Lesson P1-Q2

P1-Q2 Question 2: longer form reading question (8 marks) Quiz: AQA English Language, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson P1-Q2, Question 2: longer form reading question (8 marks): 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA GCSE English Language (8700), Unit 1: Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. Which AO does an 8-mark Question 2 mainly assess?

    • AO5, communicating in a designated form for a named audience and clear purpose
    • AO2, explaining how language and structure achieve effects
    • AO6, using accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar throughout a response
    • AO1, identifying explicit information from a text without commenting on any of its effects

  2. Question 2 asks about the writer's language. What does 'effects' mean here?

    • The length of the extract measured in lines, paragraphs and words across all pages
    • The publisher's choice of paper, binding and cover design for the printed edition
    • The number of times each word in the extract appears across the whole of the passage
    • The impact the language has on the reader's understanding and feelings

  3. Which statement describes a strong Question 2 answer?

    • It retells the plot of the extract in strict chronological order from start to finish
    • It lists every word in the extract in alphabetical order, with a short note on each
    • It analyses specific word choices with subject terminology and explains their effects
    • It focuses on the author's biography, education and publication date in some detail

  4. Which term describes a comparison using the words 'like' or 'as'?

    • Personification, giving human traits to objects
    • Onomatopoeia, words that imitate sounds
    • Metaphor, stating that one thing is another
    • Simile, comparing two things using like or as

  5. Which device gives an object or idea human qualities?

    • Alliteration, repeating a consonant sound at the start of several words in one line
    • Hyperbole, deliberately exaggerating a claim to make a point more forceful for readers
    • Simile, comparing two things directly using the words like or as in the sentence
    • Personification, giving human traits to an object or idea

  6. Which example contains sibilance?

    • The wind howled through the empty hall and rattled the windows in the frame
    • Dark as coal, cold as stone, still as death in the silent room
    • The loud bang made the door shake violently in the empty hall at midnight
    • The sly snake slid silently through the sand

  7. Which device describes deliberate exaggeration for effect?

    • Hyperbole, such as a mountain of homework
    • Litotes, understating a feeling with a negative
    • Euphemism, softening a harsh truth with mild words
    • Oxymoron, joining two opposite ideas together

  8. A student writes that a plot is 'a glittering web of lies'. Which device is at work?

    • Metaphor, describing the lies as a web without like or as
    • Simile, comparing the lies to a web using the words like or as in the sentence
    • Alliteration, repeating the w sound in several close words across the line
    • Hyperbole, exaggerating the size of the web until it covers the whole town

  9. Which terminology best analyses verbs in a fast action scene?

    • Stative verbs that describe calm, unmoving states
    • Dynamic verbs that convey rapid, forceful movement
    • Modal verbs that express possibility or obligation
    • Auxiliary verbs that support the main verb in a phrase

  10. Which analysis of an adjective is the most precise?

    • The adjective 'brittle' is used because it is a long word that impresses the reader
    • The adjective 'brittle' is the most common word in the extract and appears often
    • The adjective 'brittle' is a nice word that makes the text sound more polished overall
    • The adjective 'brittle' suggests fragility, implying the character's composure may break

  11. What does 'connotation' mean?

    • The number of syllables a word contains, counted when it is spoken aloud in class
    • The associations and ideas a word suggests beyond its literal meaning
    • The exact dictionary definition of a word, given as a single clear sentence of meaning
    • The part of speech a word belongs to, such as noun, verb or adjective in a sentence

  12. Which list of words forms a semantic field linked to the sea?

    • Chair, table, lamp, curtain and rug
    • Happy, sad, angry, calm and tired
    • Quick, slow, loud, soft and bright
    • Wave, tide, salt, gull and shore

  13. Which feature of sentence structure is most likely to slow the reader down?

    • A command in the imperative mood that tells the reader exactly what to do next
    • A rapid list of short verbs in a row that drives the action forward at speed
    • A single-word sentence used as a sharp interruption to the flow of the paragraph
    • A long sentence with several embedded clauses and commas

  14. Which technique builds a list towards a stronger final item?

    • Antithesis, setting two opposite ideas side by side in balanced phrases of equal length
    • Litotes, understating a positive feeling by using a negative word in the sentence
    • Euphemism, using a mild word in place of a harsh truth to soften its impact
    • A tricolon that builds towards an emphatic final item

  15. Which example is a rhetorical question used in analysis?

    • A question placed at the start of a list of names in the register of the class
    • A question printed in a footnote about the author's life and early career in London
    • A question such as 'What else could she do?' that makes the reader consider the answer
    • A question about the weather that has a simple factual answer that anyone can check

  16. A student writes: 'The writer uses hard consonant sounds to create a menacing tone.' Which device is this?

    • Sibilance, repeating the soft s sound across a line to create a hissing effect
    • Consonance, repeating hard consonant sounds to shape tone
    • Enjambment, running a sentence over a line break so that it continues into the next
    • Assonance, repeating soft vowel sounds across a phrase to create a gentle musical tone

  17. Which verb form best describes a character's uncertain action?

    • A present continuous verb showing an action that is currently in progress at the moment
    • An imperative verb giving a direct command to the reader to act immediately
    • A modal verb such as might or could, showing possibility
    • A past perfect verb showing a completed action that happened before another past event

  18. Harder: Which judgement about a writer's single verb choice is the most developed?

    • The writer chose the word because the publisher requested it
    • The verb controls the pace and suggests the character's urgency
    • The writer chose the word because it is short and easy to spell
    • The writer chose the word because it appears on the cover

  19. Harder: A Q2 answer quotes a word but does not explain its effect. What is the main weakness?

    • It analyses the structure of the text rather than the language used by the writer
    • It identifies a device without analysing how it creates an effect
    • It uses too many quotations from the text, so the answer is hard to follow for the reader
    • It is written in the present tense rather than the past tense in the answer overall

  20. Harder: A student links a list of three adjectives to a rising sense of dread. Which element of their answer is strongest?

    • Explaining how the cumulative build-up of adjectives creates the feeling of dread
    • Stating that the adjectives appear in the extract's first line, with no further comment
    • Naming the adjectives without saying anything about what they add to the atmosphere
    • Describing the font in which the adjectives are printed on the page of the book

All AQA English Language quizzes