Borrowing instead of buying
Source A: an original contemporary non-fiction-style account.
“Our library began lending household tools in March. I borrowed a drill for three days to put up two shelves, leaving a deposit of twenty pounds. The librarian checked that the case contained the instructions and all the attachments before I took it home. On Saturday I returned it and joined a short demonstration about choosing wall fixings. There were seven people at the table, several holding photographs of unfinished jobs.
The drill spent one useful hour in my flat and then went back to being useful elsewhere. Ownership would have given it a much longer career in a cupboard. I liked the economy of that arrangement, but the most valuable thing I borrowed was confidence. At the demonstration, questions I had considered embarrassingly basic turned out to be shared. A tool library needs more than a shelf of objects. It needs maintenance, patient explanations and rules people can understand. Sharing works best when the work of making it possible is visible and valued.”
Source B: an original nineteenth-century-style letter or account, written for practice; this is not an archival document.
“Several neighbours have agreed to purchase gardening implements in common. The spade is kept at the baker's yard and the ladder in a dry shed behind the school. A book records who has taken each item and when it is to be returned. The arrangement saves expense, particularly for those whose small plots do not justify a private collection of ironmongery.
Difficulties have nevertheless arisen. A blunt blade was returned as if its dullness were a natural event for which nobody could be responsible. The ladder remained away a week beyond the agreed day. Common ownership does not mean that care has no owner. We must provide for sharpening, repairs and reliable returns, or our admirable economy will become a system for lending disappointment.”
Refer to both sources. Infer the differences in the lending arrangements and support provided. Write a summary supported by details from both sources.
160 exam-style questions on AQA GCSE English Language 6.2 Content, covering 6.2.1 Reading sources: non-fiction and literary non-fiction, 6.2.2 Time periods of the sources, 6.2.3 Choice of genre, and 6.2.4 Section B writing task. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.