Text A: an original contemporary practice extract.
I climbed the lighthouse steps before the visitors’ group arrived. At each landing, the narrow window offered a different strip of sea: first the harbour wall, then the pale line where water met sky. I could stop whenever I wanted and write down what I noticed. No one hurried me towards the next room or supplied an impressive fact before I had looked properly.
The quiet had its limits. A guide would have explained why the lamp had been built and pointed out details I missed. Still, at the top I felt that the view belonged partly to my own attention. I left with three small observations in my notebook, rather than a list I had tried to remember.
Text B: an original contemporary practice extract.
Our guide met us at the bottom and asked us to look through the first window together. She showed us the old harbour wall, then told us what had changed since the lighthouse opened. When someone noticed a fishing boat below, the whole group leaned towards the glass. I might have seen the boat alone, but I would not have heard six other people react to it.
The tour moved on before I had finished studying every view. For a few minutes I wished for the freedom of a solitary visit. Even so, the guide’s questions made me look beyond the obvious, and the group’s surprise kept returning to the same details. We left with fewer private notes but a story we had begun together.
Compare the writers’ ideas and perspectives on a visit to the lighthouse, considering how they are presented. In your answer, you should compare:
Use precise references to both extracts to support your answer.
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.