Question 1: True or False Statements

Question 1 on Paper 2 is worth 4 marks and is designed to be the quickest, most accessible question on the paper. It tests your ability to identify explicit information — facts that are directly stated in one of the two texts.

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What the Question Looks Like

A typical Q1 might read:

Read again Source A from lines 1 to 12. Choose four statements below which are TRUE. Shade the boxes of the ones that you think are true.

You will be given eight statements and must select the four that are true. Each correct answer earns 1 mark.

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What You Need to Do

Requirement	Explanation
Read the specified lines only	Only use information from the given line references
Identify explicit information	The correct statements will be directly supported by words in the text
Select exactly four statements	Choosing more or fewer than four may cost marks
Do NOT analyse or infer	This is a retrieval question — no analysis or inference is needed

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Strategy

1. Read the specified lines carefully, underlining key facts.
2. Go through each statement one by one, checking it against the text.
3. Look for paraphrasing — the statements often reword information from the text. A statement might say "The weather was unpleasant" while the text says "Rain fell in sheets."
4. Eliminate clearly false statements first, then decide between the remaining ones.
5. Be precise — a statement that is almost true but contains one wrong detail is FALSE.

Common Traps

Trap	Example
Correct detail but wrong person/thing	Text says "John arrived first" — statement says "Mary arrived first"
Plausible but not stated	The text does not say it, even though it sounds reasonable
Information from outside the specified lines	The information is in the text but not in lines 1–12
Partially true statements	One part of the statement is correct but another part is wrong

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Worked Example

Text (lines 1–10):

The expedition set out from the port of Liverpool on the morning of 14th March 1842. The ship, a two-masted brig called the Endeavour, carried a crew of twenty-three men and supplies for six months. The captain, Edward Hargreaves, had sailed the route twice before, though never in winter. The weather on the morning of departure was clear, with a light southerly breeze, and the crew were reported to be in good spirits.

Statements (select four TRUE):

Statement	True/False
A. The expedition departed from London.	False — it departed from Liverpool
B. The ship was called the Endeavour.	True
C. The crew consisted of twenty-three men.	True
D. The captain had never sailed this route before.	False — he had sailed it twice before
E. The ship carried supplies for a year.	False — supplies for six months
F. The weather was clear on departure day.	True
G. The expedition departed in March 1842.	True
H. The ship was a three-masted clipper.	False — it was a two-masted brig

Correct answers: B, C, F, G.

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Q1 verification flow: how to check each statement

flowchart TD
    Read["Read the eight<br/>statements one by one"]
    Read --> Check{"Is the statement<br/>supported by the<br/>exact wording?"}
    Check -->|Yes| Keep[Mark TRUE]
    Check -->|No| Trap{Which trap?}
    Trap --> N["Number swap<br/>e.g. 30 to 50"]
    Trap --> D["Detail swap<br/>e.g. milk to tea"]
    Trap --> P["Paraphrase trap<br/>distorted meaning"]
    Trap --> Inv["Factual inversion<br/>e.g. late vs on time"]
    N --> Reject[Mark FALSE]
    D --> Reject
    P --> Reject
    Inv --> Reject
    Keep --> Count{"Exactly four<br/>TRUE statements?"}
    Reject --> Count
    Count -->|Yes| Done[Submit · 4 marks · AO1]
    Count -->|No| Read

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Timing

Q1 should take no more than 5 minutes. It is the lowest-mark question on the paper, and spending too long here will eat into time for the higher-mark questions (Q3 and Q4).

Exam Tip: If you are unsure about a statement, move on and come back to it. Do not spend more than a minute deliberating — trust your first reading of the text.

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Summary

Question 1 is a straightforward retrieval exercise. Read the specified lines carefully, match statements to the text, watch out for paraphrasing and partial truths, and select exactly four true statements. Spend no more than 5 minutes and move on to the more demanding questions.

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Worked example: how to eliminate distractors quickly

A common reason students lose Q1 marks is not misreading the source but misreading the statements. The eight statements are deliberately constructed to include a handful of near-truths — statements that are almost right but contain one small inaccuracy. Here is a worked example showing how to eliminate distractors efficiently.

Source A extract (lines 1–10):

The meeting was called for seven o'clock in the evening at the Old Schoolhouse. Mrs Carter, who had organised the event, had expected perhaps thirty villagers; by half-past six, over a hundred were already standing in the lane. She had prepared tea and biscuits for thirty and had to send her youngest son, James, on his bicycle to the shop for more milk. The vicar, unusually, was late, and did not arrive until twenty-past seven.

Statements (select four TRUE):

Statement	First-pass check	Verdict
A. The meeting was scheduled for 7 p.m.	"seven o'clock in the evening" — yes	True
B. Mrs Carter organised the event.	"who had organised the event" — yes	True
C. Mrs Carter expected fifty villagers.	Text says "perhaps thirty" — this is a number trap	False
D. More than a hundred people had arrived early.	"over a hundred were already standing in the lane" — yes	True
E. James was sent for tea.	Text says "for more milk" — detail swap	False
F. The vicar arrived on time.	"did not arrive until twenty-past seven" — contradicts	False
G. Mrs Carter had prepared enough tea for thirty.	"had prepared tea and biscuits for thirty" — yes	True
H. James travelled to the shop by car.	Text says "on his bicycle" — detail swap	False