake prehistoric rock art, depicting a cave man
with a shopping trolley, on the wall of a well-known museum. Days passed before anyone noticed. It’s
estimated that around 20 percent of the paintings held by our major museums are fakes.

Famous museums are too crowded: tourists make a beeline to the only painting they’ve heard of. Worse
still, there was even a #museumselfie day last year to add to the shallow and irrelevant ‘interactive’
displays. Not all museums are free to enter and most of the objects are kept out of sight. In 2004,
Australian museums held a total of 54.9 million objects and artworks, but only 5.3 million of these were on
display for public viewing.

Finally, no museum visit is complete without being asked to exit through the gift shop, where you’ll be
lured into purchasing overpriced postcards and novelty mugs.

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 Text B : Museums are changing

As guests enter the lobby of the museum they are greeted by a two-metre tall blue plastic snail,
surrounded by a group of squealing, joyful children daring to touch it. It might not be what most people
expect from one of the oldest museums in the country.

The new identity is part of a rebranding trend. Museums are taking revolutionary steps – some cheered,
some not – to attract wider, more diverse audiences and their money.

‘Museums need to offer new experiences which may be novel, inspirational and meaningful,’ said
museum director Michael Karatzas. ‘The business model at our museum was not sustainable.’

In 2019, the museum, which had previously not charged local residents or students for admission,
introduced new fees. The museum also cut staff, reducing the number of curators. The changes worried
many. University student, Taylor Parker, 19, says she finds browsing the exhibits calming and knows the
health benefits. She admits she won’t visit as frequently now she has to pay.

The museum’s collection of regional art is worth the long drive from town to get here. Perhaps its most
instantly recognisable object is the ‘LOVE’ sculpture. Since it was moved to the museum’s great hall last
year, ten weddings have taken place in front of its huge letters.

Visiting museums regularly as an adult has been linked to positive emotions, such as optimism, hope
and enjoyment along with increased self-esteem, a sense of identity and community. Many museums are
adapting their access plans to consider health and wellbeing benefits, targeting specific groups such as
those people who are vulnerable, socially isolated, lonely or unemployed.

‘The museum industry must modernise,’ explains Karatzas, ‘or galleries full of the world’s truly greatest
creative art will be unseen.’

About that giant blue snail: it’s a precursor to an exhibition opening in June of brightly coloured animals
made of regenerated plastic. They will be scattered around the museum with information about the
environment and the impact of plastics. A virtual tour can be accessed via the museum’s website.

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Question

Imagine that your school is proposing a programme of visits to different museums for all students in your
year group. Your headteacher has asked for your opinion.

Write a letter to your Headteacher.

In your letter you should:

- evaluate the views about museums in both texts

- give your own views, based on what you have read, about whether or not a programme of visits would
be a good idea.

Base your letter on what you have read both the Texts, but be careful to use your own words. Address
each of the two bullet points.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 25 marks for the quality of your
writing.

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Creative
Writing

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★ Points to remember for Descriptive Writing Composition:

Aim to write a descriptive — Create an EFFECT on the readers by using sensory details, figurative
language, emotive verbs, and powerful adjectives.

1. Create an effect:
- Pick one mood that you wish to create through your description.
- Use sensory details and other literary devices to paint a picture, as per the mood, in the reader’s
minds.
- Avoid using words that would confuse the reader or digress from the mood you’re aiming to
create.

2. Planning:
- You need to know where you are going before you start to write in order to create an effect
through your writing.
- When you have decided the overall impression, mood or atmosphere you want to create, you
can be focused and consistent in your description without digressing from the topic.

3. Structure:
- DO NOT write a story.
- Give it a suitable title (refer to the samples given)
- Fluency of expression can be achieved through structured work, therefore, paragraph your work.
- Try to use vivid vocabulary; but avoid going to silly extremes.

