The clock above the market
Text: an original contemporary report-style practice extract.
At 6.10 on a Tuesday morning, the clock above the market showed the wrong time. A team of volunteers arrived with a ladder, toolboxes and a flask of tea. Below them, the market was still arranging its tables; above them, the clock face held its silence.
Inside the tower, the hands were connected to a network of wheels and rods. One volunteer turned a small key. Another watched the minute hand from the street and called up the result. They worked in short bursts, stopping to listen. A faint click travelled through the tower. The team checked the mechanism again, then waited.
At 7.25, the clock began to move. The volunteers climbed down, carrying their tools past the first customers. Nobody stopped to applaud. A woman looked up, checked her watch and continued towards the stalls. By then, the team had packed away the ladder. The clock was doing its ordinary job again, high above the morning’s business.
Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to interest and engage the reader. In your answer, consider how the opening introduces the problem, how the focus changes as the volunteers work, and how the ending presents the result. Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.
834 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 2.3 Content: non-fiction study and transactional text types, covering 2.3.9 Write an article, 2.3.10 Write a letter, 2.3.11 Write a review, 2.3.12 Write a text for a speech, and 2.3.13 Write a section for a guide, textbook, leaflet or booklet. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.