Read the following text, which is an extract from an article about child prodigies, published in The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. 46 hours a week of practice: When is enough, enough for prodigy children? The golfer Sahara Hillman-Varma goes for a jog most mornings before school then practises golf for two or three hours every afternoon. [Content removed due to copyright restrictions] But he said parents should only do what was possible given the time and cost restraints and the needs of other family members.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Feb/Mar 2021). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. Form, audience, purpose, style, conventions, language and structure will be appropriately adapted to suit task
2. Content may include personal opinion, anecdote, argument, as well as other relevant ideas
3. Tone will be used to have an impact on the reader and to create an effect
4. the typical text conventions used in the original article and the candidate's own letter
5. the ways in which the different purposes affect the content and style of the two texts
6. the ways in which the article and letter appeal to the respective intended audiences, e.g. through the tone and register used in each text
7. any other relevant aspect of the form of the two texts
8. the ways in which headings, sub-headings and short/long paragraphs or sections are used in each text
9. beginning the article with a question in the title hints at the writer's attitude to the subject matter
10. the way the text develops the idea of increasing amounts of time being devoted to the child's talent
11. the way the article references two parents' viewpoints which are more in line with Dr Jung, which are then contrasted with the third parent's viewpoint which is less aligned with Dr Jung s view
12. the way the article ends with the view of Dr Jung emphasises the writers' attitude and links back to the question in the title, ultimately offering a sensible, considered and balanced answer
13. any other relevant structural features in the text
14. references to quantities of time and adverbial phrases
15. quotes from Professor Jae Jung – credible, authority figure
16. quotes from the parents provide a variety of perspectives
17. factual information about each of the gifted children
18. lexical fields of education, hobbies, activities, sport, etc.
19. use of determiners in the subheadings – the golfer, the entrepreneur, the pianist, detaches the writer from the subject matter
20. inclusion of the children's ages to highlight that they are just children
21. adjectives such as elite, successful and lucrative to suggest the writer's attitude to the subject
22. vocabulary choices such as prodigies, gifted, sacrifice, devotes, nurture, performance, competition, imply the special nature of the children
23. the use of the idiomatic phrase realised she might have a second musical prodigy on her hands implies that Agnes He is somehow burdened with having two daughters whose gift for the piano the family will do their best to nurture
24. any other relevant language features in the text