4. Know the Content Expectation:

- A vague plan which says things like: 'describe guests' is not useful; it needs to refer to specific
people and their characteristics/ behaviour.
- Remember that, a list of statistics or facts is also not what descriptive writing is about.
- You are expected to include thoughts and feelings as well as description of the scene.

5. NON-negotiable stylistic device:

- Remember to include as many of the five senses as possible, not just sight and sound, for
variety and overall atmosphere.

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6. Ending your descriptive:
- Decide before you start. writing what the ending will be, e.g. return to opening: contrast to
opening; sudden change; leaving the scene.
- Your endings cannot be random or sound as if you’ve run out of ideas. Make it an organic or a
natural conclusion.
- Make the last sentence a particularly powerful one which captures the situation and the feeling
involved.

7. Proofread:
- Always leave time to edit and correct your work. Also, never sit in an exam doing nothing.
- Double-check your grammar and punctuation, spellings and capitalization until the last minute.
- You need to proofread your work for:
Spellings / punctuation errors / capitalization errors
Grammar : Verbs and Tenses; Sentence Structure should be complete
Replace simple words with effective ones
Managed to sustain the focus of the topic

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 How to brainstorm and plan for Descriptive essays?

There are three systems you can practice to plan your descriptive essay.

1. Mind Maps

2. Paragraph-wise planning

Title:
#Para1: ...
#Para2: ...
#Para3: ...
#Ending: ...

3. Brief on sensory details

Title:
#Sight: ...
#Sound: ...
#Smell: ….
#Taste: ...
#Touch: ...

**Planning ensures that you’ve been consistent and focused throughout your essay.

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 Word List - Sensory Details

Keep the following lists of words to help you improve your writing. Using sensory words can help you
provide more details and examples in your writing. Add to this list as you learn more sensory words.

Sight Sound Touch Taste Smell

bleary bellow balmy appetising acrid
blurred blare biting bitter aroma
brilliant buzz bristly bland aromatic
colourless cackle bumpy creamy foetid
dazzling cheer chilly delectable foul-smelling
dim clamour coarse delicious fragrant
dingy clang cold / cool flavorful mouldy
faded crackle crawly flavourless musty
faint creak creepy gingery nidorous
flashy grumble cuddly luscious odiferous
gaudy gurgle dusty nauseating odour
glance hiss feathery palatable odourless
gleaming howl feverish peppery old perfumed
glimpse hush fluffy piquant pungent
glistening jabber furry refreshing putrid
glittering mumble greasy ripe rancid
gloomy murmur gritty rotten rank
glossy mutter hairy salty reeking
glowing rant hot savoury scent
grimy rave icy scrumptious scented
hazy roar lumpy sharp smell
indistinct rumble moist sour spicy
misty rustle oily spicy steno
peer shriek powdery spoiled sweet
radiant shrill prickly stale waft
shadowy sizzle scratchy sugary whiff
shimmering snarl silky sweet
shiny squawk slimy tangy
smudged squeal slippery tasteless
sparkling swish spongy tasty
streaked thud squashy unappetizing
striped thump sticky unripe
tarnished whimper sweaty vinegary
twinkling yelp velvety zesty

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 Ornamental Words

Link to find synonyms: https://thesaurus.plus/

Your… Wordlist

You’d come across many words and phrases while reading, or watching movies. Make a list of your
own here to use in your creative writing.

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 Sample Descriptive Essay - 1

Prompt: Write a descriptive piece titled “The Secret Garden”

The Secret Garden.

Hidden away from the curious eyes of humans, the secret garden had remained barren and
unused for as long as time could remember.

Trees had been rotting away, as they lay dry and tarnished. Layers of bark were peeling off the
trunk, as if attempting to flee a curse that they had been trapped in. Leaves that otherwise danced
in the radiance of the sun, lay dead on the floor in piles and piles of their own corpses. Maybe once
in a while, a feverish draught would march over the leaves as they rustled and murmured against
each other in hushed voices, that sounded like whispers that a crumbling ghost would breathe.

