GCSE English and Maths Resits (Grade 4) · English Language

Language and Structure

58 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

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  1. A story describes storm clouds gathering as a character hears bad news. What is this technique called?
  2. 'It was a bittersweet farewell.' Which feature does the word 'bittersweet' show?
  3. The pace of a chase scene is speeded up by short sentences and verbs such as 'sprinted', 'leapt' and 'slammed'. What is this effect?
  4. A speaker repeats 'never' at the start of five sentences. Which comment is best?
  5. What is the effect of a very short sentence after a long descriptive paragraph, such as 'Silence.'?
  6. 'Do we really want our children to grow up in a world without parks?' What is this technique?
  7. A writer ends an essay by returning to the image of the lighthouse used in the first paragraph. What is the effect?
  8. 'The city never sleeps: it hums, flashes and roars through the night.' Which analysis is best?
  9. A character praises a dreadful meal as 'delicious'. The narrator makes clear the food is disgusting. What technique does this show?
  10. What is a semantic field?
  11. A narrator says 'I' and 'my' throughout. What is the narrative perspective?
  12. A narrator who stands outside the story and knows every character's thoughts is called which type?
  13. A narrator says: 'I was perfectly calm, of course, as I checked the locks for the fifth time.' What does the writer suggest about the narrator?
  14. In a persuasive text, a writer admits 'Some people say cycling is dangerous' and then answers the point. What is this technique?
  15. A piece of writing is addressed to 'Dear Sir or Madam' and uses 'I would be grateful if'. What does this show about register?
  16. The word 'home' suggests warmth and safety, while 'house' is more neutral. What is this extra meaning of 'home' called?
  17. A speech says: 'We can't afford to wait. We can't afford to ignore this. We can't afford to fail.' What technique is used?
  18. Which comment gives the best analysis of the phrase 'a shadow of her former self'?
  19. A story builds tension with the line: 'The clock ticked. Then it didn't.' Which comment best explains the effect?
  20. A writer opens an article with the story of a single patient waiting for hours in A&E before moving to national figures. What is the opening technique?
  21. A newspaper article says 'Over 80% of residents want the park to stay open.' Why does the writer include this?
  22. A character is described as 'her eyes were two cold coins'. Which is the most precise analysis?
  23. A leaflet uses bullet points and subheadings. What is the main purpose of this layout?
  24. In the line 'The wind howled through the empty street', which technique gives the wind a human or animal quality?
  25. A newspaper headline reads 'Chaos on the Roads!' What is the effect of the exclamation mark and the word 'chaos'?
  26. A text begins with a wide description of a whole city, then focuses on one house, then one window, then one face. What is this structural technique?
  27. A writer says 'It was only a small mistake' about an error that closed the factory. What is the effect of the word 'only'?
  28. A writer describes a rich family's feast followed straight away by a hungry child's empty bowl. What technique is this?
  29. Which statement about the sentence 'The factory loomed, a black tooth against the sky' is the most precise?
  30. A text says 'The council claims the scheme is a success; residents disagree.' How does the writer use structure to present the two views?
  31. A character's thoughts are shown in fragments: 'Door. Dark. Footsteps. Run.' What does this suggest?
  32. A writer starts a story with dialogue: 'You're late,' she snapped. Why might a writer choose this opening?
  33. A leaflet says 'Join us today!' Which sentence type is this?
  34. A blog post uses 'gonna', 'kinda' and 'mate'. What does this show?
  35. A newspaper article about a council says 'The council has, once again, failed to listen.' How does the phrase 'once again' shape the reader's view?
  36. Which comment about this opening is most accurate? 'Mum always said the sea would take us one day. She was right, though not how she imagined.'
  37. A passage about a hospital uses 'sterile', 'bleak', 'cold' and 'humming'. What effect does this pattern of words create?
  38. A story begins with the main character dying, then jumps back a year to show how it happened. What is the structure called?
  39. What is the effect of a long sentence full of commas and clauses in a description of a bustling market?
  40. In a speech about school meals, a writer moves from 'Picture a child' to 'Now picture thousands of children'. What is the effect of this movement in focus?
  41. A report states 'Studies show that 7 out of 10 teenagers sleep less than eight hours a night.' What kind of evidence is this?
  42. 'The sea clawed at the cliffs.' Which comment best analyses the verb 'clawed'?
  43. A story opens with a character waking in a small bedroom and closes with the same character waking in the same room. What is this structure called?
  44. A writer describes a town as 'quiet as a graveyard'. What is the effect?
  45. A writer shifts from describing a peaceful beach to 'But beneath the surface, something stirred.' What is the effect of the shift?
  46. What is the purpose of a topic sentence at the start of a paragraph?
  47. 'Dying' described as 'passing away' is an example of which technique?
  48. A writer calls a disaster 'a heartbreaking catastrophe that shattered countless families'. What kind of language is this?
  49. A text says 'You know how it feels when the bus doesn't turn up.' What technique does the writer use?
  50. 'My bag weighs a tonne.' What technique is this?
  51. In an advertisement, 'Smooth. Silky. Irresistible.' is used for a chocolate. What is the effect of the three single-word sentences?
  52. A speech writer uses 'we' and 'our' repeatedly. Why?
  53. Which technique is used in 'The snake slid silently southwards'?
  54. 'The classroom was a zoo.' What does this metaphor suggest?
  55. What does onomatopoeia mean?
  56. A poem describes a battlefield 'where poppies nodded in the mud'. Which analysis is best?
  57. A chapter ends with the line: 'She did not notice the figure watching from the trees.' What technique is this?
  58. What is a simile?

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