Answer: Supermarkets have gone too far in replacing staffed checkouts with self-checkout machines, and shoppers should push back by choosing human cashiers.

Answer: a frustrated shopper writing in the first person

The writer uses 'I' and 'my' and draws on personal experiences of shopping, which shapes the whole argument.

Answer: 'Supermarket bosses'. They are presented as cost-cutters who disguise their motives with words like 'choice' and 'convenience', which encourages the reader to distrust them.

Answer: coldness and lack of human feeling

'Soulless' suggests something empty and inhuman, which makes the machines seem cold compared with 'friendly cashiers'.

Answer: 'friendly cashiers' and 'soulless machines'

The positive adjective 'friendly' is set against the negative 'soulless' to position readers on the side of human workers.

Answer: Both verbs belong to crime and policing: being accused or interrogated suggests being treated as a suspect. They exaggerate a minor inconvenience to make the machines seem hostile and insulting to honest shoppers.

Answer: It suggests the workers were removed carelessly and without fuss, like clutter being cleared away, and that this happened without the public noticing. It encourages sympathy for the workers and suspicion of the supermarkets.

Answer: 'self-service machines'; 'machines' or 'devices'; 'checkout staff'.

Answer: a sweeping generalisation

'Nobody' is an absolute claim the writer cannot support. Some shoppers clearly do choose self-checkouts.

Answer: anecdotal evidence

It is a single personal story. It is emotionally powerful but does not show how common the problem is.

Answer: The writer's friends may not represent shoppers in general

The people a writer knows are a small, possibly like-minded group, so their views cannot stand for everyone.

Answer: Any two of: shorter waits for people with only a few items; more checkouts can be open at once; some shoppers prefer to pack their own bags or value privacy; they can be useful when fewer staff are available, such as late at night.

Answer: For example: shoppers who prefer self-checkouts, supermarket staff themselves, or the supermarket's explanation. Including them would show the issue is more complex than the column suggests and that not everyone experiences self-checkouts as negative.

Answer: bias → a one-sided view that favours one position unfairly; connotation → the feelings or associations a word carries; point of view → the position or perspective from which a text is written; generalisation → a broad claim made about everyone or everything in a group; omission → leaving out information that might weaken the argument

Model answer: Opinions about self-checkouts are divided. Some shoppers find them frustrating, particularly when a machine stops because of a scanning error or needs a staff member to approve an item. Others prefer them because they can be quicker for small purchases. How well the machines work can depend on the store and the system it uses.

Model answer: The writer positions readers against self-checkouts by presenting them as cold and hostile, and human cashiers as warm and valued. Writing in the first person, the columnist opens with a frustrating personal anecdote in which a machine 'accused' the writer of placing an 'unexpected item in the bagging area', inviting readers to recall similar experiences. Words with strong negative connotations, such as 'soulless machines' and 'contraptions', are contrasted with 'friendly cashiers' and 'the humble checkout operator', so readers associate technology with coldness and people with kindness. Verbs like 'interrogated' exaggerate a minor annoyance into something insulting. The writer also relies on generalisations such as 'Nobody actually likes these contraptions' and the anecdote about an elderly neighbour, which are emotionally persuasive but are not strong evidence. Significantly, the column omits any advantages of self-checkouts and any shoppers who prefer them. Through this one-sided selection of language and evidence, the writer leaves readers feeling that choosing a staffed queue is both sensible and the right thing to do.