Decaying metal from the time before was strewn about the arid land, as a ravening rust- the colour
of dripping blood and dark storm clouds- crawled over any metal they sensed, eating at everything
they could find, leaving the remnants fallen on the floor, like soldiers after having lost a savage
war that they did not want in the first place. The vague structure of a swing set still remained- but
in the confidentiality of the secret garden- they remained still. In the occasional event of a slight
wind, along with the leaves, the swings wailed and creaked piercingly, begging for an escape.

The harsh scorching sun beat down mercilessly from the sky, turning the secret garden into its
own personal desert- making sure that it remained uninhabited by humans. Clouds offered no
redemption from the heat- they too liked to remain as far as possible from this secrecy. Every once
in a blue moon, the garden would be greeted harshly with rain. The dangers and chemicals from
incessant pollution would spew downwards onto the ground in the form of acid rain, wounding
the remains of the deceased trees that were firmly rooted in the ground, crashing loudly against
whatever surface it could find, and the metal clamoured under the shooting rain drops. On these
days, the angry bellowing thunder seemed to echo on for hours, overpowering any other element
that dared to exist in the Garden. Lightning struck down, like anger from the gods above, who had
learnt to not care about the garden anymore, and instead sent flashes of light racing down, and
burning what was left of the garden into mere, raw ash.

The trees were not all that was dead, groups of mice and rats who once found solace in the Secret
Garden were now falling frail in the lack of human touch. Having starved to death, their bodies
remained on the ground, with their feet up in the air- in an almost warrior-like pose, as if they
were in a nightmare they couldn’t escape. For most of these demised organisms however, only
skeletal bones remained. A rancid odor became habitual for the location, and it was impossible to
imagine a time when a reek of disintegrated bodies did not flood across the wide expanse of the
garden.

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 Hidden away from the curious eyes of the humans, the secret garden had turned barren and
unused for as long as time could remember, and as far as time could tell- it would remain desolate
and miserable for years to come.

(Around 545 words)

**Your Task:
- Analyse how imagery is being used through powerful words and phrases. (Highlighted at the
beginning)
- Underline the words and phrases you’d like to use for your next descriptive essay.

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 Sample Descriptive Essay - 2

Question: Write a description using the title, ‘The view from the top’

The relief

The relief at reaching the top was immense. I’d stopped feeling angry about half way up and now
was just relieved to have made it. As I pulled myself up to the top of the rock, the sheer effort
meant I could see, hear or feel nothing for what seemed like several minutes afterwards. I lay
exhausted on my back on the sandy platform.

Directly above me the gulls were too high to make out though their shrill cries seemed to mock me
and my puny efforts in swimming out here and climbing the rock. As my eyes tried to focus, the
sky seemed unreal, too blue to be true. Only smudges of clouds still hung on to this perfect canvas
of summer, the sun behind my head burned, too intense to look at.

Turning my head to the right I could see swimmers still in the water. Some lazily floated on their
backs, faces upwards, enjoying the gentle rocking movement of the waves out past the beach.
Further back, nearer the shore, surf boards bobbed and toppled, and groups of boisterous teenagers
ducked and dived in the waves as they crashed in towards the sand. On the shoreline, smaller
children in brightly coloured costumes shrieked and ran back to parents as waves, tiny now,
trickled between their toes.

I sat up and looked left, across the bay towards the busy docks and city with its shops, schools and
offices. From the beach it had been screened by the curve of the rocks. From out here high up on
Long Rock the ugly cranes and buildings spoilt the view. The dirty reds and blacks of shipping
containers clashed with the impossibly blue green sea and the hazy fog of pollution hung between
the land and the impossibly blue sky. I didn’t want to go back, ever.

I looked straight out to sea and studied the tiny yellow white sails of yachts or brave windsurfers –
so far out from here I couldn’t tell. At the furthest edge of the horizon a larger ship, perhaps a ferry
or tanker, hardly seemed to move as it crept towards the port.

