Answer: 'a thin yellow film' and 'letters the colour of mangoes' (also 'a blue sky').

Answer: The poster promises belonging, warmth and company, but Ellie is alone on a cold, empty platform where she clearly does not belong. The gap between promise and reality sharpens her isolation.

Answer: It is a small, concrete detail that implies a great deal: her phone is nearly dead, no one is looking for her, and help is unlikely. It shows her isolation without stating it.

Answer: Tone is the author's or narrator's attitude towards the subject; here it is gentle and sympathetic. Mood is the feeling created in the reader; here it is lonely and bleak. The two can differ: a calm tone can describe a sad situation.

Answer: It is now past midnight, so she is stranded until morning. The mechanical 'click' suggests time moving on without her, and 'tomorrow' arriving while she sits still emphasises that she is stuck.

Answer: The warm, bright festival poster ('laughing faces, a blue sky') is set against the cold, empty platform. The contrast makes the platform feel even colder and Ellie more excluded.

Answer: imagery → language that appeals to the senses to create a picture or feeling; simile → a comparison using 'like' or 'as'; tone → the author's attitude towards the subject or audience; mood → the atmosphere or feeling created in the reader; contrast → placing two different things side by side to highlight their difference

Model answer: The author creates a mood of loneliness through sensory imagery, carefully chosen details and contrast. The simile 'buzzed like trapped insects' makes even the station lights sound uncomfortable and confined, while the cold that is 'patient as a debt collector' is personified as something that will not leave Ellie alone. Small details such as 'eleven per cent, no messages' reveal, without stating it, that nobody is coming for her. The festival poster promising 'You belong here' provides a sharp contrast: its warmth and company highlight how excluded Ellie is from both. Finally, the timetable that clicks 'over to tomorrow' shows time moving on while she stays still. Together these choices position the reader to feel Ellie's isolation rather than simply be told about it.

Model answer: The last train had gone by the time Ellie reached the platform, and she found she did not mind. The station lights hummed softly, laying a warm gold wash over the empty benches. Somewhere beyond the car park, a dog barked a cheerful greeting to the night. She sat. The breeze was cool on her face, fresh as a new page, and for the first time all day nobody needed anything from her.