Source A ‘Have we learned the lessons from the Source B Henry Mayhew, a British

history of London fogs?’ on the Guardian Online, journalist, wrote the following letter to The
by Christine L Corton in 2017 Morning Chronicle in 1850
Londoners are being warned not to breathe too It was noon, and an exquisitely bright and
deeply when they go outside. A toxic fog is clear spring day; but the view was smudgy
hanging over the streets, threatening the health and smeared with smoke. And yet the haze
and wellbeing of the capital. It is small which hung like a curtain of shadow before
consolation to know that this has been the state and over everything, increased rather than
of the city’s air for more than 200 years. diminished the giant sublimity of the city
London is in a natural basin surrounded by hills that lay stretched out beneath. It was utterly
and its air generally holds moisture because of unlike London as seen every day below, in
the river running through it, so it has always had all its bricken and hard-featured reality; it
a natural fog problem. was rather the phantasm - the spectral
Then came the industrial revolution, with coal illusion, as it were, of the great metropolis -
fires powering steam-driven factory machines such as one might see it in a dream, with
and being used to heat homes. As the city’s here and there stately churches and palatial
industry and population grew apace from the hospitals, shimmering like white marble,
1820s onwards, smoke mixed with the moist air their windows glittering in the sunshine like
and on cold days produced a particularly nasty, plates of burnished gold - while the rest of
thick, yellow, sulphurous atmosphere that the scene was all hazy and indefinite. Even
became trapped in London’s narrow roads and the outlines of the neighbouring streets,
alleyways. People knew from early on that the steeples, and towers were blurred in misty
smog could kill and there were many calls to indistinctness. Clumps of buildings and
clean up London’s air. snatches of parks loomed through the
Many politicians took up the cause but they were clouds like dim islands rising out of the sea
generally isolated or maverick figures. It was MP of smoke. It was impossible to tell where
Gerald Nabarro who turned the tide after the Great the sky ended and the city began; and as
Smog of 1952 killed around 12,000 people. He you peered into the thick haze you could,
forced through the 1956 Clean Air Act despite after a time, make out the dusky figures of
government reluctance. tall factory chimneys plumed with black
Why did it take so long? Industrial interests often smoke; while spires and turrets seemed to
prevailed. To move to cleaner fuels always meant hang midway between you and the earth, as
higher costs and successive governments were if poised in the thick grey air. In the distance
reluctant to interfere with the right of domestic the faint hills, with the sun shining upon
consumers to use the fuel they preferred. them, appeared like some far-off shore, or a
Writers perceived the magic and mystery of London mirage seen in the sky - indeed, the whole
fog and used it extensively. Dickens employed it in scene was more like the view of some
the opening pages of Bleak House. Pulp-fiction imaginary and romantic Cloudland, than that of
writers liked to use smog as a means of totally the most matter-of-fact and prosaic city in the
destroying life in London. world. As you peeped down into the
Visitors to the city complained if they did not thoroughfares you could see streams of busy
experience the famous London fog. Foreign artists little men, like ants, continually hurrying along
saw its potential and came over to paint it. in opposite directions; while, what with carts,
Jack the Ripper is often dramatised as pursuing his cabs, and omnibuses, the earth seemed all
victims through the fog, but in fact his crimes took alive with tiny creeping things, as when one
place on clear nights. looks into the grass on a summer's day. As you
Will the toxic fog Londoners are now experiencing be listened you caught the roar of the restless
seen as anything other than what it really is – a human tide of enterprise and competition at
dangerous, poisonous nuisance? It is much harder work below; and as you turned to contemplate
to romanticise now than the pea-soupers of the past. the river at your back, you saw the sunlight
Nowadays, too, cleaner technology is available with shining upon the grey water beneath you like a
electric cars as well as less polluting fuels for sheet of golden tissue, while far away in the
industry. distance it sparkled again as the stream went
In Victorian times it was our love for home fires that twisting through the monster town. Beyond
politicians were reluctant to upset; today it is our love London-bridge nothing was visible; a thick veil
for cars and other private means of transport. It took of haze and fog hung before the shipping, so
many decades to act on the knowledge that pea- that not one solitary mast was to be seen
soupers cost lives. How many decades will it take in marking the far-famed port of London.
our own time?
Question 1
Source A, bold section: Shade the boxes of the four true statements.
A. Air pollution like smog is new to the city of London
B. The London smog is not threatening in modern times
C. London’s air pollution is not linked to its geographical location
D. London’s river helps to ensure that smog does not remain in the city
E. Smog in London started following the industrial era
F. Historically, the fog was worse on a cold day
G. Historically, the smog became trapped in the smaller streets of London
H. London smog can potentially be fatal

Question 2
Use details from both sources to write a summary of what you understand about the
di5erent e5ects caused by the smoke or air pollution.
Source A Source B
Evidence: Evidence:

Suggestion: Suggestion:

Evidence: Evidence:

Suggestion: Suggestion:

Question 3
Source B, bold section: How does the writer use language to describe the smog?
Question 4
For this question, you need to refer to the whole of Source A and Source B.
Compare how the writers convey their different feelings and perspectives on the smog
In your answer, you could:
• compare their different feelings and perspectives on their experiences of the smog
• compare the methods they use to convey their feelings and perspectives
• support your response with references to both texts.
Link Source A Source B
V: V:
Q: Q:
A: A:
V: V:
Q: Q:
A: A:
Question 5
“Today’s generation need to do more to prevent the destruction and pollution of our planet. It is time
we started doing more to protect and look after the world around us”.
Write an article giving your views on this topic.

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