ABC Education · 11+ Practice
Week 50 · English Practice Paper
Reading: 25 marks · Writing: 25 marks · Suggested time: 1 hour.
Reading Passage
In this passage, the writer imagines a stretch of English coastline in the early 1800s, where a tidal causeway across wet sands was the only route to the market town of Marsh End, and could only be crossed safely for a few hours around low tide. Section A is multiple choice: each question below has only one correct answer — write the letter of your chosen answer.
The Tide Road
Along that stretch of coast there was scarcely a family that had not, at some time, lost a cart, a horse, or worse, to the sands. The causeway to Marsh End ran for three miles over ground that looked solid enough by daylight, yet could swallow a loaded wagon whole within the hour once the tide turned; travellers who mistimed their crossing by so much as a quarter of an hour might find the safe road behind them already drowned, with nothing ahead but grey water creeping in from both sides at once. Farmers spoke of it the way other men spoke of wolves, and mothers hushed their children with stories of it; and still, twice in every week, the mail coach rattled out across those sands as though the danger were nothing more than a rumour got up to frighten the foolish.
It was the coach called the Curlew that stood, on a raw evening in early March, some furlong short of the causeway's edge, waiting on the guide who alone knew that night's safe crossing. Hendry, who drove her, sat hunched under a driving-cape gone dark with drizzle, and beside him crouched Osric the guard, a lantern between his knees, its flame guttering each time the wind found a new way in under the coach's hood. Two passengers rode within: a corn merchant bound home to Marsh End, and, opposite him, a thin, quiet woman who had said not one word since Lytham, and whom neither man had yet found the courage to ask about.
"He is later than his hour," said Hendry, not for the first time. "He will come," said Osric, though his voice had none of the certainty of his words. "He had better come with the tide behind him and not before it, or we shall none of us see Marsh End tonight." Osric said nothing to that. There was nothing comfortable to say.
A fog had begun to gather along the shoreline an hour before, thin at first, no more than a breath upon the darkening water, but it had thickened steadily since, rolling up off the sands in slow, deliberate coils, like smoke let loose from beneath the earth itself. It pressed close about the coach and swallowed the lantern's small light within a few yards, so that Hendry, straining his eyes into it, could no longer be certain where the safe causeway ended and the waiting sands began. The horses felt it too; they stood with ears turned back and would not settle, tossing their heads and stamping at the wet ground as though something in the mist troubled them that the men could not yet see.
Then, out of that white stillness, came a sound. Not the guide's whistle, which Hendry had been listening for this half hour and more. Something else — a low, steady splashing, out where no splashing ought to be, moving, unmistakably, closer. "Osric." Hendry's voice had dropped to barely a whisper. "Do you hear that?" Osric was already on his feet, lantern raised, peering out into the fog with his heart going hard against his ribs. "I hear it," he said. "Something is crossing the sands. And it is not the guide."
Section A: Reading
Question 1
[1 marks]Which statement best describes the danger described in paragraph 1? A. The tide occasionally causes minor inconvenience to travellers B. The sands are extremely dangerous, but people have grown too used to the danger to take it seriously C. Nobody has ever safely crossed the causeway D. The coach company refuses to use the causeway route
Question 2
[1 marks]Where is the coach waiting at the start of paragraph 2? A. In the market town of Marsh End B. At Lytham C. A short distance from the edge of the causeway D. In the middle of the sands
Question 3
[1 marks]What is the effect of the writer's use of the semicolon in the final sentence of paragraph 1? A. To create a short, breathless rhythm B. To join two closely related ideas without a full stop, building a sense of the tide's relentless, ongoing danger C. To show a sudden change of subject D. To slow the pace of the passage right down
Question 4
[1 marks]What do you understand by the phrase 'as though the danger were nothing more than a rumour got up to frighten the foolish'? A. The danger is not real B. People deliberately invented the danger to frighten visitors C. Despite the real danger, people have become used to it and treat it too casually D. Only foolish people are frightened of the sands
Question 5
[1 marks]What do we learn happens to travellers who mistime the crossing? A. They wait safely until the next low tide B. They can become cut off, with the safe road already flooded behind them C. They are rescued immediately by the guide D. They lose their belongings but are unharmed
Question 6
[1 marks]What are we told about the guide in paragraph 3? A. He is already on the coach B. He is late, and Hendry is anxious that the tide will catch them before he arrives C. He has decided not to come at all D. He arrives exactly on time
