13Plus-level Practice Paper 1
Fiction
Reading Section: 45 marks available.
Writing Section: 25 marks available.
70 marks available in total.
You are advised to read through the source in its entirety first, and then refer back to it when
necessary as you answer the questions.
Be sure to plan your longer answers, especially in the writing section.
Also make sure you leave time to proofread your answers.
This is the intellectual property of Ross Turner Academics
© Ross Turner 2023 | www.rossturneracademics.com
, READING SECTION
Source
Read the passage below, and then answer questions 1-8.
The Basement
1 When I awoke, I had no idea where I was. The room was dark and damp. In the dim light
2 crawling in through a high window in one wall, I could see that the walls were made of mouldy
3 bricks. I coughed, and could feel particles of mould in my throat. A single lightbulb hung
4 precariously from a thin chain on the ceiling, with a cord dangling to about head height. I
5 hauled myself off the soggy mattress on which I had awoken, and pulled the cord. It snapped
6 off between my fingers, but the lightbulb flickered into meagre life.
7 The light illuminated damp cardboard boxes piled up against the walls, old, disused
8 bookshelves lined with rotten folders, and ceiling corners covered in loopy cobwebs. I was
9 afraid of the dark; my stomach felt like someone had yanked the plug out of the bottom of it.
10 There was hardly room to move. An old office chair with only two wheels. One of the
11 cardboard boxes had tennis racquets, golf clubs, and a baseball bat poking out of the top of it.
12 An old filing cabinet lay on its side, the top drawer half open. A vague black shape scuttled out
13 of it, stopped as if it had seen me, and dashed back inside. I shuddered, feeling as if I were in
14 a nightmare – but one I couldn’t wake up from.
15 Now that I could see, though not very clearly, I climbed the rickety wooden stairs to
16 the door at the top. They groaned with each of my footsteps. At the top, when I tried to turn the
17 doorhandle, it was stiff and wouldn’t move. My heart pounded in my chest like a heavy
18 drumbeat.
19 ‘Help!’ I shouted, banging on the door. ‘Help! I’m trapped!’ I paused to listen.
20 Nothing.
21 ‘Help me! Please!’ I screamed, louder this time, kicking the door so hard I almost lost
22 my balance and fell down the stairs.
23 Now my heart was a jackhammer, bashing against my ribs, and my lungs felt tiny and
24 tight, unable to take in enough air. It took me a few minutes to calm down.
25 Eventually, I clambered back down the stairs, my legs feeling like jelly, and looked
26 around again for some other way out. The window was too high, and the walls were solid brick.
27 I felt a wave of panic begin to sweep back in, until I spotted the baseball bat again, sticking out
28 of the top of the cardboard box, and had an idea.
29 I grasped the cold, clammy handle and wrenched the baseball bat out of the box. It was
30 heavy, and I swung it a couple of times to test how it felt. Then I clomped back up the squealing
31 stairs.
32 At the top, I set my feet, facing the door sideways-on. I take a deep breath and wind my
33 arms as far back as they will go, twisting my body and aiming for the middle of the door. I
34 hope that, if I hit it hard enough, the wood will split and I can squeeze out.
35 I’m ready.
36 I tense to swing and–
This is the intellectual property of Ross Turner Academics
© Ross Turner 2023 | www.rossturneracademics.com
Fiction
Reading Section: 45 marks available.
Writing Section: 25 marks available.
70 marks available in total.
You are advised to read through the source in its entirety first, and then refer back to it when
necessary as you answer the questions.
Be sure to plan your longer answers, especially in the writing section.
Also make sure you leave time to proofread your answers.
This is the intellectual property of Ross Turner Academics
© Ross Turner 2023 | www.rossturneracademics.com
, READING SECTION
Source
Read the passage below, and then answer questions 1-8.
The Basement
1 When I awoke, I had no idea where I was. The room was dark and damp. In the dim light
2 crawling in through a high window in one wall, I could see that the walls were made of mouldy
3 bricks. I coughed, and could feel particles of mould in my throat. A single lightbulb hung
4 precariously from a thin chain on the ceiling, with a cord dangling to about head height. I
5 hauled myself off the soggy mattress on which I had awoken, and pulled the cord. It snapped
6 off between my fingers, but the lightbulb flickered into meagre life.
7 The light illuminated damp cardboard boxes piled up against the walls, old, disused
8 bookshelves lined with rotten folders, and ceiling corners covered in loopy cobwebs. I was
9 afraid of the dark; my stomach felt like someone had yanked the plug out of the bottom of it.
10 There was hardly room to move. An old office chair with only two wheels. One of the
11 cardboard boxes had tennis racquets, golf clubs, and a baseball bat poking out of the top of it.
12 An old filing cabinet lay on its side, the top drawer half open. A vague black shape scuttled out
13 of it, stopped as if it had seen me, and dashed back inside. I shuddered, feeling as if I were in
14 a nightmare – but one I couldn’t wake up from.
15 Now that I could see, though not very clearly, I climbed the rickety wooden stairs to
16 the door at the top. They groaned with each of my footsteps. At the top, when I tried to turn the
17 doorhandle, it was stiff and wouldn’t move. My heart pounded in my chest like a heavy
18 drumbeat.
19 ‘Help!’ I shouted, banging on the door. ‘Help! I’m trapped!’ I paused to listen.
20 Nothing.
21 ‘Help me! Please!’ I screamed, louder this time, kicking the door so hard I almost lost
22 my balance and fell down the stairs.
23 Now my heart was a jackhammer, bashing against my ribs, and my lungs felt tiny and
24 tight, unable to take in enough air. It took me a few minutes to calm down.
25 Eventually, I clambered back down the stairs, my legs feeling like jelly, and looked
26 around again for some other way out. The window was too high, and the walls were solid brick.
27 I felt a wave of panic begin to sweep back in, until I spotted the baseball bat again, sticking out
28 of the top of the cardboard box, and had an idea.
29 I grasped the cold, clammy handle and wrenched the baseball bat out of the box. It was
30 heavy, and I swung it a couple of times to test how it felt. Then I clomped back up the squealing
31 stairs.
32 At the top, I set my feet, facing the door sideways-on. I take a deep breath and wind my
33 arms as far back as they will go, twisting my body and aiming for the middle of the door. I
34 hope that, if I hit it hard enough, the wood will split and I can squeeze out.
35 I’m ready.
36 I tense to swing and–
This is the intellectual property of Ross Turner Academics
© Ross Turner 2023 | www.rossturneracademics.com
