English Language Paper 1 Question 5
Merciless. Unrelenting. Unsparing. The storm marched on the landscape,
flanked on all side by corps of cumulonimbus clouds. In the distance, daylight
retreated: terrified by the approaching onslaught of piercing rain. Lightning
permeated the dense, grey clouds. It flashed hot and bright – so blinding that
the sky, for an instant, became a single sheet of white. A low rumble of thunder
echoed across the vast canopy of sky, reverberating as it weaved through the
trees. These bolts of lightning were viciously thrust downwards like polished
blades, blinding and deafening at once: an assault on the senses. Below – in no
man’s land – sprawls of ivy stalked across the ground like coils of barbed wire;
Rivulets of rain gouged deep trenches into the earth.
Situated at the centre of the landlocked tempest was a stocky dwelling. The
building stood abandoned; It was ancient and in disrepair. Dilapidated and
crumbling, its walls were permanently soddened from years of exposure to
nature’s harsh elements. As the storm continued to advance, the ashlar cladding
buckled under a steady stream of torrential rain that threatened the landscape
with a devastating deluge. Inside, the place was coated in nicotine and despair.
A lone man – drowning in sorrow – sat slumped like an abandoned marionette.
Unkempt and unwashed, his matted tresses hung limply around his face. His
eyes, glassy and sunken in, stared unseeing at the opposite wall. With his gaunt
cheeks and sallow complexion, it was clear that the haggard man had faced the
ravages of time. Nervously picking at the fraying hem of his jacket, his twitching
hands were the only movements that conveyed his aliveness. Stealthily, the
storms greatest ally closed in on all sides as the sun finally dipped below the
horizon. Darkness flooded the room and seemed to drown the slouched figure
as night time prevailed.
Overnight, everything changed.
The sun had risen with a new, fierce intensity. It was clear to see how it had
flattened the land into submission. Far off, the horizon rippled in the blistering
heat haze and the never ceasing rolling fields and forests stretched out either
side. The storms momentary victory the night before was only evident in the
shrapnel of leaves and snapped branches that littered the ground. As the sun
dripped warmth like hot wax, the wilting trees stood at ease in the unnatural
swelter. Even as it rose throughout the day, the sun continued to glare at its
cowering subjects as if it would never again drop below the horizon. Advancing
on the landscape, its rays flashed hot and bright, blinding and oppressively hot
at once: an assault on the senses.
Merciless. Unrelenting. Unsparing. The storm marched on the landscape,
flanked on all side by corps of cumulonimbus clouds. In the distance, daylight
retreated: terrified by the approaching onslaught of piercing rain. Lightning
permeated the dense, grey clouds. It flashed hot and bright – so blinding that
the sky, for an instant, became a single sheet of white. A low rumble of thunder
echoed across the vast canopy of sky, reverberating as it weaved through the
trees. These bolts of lightning were viciously thrust downwards like polished
blades, blinding and deafening at once: an assault on the senses. Below – in no
man’s land – sprawls of ivy stalked across the ground like coils of barbed wire;
Rivulets of rain gouged deep trenches into the earth.
Situated at the centre of the landlocked tempest was a stocky dwelling. The
building stood abandoned; It was ancient and in disrepair. Dilapidated and
crumbling, its walls were permanently soddened from years of exposure to
nature’s harsh elements. As the storm continued to advance, the ashlar cladding
buckled under a steady stream of torrential rain that threatened the landscape
with a devastating deluge. Inside, the place was coated in nicotine and despair.
A lone man – drowning in sorrow – sat slumped like an abandoned marionette.
Unkempt and unwashed, his matted tresses hung limply around his face. His
eyes, glassy and sunken in, stared unseeing at the opposite wall. With his gaunt
cheeks and sallow complexion, it was clear that the haggard man had faced the
ravages of time. Nervously picking at the fraying hem of his jacket, his twitching
hands were the only movements that conveyed his aliveness. Stealthily, the
storms greatest ally closed in on all sides as the sun finally dipped below the
horizon. Darkness flooded the room and seemed to drown the slouched figure
as night time prevailed.
Overnight, everything changed.
The sun had risen with a new, fierce intensity. It was clear to see how it had
flattened the land into submission. Far off, the horizon rippled in the blistering
heat haze and the never ceasing rolling fields and forests stretched out either
side. The storms momentary victory the night before was only evident in the
shrapnel of leaves and snapped branches that littered the ground. As the sun
dripped warmth like hot wax, the wilting trees stood at ease in the unnatural
swelter. Even as it rose throughout the day, the sun continued to glare at its
cowering subjects as if it would never again drop below the horizon. Advancing
on the landscape, its rays flashed hot and bright, blinding and oppressively hot
at once: an assault on the senses.
