Both texts are newly written practice sources about invented people, places or projects.
Text One: An original account of a school lost-property morning.
After the sports day, we arranged the lost property on tables in the school hall. Each item had a card showing where and when it had been found. This information helped, but it did not always identify an owner. Three identical black water bottles had been left beside the running track.
We displayed a general description of each item but kept one distinguishing detail out of the notice. Anyone claiming an item had to supply that detail. A pupil collected a blue rucksack after describing the silver keyring hidden in its front pocket. Another pupil recognised the initials inside a coat, but the coat was not returned until he also named the contents of one sleeve.
Some returns took longer. A wet jumper had to be dried before it could be stored with the other clothing. One lunch box was labelled with a first name shared by several pupils. We recorded each claim separately so that one person's description did not become part of somebody else's answer.
Text Two: An original report about an invented community festival's lost-property service.
Festival volunteers photographed each found object and recorded the place and approximate time of discovery. Public notices showed the whole object, but close photographs of scratches, labels or objects inside bags were kept for checking claims.
| Evidence available | How volunteers used it |
|---|---|
| Place and time where an item was found | Compared these details with the claimant's account |
| A common colour or design | Treated this as a possible match, not proof of ownership |
| A hidden label or unusual mark | Asked the claimant to describe it before returning the item |
| A claim that could not yet be checked | Gave it a reference number and kept the item securely |
Several umbrellas looked alike, so volunteers did not return one because a visitor recognised its colour. One umbrella was returned when its owner accurately described a repaired wooden handle. Other objects remained at the collection point because the descriptions were incomplete or the owners had not yet arranged to collect them.
Synthesise what you learn from both texts about how lost property is recorded and returned.
In your response, you should consider:
528 exam-style questions on WJEC GCSE English Language 3.1 Section A (20%) – Reading, covering 3.1.1 Understanding description, narration and exposition texts, 3.1.2 Range of continuous and non-continuous texts, 3.1.3 Short and extended response question types, and 3.1.4 Editing task at word, sentence and text level. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.