NB There are more options than gaps so you will not use all of them.
1. On a raw November morning, Cliff Bradshaw was working a potato field in Kent with his metal detector when he heard a faint, high- pitched whine through his earphones. ‘It was the tiniest possible signal,’ he says. ‘I knew it couldn’t be iron because the machine would have made a growling noise. I scuffed the ground with my foot and tried again. The sound became more and more high-pitched as I dug down until it was shrieking in my earphones.’
2. Three weeks earlier he had found a rare seventh century gold coin on the same site, then four spindle whorls, followed by a silver strap-end from a Saxon belt and a gilded Saxon button- brooch. Yet he felt this was going to be different. More than a foot below the surface, he saw the gleam of what could only be gold. Buried silver goes grey, bronze goes green and iron turns rusty, but gold comes out of the ground as brilliant as the day it went in. As a symbol of permanence, there’s nothing like it. That is its magic - for the metalworker, for the collector, for kings, for lovers, for treasure-hunters.
3. Bradshaw threw his excavating spade to one side and scraped with his hands until he had exposed the whole object. It was a corrugated cup made of sheet gold, savagely crushed on one side where it had been struck by a subsoiling machine, but still beautiful. There were tiny dots all around the rim and it had a broad, decorated handle secured with lozenge-shaped washers. Because of its round base, in its crumpled state it looked like a misshapen heart.
4. ‘I knew it was gold. I knew it was old. But there was no real jump for joy,’ says Bradshaw. ‘I never sell my stuff and I honestly didn’t think about the money. I was just shocked. The real excitement for me was finding the prehistoric barrow where I was detecting - just a foot or so of raised earth that was once as high of a I house. It was difficult to see. No one had noticed it before.
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Question Focus: The diagram shows part of the gold cup and labels a long part attached to the side. We need to name that part.
Correct Answer: A
Why this is correct: The diagram points to the long part used to hold the cup. The passage clearly says it had a broad, decorated handle, so the answer is handle.
Passage Reference: There were tiny dots all around the rim and it had a broad, decorated handle secured with lozenge-shaped washers.
Common Mistake: Some students choose washers because that word is close in the sentence. But washers are small fixing pieces, not the part you hold. This is a context shift trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'broad, decorated handle' = Diagram: 'the long holding part of the cup'
Tips: When a diagram points to a large visible part, look for a noun in the passage that names a main feature, not a small detail.
Key Vocabulary:
- decorated = with patterns
- handle = part you hold
Question Focus: The diagram highlights small shapes fixing the handle to the cup.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: There were tiny dots all around the rim and it had a broad, decorated handle secured with lozenge-shaped washers.
Why this is correct: The diagram points to the small pieces holding the handle in place. The passage says the handle was secured with lozenge-shaped washers, so the answer is washers.
Common Mistake: Students sometimes pick dots because dots are also mentioned nearby. But dots are decoration around the rim, not fixing pieces. This is a wrong section trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'lozenge-shaped washers' = Diagram: 'small fixing pieces'
Tips: If the diagram shows how parts are attached, look for verbs like secured, fixed, or held in the passage.
Key Vocabulary:
- secured = fixed firmly
- washers = small metal fixing pieces
Question Focus: The diagram points to small decorative marks around the edge of the cup.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: There were tiny dots all around the rim
Why this is correct: The diagram highlights small marks on the edge. The passage says there were tiny dots all around the rim, so the answer is dots.
Common Mistake: Some students choose tiny because it describes size. But the diagram needs a noun, not an adjective. This is a partial truth trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'tiny dots' = Diagram: 'small marks on the edge'
Tips: Check the grammar of the gap. If the diagram needs a thing, choose a noun, not a describing word.
Key Vocabulary:
- rim = edge
- dots = small round marks
Question Focus: The diagram labels the shape of the base of the cup.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Because of its round base, in its crumpled state it looked like a misshapen heart.
Why this is correct: The diagram refers to the shape underneath the cup. The passage says Because of its round base, so the answer is round.
Common Mistake: Some students choose square because it is another shape in the options. But the passage never mentions a square base. This is a contradiction trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'round base' = Diagram: 'shape of the bottom'
Tips: For shape labels, go back to the exact noun phrase in the passage. Do not guess from the picture alone.
Key Vocabulary:
- base = bottom
- round = circular
Question Focus: The diagram shows what damaged one side of the cup.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: It was a corrugated cup made of sheet gold, savagely crushed on one side where it had been struck by a subsoiling machine, but still beautiful.
Why this is correct: The diagram asks what caused the damage. The passage explains it was struck by a subsoiling machine, so the answer is subsoiling machine.
Common Mistake: Students sometimes choose tiny because they remember 'tiny signal' earlier. But that describes sound, not damage. This is a wrong section trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'struck by a subsoiling machine' = Diagram: 'what caused the damage'
Tips: Diagram labels usually follow passage order. Damage details come later in the description, so search that paragraph.
Key Vocabulary:
- struck = hit
- machine = equipment
General Tips:
- Diagram questions usually follow the same order as the passage. Move sentence by sentence.
- Always match the diagram label to the exact noun in the passage, not just a similar idea.
- If two options look similar, check what the diagram is pointing to, a shape, a part, or a cause.
- Cross out options as you use them so you do not reuse the same word.
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