Paper 2 Question 1: Finding True Statements

Paper 2 opens with Question 1, the quickest and most straightforward reading question. It directs you to a short, named line range of Source A — usually the opening, such as lines 1 to 7 — and gives you eight statements lettered A to H. Your job is to choose the four that are true and shade the circle beside each one.

This question is worth 4 marks and tests AO1: identifying explicit information (stated directly) and implicit information (suggested, so you infer it). There is nothing to write and nothing to explain. You gain one mark for each correct true statement, up to a maximum of four.

Choose exactly four. The instructions ask for four; extra shading cannot earn you more than the four marks on offer and only risks including a false statement.

Because it is fast and low-value, spend only about four minutes here. Read the named lines, work through the eight statements, mark four, and move on to the questions that carry more marks.

The single most important rule is to answer from the exact lines named, not from the whole source. If the question says lines 1 to 7, every statement is either true or false according to those seven lines. A detail that appears later in the source does not make a statement about lines 1 to 7 true.

Work in a fixed order:

1. Find the line range and put a light mark at its start and end so you do not stray outside it.
2. Read those lines twice — once for the surface meaning, once to notice anything implied.
3. Take each statement in turn and decide true or false against the text.

A statement is only true if the named lines say it, either directly or by clear implication. If you have to reach into the rest of the source to justify it, it is out of range and should be treated as not true here.

This discipline stops the most common slip: marking a statement true because you remember it from elsewhere in the source.

Four of the eight statements are false, and they are false in recognisable ways. Learning the patterns makes them easier to reject.

Trap	How it works	How to catch it
Twisted detail	Uses a real word or fact from the text but changes the claim	Match the statement to the exact wording
Opposite meaning	Says the reverse of what the text implies	Ask whether the text supports it or contradicts it
Not in these lines	True somewhere in the source, but not in the given range	Check it is inside the named lines
Never stated	Sounds plausible but the text does not say it	Point to the words that prove it, or reject it

The safest test for every statement: can you underline the words that make it true? If you can point to the evidence in the named lines, shade the circle. If you cannot, leave it.

Imagine Source A is the opening of a travel writer's account of a long train journey (this uses the 2026 sample source, Peter Fleming's One's Company, with brief quotation only). In the first few lines the writer says the journey "was almost over", that he felt "content", that there would be "no more" black bread and "no more days entirely blank of action", and that he "did not know what I was going to do" afterwards.

Now test four sample statements against those lines:

Statement	True or false	Why
The writer is at the start of his journey	False	The lines say it "was almost over"
The writer looks forward to leaving the train	True	"no more... no more" lists what he is glad to end
The writer has had many activities to keep him busy	False	"days entirely blank of action" says the opposite
The writer has no firm plans for when he leaves	True	He "did not know what I was going to do"

Two of these are stated almost directly; two are implied and need a small inference. Both kinds count as true when the lines support them.

The mechanics matter, because a mismarked box can cost a mark you have earned. AQA gives clear rules on the paper:

• Shade the circle in the box of each statement you think is true.
• Choose a maximum of four statements.
• If you make an error, cross out the whole box.
• If you change your mind and want a box you crossed out, draw a circle around the box.

Do not tick, underline or write "T" beside a statement. The mark is given only for a properly shaded circle, so follow the shading instructions exactly.

Decide your four before you shade. Marking as you go and then changing several boxes leaves a messy answer that is easy to misread. Choose, check you have exactly four, then shade.

1. Reading beyond the given lines

If the question names lines 1 to 7, a statement is true only if those lines support it. Marking a statement true because it appears later in the source is the most frequent error on this question.

2. Choosing more than four statements

The instruction is to select four. Shading five or six cannot gain extra marks and risks including a false statement. Commit to exactly four.

3. Trusting a statement because it "sounds right"

A statement can be plausible and still not be in the text. Only shade a circle if you can point to the words in the named lines that prove it. If you cannot find the evidence, reject it.

4. Explaining your choices

Question 1 needs no writing at all. Adding notes or reasons wastes time you need for the higher-value questions and earns nothing extra.

5. Spending too long here

At 4 marks this is the cheapest reading question on the paper. If you are still deciding after four or five minutes, mark your best four and move on to Questions 2, 3 and 4, which carry far more marks.