2025 AQA GCSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Paper 1 Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing Question Paper & Mark Scheme
(Merged) May 2025 [VERIFIED]
8700/1
IB/M/Jun25/G4014/V6
, 2
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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
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]
IB/M/Jun25/8700/1
, 4
Turn over ► Do not write
outside the
IB/M/Jun25/8700/1
(Merged) May 2025 [VERIFIED]
8700/1
IB/M/Jun25/G4014/V6
, 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
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]
IB/M/Jun25/8700/1
, 4
Turn over ► Do not write
outside the
IB/M/Jun25/8700/1