I shifted a little towards the edge of the smooth rock platform, and looked directly downwards to
the water below. Jumping off didn’t seem like such a good idea now. The sea moved around the
rock in swirls, and shadows beneath might have been rocks or worse. I was going to have to climb
down back the way I had come.

P.T.O.

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Examiner comment:

The overall structure here is secure. Constituent parts are well-managed with the narrator’s view in
different directions described to offer a cohesive and convincing overall picture. The place is named,
suggesting the writer has somewhere specific in mind, a sense that continues throughout the description
as the position of the narrator in relation to everyone else is carefully maintained. There is a narrative
implied but whilst we are clear as readers that the narrator has swum out in anger from the beach to
climb the rock, intending to jump off into the sea, the story does not take over. The ‘climb down’ at the
end may well be an intentional image as well as a literal description and creates an effective ending to
the piece.

There are a number of precise and effective choices of vocabulary and some deliberate repetition for
effect. Images are sometimes extended and show evidence of careful crafting. For example, the gentle
waves become crashing waves, then finally small trickles, as the description moves back towards the
beach. Sentence structure is varied and punctuation largely accurate.

Band 6 Content and structure

Band 6 Style and accuracy

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 Narrative - Planning, Structure and Beginnings

★ Planning and Structure:

Topic: Describe a return visit to a place where you once lived.

Planning the Scope:

1. Write down the ideas you will use and identify the ones which you will use to begin and
end your composition. Try to answer the following question to understand how to explore
the above given topic.

- Who are you? Who are you with? Why/ when are you making this journey?

- Where are you going back to? Why did you leave this place?

- Are your expectations positive and your memories happy ones or not?

- Location and setting: scenery, surroundings, other buildings, vegetation, wildlife,

weather? The appearance of the building and impression it gives?

- What do you first notice as you enter the house?

- How has it changed, for better or worse? Which rooms evoke emotions, and what are
they, and why?

- Is it you that has changed? Do things look much smaller than you remember them? Have
your experiences in the meantime altered your attitude to the place?

- Do you wish you could return to live in this place? How does it compare to where you live
now?

- What are your last thoughts as you walk away?

2. Now add specific details to your list of ideas. Make sure that you have included interesting
vocabulary and many images, and that they are both apt and original.
Check that your ideas add up to a consistent and coherent overall picture and atmosphere.

*Cliches are never interesting, so avoid them. Reject the first expression that comes into your
head and think of a better one.

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★ Points to remember for Narrative Writing Composition:

Aim to write a narrative — Create an EFFECT on the readers.

1. Create an effect:
- Pick one mood that you wish to create through your story.
(What do you want the reader to feel throughout the story/at the end of the story?)
- Place the facts of your story in such a way that it makes the reader feel the mood you’re aiming
to create.
- Avoid using words that would confuse the reader or digress from the plot.
2. Plot:
- You don’t need an original plot; think of one you have seen or heard and adapt it to make it your
own.
- ONE main, life-changing event is all you need.
- Avoid horror as a genre as it is difficult to make it convincing
3. Hook:
- The purpose of having a hook is to engage the reader’s interest.
- You may do that by using either of the three techniques:
● Describing the setting or the character
● Suspenseful beginning using “It”
● Flashforward or Flashback technique
4. Middle:
An engaging middle is the one that balances the revelation of facts with steady progress.
Meaning:
- Your middle paragraphs should be evenly focused on revealing facts about the character and
settings.
- Your progress should be steady.
- You can have quick-paced or slow-paced moments depending on the effect you’re aiming to
create.
5. Plot Twist:
- Your plot needs to have a plot twist / otherwise known as ‘Climax’
- These twists are meant to be unpredictable but convincing.
- Ensure that you build your plot up to the climax and not pop something up out of the blue.

