rMINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SINGAPOREin collaboration withUNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE LOCAL EXAMINATIONS SYNDICATEGeneral Certificate of Education Advanced LevelHigher 1

GENERAL PAPER 8806/01Paper 1 October/November 2008

1 hour 30 minutes

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Answer one question.

Note that 20 marks out of 50 will be awarded for your use of language.

Write your Centre number. index number and name on all the work you hand in.

Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper.

Do not use staples, paper clips. highlighters, glue or correction fluid.

Answer PaperAdditional Materials:

At the end of the examination. fasten all your work securely together.

All questions in this paper carry equal marks.

This document consists of 2 printed pages.

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© UCLES &MOE 2008 [Turn over

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Answer one question.

Answers should be between 500 and 800 words in length.

1 Does the presence of a foreign power ever help a country with problems?

2 How important are dreams?

3 'The more science advances, the more religion will decline.' To what extent do you agree?

4 How far do physical features, such as size and location, determine a country's progress?

5 'Nowadays, the pleasures of reading can never compete with the pleasures of visualentertainment.' To what extent do you agree?

6 To what extent does the migration of people have a positive effect?

7 'Air travel should be discouraged, not promoted.' To what extent do you agree?

8 Many developed countries are paying increasing attention to the needs of the disadvantaged.How far is this true in Singapore?

9 Discuss the view that too much faith is placed in statistics.

10 'Contemporary music has no artistic value.' Is this a fair comment?

11 How far is it possible to ensure that all producers of food and goods are fairly rewarded?

12 To what extent is design important in your society?

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University of Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University ofCambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES). which is itself a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES &MOE 2008 8806/01/0/N/08

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rMINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SINGAPOREin collaboration withUNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE LOCAL EXAMINATIONS SYNDICATEGeneral Certificate of Education Advanced LevelHigher 1

8806/02October/November 2008

1 hour 30 minutes

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Write your Centre number, index number and name on all the work you hand in.Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper.Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid. ~\~ ~~ ~~~.

This document consists of 7 printed pages and 1 blank page and 1 Insert.

At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together.The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

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Answer all questions.The Insert contains the passages for comprehension.Note that 15 marks out of 50 will be awarded for your use of language.

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For Examiner's Use

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UNIVERSITY of CAMBRIDGE:.: International Examinations

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Read the passages in the Insert and then answer all the questions. Note that up to fifteen markswill be given for the quality and accuracy ofyour use ofEnglish throughout this Paper.

NOTE: When a question asks for an answer IN YOUR OWN WORDS AS FAR AS POSSIBLEand you select the appropriate material from the passage for your answer, you must still useyour own words to express it. Little credit can be given for answers which only copy words orphrases from the passage.

From Passage 1

1 What is the difference between history and what historians study, according to paragraph1?

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2 What is meant by 'archival evidence' (line 15)? How might its 'dissemination' stimulate newinterpretations of history?

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3 What do the words 'or indeed impose' (line 18) tell you about human nature?

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In paragraph 3, Anna Banatvala gives four possible explanations of history in a series offour questions. Which explanation would support the idea of humans possessing free will?

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What do you understand by 'the annihilation of distance' in line 44?

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6 Using material from paragraphs 2 to 6, summarise what Anna Banatvala has to say aboutthe value and attractions of the study of history, both generally and especially in today'sworld. Write your summary in no more than 120 words, not counting the opening wordswhich are printed below. Use your own words as far as possible.

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7 'the only lesson to be learnt from history is that 'there are no lessons to be learnt fromhistory' (lines 7 - 8).

Explain why this is a paradox.

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8 What kind of 'natural happenings' (line 9) may Lee Min Yen be thinking of, and how do theysupport his argument?

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9 Explain in your own words as far as possible why Lee Min Yen thinks it unnecessary to'keep alive the memory of former conflicts and atrocities' (lines 11 - 12).

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10 Explain in your own words as far as possible how and why 'Every age, every country,rewrites history to suit its needs' (line 26).

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From both passages

11 Give the meaning of the following words as they are used in the passages. Use one word ora short phrase.

(a) presumptuous (Passage 1, line 4)

(b) crude (Passage 1, line 14) :............................•...............................................•................•..

(c) determined (Passage 1, line 25) ........................................................................................(d) intricately (Passage 1, line 42)

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(e) propaganda (Passage 2, line 30) ......................................................................................[5]

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12 Anna Banatvala thinks an understanding of history is essential, whereas Lee Min Yenthinks history has no value. How important is an understanding of history for you and yoursociety, and how far has your view been challenged or confirmed by these two passages?

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Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Everyreasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, thepublisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

University of Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University ofCambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a department of the University of Cambridge.

8806/02/0/N/08

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SINGAPOREin collaboration withUNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE LOCAL EXAMINATIONS SYNDICATEGeneral Certificate of Education Advanced LevelHigher 1

GENERAL PAPER 8806/02

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Paper 2

INSERT

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

This Insert contains the passages for Paper 2.!

October/November 2008

1 hour 30 minutes

This document consists of 3 printed pages and 1 blank page.

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~ ?,)[\Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board.~

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UNIVERSITYofCAMBRIDGEInternational Examinations

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THE PAST

Passage 1. Anna Banatva/a thinks everyone should take an interest in the past.

