The lower flight was solid stone and wide enough for two people. Beyond the clock mechanism, however, it became a timber staircase leading to the bell chamber. Near the top, each tread bowed slightly at its centre, and the handrail shifted when I put my weight against it. I had been watching the wheels turn below, but now I looked only at where I placed my feet. The guide waited on the landing and told me not to hurry.
Select two brief quotations that reveal the poor condition of the staircase near the top.
Explain what each of your selected quotations suggests about why the narrator needs to take care.
232 exam-style questions on Edexcel A IGCSE English Language 1.2 Section A: Non-fiction Texts, covering 1.2.1 Focus of Section A, 1.2.2 Reading challenging non-fiction in preparation for the unseen text, 1.2.3 Reading substantial and extended texts, 1.2.4 Skills of interpretation and analysis, 1.2.5 Range of non-fiction forms, 1.2.6 Literary non-fiction text types, 1.2.7 Transient texts excluded from assessment, 1.2.8 The anthology as a supporting resource, and 1.2.9 Digital location of texts. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.