2

Text for Section A, an extract from The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington

Ella (the narrator) and a woman she calls Rabbit have come to Marta’s sewing workshop,
hoping to get a job.

Marta looked me and Rabbit up and down.

‘As for you two pathetic excuses for seamstresses1, you can have a trial.’ 5

Marta seized something from a nearby pile of clothes and tossed it to Rabbit. It was a linen
blouse, dyed such a fresh shade of green you could practically taste it on your tongue.

‘Unpick this and let it out. It’s for a client – an Officer’s wife – who drinks her cream by the jugful,
so she’s rounder than she thinks she is.’

Cream… oh, cream! Poured over strawberries from my grandma’s best green-flowered jug… 10

‘And you –’ Marta slapped a piece of paper into my palm – ‘another client, Carla, has asked for
a dress. Semi-formal, for a music concert or something this weekend. Here are her
measurements. Memorise them – I want the paper back. You can use the number four
mannequin. Get fabric from over there.’

‘What…?’ 15

‘Choose something to suit a blonde. Scrub yourself first at that sink and put overalls on. In this
workshop, cleanliness is essential. No grubby finger marks on the fabric, no bloodstains or dust.
Understand?’

I nodded, desperate not to start crying.

Marta’s thin lip curled. ‘You think I’m severe?’ She narrowed her eyes at me and jerked her 20
head to the far end of the room. ‘Just remember who’s standing in the corner.’

At the back of the workshop there was a dark figure propped against the wall, picking at her
cuticles2. I glanced once then looked away.

‘Well?’ said Marta. ‘What are you waiting for? The first fitting’s at four.’

‘You want me to make a dress from scratch, before four? That’s – ’ 25

‘Too hard? Too soon?’ she jeered.

‘That’s fine. I can do it.’

‘Go on then, schoolgirl. And remember, I’m expecting you to botch up, big time.’

‘I’m Ella,’ I told her.

I don’t care, said her blank expression. 30

A fitting at four. It just wasn’t possible. Not designing, cutting, pinning, tacking, sewing, pressing
and finishing. I was going to botch it, just as Marta said. I was going to fail.

Don’t think failure, my grandma would say. You can do anything you set your mind to. Anything.
Except bake. You make lousy cakes.

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I turned my back on her and went clomp-clomp in my stupid too-big shoes to the shelves of 35
fabric… and promptly forgot all about Marta and her threats. It was just so wonderful to see
colours that weren’t brown: wood-brown, mud-brown and other browns too horrible to mention.

Now there were rivers of material for my fingers to wade into. Marta had said this Carla was
blonde. Out of brown, green grew in my mind: a good colour for blondes. I tugged at folds and
bales of fabric, searching for the perfect shade. There was moss-green velvet. Silver-spangled 40
gauze the shade of grass in moonlight. Crisp cottons with leaf prints. Satin ribbons ripe with
light… And my favourite – an emerald silk that rippled like cool water under dappling trees.

Already I could see the dress I would make. My hands began sketching shapes in the air,
fingertips touching invisible shoulders, seams and skirt gores3. I looked around. I needed things.
A table and paper. A pencil, pins, scissors, needle, thread, sewing machine, BREAKFAST – oh, 45
I was hungry…

‘Excuse me.’ I tugged on the sleeve of a sapling-thin girl swaying past. ‘Can you tell me where
to get –’

‘Shh,’ the girl said. She put two fingers to her lips and mimed a zip fastening them shut. She
had ridiculously elegant hands, like a nail-varnish advert but without the varnish. 50

I opened my mouth to ask why talking was forbidden, then thought better of it. The dark figure in
the corner didn’t appear to be watching or even listening, but you never knew…

The thin girl – Giraffe, I labelled her – signed for me to follow her along rows of workers to the
far end of a trestle table. She pointed to an empty stool. Three women were already sitting
there. They hunched up to make room for me. One of them was Rabbit. She was nervously 55
pulling the mint-green blouse inside out and peering at the seams.

I sat down with my silk. Now I needed to make a pattern. A girl further down the table had a roll
of pattern paper and a stubby pencil. I took a deep breath. Got up. Mimed that I wanted the
paper. The girl bristled, just like a hedgehog. She pulled the paper closer. I put my hand on the
roll and pulled it hard. Hedgehog tugged. I tugged back. I won. I took her pencil too. 60

Marta was watching. Did I imagine she smiled? She gave a little nod, as if to say, Yes, that’s
how it works here.

Glossary
1
seamstress: a woman whose job is sewing and making clothes
2
cuticle: the thin skin at the base of a fingernail
3
skirt gore: a skirt gore is a triangular piece of material inserted to make a skirt wider

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Section A: Reading

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

Read the text in the insert, and answer Questions 1–10.

1 Look at lines 4–9.

(a) Give a phrase that tells the reader Marta’s opinion of Ella and Rabbit.

[1]

(b) Which of the following does Marta ask Rabbit to do to the blouse? Tick () one box.

to adjust its length

to dye it a different colour

to make it a bit wider

to release its potential

[1]

2 Look at lines 10–15.

(a) Why does the writer include the short paragraph in line 10?

[1]

(b) What do the italics tell the reader about Marta’s tone of voice?

[1]

(c) What action does Marta use to get Ella’s attention?

[1]

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3 Look at lines 16–23.

(a) Marta’s facial expression shows that she is unsympathetic towards Ella. Give a phrase that
tells the reader this.

[1]

(b) Ella finds the dark figure in the corner frightening. Give the sentence that tells the reader this.

[1]

4 Look at lines 24–30.

(a) Ella responds to Marta’s information about the time of the fitting with a question. Why?

[1]

(b) Explain what the short sentences in this dialogue tell the reader about the relationship
between Ella and Marta. Give two ideas.
•

[2]

5 Look at lines 31–32.

How does the third sentence emphasise what the first and second sentences tell the reader?

[1]

6 Look at lines 33–34.

Ella’s grandma uses hyperbole in what she says. Give the quotation that is hyperbolic.

[1]

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7 Look at lines 35–42.

(a) In what two ways does the writer use ellipsis in these two paragraphs? Tick () two boxes.

The writer uses ellipsis ( … ) to show that

irrelevant details have been replaced

someone has paused while talking

her thoughts have been interrupted

some words have been left out

a list has been left incomplete

[2]

(b) Which metaphor from earlier in the paragraph does the simile rippled like cool water refer
back to?

[1]

8 Look at lines 43–52.

Ella is learning that she has to control her behaviour in the workshop. Give a phrase that tells the
reader this.

[1]

9 Look at lines 53–62.

What has Ella shown she can do that earns her a little nod from Marta?

[1]

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10 Look at the whole text.

(a) Do you think Ella will be a good seamstress? Tick () one box.

Yes

No

Give two reasons for your choice. Support each reason with a quotation.

Reason 1:

Quotation 1:

Reason 2:

Quotation 2:
[4]

(b) Marta is too strict and has a negative impact on the seamstresses. Do you agree?
Tick () one box.

Yes

No

Give two reasons for your choice. Support each reason with a quotation.

Reason 1:

Quotation 1:

Reason 2:

Quotation 2:
[4]

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Section B: Writing

Spend 35 minutes on this section.

11 Now continue the story. Write in the first person.

You could think about:

• how the relationship between Ella and Marta develops

• whether we find out more about other characters in the story
• whether the dress gets finished on time.

Space for your plan:

Write your story on the next page. [25 marks]

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