1 Everything that has ever happened is history - the past. It begins with the origins of oursolar system, the birth and physical changes of our planet and the evolution of life forms onits surface, and extends to the headlines in this morning's newspaper. Perhaps it would be alittle presumptuous for historians to claim all this 'past' as their field of study. In fact, we arehappy to leave whole areas of it to the likes of astronomers, geologists and zoologists who 5investigate what is sometimes called 'natural' history while we confine our attention to'human' history. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to devote their lives to thisstudy. But I firmly believe that everyone should have some knowledge of the past, asmembers of a family, as citizens in a community or as 21st century inhabitants of planetEarth. 10

2 There has never been a better time, and never a more urgent need, to explore our past thanexists today. Technologies such as aerial mapping, carbon dating, thermal imaging anddeep-sea submersibles afford historians far greater opportunities to recover the distant pastthan the crude shovels and diving bells of their predecessors. Furthermore, the use ofadvanced technology to store, catalogue and disseminate archival evidence more efficiently 15is stimulating new interpretations of the history of our planet.

3 'Interpreting' the past is, in fact, the essential business of the historian, who is responding toone of the most fundamental of human instincts: the desire to discover - or indeed impose ­some kind of order on the seemingly haphazard ebb and flow of happening. Is there adiscernible movement towards an ever-improving condition of the human race, which may 20be divinely planned or simply the inevitable outcome of a material process of evolution? Hasthe course of world events been primarily influenced by the acts of gifted individuals, bethey ruthless conquerors or saintly visionaries, whose words and deeds have changed theworld map and inspired the beliefs and daily lives of succeeding generations? Is our historydetermined for us by climatic, topographical and economic forces which dictate what we do 25and what we are? Or is history an endless cycle of recurring - and therefore predictable ­events according to the dominance of negative, feminine, dark Yin or its Yang opposite?

4 Whether or not we find a satisfying explanation of the past, our study satisfies another basicneed - curiosity. It is present in our desire to find out about our family and the place wherewe live. According to how we spend our leisure, we might be interested in the histories of 30jazz, or of football, or of food. Always we ask, "What came before this?" Put together, thesevarious stories amount to the cultural history of the particular society we live in, and thisshared knowledge of what our predecessors thought and did in their everyday lives isessential if we are to have a sense of common identity.

5 Reassuringly, we discover that underneath superficial differences earlier generations were 35very like ourselves, and it is this continuity of human experience which is the basis ofanother of the benefits of history: given that similar causes produce similar results, it canteach us how to avoid their mistakes and inspire us to emulate their triumphs. For thebeneficial changes they brought about teach us that we do not have to put up with things asthey are, and this gives us the humility to recognize that our greater knowledge does not 40make us any wiser than our ancestors.

6 Technology is rapidly knitting the earth's inhabitants together more intricately, but theyremain far from united politically. We are still strangers to each other in our local ways oflife established before the annihilation of distance. We must grow into something like asingle family or we will annihilate ourselves, and it is only by understanding our various 45'family' histories that we can learn to live together in tolerance and mutual respect.

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Passage 2. Lee Min Yen takes a different view of studying the past.

1 Most people know two things about Henry Ford. He built the first mass-produced popularcar and famously wrote in 1916: 'History is more or less bunk... we want to live in thepresent... '. Though they would probably say 'rubbish' instead of the slang word of Ford'stime, his sentiments would be echoed by generations of bored schoolchildren stuffed withdates and 'sources' and 'consider-the-causes-and-effects-of essays. 5

4 All history is biased. Every age, every country, rewrites history to suit its needs - at worstby falsifying the record, as in the fictional world of Orwell's book 1984 or the reality of theNanjing Massacre, or by selection and omission to justify current policies and suit theprevailing climate of ideas. This is harmless enough, but it becomes dangerous whendistorted and partial history becomes the basis of propaganda to whip up nationalist or 30religious hatreds.

8B06/0211NSERTIOIN/OB

2 Historians often claim that they look backward in order to show the rest of us the wayforward. Bunk! Paradoxically, the only lesson to be learnt from history is that there are nolessons to be learnt from history. The daily interactions of the billions of people on ourplanet - not to speak of the equally unpredictable natural happenings on and over itssurface - produce an infinitely complex web of causes and effects which are wholly 10unrepeatable. You often hear it said that we should keep alive the memory of formerconflicts and atrocities to prevent them happening again. I don't think so. The descendantsof former aggressors and victims happily visit each other's countries with no feelings ofguilt or resentment about their ancestors' history. As someone said: 'The past is a foreigncountry; they do things differently there.' 15

3 The history of the very word 'history' is revealing. It originally meant the narrative ofmythical or allegedly factual events, but gradually changed to mean the subject of thenarrative. Its abbreviated form - story - is now used exclusively for fiction. As if there is anydifference! The further we get from the past, the more historians have to speculate and fillthe gaps with probabilities, theories, rhetoric and pure invention. It's entertaining stuff but 20let's not pretend that history is anything more than stories based on facts. Even the detailsof events occurring within living memory, such as the tragic deaths of Princess Diana andPresident Kennedy, are still hotly disputed, despite the mass of evidence that hasaccumulated around them, and these facts are subject to different interpretations accordingto the prejudice of the commentator. 25

5 Yesterday has happened - it's a safe place to be. If you are a timid, cautious,unadventurous sort of person, take up history. You can meander round museums, orruminate in ruins, and you won't get mugged or blown up. But life is not for the faint­hearted. We don't know what will happen tomorrow: it may bring something dreadful, it 35may offer something exciting and wonderful. But whatever it is, history won't help us tocope with it. In this extraordinary century, which will be quite unlike anything that has gonebefore, we need to focus all our faculties on the way ahead.

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