History

1. 1.

   Entirely fictional archive for source skills, not a real event. In the invented town of Mere, a fictional 1905 petition demands safer mills. A: a mill manager's letter to investors says, 'No serious injury occurred this month.' B: a newspaper repeats A verbatim, naming the manager as its source. C: a hospital register records a mill worker's broken arm but does not state how it happened. All documents and attributions are invented. Explain one reason the audience of A matters.

   [2 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. Audience identifies an incentive for selection. That incentive is a reason to test the claim, not a demonstration that it is necessarily false.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • Investors have an interest in the mill's stability and reputation.
   • The manager may emphasise reassurance to maintain their confidence.

   Examiner tip: Connect audience to a plausible purpose rather than just naming it.

2. 2.

   Entirely fictional archive for source skills, not a real event. In the invented town of Mere, a fictional 1905 petition demands safer mills. A: a mill manager's letter to investors says, 'No serious injury occurred this month.' B: a newspaper repeats A verbatim, naming the manager as its source. C: a hospital register records a mill worker's broken arm but does not state how it happened. All documents and attributions are invented. Why does B not provide independent corroboration of A?

   [2 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. Two documents can be one evidential chain. Count independent information sources, not simply the number of places where the claim appears.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • B explicitly derives its wording from A's author.
   • Repetition does not add a separate observation of injuries.

   Examiner tip: Agreement is not independent corroboration when one source copies another.

3. 3.

   Entirely fictional archive for source skills, not a real event. In the invented town of Mere, a fictional 1905 petition demands safer mills. A: a mill manager's letter to investors says, 'No serious injury occurred this month.' B: a newspaper repeats A verbatim, naming the manager as its source. C: a hospital register records a mill worker's broken arm but does not state how it happened. All documents and attributions are invented. Explain what C can and cannot establish about the manager's claim.

   [3 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. Occupation is not location of injury. Link records carefully: a broken arm may be relevant, but the missing cause and time relationship prevent a decisive contradiction.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • C supports that a mill worker had a broken arm.
   • It does not identify the injury as occurring at the mill.
   • Date matching and a definition of 'serious' are needed before treating it as contradiction.

   Examiner tip: Do not infer a workplace accident solely from the patient's job.

4. 4.

   Entirely fictional archive for source skills, not a real event. In the invented town of Mere, a fictional 1905 petition demands safer mills. A: a mill manager's letter to investors says, 'No serious injury occurred this month.' B: a newspaper repeats A verbatim, naming the manager as its source. C: a hospital register records a mill worker's broken arm but does not state how it happened. All documents and attributions are invented. Explain why absence of injury entries in a surviving mill ledger would not necessarily prove safety.

   [3 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. Absence is meaningful only if the event would normally leave a trace in the record being searched. Establish recording practice and survival before treating silence as evidence of no injuries.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • The ledger may not have been intended to record every injury.
   • Records may be incomplete, lost or selectively preserved.
   • Underreporting or classification could hide relevant incidents.

   Examiner tip: Ask what this type of record was designed to capture.

5. 5.

   Entirely fictional archive for source skills, not a real event. In the invented town of Mere, a fictional 1905 petition demands safer mills. A: a mill manager's letter to investors says, 'No serious injury occurred this month.' B: a newspaper repeats A verbatim, naming the manager as its source. C: a hospital register records a mill worker's broken arm but does not state how it happened. All documents and attributions are invented. Assess whether A should be discarded because it has a reputational interest.

   [4 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. Bias changes the questions a source answers well; it does not erase every use. Keep the letter as evidence of communication strategy while testing the factual claim rather than adopting or rejecting it wholesale.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • That interest may lead to selective reporting or minimisation.
   • The letter remains useful for the manager's presentation to investors.
   • Its specific injury claim can be tested against independent dated records.
   • Distinguishes usefulness for attitudes from reliability for event counts and reaches a qualified judgement.

   Examiner tip: Always specify 'useful for what?' before judging a source.

6. 6.

   Entirely fictional archive for source skills, not a real event. In the invented town of Mere, a fictional 1905 petition demands safer mills. A: a mill manager's letter to investors says, 'No serious injury occurred this month.' B: a newspaper repeats A verbatim, naming the manager as its source. C: a hospital register records a mill worker's broken arm but does not state how it happened. All documents and attributions are invented. Design a corroboration strategy for investigating the petition's safety demands.

   [4 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. Triangulate claims across records made for different reasons. A petition documents organised concern; injury frequency and causes need a separate evidential chain with definitions and date matching.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • Seeks independent inspection, worker or medical records with relevant dates.
   • Links identities and circumstances rather than assuming all injuries occurred at work.
   • Examines who signed the petition and its purpose without treating demands as measured facts.
   • Accounts for dependence and archival gaps before a supported conclusion.

   Examiner tip: This invented archive is a method exercise, not a source to add to real historical statistics.

Original, unofficial practice questions from SubjectScout — not official past-paper questions.