Half an Hour on a River Bridge - Latymer Upper School 11+ - 2016
You stand on a bridge, overlooking a river, for half an hour. Describe what you observe over that time.
💡 Writing Tips
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- Show that thirty minutes are passing.
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- Observe what happens on and beside the river.
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- Move from wide views to tiny details.
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- Notice how light, sounds and people change.
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- End by reflecting on what time has revealed.
📝 Sample Answer
At first, the river looked almost still. From the middle of the stone bridge, I could see a thin ribbon of sunlight trembling across its surface. A moorhen disappeared beneath a curtain of willow branches, while two ducks drifted slowly past a fallen twig.
Five minutes later, a cyclist rattled over the bridge behind me. His bell startled a pigeon from the parapet. Below, a narrowboat approached the bend, its engine making a soft, patient chugging sound. The boat pushed a V-shaped wake ahead of it, and the ripples broke the reflection of the clouds into pieces.
As the minutes passed, I noticed smaller things: a beetle skating on the water, bubbles rising around the reeds, a leaf spinning helplessly in a little whirlpool. A dog splashed at the muddy edge, and its owner called in vain for it to come back.
Near the end of the half-hour, the sun slipped behind a cloud. The river changed from silver to dull green, and a cool breeze wrinkled its surface. The narrowboat was gone; the ducks had vanished upstream. I had stood in one place throughout, yet the river had never shown me quite the same scene twice.
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