Oxford Cambridge and RSA
May 2026 – Afternoon
A Level English Language and Literature (EMC)
H474/01 Exploring non-fiction and spoken texts
Time allowed: 1 hour
You must have:
• the OCR 12-page Answer Booklet
INSTRUCTIONS
• Use black ink.
• Write your answer to the question in the Answer Booklet.
• Fill in the boxes on the front of the Answer Booklet.
• Answer the question.
INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 32.
• The marks for the question are shown in brackets [ ].
• This document has 8 pages.
ADVICE
• Read the question carefully before you start your answer.
OCR A Level English Language and Literature (EMC) Exploring
non-fiction and spoken texts (H474/01) Question Paper And Mark
Scheme
, 2
Read the two text extracts and answer the question.
Text A from the anthology is an extract from George Saunders’ speech given to graduates at Syracuse
University in 2013.
Text B is a fact sheet produced by a British company called 52 Lives: The School of Kindness in 2022. They are
a charity who aim to create a culture of kindness. They work in primary schools and offer ‘Kindness
Workshops’ which teach children how to spread kindness. This fact sheet is one resource they have produced
to explain the science of kindness on physical and mental health.
1 Carefully read the two texts and compare the ways in which the speaker in Text A and the writers
of Text B use language to convey meaning.
In your answer you should analyse the impact that the different contexts have on language use, including
for example, mode, purpose and audience. [32]
© OCR 2025 H474/01 Jun25
, 3
Text A
So here’s something I know to be true, although it’s a little corny, and I don’t quite know what to do with it:
What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.
Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded ... sensibly.
Reservedly. Mildly.
Or, to look at it from the other end of the telescope: Who, in your life, do you remember most fondly, with the
most undeniable feelings of warmth?
Those who were kindest to you, I bet.
It’s a little facile, maybe, and certainly hard to implement, but I’d say, as a goal in life, you could do worse
than: Try to be kinder.
Now, the million-dollar question: What’s our problem? Why aren’t we kinder? Here’s
what I think:
Each of us is born with a series of built-in confusions that are probably somehow Darwinian. These are: (1)
we’re central to the universe (that is, our personal story is the main and most interesting story, the only story,
really); (2) we’re separate from the universe (there’s US and then, out there, all that other junk – dogs and
swing-sets, and the State of Nebraska and low-hanging clouds and, you know, other people), and (3) we’re
permanent (death is real, o.k., sure – for you, but not for me).
Now, we don’t really believe these things – intellectually we know better – but we believe them viscerally, and
live by them, and they cause us to prioritize our own needs over the needs of others, even though what we
really want, in our hearts, is to be less selfish, more aware of what’s actually happening in the present moment,
more open, and more loving.
So, the second million-dollar question: How might we DO this? How might we become more loving, more
open, less selfish, more present, less delusional, etc., etc?
Well, yes, good question.
Unfortunately, I only have three minutes left.
So let me just say this. There are ways. You already know that because, in your life, there have been High
Kindness periods and Low Kindness periods, and you know what inclined you toward the former and away from
the latter. Education is good; immersing ourselves in a work of art: good; prayer is good; meditation’s good; a
frank talk with a dear friend; establishing ourselves in some kind of spiritual tradition – recognizing that there
have been countless really smart people before us who have asked these same questions and left behind
answers for us.
Because kindness, it turns out, is hard – it starts out all rainbows and puppy dogs, and expands to include ... well,
everything.
One thing in our favor: some of this “becoming kinder” happens naturally, with age. It might be a simple
matter of attrition: as we get older, we come to see how useless it is to be selfish – how illogical, really. We
come to love other people and are thereby counterinstructed in our own centrality. We get our butts kicked by
real life, and people come to our defense, and help us, and we learn that we’re not separate, and don’t want
to be. We see people near and dear to us dropping away, and are gradually convinced that maybe we too will
drop away (someday, a long time from now). Most people, as they age, become less selfish and more loving. I
think this is true. The great Syracuse poet, Hayden Carruth, said, in a poem written near the end of his life, that
he was “mostly Love, now.”
