Studyledge

Directed Writing: Transforming Texts: Question 1

Syllabus R5, W4

Multiple choice 1 mark

You are the Head of the Eco-Committee and have been asked to open a two-minute speech to your year group in assembly, using the following notes.

Notes:

  • The school's new recycling scheme starts next Monday.
  • Bins for paper, plastic and cans will be placed outside every classroom.
  • Last term's litter survey found that over 60% of what went into classroom bins could actually have been recycled.

Which of the following would be the most effective OPENING SENTENCE for this speech, given its form, audience and purpose? [1]

Choose an answer to check it, then compare with the worked solution below.
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Worked solution

Assessment focus

This question tests whether a candidate can recognise the specific conventions of a spoken speech opening (direct address to the audience, a striking hook, and spoken rhythm) as distinct from the conventions of a written report or a letter, even when all four options draw on the same source notes.

Why A is correct

Option A opens with a short, punchy statistic delivered as if spoken aloud (“Sixty per cent.”), then addresses the audience directly (“what you throw away every day”) before promising change (“we’re going to change that”). This is a genuine speech hook: it uses a number from the notes not as a flat fact but as a provocation, and it speaks to the audience rather than about them.

Why the distractors are wrong

  • B uses report register (“This report outlines…”, “implementation”). Precise and organised, but this is the language of a written document to be read, not words to be spoken aloud to a year group in assembly.
  • C uses letter register (“Dear students, I am writing to inform you…”), a greeting and phrasing suited to correspondence, not the opening line of a live spoken address.
  • D is accurate and uses the notes correctly, but simply restates the first bullet point with no hook, no direct address and no spoken rhythm. It could open a written notice just as easily as a speech, so it fails to exploit the specific demands of this form.

Mark scheme

  • 1 mark for selecting A.
  • 0 marks for any other option. No partial credit, since this is a discrete single-answer selection question.