Text 1: Market hall closed after roof damage, by Megan Lloyd
An original contemporary local newspaper article.
The market hall in Penmorfa has been closed for three weeks after inspectors found that rain had damaged the roof. The Saturday market, which usually brings 24 stallholders into the town, cannot take place inside the building.
Fruit seller Nia Evans had prepared forty boxes of produce for last Saturday. “I had to take some home and give the rest away,” she said. “The market is most of my income at this time of year.” Several shoppers said they were now buying from larger shops, where some goods cost more.
The hall is also used for a weekly lunch club and a repair group. The lunch club was cancelled last Thursday, and older residents said they missed a regular chance to meet other people.
The council hopes to provide six temporary stalls in the car park from next Saturday. However, there is no indoor space there for the lunch club or the repair group. The council has not yet announced when the hall itself will reopen.
Text 2: The market house is shut, by Eliza Morgan
An original journal written in a nineteenth-century voice; a period simulation, not an archival document.
Text 2 is from the journal of a grocer's daughter in a Welsh town, written during eight days when the market house was closed after a small fire.
April 4th. The market house has been shut since Tuesday, for the magistrates will not permit trading there until the roof and rafters have been examined. Farmers who brought eggs and butter to town have carried them home again, unable to find their usual buyers.
April 6th. Father's shop is quiet. Many customers come to the market on Saturdays and buy their flour and sugar from him afterwards, but few have visited this week. Mother says we must order less stock until the market opens.
April 9th. The women who ordinarily sit together after their shopping have gone straight home. There is little news to exchange in the street, and even the children notice that the town feels unusually still.
April 12th. The market house opened again this morning. The farmers returned with their baskets, Father's shop was busy, and the women stayed to talk as they had done before the fire.
Using information from both texts, explain briefly how the closure of the market affected people’s lives. You should make it clear which text you are referring to.
123 exam-style questions on Eduqas GCSE English Language 2.3 Summary and synthesis, covering 2.3.3 Synthesising from more than one text. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.