Question 7
[1 marks]What do you understand by the phrase 'There was nothing comfortable to say'? A. Osric could not think of any words at all B. Osric privately shares Hendry's worry but has no honest reassurance to offer C. Osric is too tired to speak D. Osric disagrees with Hendry completely
Question 8
[1 marks]What is the effect of the opening sentence of paragraph 4? A. To move the story on to a completely separate topic B. To introduce a new and specific danger developing at that moment C. To end the description of the coach D. To describe the sands in daylight
Question 9
[1 marks]Which of the following is the best synonym for 'guttering' in paragraph 2? A. Dripping B. Flickering unsteadily C. Growing brighter D. Burning out completely
Question 10
[1 marks]Which word in paragraph 4 most emphasises how thick the fog had become? A. Breath B. Coils C. Swallowed D. Deliberate
Question 11
[1 marks]Which place is mentioned as an earlier stage of the coach's journey? A. Marsh End B. The causeway C. Lytham D. The mail office
Question 12
[1 marks]Why does Hendry strain his eyes into the fog in paragraph 4? A. He is looking for the guide's whistle signal B. He cannot tell where the safe causeway ends and the sands begin C. He has lost his lantern D. He is trying to see the corn merchant
Question 13
[1 marks]Which characters are described as uneasy about the mist even before the men notice anything is wrong? A. The passengers B. The horses C. The guide D. Osric
Question 14
[1 marks]What do you think the word 'unmistakably' means in paragraph 5? A. Possibly B. Clearly and without doubt C. Quietly D. Suddenly
Question 15
[1 marks]What do you understand by the last sentence of paragraph 4? A. The horses are calm and comfortable B. The horses sense some danger that the men cannot yet perceive C. The horses want to run away immediately D. The horses are simply cold
Question 16
[1 marks]What technique is the writer using in: 'rolling up off the sands in slow, deliberate coils, like smoke let loose from beneath the earth itself'? A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Personification D. Alliteration
Question 17
[1 marks]What type of words are 'stamping', 'tossing' and 'straining'? A. Adjectives B. Adverbs C. Prepositions D. Verbs
Question 18
[1 marks]'It pressed close about the coach and swallowed the lantern's small light within a few yards' — what two techniques are combined here? A. Simile and metaphor B. Personification and metaphor C. Simile and personification D. Analogy and metaphor
Question 19
[1 marks]What is the narrative effect of the description of the fog throughout the passage? A. It makes the passage feel like a comedy B. It increases the tension by reducing what characters, and readers, can see C. It proves a storm is definitely coming D. It shows that the guide is lost
Question 20
[1 marks]What does the writer imply through 'a thin, quiet woman who had said not one word since Lytham, and whom neither man had yet found the courage to ask about'? A. She is clearly dangerous B. There is something slightly mysterious about her that intrigues but also unsettles the two men C. She is asleep D. She cannot speak English
Question 21
[1 marks]Which statement best describes the character of Hendry? A. Calm, relaxed and untroubled B. Anxious, watchful and experienced C. Careless and cheerful D. Angry and impatient with his passengers
Question 22
[1 marks]Why does Hendry's voice drop to 'barely a whisper' in paragraph 5? A. He does not want to frighten the horses B. He is suddenly unsure and afraid of what he is hearing C. He has lost his voice from the cold D. He does not want Osric to hear him
Question 23
[1 marks]What is the effect of the short sentences at the end of the passage ('I hear it,' he said. 'Something is crossing the sands. And it is not the guide.')? A. It makes the passage easier to read for younger readers B. It creates a sense of urgency and mounting fear C. It shows that Osric is confused D. It slows the pace right down to allow reflection
Question 24
[1 marks]How does the writer build tension at the end of this passage? A. By describing exactly who or what is approaching B. By withholding the identity of what is approaching, leaving it to the reader's imagination C. By ending the passage with a joke D. By moving straight to a happy resolution
Question 25
[1 marks]What do you think 'peering' means, based on the context in paragraph 5? A. Shouting loudly B. Looking hard and intently, as if trying to see something difficult to make out C. Running quickly D. Listening carefully with eyes closed
Section B: Writing
Choose ONE of the following:
- There is one task in this section. Spend around 30 minutes on it.
- You do not have to finish the story — quality matters more than length.
- Write using accurate sentences, spelling and punctuation, and aim to write engagingly to interest the reader.
Option 1: Continue the story, recounting what happens as Hendry and Osric discover what is crossing the sands towards them.
- Spend a few minutes planning your story before you begin writing.
- Develop a realistic, well-paced scene rather than rushing to an ending.
- Use sensory detail (sound, sight, feeling) to keep building the atmosphere established in the passage.