The gardener’s request
An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
Mr Shaw asked Ellen to bring twine from the shed and a clean cloth from the house. A branch had split under the weight of the apples. While he supported it, she fetched both things and held the ladder steady. He bound the damaged branch carefully, explaining that the repair might last only until harvest. Ellen watched the fruit sway above them, suddenly aware of how much work kept it on the tree.
Give two things Mr Shaw asks Ellen to fetch.
120 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 1.3 Content: prose fiction study requirements, covering 1.3.1 Read challenging prose fiction for the unseen 19th-century extract. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.