The borrowed sewing machine
Source A: an original contemporary non-fiction-style account.
I borrowed a sewing machine from the neighbourhood equipment library for one week. Before taking it home, I attended a short demonstration in the library's workroom. The volunteer showed me how to thread it and asked me to practise on a strip of spare cotton. I wanted to shorten a pair of curtains, but she advised me to begin with something smaller. That evening I made a simple bag from an old pillowcase.
The next morning I measured the curtains twice before cutting anything. One seam still wandered, and I unpicked it with the small tool supplied in the machine's case. The printed instructions were useful, particularly the diagram showing which way the bobbin fitted. I finished the curtains on Sunday and returned the machine on Monday, two days before it was due. The library did not sell fabric, so I bought the matching thread at a shop near the station.
Refer to the whole of Source A. Choose the four true statements below. Write their four letters in the answer box. Choose no more than four; if more are given, only the first four distinct letters will be marked.
| Letter | Statement |
|---|---|
| A | The loan lasted a maximum of one week. |
| B | The narrator first practised on spare cotton. |
| C | The first completed item was a curtain. |
| D | The library sold the matching thread. |
| E | The machine was returned late. |
| F | A tool for unpicking was supplied in the case. |
| G | The curtains were measured only once. |
| H | The instructions included a bobbin diagram. |
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.