BUKIT BATOK_4E5N_SS_Prelims_Ans 2019

a) Study Source A. What does the Source tell you about meritocracy in the education system? L1 Literal Interpretation of the source. It tells me that there is meritocracy in the education system. It tells me that the education system provides basic education. 1 L2 Sub Message of Source Award the higher mark for supported answers E.g., Meritocracy favors the rich. The source shows Jim, who is rich because his family can afford many enrichment programmes for him, as well as a maid, is closer to reaching academic success. Therefore, the meritocracy in the education system is biased towards helping the rich perform better than the poor. 2-3 L3 Main Message of Source (inferences explicitly critical of meritocracy) Award the higher mark for supported answers E.g., Meritocracy in Singapore is not operating on a level playing field. E.g., Meritocracy in Singapore is not necessarily giving success to those who are most capable. Both children have IQ of 150. 4-5 b) Study Source B. Why was this study published? L1 Lifting from the source 1 L2 Discusses the context without reference to the message It was published because there is growing discontentment with the public education system and so there is a need to investigate if the public concerns were valid. 2 L3 Message The study was published to confirm that meritocracy is breeding incohesion/disharmony in Singapore. The source states that there is very little mixing between students of different SES and this is because meritocracy causes prejudice towards those who do not perform, as seen in “if one fails, it is because of a lack of… character”, showing that those who do not do well are despised and thought of as people not worth befriending. 3 L4 Message + Context L3 + this is because there was growing suspicion in the society that meritocracy is perpetuating social divide and hence the study was published in response to that, to confirm those views. 4 L5 Message + Outcome Award the higher mark for supported answers. 5-6

The study was done to warn the government that meritocracy is resulting incohesion in the society, so that the government would be alarmed and make necessary changes to the system to prevent further incohesion. The source states that there is very little mixing between students of different SES and this is because meritocracy causes prejudice towards those who do not perform, as seen in “if one fails, it is because of a lack of… character”, showing that those who do not do well are despised and thought of as people not worth befriending. c) Study Sources C and D Does Source D prove Source C wrong? L1 Prove/does not prove based on provenance/lifting from source. Source D can prove source C wrong because it is written by SCMP, which is reliable and can be relied on to correct the views in C. 1 L2 Does not prove based on uncritical acceptance of content/false matching Award the higher mark f