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6. Ending:
- If your ending is hasty, you’d rob the readers from the ‘effect’ you’re trying to create.
- You may end with a cliffhanger, but ensure it doesn’t seem abrupt.
Example of a Cliffhanger:
“We were all celebrating our victory of securing all the important documents when suddenly I
recalled that piece of document lying in a shady corner. That’s when the phone rang…”

7. Characters:
- You need not have more than three characters in one story. It helps divide equal focus
on each of their descriptions and sustains the reader's interest.
- Using descriptive language would help build the character’s personality, ultimately
helping you sustain the mood you aim to create.

8. Setting:
- Choose your setting as per the mood you’re aiming to create.
- Be fairly descriptive; avoid indulging into too much detail.
- You can even objectively ‘tell’ about an object; using sensory details is not necessary
(but you may always score extra points for drawing a convincing picture)
9. Dialogues:
- Dialogue is one way readers can peep into the character’s personality and intentions.
- Use dialogues to give out details about the characters or the action in order to move
ahead with your plot.

10. Proofread:
- Always leave time to edit and correct your work. Also, never sit in an exam doing nothing.
- Double-check your grammar and punctuation, spellings and capitalization until the last minute.
- You need to proofread your work for:
Spellings / punctuation errors / capitalization errors
Grammar : Verbs and Tenses; Sentence Structure should be complete
Replace simple words with effective ones
Managed to balance the speed of your plot
Eliminate the facts that don’t help the story’s plot
Rectify digressions

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 How to brainstorm and plan for Narratives?

There are two systems you can practice to plan your narrative essay.

1. Flow Chart

2. Paragraph-wise planning

Title:
#Hook: ...
#Middle Para2: ...
#Middle Para3: ...
#Climax: ...
#Ending: …

**Planning ensures that you’ve balanced the progress of the plot steadily and evenly.

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 Alternatives

“SAID”

Denied Teased Suggested Concluded

Added Related Uttered Stipulated
Blurted Gasped Insisted Claimed
Admitted Yelled Conceited Affirmed
Rayed Conceded Challenged Grinned
Grunted Avoided Asserted Laughed
Tolerated Maintained Hinted Lied
Cautioned Avowed Reminded Mentioned
Announced Estimated Emphasised Mumbled
Answered Complained Advised Moaned
Argued Confessed Told Remarked
Asked Cried Whispered Corrected
Babbled Declared Proclaimed Pleaded
Begged Demanded Whimpered Bellowed
Boasted Exclaimed Responded Decided
Bragged Expressed Screamed Theorised
Called Giggled Growled Confused
Commented Repeated Stated Warned
Assured Threatened Shouted Whined
Guessed Scolded Forewarned Joked

Synonyms for
common emotions
that can be used for
Character
development.

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Sample - Narrative (with Analysis) - 1

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 Sample - Narrative 2

Question: Write a story, or part of a story, beginning with the words: ‘Something had changed
this time.’

‘Something had changed this time.’

… Something had changed this time.

Probably, this was because it was the last time, but how could I even have known that then?

I’ve always had a talent for knowing things I wasn’t supposed to know, or couldn’t possibly know.
‘The child has a gift,’ my grandmother would tell my mother gravely. The younger me would just
laugh and continue with my drawing.

What if she had listened as she set out that morning? What if Mum had looked me in the eye and
asked me what exactly I’d pictured this time? Could she have seen what was to come for us as
well?

And you, that day. Would you have listened if I had said that something had changed? If I had
explained that there was a haze, a fuzziness around the edges of you as you headed towards our
front door, would you have laughed and told me you’d be late if you didn’t go now. If I’d said I
thought I might be feeling poorly again, that the pictures in my head were clearer, more vivid,
more real, would you have stopped with me until Mum got back?

Would you have sat back down and finished your coffee? Would you have tucked me up on the
sofa with a book and more toast? Would you have given in if I’d said I felt really bad, and worked
from home that day? Would we have switched on the news later that morning, together?