© OCR 2025
May 2026 – Afternoon
A Level English Language and Literature (EMC)
H474/01 Exploring non-fiction and spoken texts
Time allowed: 1 hour
You must have:
• the OCR 12-page Answer Booklet
INSTRUCTIONS
• Use black ink.
• Write your answer to the question in the Answer Booklet.
• Fill in the boxes on the front of the Answer Booklet.
• Answer the question.
INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 32.
• The marks for the question are shown in brackets [ ].
• This document has 8 pages.
ADVICE
• Read the question carefully before you start your answer.
OCR A Level English Language and Literature (EMC) Exploring
non-fiction and spoken texts (H474/01) Question Paper And Mark
Scheme
, 2
Read the two text extracts and answer the question.
Text A from the anthology is an extract from George Saunders’ speech given to graduates at Syracuse
University in 2013.
Text B is a fact sheet produced by a British company called 52 Lives: The School of Kindness in 2022. They are
a charity who aim to create a culture of kindness. They work in primary schools and offer ‘Kindness
Workshops’ which teach children how to spread kindness. This fact sheet is one resource they have produced
to explain the science of kindness on physical and mental health.
1 Carefully read the two texts and compare the ways in which the speaker in Text A and the writers
of Text B use language to convey meaning.
In your answer you should analyse the impact that the different contexts have on language use, including
for example, mode, purpose and audience. [32]
© OCR 2025 H474/01 Jun25
, 3
Text A
So here’s something I know to be true, although it’s a little corny, and I don’t quite know what to do with it:
What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.
Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded ... sensibly.
Reservedly. Mildly.
Or, to look at it from the other end of the telescope: Who, in your life, do you remember most fondly, with the
most undeniable feelings of warmth?
Those who were kindest to you, I bet.
It’s a little facile, maybe, and certainly hard to implement, but I’d say, as a goal in life, you could do worse
than: Try to be kinder.
Now, the million-dollar question: What’s our problem? Why aren’t we kinder? Here’s
what I think:
Each of us is born with a series of built-in confusions that are probably somehow Darwinian. These are: (1)
we’re central to the universe (that is, our personal story is the main and most interesting story, the only story,
really); (2) we’re separate from the universe (there’s US and then, out there, all that other junk – dogs and
swing-sets, and the State of Nebraska and low-hanging clouds and, you know, other people), and (3) we’re
permanent (death is real, o.k., sure – for you, but not for me).
Now, we don’t really believe these things – intellectually we know better – but we believe them viscerally, and
live by them, and they cause us to prioritize our own needs over the needs of others, even though what we
really want, in our hearts, is to be less selfish, more aware of what’s actually happening in the present moment,
more open, and more loving.
So, the second million-dollar question: How might we DO this? How might we become more loving, more
open, less selfish, more present, less delusional, etc., etc?
Well, yes, good question.
Unfortunately, I only have three minutes left.
So let me just say this. There are ways. You already know that because, in your life, there have been High
Kindness periods and Low Kindness periods, and you know what inclined you toward the former and away from
the latter. Education is good; immersing ourselves in a work of art: good; prayer is good; meditation’s good; a
frank talk with a dear friend; establishing ourselves in some kind of spiritual tradition – recognizing that there
have been countless really smart people before us who have asked these same questions and left behind
answers for us.
Because kindness, it turns out, is hard – it starts out all rainbows and puppy dogs, and expands to include ... well,
everything.
One thing in our favor: some of this “becoming kinder” happens naturally, with age. It might be a simple
matter of attrition: as we get older, we come to see how useless it is to be selfish – how illogical, really. We
come to love other people and are thereby counterinstructed in our own centrality. We get our butts kicked by
real life, and people come to our defense, and help us, and we learn that we’re not separate, and don’t want
to be. We see people near and dear to us dropping away, and are gradually convinced that maybe we too will
drop away (someday, a long time from now). Most people, as they age, become less selfish and more loving. I
think this is true. The great Syracuse poet, Hayden Carruth, said, in a poem written near the end of his life, that
he was “mostly Love, now.”
© OCR 2025
