AQA GCSE English Language

Practice Paper Questions

Practice Paper 2E

14 marks

Read again the first part of Source B:

Oil and food scraps are finding their way into pipes and drains as the majority of eateries have no grease traps. 

The vast majority of London restaurants and takeaways are responsible for feeding the fatbergs that are choking the capital’s sewers, according to survey findings that Thames Water called “staggering”.
Ninety per cent of eateries in London are contributing to the problem by failing to install grease traps, the report found. As a result, grease, oil and food scraps washed off plates, utensils and saucepans are finding their way into pipes and drains.
The issue hit the headlines last month when a 130-tonne fatberg, described as a “total monster” by Thames Water, was found under Whitechapel Road in east London. The company found that no restaurants on the road had a working grease trap.

Choose four statements below which are true:

  • Oil and food scraps are finding their way into pipes and drains.
  • The majority of eateries have no grease traps.
  • The vast majority of London restaurants and takeaways are not responsible for feeding the fatbergs that are choking the capital’s sewers.
  • Ninety per cent of eateries in London are contributing to the problem by failing to install grease traps.
  • Grease, oil and food scraps from broken bins are finding their way into pipes and drains.
  • A 130-tonne fatberg was found under Whitechapel Road in east London.
  • The River Thames had not been recently purified.

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28 marks

You need to refer to Source A and Source B for this question.The environmental problems in each source are different.Use details from both sources to summarise the differences.

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312 marks

Look again at this part of Source A:

The story of the wretched creatures who lay pining and languishing with typhus fever in its various appalling forms on the banks of our filthy river fell harmless upon the ears of gentlemen who could retire at their pleasure to their country houses. Their senses were never affected, their stomachs were never turned, by the stench which emanates from the river, and from the seething mud which it leaves bare at low water. Of course, all was well. On Wednesday, when the heat was overpowering, they began to imagine that there was something, after all, in the popular outcry. Conviction rose with the quicksilver in the thermometer.

There was a reasonable prospect that, had the heat continued at its full intensity but a few days longer, the two Houses would have summoned their last energies to pass some sort of Bill even this Session which would have convinced the Board of Works that their action was not intended to be purely obstructive. We wish no ill to Mr. SPEAKER, but if he and two or three of the leading members on either side of the House had only a mild attack of Parliament fever, a remedy would soon be found.

How does the writer use language to describe the river and the effects that it has on the inhabitants of London?

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416 marks

For this question, you need to refer to the whole of Source A, together with the whole of Source B:Compare the methods used by each writer to convey their views on the environment.In your answer, you could:

  • compare their different perspectives on the environment
  • compare the methods the writers use to convey their perspectives
  • support your response with references to both texts.

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540 marks

‘We face an existential crisis in regards to climate change – we, as a society have not taken care of our environment and now is the time to take action.’Write an open letter to your student newspaper, agreeing or disagreeing with the statement.

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