AQA GCSE English Language

Practice Paper Questions

Practice Paper 1D

14 marks

Read this part of the source again:

In this particular band[1] were two old women cared for by The People[2] for many years. The older woman’s name was Ch’idzigyaak, for she reminded her parents of a chickadee bird when she was born. The other woman’s name was Sa’, meaning ”star,” because at the time of her birth her mother had been looking at the fall night sky, concentrating on the distant stars to take her mind away from the painful labour contractions.

[1] A travelling Native American tribe

[2] Fellow tribespeople

List four things about Ch’idzigyaak and Sa’ from this part of the source.

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28 marks

Look in detail at this extract from the source:

The chief would instruct the younger men to set up shelters for these two old women each time the band arrived at a new campsite, and to provide them with wood and water. The younger women pulled the two elder women’s possessions from one camp to the next and, in turn, the old women tanned[1] animal skins for those who helped them. The arrangement worked well.

[1] Convert into leather

How does the writer use language here to describe how the tribe look after the two old women?You could include the writer’s choice of:

  • words and phrases
  • language features and techniques
  • sentence forms.

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38 marks

You now need to think about the whole of the source.This text is from the beginning of a short story.How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader?You could write about:

  • what the writer focuses your attention on at the beginning of the source
  • how and why the writer changes this focus as the source develops

any other structural features that interest you.

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420 marks

Focus this part of your answer on the second part of the source, from the line ‘Then, in a loud, clear voice he made a sudden announcement’, to the end.A student said, ‘This part of the story, where the chief announces that the old women are going to be left behind, shows he is a coward – I think he should have been brave enough to talk to the women directly and explain how badly he felt for them.”To what extent do you agree? In your response, you could:

  • consider your own impressions of how the Chief announced the news
  • evaluate how the writer conveys the Chief’s feelings and the tribe’s reaction to the news
  • support your response with references to the text.

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540 marks

You have decided to enter a national creative writing competition.EitherDescribe a journey through the snow, as suggested by this picture:ORWrite a story about a person who gets abandoned.

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