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ARTICLE WRITING

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 Article Writing
Q1) Imagine you are a citizen of the UK.

Write a newspaper article, giving your views on whether to keep or abolish the British monarchy.

In your article you should:

 evaluate the views given in both texts about the British monarchy
 give your own views, based on what you have read, about whether abolishing the British monarchy
would be good for the UK.

Begin your article: ‘Is It All Over for the British Monarchy?’

Write about 250 to 350 words.

(Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 25 marks for the quality of
your writing)

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 Article Writing
Text A: The Night Circus

The text is taken from a longer narrative. At this point in the story, a mysterious circus has suddenly arrived
in town, much to the intrigue of the local people.

The circus arrives without warning.

No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or
advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

The towering tents are striped in white and black, no golds and crimsons to be seen. No colour at all, save
for the neighbouring trees and the grass of the surrounding fields. Black-and-white stripes on grey sky;
countless tents of varying shapes and sizes, with an elaborate wrought-iron fence encasing them in a colourless
world. Even what little ground is visible from outside is black or white, painted or powdered, or treated with
some other circus trick.

But it is not open for business. Not just yet.

Within hours everyone in town has heard about it. By afternoon the news has spread several towns over.
Word of mouth is a more effective method of advertisement than typeset words and exclamation points on
paper pamphlets or posters. It is impressive and unusual news, the sudden appearance of a mysterious circus.
People marvel at the staggering height of the tallest tents. They stare at the clock that sits just inside the gates
that no one can properly describe.

And the black sign painted in white letters that hangs upon the gates, the one that reads:

Opens at Nightfall
Closes at Dawn

“What kind of circus is only open at night?” people ask. No one has a proper answer, yet as dusk approaches
there is a substantial crowd of spectators gathering outside the gates.

You are amongst them, of course. Your curiosity got the better of you, as curiosity is wont to do. You stand in
the fading light, the scarf around your neck pulled up against the chilly evening breeze, waiting to see for
yourself exactly what kind of circus only opens once the sun sets.

The ticket booth clearly visible behind the gates is closed and barred. The tents are still, save for when they
ripple ever so slightly in the wind. The only movement within the circus is the clock that ticks by the passing
minutes, if such a wonder of sculpture can even be called a clock.

The circus looks abandoned and empty. But you think perhaps you can smell caramel wafting through the
evening breeze, beneath the crisp scent of the autumn leaves. A subtle sweetness at the edges of the cold.

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 Article Writing
The sun disappears completely beyond the horizon, and the remaining luminosity shifts from dusk to twilight.
The people around you are growing restless from waiting, a sea of shuffling feet, murmuring about abandoning
the endeavour in search of someplace warmer to pass the evening. You yourself are debating departing when it
happens.

First, there is a popping sound. It is barely audible over the wind and conversation. A soft noise like a kettle
about to boil for tea. Then comes the light. All over the tents, small lights begin to flicker, as though the
entirety of the circus is covered in particularly bright fireflies. The waiting crowd quiets as it watches this
display of illumination. Someone near you gasps. A small child claps his hands with glee at the sight. When the
tents are all aglow, sparkling against the night sky, the sign appears.

Stretched across the top of the gates, hidden in curls of iron, more firefly-like lights flicker to life. They pop as
they brighten, some accompanied by a shower of glowing white sparks and a bit of smoke. The people nearest
to the gates take a few steps back.

At first, it is only a random pattern of lights. But as more of them ignite, it becomes clear that they are aligned
in scripted letters. First a C is distinguishable, followed by more letters. A q, oddly, and several e’s. When the
final bulb pops alight, and the smoke and sparks dissipate, it is finally legible, this elaborate incandescent sign.
Leaning to your left to gain a better view, you can see that it reads:

Le Cirque des Reves

Some in the crowd smile knowingly, while others frown and look questioningly at their neighbours. A child
near you tugs on her mother’s sleeve, begging to know what it says. “The Circus of Dreams,” comes the reply.
The girl smiles delightedly. Then the iron gates shudder and unlock, seemingly by their own volition. They
swing outward, inviting the crowd inside.

Now the circus is open.

Now you may enter.

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 Article Writing
Q2) Re-read Text A in the insert and then answer this question.

You are a journalist working for an online newspaper. While you are standing in the crowd outside the gates, you
write an article which you post online before entering the circus. You decide to write about:

 What you see and feel from your position outside the gates
 What you think about the crowd’s reactions and behaviour
 What your reasons were for going to the circus gates and what you think the people in the crowd will
experience that evening

Write the words of the article.

Base your article on what you have read in Text A, but be careful to use your own words.

Address each of the three bullet points.

Begin your article with the first point.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

(Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 10 marks for the quality of your
writing)

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 Article Writing

Write about 200 to 350 words on the following question.

Q3) Write an article on whether Zoos should be abolished or not.

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