The weekly market
Source A: an original contemporary non-fiction-style account.
“Our town's market moved from the car park to the high street in May. It opens on Fridays from eight until two and has twenty stalls. I buy vegetables there when I can, though I still use the supermarket for most other things. The first week, a stallholder explained why the smaller apples were cheaper and let my son choose one to taste. We spent more time talking than we usually spend at a checkout.
That conversation is part of the market's value, but it should not become an excuse to ignore its limits. A Friday morning market is no help to someone working a long shift, and uneven paving can turn a pleasant browse into an obstacle course. The stalls put faces to transactions, yet friendliness does not pay everyone's bills. Prices, opening times and access still matter. I want the market to thrive because it adds another way of shopping, not because every other way must be declared soulless. A lively town needs useful choices, not a loyalty test disguised as a basket of vegetables.”
Source B: an original nineteenth-century-style letter or account, written for practice; this is not an archival document.
“The weekly market is often described as the heart of our town, and on market morning the phrase seems reasonable enough. News passes with the change, and a customer may learn the condition of a road while buying potatoes. Such exchange has a value which cannot be entered neatly in the stallholder's account. A market joins errands that would otherwise remain separate.
But a heart should serve the whole body. The labourer whose hours prevent attendance, or the older woman who cannot stand long among the carts, may find our celebrated institution less accommodating than its admirers suppose. I welcome improvements in order, shelter and the means of carrying purchases home. Tradition is not protected by refusing every alteration. It survives when the thing inherited remains useful to those who must live with it, rather than merely pleasing to those who can visit at leisure.”
Refer to both sources. Infer the differences in the services and access problems associated with the markets. 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.