Pedalling for the lights

Text C: an original fiction extract.

At the exhibition entrance, a large sign announced that visitors could generate electricity by pedalling a bicycle. Beneath it stood two fixed bikes, each connected to a display and a row of lamps. Dev was helping for the afternoon. He had learnt how to adjust the seats and where to find the wipes, but nobody had explained the numbers on the displays.

The first visitor pedalled hard enough to light every lamp. Her display climbed rapidly, and Dev wrote the highest number on the whiteboard. He added her first name beside it. By the third visitor, people were asking what number they needed to beat. A queue formed behind the bike with the slightly higher handlebar.

A boy called Sam could reach the pedals only when his mother helped lower the seat. He kept a slow, steady pace. Two lamps glowed, then three. His number remained well below the one on the board. Dev suggested going faster. Sam tried, lost the rhythm and stopped. His mother said they would come back when it was less busy.

Later, a man gripped the handlebars and stood on the pedals. The display jumped. Before Dev could write the new score, the man sat down, breathing hard. He asked whether that was enough electricity to run the school next door. Dev looked at the row of lamps. He could see that they were lit; he had no idea what comparison to make.

The exhibition technician, Mina, arrived to check a cable. She asked what the whiteboard recorded. Dev pointed to the number on the screen. It was power at that moment, she explained, not the total energy made during the visit. A brief high reading did not tell them how long anybody had pedalled. The other screen setting showed an accumulating total, but it had been left running across several visitors.

Dev rubbed out the heading “Best generator”. The woman whose name was still at the top asked whether her effort no longer counted. Mina said it certainly counted, but the board had made a claim their notes could not support. They would need a clear, consistent method before comparing performances. She also asked visitors to remain seated and follow the equipment instructions; a high number was not worth turning the demonstration into a contest of unsafe effort.

When Sam returned, Dev adjusted the seat before mentioning speed. He reset the accumulating display with Mina watching, and let Sam pedal for a period they agreed beforehand. The lamps glowed unevenly as his pace changed. This time Dev asked him to notice which movements kept them lit. Sam looked at the lamps rather than at the whiteboard.

For the rest of the afternoon, Dev explained what each display meant and reset the total for each visit. He stopped ranking people. Visitors still compared their experiences, but several tried a second time simply to keep the lights steady. The school question remained on a sheet beside the equipment, marked for follow-up. Dev had resisted adding an impressive guess beneath it. Before leaving, he wrote a note for the next volunteer: ask about the numbers before collecting them.

You are Dev. Write a report for the exhibition organiser reviewing the bicycle demonstration and recommending improvements.

In your response:

• describe how the demonstration initially developed and identify the difficulties
• evaluate what Mina and you changed and what the later visits showed
• recommend improvements to volunteer preparation and the visitor experience

Base your response on Text C, developing its ideas in your own words. Write about 250 to 300 words. Up to 10 marks are available for reading and up to 10 marks for writing.