Please write clearly in block capitals.
Centre number Candidate number
Surname
Forename(s)
Candidate signature
I declare this is my own work.
GCSE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
Friday 23 May 2025 Morning Time allowed: 1 hour 45 minutes
8700/1
, 2
Do not write
outside the
Section A: Reading box
Answer all questions in this section.
You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section.
0 1 Read again the first part of the source, from lines 1 to 8.
List four things which happened that night from this part of the source.
[4 marks]
1
2
3
4
4
*02*
IB/M/Jun25/8700/1
, 3
Do not write
outside the
0 2 Look in detail at this extract from lines 9 to 18: box
The early morning of the 27th was an affair of slatternly* rags soaking in a dishwater sky,
with a grey light weakly filtering through. Nevertheless, in Oppley cocks crowed and
other birds welcomed the dawn more melodiously. In Midwich, however, no birds sang.
In Oppley, as in other places, hands were soon reaching out to silence alarm clocks, but
in Midwich the clocks rattled on until they ran down. For Midwich lay entranced.
While the rest of the world began to fill the morning with clamour, Midwich slept on. Its
men and women, its horses, cows and sheep; its pigs, its poultry, its larks, moles and
mice all lay still. There was a pocket of silence in Midwich, broken only by the rustling of
the leaves, the chiming of the church clock, and the gurgle of the River Opple as it slid
over the weir beside the mill.
* slatternly – adjective meaning dirty or untidy
How does the writer use language here to describe the early morning?
You could include the writer’s choice of:
• words and phrases
• language features and techniques
• sentence forms.
[8 marks]
Turn over ►
*03*
IB/M/Jun25/8700/1
, 4
Do not write
outside the
box
8
*04*
IB/M/Jun25/8700/1
Centre number Candidate number
Surname
Forename(s)
Candidate signature
I declare this is my own work.
GCSE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
Friday 23 May 2025 Morning Time allowed: 1 hour 45 minutes
8700/1
, 2
Do not write
outside the
Section A: Reading box
Answer all questions in this section.
You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section.
0 1 Read again the first part of the source, from lines 1 to 8.
List four things which happened that night from this part of the source.
[4 marks]
1
2
3
4
4
*02*
IB/M/Jun25/8700/1
, 3
Do not write
outside the
0 2 Look in detail at this extract from lines 9 to 18: box
The early morning of the 27th was an affair of slatternly* rags soaking in a dishwater sky,
with a grey light weakly filtering through. Nevertheless, in Oppley cocks crowed and
other birds welcomed the dawn more melodiously. In Midwich, however, no birds sang.
In Oppley, as in other places, hands were soon reaching out to silence alarm clocks, but
in Midwich the clocks rattled on until they ran down. For Midwich lay entranced.
While the rest of the world began to fill the morning with clamour, Midwich slept on. Its
men and women, its horses, cows and sheep; its pigs, its poultry, its larks, moles and
mice all lay still. There was a pocket of silence in Midwich, broken only by the rustling of
the leaves, the chiming of the church clock, and the gurgle of the River Opple as it slid
over the weir beside the mill.
* slatternly – adjective meaning dirty or untidy
How does the writer use language here to describe the early morning?
You could include the writer’s choice of:
• words and phrases
• language features and techniques
• sentence forms.
[8 marks]
Turn over ►
*03*
IB/M/Jun25/8700/1
, 4
Do not write
outside the
box
8
*04*
IB/M/Jun25/8700/1
