Insert
The source that follows is:
- Source A: 20th-century prose fiction
- The Invisible Man by G. K. Chesterton
An extract from a work first published in 1901.
This extract is taken from The Invisible Man and shows Mrs Hall serving a new guest at the inn whose face is hidden by bandages, glasses, and a cloth, creating tension and curiosity as his secretive behaviour unsettles her and heightens the sense of mystery.
Source A
1 He turned his head and looked at her over his shoulder. “I prefer to keep them on,” he said with emphasis, and she noticed that he wore big blue spectacles with sidelights, and had a bush side-whisker over his
6 coat-collar that completely hid his cheeks and face. “Very well, sir,” she said. “As you like. In a bit the room will be warmer.”
11 He made no answer, and had turned his face away from her again, and Mrs. Hall, feeling that her conversational advances were ill-timed, laid the rest of the table things in a quick staccato and whisked out
16 of the room. When she returned he was still standing there, like a man of stone, his back hunched, his collar turned up, his dripping hat-brim turned down, hiding his face and
21 ears completely. She put down the eggs and bacon with considerable emphasis, and called rather than said to him, “Your lunch is served, sir.”
26 “Thank you,” he said at the same time, and did not stir until she was closing the door. Then he swung round and approached the table with a certain eager quickness. As she went behind the bar to the kitchen she heard a sound
31 repeated at regular intervals. Chirk, chirk, chirk, it went, the sound of a spoon being rapidly whisked round a basin. “That girl!” she said. “There! I clean forgot it. It’s her being so long!” And while she herself
36 finished mixing the mustard, she gave Millie a few verbal stabs for her excessive slowness. She had cooked the ham and eggs, laid the table, and done
41 everything, while Millie (help indeed!) had only succeeded in delaying the mustard. And him a new guest and wanting to stay! Then she filled the mustard pot, and, putting it with a certain stateliness upon
46 a gold and black tea- tray, carried it into the parlour. She rapped and entered promptly. As she did so her visitor moved quickly, so that she got but a glimpse of a white object disappearing
51 behind the table. It would seem he was picking something from the floor. She rapped down the mustard pot on the table, and then she noticed the overcoat and hat had been taken off and put over a chair in front of the fire,
56 and a pair of wet boots threatened rust to her steel fender. She went to these things resolutely. “I suppose I may have them to dry now,” she said in a voice that brooked no denial. “Leave the hat,” said her visitor, in a muffled voice,
61 and turning she saw he had raised his head and was sitting and looking at her. For a moment she stood gaping at him, too surprised to speak. He held a white cloth—it was a serviette he had brought with him—over the lower part of his
66 face, so that his mouth and jaws were completely hidden, and that was the reason of his muffled voice. But it was not that which startled Mrs. Hall. It was the fact that all his forehead
71 above his blue glasses was covered by a white bandage, and that another covered his ears, leaving not a scrap of his face exposed excepting only his pink, peaked nose. It was bright, pink, and
76 shiny just as it had been at first. He wore a dark-brown velvet jacket with a high, black, linen-lined collar turned up about his neck. The thick black hair, escaping as it could below and between the cross bandages,
81 projected in curious tails and horns, giving him the strangest appearance conceivable. This muffled and bandaged head was so unlike what she had anticipated, that for a
86 moment she was rigid. He did not remove the serviette, but remained holding it, as she saw now, with a brown gloved hand, and regarding her with his inscrutable blue glasses. “Leave the hat,” he said, speaking very distinctly
91 through the white cloth. Her nerves began to recover from the shock they had received. She placed the hat on the chair again by the fire. “I didn’t know, sir,” she began, “that—” and she stopped embarrassed. “Thank you,” he said
96 drily, glancing from her to the door and then at her again.
Questions
Instructions
- Answer all questions.
- Use black ink or black ball point pen.
- Fill in the boxes on this page.
- You must answer the questions in the spaces provided.
- Do not write outside the box around each page or on blank pages.
- Do all rough work in this book. Cross through any work you do not want to be marked.
- You must refer to the insert booklet provided.
- You must not use a dictionary.
Information
- The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
- Time allowed: 1 hour 45 minutes
- The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
- There are 40 marks for Section A and 40 marks for Section B.
- You are reminded of the need for good English and clear presentation in your answers.
- You will be assessed on the quality of your reading in Section A.
- You will be assessed on the quality of your writing in Section B.
Advice
- You are advised to spend about 15 minutes reading through the source and all five questions you have to answer.
- You should make sure you leave sufficient time to check your answers.
Section A: Reading
Answer all questions in this section. You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section.
Question 1
Read again the first part of the source, from lines 1 to 5.
Answer all parts of this question.
Choose one answer for each question.
1.1 From where does the speaker look?
- Over the shoulder
- Over the spectacles
- Over the table
[1 mark]
1.2 What does the speaker prefer to do?
- keep them on
- take them off
- put them away
[1 mark]
1.3 What colour are the spectacles?
- blue
- black
- green
[1 mark]
1.4 Which feature is mentioned with the spectacles?
- sidelights
- wire rims
- nose pads
[1 mark]
Question 2
Look in detail at this extract, from lines 11 to 30 of the source:
11 He made no answer, and had turned his face away from her again, and Mrs. Hall, feeling that her conversational advances were ill-timed, laid the rest of the table things in a quick staccato and whisked out
16 of the room. When she returned he was still standing there, like a man of stone, his back hunched, his collar turned up, his dripping hat-brim turned down, hiding his face and
21 ears completely. She put down the eggs and bacon with considerable emphasis, and called rather than said to him, “Your lunch is served, sir.”
26 “Thank you,” he said at the same time, and did not stir until she was closing the door. Then he swung round and approached the table with a certain eager quickness. As she went behind the bar to the kitchen she heard a sound
How does the writer use language here to show the awkward mood between Mrs Hall and her guest? You could include the writer's choice of:
- words and phrases
- language features and techniques
- sentence forms.
[8 marks]
Question 3
You now need to think about the structure of the source as a whole. This text is from the start of a novel.
How has the writer structured the text to create a sense of ambiguity?
You could write about:
- how ambiguity deepens throughout the source
- how the writer uses structure to create an effect
- the writer's use of any other structural features, such as changes in mood, tone or perspective.
[8 marks]
Question 4
For this question focus on the second part of the source, from line 46 to the end.
In this part of the source, the description of the man's bandaged head is very mysterious. The writer suggests that there is something frightening or damaged hidden underneath.
To what extent do you agree and/or disagree with this statement?
In your response, you could:
- consider your impressions of the man's bandaged head
- comment on the methods the writer uses to suggest something frightening is hidden
- support your response with references to the text.
[20 marks]
Question 5
A regional rail company is running a student writing contest about travelling by rail.
Choose one of the options below for your entry.
-
Option A: Describe a train journey from your imagination. You may choose to use the picture provided for ideas:
-
Option B: Write the opening of a story about a chance meeting on a journey.
(24 marks for content and organisation, 16 marks for technical accuracy)
[40 marks]