Auf einen Blick / At a glance
Free Abitur English practice pack: analyse a text on Britain's clash of tradition and change, with guided annotation and self-check.
- Niveau / Level
- B2–C1 (GER/CEFR)
- Für / For
- Abitur
- Fertigkeiten / Skills
- Leseverstehen / Reading, Schreiben / Writing
- Schwerpunkt / Focus
- Text analysis
- Aufgaben / Tasks
- 5
- Kosten / Cost
- kostenlos, ohne Anmeldung / free, no sign-up
📘 Reference Guide: Rhetorical Devices
Example: "Isn't it time we asked what success really costs?"
Example: "When Maria was twelve, she watched her father work three jobs to pay the rent."
Example: "Nearly 40% of graduates now say they would take a pay cut for a shorter working week."
Example: "The corporate ladder has become a treadmill."
Example: "You already know the feeling — that quiet dread on Sunday evening."
Example: "They wanted freedom, flexibility, and a reason to get out of bed."
Example: "Our parents chased security; we chase meaning."
Exercise 1 · Match Rhetorical Devices
Read the article below. Match each highlighted quotation to the rhetorical/stylistic device it demonstrates.
Crown and Change: What Does It Mean to Be British Now?
Walk down any high street in Britain and you will find the old and the new standing shoulder to shoulder: a parish church beside a halal butcher, a red telephone box beside a bubble-tea shop. Is this clash of old and new a crisis of identity, or simply what identity has always looked like?
Take the town of Wrexham. Sixteen-year-old Priya Chowdhury sings in the Welsh-language school choir on Mondays and celebrates Diwali with her grandmother on Fridays, and sees no contradiction whatsoever in either. For her generation, Britishness is not inherited whole; it is assembled, piece by piece, from whatever fits.
The numbers tell a similar story. The 2024 British Social Attitudes report found that only 14% of 18- to 34-year-olds hold a mainly ethnic view of what makes someone British, compared with 26% of those aged 65 and over. The monolithic idea of what it means to be British is, for younger generations, quietly dissolving.
Yet the old symbols have not vanished — they have simply been asked to share the stage. The monarchy still draws crowds; the Highland games still sell out; the Sunday roast still anchors a million kitchens. Tradition, it turns out, is not a museum piece gathering dust — it is a living, breathing negotiation, rewritten by every generation that inherits it.
Perhaps the real story of modern Britain is not a battle between tradition and change at all. It is a nation slowly discovering that it can hold the crown in one hand and the future in the other.
Exercise 2 · Purpose, Audience & Tone
Answer the following questions about the article's purpose, intended audience, and tone.
📄 Read the article again
Walk down any high street in Britain and you will find the old and the new standing shoulder to shoulder: a parish church beside a halal butcher, a red telephone box beside a bubble-tea shop. Is this clash of old and new a crisis of identity, or simply what identity has always looked like?
Take the town of Wrexham. Sixteen-year-old Priya Chowdhury sings in the Welsh-language school choir on Mondays and celebrates Diwali with her grandmother on Fridays, and sees no contradiction whatsoever in either. For her generation, Britishness is not inherited whole; it is assembled, piece by piece, from whatever fits.
The numbers tell a similar story. The 2024 British Social Attitudes report found that only 14% of 18- to 34-year-olds hold a mainly ethnic view of what makes someone British, compared with 26% of those aged 65 and over. The monolithic idea of what it means to be British is, for younger generations, quietly dissolving.
Yet the old symbols have not vanished — they have simply been asked to share the stage. The monarchy still draws crowds; the Highland games still sell out; the Sunday roast still anchors a million kitchens. Tradition, it turns out, is not a museum piece gathering dust — it is a living, breathing negotiation, rewritten by every generation that inherits it.
Perhaps the real story of modern Britain is not a battle between tradition and change at all. It is a nation slowly discovering that it can hold the crown in one hand and the future in the other.
Exercise 3 · Effect Analysis
For each technique below, choose the answer that best explains its effect on the reader.
📄 Read the article again
Walk down any high street in Britain and you will find the old and the new standing shoulder to shoulder: a parish church beside a halal butcher, a red telephone box beside a bubble-tea shop. Is this clash of old and new a crisis of identity, or simply what identity has always looked like?
Take the town of Wrexham. Sixteen-year-old Priya Chowdhury sings in the Welsh-language school choir on Mondays and celebrates Diwali with her grandmother on Fridays, and sees no contradiction whatsoever in either. For her generation, Britishness is not inherited whole; it is assembled, piece by piece, from whatever fits.
The numbers tell a similar story. The 2024 British Social Attitudes report found that only 14% of 18- to 34-year-olds hold a mainly ethnic view of what makes someone British, compared with 26% of those aged 65 and over. The monolithic idea of what it means to be British is, for younger generations, quietly dissolving.
Yet the old symbols have not vanished — they have simply been asked to share the stage. The monarchy still draws crowds; the Highland games still sell out; the Sunday roast still anchors a million kitchens. Tradition, it turns out, is not a museum piece gathering dust — it is a living, breathing negotiation, rewritten by every generation that inherits it.
Perhaps the real story of modern Britain is not a battle between tradition and change at all. It is a nation slowly discovering that it can hold the crown in one hand and the future in the other.
Exercise 4 · Order the Analysis Essay
Click the paragraph descriptions below in the correct order to build a well-structured analysis essay. Click a filled slot to send it back.
Exercise 5 · Write a Full Analysis
Write a full analysis paragraph (150–200 words) examining how the writer uses language to convey her message.
📄 Read the article again
Walk down any high street in Britain and you will find the old and the new standing shoulder to shoulder: a parish church beside a halal butcher, a red telephone box beside a bubble-tea shop. Is this clash of old and new a crisis of identity, or simply what identity has always looked like?
Take the town of Wrexham. Sixteen-year-old Priya Chowdhury sings in the Welsh-language school choir on Mondays and celebrates Diwali with her grandmother on Fridays, and sees no contradiction whatsoever in either. For her generation, Britishness is not inherited whole; it is assembled, piece by piece, from whatever fits.
The numbers tell a similar story. The 2024 British Social Attitudes report found that only 14% of 18- to 34-year-olds hold a mainly ethnic view of what makes someone British, compared with 26% of those aged 65 and over. The monolithic idea of what it means to be British is, for younger generations, quietly dissolving.
Yet the old symbols have not vanished — they have simply been asked to share the stage. The monarchy still draws crowds; the Highland games still sell out; the Sunday roast still anchors a million kitchens. Tradition, it turns out, is not a museum piece gathering dust — it is a living, breathing negotiation, rewritten by every generation that inherits it.
Perhaps the real story of modern Britain is not a battle between tradition and change at all. It is a nation slowly discovering that it can hold the crown in one hand and the future in the other.
🎉 All Exercises Complete!
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