The reserve
At six each morning, Idris counted the birds from a wooden hide. Today he counted only two. The new road beyond the reeds whispered steadily, a sound that never quite became silence. He wrote the figure in his notebook, then checked the empty water again. A visitor asked whether the reserve was worth saving if so little lived there. Idris turned back to the notebook. Last spring, the same page had needed a second column.
At what time did Idris count, and how many birds did he count today?
40 exam-style questions on AQA GCSE English Language 3.1 Critical reading and comprehension, covering 3.1.1 Identify and interpret themes, ideas and information, 3.1.2 Read in different ways for different purposes, 3.1.3 Draw inferences and justify with evidence, 3.1.4 Support a point of view using textual evidence, 3.1.5 Identify bias and misuse of evidence, 3.1.6 Reflect critically and evaluatively using context, 3.1.7 Recognise different responses to a text, 3.1.8 Identify the main theme or themes, 3.1.9 Summarise ideas and information from a single text, 3.1.10 Synthesise from more than one text, 3.1.11 Explain how vocabulary and grammar create impact, 3.1.12 Analyse and evaluate form and structure, and 3.1.13 Compare texts critically. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.