Source A: The boots at the gate

An original contemporary non-fiction-style practice text, written for this question.

I went to the relief depot with a notebook and two pairs of donated boots. The drought had closed farms across the district, and I was writing a short account for the association which had collected supplies. Outside the gate, an older man sat beside a row of shoes. One of his own boots had a split across the toe. I asked him which size he needed.

He looked up, then pointed to a low stool. I thought he was asking me to leave the donations there. Instead, he took one boot from my hand, bent its sole and pressed a thumb against the heel. He asked who would wear it. I said I did not know. He shook his head and explained that the lining was worn through: a person carrying sacks all day would be blistered before noon. He returned it without ceremony. My gift had failed an inspection I had not known it would have to pass.

The man was repairing footwear for the distribution workers. He had brought his tools from a workshop which now opened only twice a week because customers could not afford new soles. Each morning he came to the depot, where people doing heavy work were wearing through the few sound boots they owned. He showed me the pile waiting for stitching. It was larger than the pile which had been repaired. I began to ask whether I could describe his generosity in my article, but he was already reaching for another heel.

“Hold that straight,” he said.

For ten minutes, my part in the relief effort was to keep a boot still while someone who understood it worked. I had to ask twice whether I was holding the correct end. A driver came out, collected a repaired pair and complained about the heat. The man complained back. Neither performed gratitude for my benefit. Their conversation was about tomorrow’s load, a missing receipt and a football result. I listened without finding a sentence for the article.

Before leaving, I asked what the workshop needed. He gave me a list of thread sizes and a supplier’s name. Then he pointed at my remaining donation: that pair would do, provided we found someone it fitted. His own split boot remained beside the stool. I did not ask about it again. I had arrived prepared to recognise need, but only in the arrangement I expected: myself standing with something to give, someone else waiting with empty hands. The stool had made me sit down. The boot had given me a task. Neither had made the drought less serious, but both had made my first question seem painfully small.

Source B: From A Passage to Africa — George Alagiah

Read Source B in the official Pearson anthology (printed pages 4–5).

Compare how the writers present their ideas and perspectives about how encounters with hardship can challenge an observer’s assumptions.

Support your answer with detailed examples from both texts, including brief quotations.