I worry that you would, that we would, that you would have come back that day as you always had
done. I worry that I should have told you more.

I watch it again in my mind, picturing you rushing around, hearing the sound track as you
struggle into your coat: toast first in your one hand, then between your teeth; swearing as your
arm gets stuck on the way into your sleeve. Crumbs, a smear of peanut butter and strawberry jam,
smudge into a dark, sticky mess on your tie as you try to wipe it with a piece of kitchen roll and
just make matters worse.

‘Why doesn’t Sarah have to clear up? I whine. It’s always my turn.

‘Oh, don’t start,’ you say. Then smile at my sulking. ‘I’ll see you later. Make sure you start that
revision before lunchtime. No watching daytime telly.’

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 I had meant to start. I’d even cleared the mugs and cereals from the table and put them in the
dishwasher so that Mum wouldn’t moan when she got in. But the television had gone on and the
news had broken. The pictures in my mind had played out.

By the time Mum arrived back, one look told me she’d seen it too.

Examiner comment:

The content here is complex, engaging and realistic. We imagine as readers what has happened. The
news event is made all the more frightening since details are not revealed. Meanwhile, the idea that the
narrator has some kind of ability to predict or envisage future events is built up gradually along with
his/her sense of guilt for not having done more to change events that day.

There is a sense of cohesion with the overall structure clearly planned and controlled. Constituent parts
are well-balanced as the narrator looks back on what happened and the ending in particular is carefully
managed for deliberate effect. Elements of fiction such as subtle use of descriptive detail demonstrate
some sophistication. Characterisation for example relies on what is not said, as well as what is. Cogent
detail helps to create a picture of a ‘typical’ family with two children – one nearing exams, the parent(s)
work. There is still much left unsaid about the person who is addressed throughout. The response might
perhaps have included more clues about them, though we are clearly meant to fill in the gaps ourselves
and deduce from clues given that the character is the father. The mention of a tie suggests the person is
male and employed in some sort of business/office work as they can choose to work from home. Careful
use of dialogue – realistic and economically used – creates both a sense of character and relationship.

A range of vocabulary is included. The choices are not complicated but deliberate and evocative for
example, smear, smudge and whine. Punctuation is almost always accurate and the style here is highly
effective.

Band 6 Content and structure

Band 6 Style and accuracy

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 Rubric - Descriptive and Narrative

Please note that this rubric is not provided to gamble marks but to help you draft Band 6
level of response.

Content and Structure of Descriptive

Band Descriptors Marks

6 ● Complex and effective content 14-16

● Secure and managed structure
● Varied and developed ideas and images
● Convincing overall picture

5 ● Developed and interesting content 11-13

● Mostly well organised structure
● Range of relevant details
● Mostly convincing picture

4 ● Appropriate with some development 8-10

● Cohesive overall structure
● Some relevant details
● Some convincing ideas

3 ● Simple with occasional development 5-7

● Structural lapses
● Occasional detail
● Includes narrative features

2 ● Limited ideas 3-4

● Little attempt to organise
● Some lack of clarity
● Little use of detail

1 ● Irrelevant or unclear 1-2

● Lacks organisation
● Lacks detail

0 ● No or very brief response 0

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Content and Structure of Narrative

Band Descriptors Marks

6 ● Complex and effective content 14-16

● Secure and managed structure
● Well-managed sequence of events
● Convincing overall story

5 ● Developed and interesting content 11-13

● Mostly well organised structure
● Range of narrative features
● Effective use of detail

4 ● Appropriate with some development 8-10

● Cohesive overall structure
● Some narrative features
● Some use of detail

3 ● Simple with occasional development 5-7

● Structural lapses
● Limited narrative features
● Occasional detail

2 ● Limited ideas 3-4

● Little attempt to organise
● Some lack of clarity
● Little use of detail

1 ● Irrelevant or unclear 1-2

● Lacks organisation
● Lacks detail

0 ● No or very brief response 0

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Style and Accuracy: Descriptive and Narrative

