Text A: an original contemporary practice extract.
The first time I went to the community garden, I found the tool cupboard locked. I had come to help clear a bed, but the key was with someone who had not arrived. I remember thinking that a shared supply sounded better in theory than it worked on a wet Saturday.
Then a neighbour lent me a hand fork while we waited. By the end of the morning, I had used tools belonging to three different people, and had borrowed none of them for long. The cupboard was opened, and everyone put things back before leaving. I began to see that sharing did not mean relying on one person to provide everything; it meant the work could continue through small acts of cooperation.
I still think the garden should keep a clear record of what is in the cupboard. The delay at the start was real, and it would be easy for a tool to be left somewhere else. But I would not replace the shared supply with separate sets for every gardener. Most of us are there only now and then. A tool used by several people has a better chance of being useful than one left untouched in a shed.
Text B: an original contemporary practice extract.
I used to think a shared tool cupboard was the obvious answer. There was no point in every gardener bringing the same spade, I thought, and the space could be used for plants instead. I was pleased when the garden group set one up.
My opinion changed on the morning I planned to turn over a patch of soil and found the spade missing. I borrowed another, but it was blunt, and the job took longer than I had expected. The problem was not that people had borrowed it; that was what the cupboard was for. I simply had no way to know whether it would be there when I needed it.
I still support sharing tools that people use only occasionally, and I would rather see equipment used than left idle. But the cupboard cannot make every gardener’s needs identical. For the tools I depend on, I now bring my own. Sharing is a sensible starting point, not a promise that one arrangement will suit everyone.
Compare how the writers’ perspectives on sharing tools in a community garden develop from their opening experiences to their conclusions. Support your comparisons with detailed references to both texts.
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.