The broken globe
An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
Samuel had knocked the schoolroom globe from its stand that morning. Now he waited outside Mr Bell’s study, silently practising his confession. Footsteps approached along the passage, but the schoolmaster hurried past without noticing him. As the footsteps faded, the knot beneath Samuel’s ribs began to loosen.
Identify the phrase which suggests that Samuel’s anxiety decreases when the schoolmaster passes him.
456 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.