Inside the wind tunnel

Text: an original contemporary reportage-style practice extract.

Before the fan starts, the wind tunnel looks like a room waiting for a delivery. The model vehicle rests on a platform; wires run from it to a desk behind glass. I have been promised a demonstration of speed. So far, the most dramatic movement is a technician searching for a pen.

Then the fan rises through a low note into a roar. Thin threads fixed to the vehicle’s surface stream backwards, except at one corner where they tremble and double over. I stare at the whole machine. The technician points to that small disturbance. The useful part of the spectacle occupies an area I could cover with two fingers. She changes the angle of a panel and repeats the test. The threads settle differently. A graph appears on the screen, but she checks the threads again before explaining the figures.

When the fan stops, my ears continue supplying a faint imitation of it. The model has travelled nowhere. Nevertheless, the team has learned something about a journey it might eventually make. I had expected wind to turn the vehicle into a performance. Instead, it made a tiny fault visible, and the demonstration became interesting at precisely the point where I stopped looking for a grand effect.

Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to interest and engage the reader.

In your answer, consider:

• language features and techniques
• structural techniques
• the effect on the reader.

Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.