The following text is taken from a travel magazine. It describes the writer's experience of being lost in a hostile landscape. The sun is still overhead. For brief moments, refracted through the heat waves on the right, I see villages, moving trucks, or a sweep of marsh. If I didn't have a compass, I might be tempted to walk straight into the mirage. Content removed due to copyright restrictions. I crouch down and look at the driver. He is ten metres away, sitting in front of his truck, staring right back at me. "Thank you, brother," I say, putting the lid down.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2015). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [AO1] Ability to read with understanding written material in a variety of forms, and to comment on its effectiveness.
2. [AO2] Knowledge and understanding of features of English language.
3. [AO3] Ability to write clearly, accurately and effectively for a particular purpose or audience.
4. [Part (a) Band 1 (13-15 marks) Knowledge & Understanding] Perceptive appreciation of content and ideas. Fluidly relates content to structure, audience, purpose, genre, style; shows keen awareness of intentions of passage.
5. [Part (a) Band 1 (13-15 marks) Analysis of language effects] Analyses text with sensitive and discriminating awareness of how language creates effects. Moves with ease between part and whole in discussing specific examples of language use and the effect of the whole passage.
6. [Part (a) Band 1 (13-15 marks) Organisation] Strong structure; may be concise; quotation is used fluently, 'embedded' in the argument.
7. [Part (b) Band 8-10 marks] A perceptive recognition of context, audience and purpose supported by a good range of appropriate vocabulary and expression suitable for the task. Responses at the top of this band will be persuasive and confident, supported by a consistent, and at best personal, engagement with context and purpose, using fluent and accurate expression accompanied by a strong sense of audience.