Band Descriptors Marks

6 ● Varied and effective vocabulary and sentence structures 21-24

● Sustained and appropriate style for purpose
● Almost no errors of spelling, grammar and punctuation

5 ● Mostly effective vocabulary and sentence structures 17-20

● Mostly appropriate style for purpose:
● Occasional minor errors of spelling, grammar and punctuation

4 ● Some effective vocabulary and sentence structures 13-16

● Some appropriate stylistic features for purpose
● Some errors of spelling, grammar and punctuation

3 ● Simple vocabulary and sentence structures 9-12

● Few appropriate stylistic features for purpose
● Frequent and sometimes serious errors of spelling, grammar and
punctuation

2 ● Limited vocabulary and sentence structures 5-8

● Inappropriate stylistic features for purpose
● Persistent and often serious errors of spelling, grammar and
punctuation

1 ● Imprecise vocabulary and faulty sentence structures 1-4

● Little awareness of purpose
● Meaning obscured by errors of spelling, grammar punctuation

0 ● No or very brief response 0

76
 Composition Practice 1

Write about 350 to 450 words on one of the following questions.

EITHER
Descriptive writing
A. Describe an object you find hidden somewhere outdoors.
OR
Narrative writing
B. Write a story which includes the words, ‘... there was no signal at all ...’

Up to 16 marks are available for the content of your writing and up to 24 marks are for the style of
your writing.

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 Composition Practice 2

Write about 350 to 450 words on one of the following questions.

EITHER
Descriptive writing
A. Describe the moment you receive some welcome news.
OR
Narrative writing
B. Write a story which involves getting help from an unusual source.

Up to 16 marks are available for the content of your writing and up to 24 marks are for the style of
your writing.

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 Composition Practice 3

Write about 350 to 450 words on one of the following questions.

EITHER
Descriptive writing
A. Write a description with the title, ‘The factory’.
OR
Narrative writing
B. Write a story that involves solving a problem.

Up to 16 marks are available for the content of your writing and up to 24 marks are for the style of
your writing.

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 Composition Practice 4

Write about 350 to 450 words on one of the following questions.

EITHER
Descriptive writing
A. Describe waking up to find the scene around you has changed
OR
Narrative writing
B. Write a story which includes the words, ‘... this could not be the present ...’

Up to 16 marks are available for the content of your writing and up to 24 marks are for the style of
your writing.

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 Composition Practice 5

Write about 350 to 450 words on one of the following questions.

EITHER
Descriptive writing
A. Write a description with the title, ‘Downhill’.
OR
Narrative writing
B. Write a narrative with the title, ‘The Moon’.

Up to 16 marks are available for the content of your writing and up to 24 marks are for the style of
your writing.

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 Composition Practice 6

Write about 350 to 450 words on one of the following questions.

EITHER
Descriptive writing
A. Describe a group of tourists outside an attraction.
OR
Narrative writing
B. Write a narrative which includes the words, ‘... I thought I had the solution ...’.

Up to 16 marks are available for the content of your writing and up to 24 marks are for the style of
your writing.

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 Composition Practice 7

Write about 350 to 450 words on one of the following questions.

EITHER
Descriptive writing
A. Write a description with the title, ‘Floating’.
OR
Narrative writing
B. Write a narrative which involves having to follow a map.

Up to 16 marks are available for the content of your writing and up to 24 marks are for the style of
your writing.

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 Composition Practice 8

Write about 350 to 450 words on one of the following questions.

EITHER
Descriptive writing
A. Describe the house of a person much older than you.
OR
Narrative writing
B. Write a story which involves a moment of panic.

Up to 16 marks are available for the content of your writing and up to 24 marks are for the style of
your writing.

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Fin.

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