Temasek Sec Paper 2 Prelim 2023

• • 2 Section A Study the poster (Text 1) and the social media post (Text 2) and answer Questions 1-4 in the Question Paper. Text 1 is taken from a poster to encourage good neighbourly relations . We can enjoy our favourite shows and music late into the night - but let's be considerate and keep our volume down. Let's keep our homes peaceful and conducive for all both in the day and at night. Be Greater. More than just doing small and random acts, kindness should be purposeful, and become second nature and sustainable. Choose kindness. #BeGreaterSG #SGUnited Text 2 is taken from a comment on what can be done to be a good neighbour. I treat my neighbours like my relatives. As long as I greet my neighbours with a smile and communicate with everyone openly, I will be able to find someone who requires my help. If it is within my means, I will help as much as I can. We don't have to be so calculating about everything. That's my secret to being a good neighbour! No part of the paper is to be reproduced without the approval of the Principal of Temasek Secondary School.

3 Section B Text3 The text below describes Kate and Nadia's encounter with the lions. Read the text carefully and answer Questions ~ 16 in Question Booklet 1. 1 The last mists of sleep dissipated completely and Kate jolted upright on her cot, her throat constricting with a parched terror and her heart pounding with a wild rhythm of fearful anticipation. No doubt about it; something was out there, just on the other side of the cloth tent. Very carefully, trying not to make any noise, she felt in the darkness for her 5 flashlight, which she always kept nearby. When she held it in her hand, she realised she was sweating in fear; her fingers were too moist to switch it on. She kept trying, but was diverted when she heard the voice of Nadia, with whom she shared the tent. 2 "Shh, Kate! Don't tum on the light," the girl whispered. 10 I} "What is it?" "Lions. Don't be afraid," Nadia, who believed she could communicate with animals, answered. 3 The flashlight, which Kate had finally managed to pick up, dropped again from her hand. She felt her bones tum to mash, and a scream from her 15 gut lodged in her throat. A single slash of a lion's claws would rip the thin nylon tent and the cat would be on them. It would not be the first time that a tourist had died that way on safari. During their treks they had seen lions so close that they could count their teeth; she had decided that she did not care to meet them in the flesh. An image flashed 20 through her mind: prisoners in the Roman coliseum, condemned to be eaten alive by the beasts. Sweat ran down her face as she groped on the ground for the flashlight, by now entangled in the mosquito netting that hung around her cot. 4 Soon she heard the purring of a great cat and new scratchings. Then the 25 tent shook, as if a tree had dropped on it. Terrified, Kate dimly realised that Nadia was purring back. Finally, she found the flashlight and with wet, trembling fingers she switched it on. She saw Nadia crouching down, her face against the cloth of the tent, enthralled, engaged in an exchange of deep purrs with the beast on the other side. The scream 30 that had been stuck inside Kate escaped as a terrible howl that took Nadia by surprise, literally knocking her off her feet. Kate swept up the girl in one arm and began trying to pull her. New screams, this time accompanied by the chilling roars of the lions, shattered the quiet of the camp. 35 No part of the paper is to be reproduced without the approval of the Principal of Temasek Secondary School.

• 4 5 Within a few seconds, staff and visitors were outside, despite the specific instructions of Mushasha their local guide, who had warned them a hundred times of the dangers of leaving their tents at night. Kate was still tugging Nadia, dragging her outside as the girl kicked and struggled trying to get free. Half of the tent collapsed in the tug of war, and 40 one of the nettings broke loose and fell over them, enveloping them completely. They looked like two larvae trying to break out of a cocoon. Alexander, Kate's grandson, and the first to arrive, ran to them and tried to untangle them from the netting. Once she was free, Nadia pushed him away, furious because her conversation with the lions had been 45 interrupted in such an uncivilised fashion. 6 As that was going on, Mushasha fired his pistol into the air, and the roars of the lions faded in the distance. The guards lit torches, sheathed their weapons, and set off to explore the area around the camp. By then the elephants were in an uproar, and their keepers were trying to calm them before they escaped their enclosures and stampeded through the camp. 7 Joel, the group's photographer had by then been woken up by the noise of all the commotion. He ran outside yelling, his heart in his mouth. "Snakes! A python!" "Lions," Kate corrected. Joel stopped short, bewildered. "It's not snakes?" he hesitated. "No, only lions," Kate repeated. "And you woke me up for that?" sputtered the photographer. No part of the paper is to be reproduced without the approval of the Principal ofTemasek Secondary School. 50 55 60

5 Section C Text4 Read the article carefully and answer Questions 17-22 in the Question Paper. 1 The mushroom kingdom holds many shapes and secrets beyond those of the little white buttons and baby bellas found at the grocery store. Fungi are a versatile and adaptable group, which is why they offer a range of benefits to a variety of people. They are a multifaceted food source, providing fibre, protein, and other nutrients. They can be used to create dyes, build 5 structures, or breed new strains of mushrooms. In essence, they are really cool, and they are inspiring biologists, artists, and engineers to develop practices that can make the world prosper. 2 Head to the supplement aisle in any health food store, and you are bound to find shelf space dedicated to the medicinal wonder of mushrooms. 10 I) Research on fruit flies and mice shows that cordyceps, popular among consumers, has anti-cancer properties and possibly anti-aging effects, too. Reishi and turkey tail are coveted for their potential immune-stimulating effects, while lion's mane may help soften dementia, according to a small pifot study. Most of these benefits have only been investigated on animals 15 or in test tubes however, making it challenging to draw conclusions on human health. If you are looking for guaranteed results, it is better to grab fresh, whole mushrooms from the produce section than spend all your money on pills and potions. 3 Though they are certainly delicious, there is much more you can do with 20 mushrooms than eat them, including making pigments for fabric dyes, ink, and all varieties of paint. In fact, the vastness of the fungus kingdom covers every colour of the rainbow, says Julie Beeler, a naturalist, teacher, and artist. While the practice is growing in popularity, it has centuries of history. Fungi, particularly lichens--complex organisms created by a symbiotic 25 relationship between a fungus and an alga-have been used in cultural practices across the world. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, all pigments were processed naturally. Since then, pretty much every dyed item we encounter has been coloured using synthetic dyes. "Mushrooms allow you to get back to natural practices that are more regenerative and sustainable 30 for the environment and the planet as a whole," says Beeler. No part of the paper is to be reproduced without the approval of the Principal of Temasek Secondary School.

I 0 6 4 Mycelium-the network of fungal filaments that allows mushrooms to grow aboveground-can be used to create packaging, clothing, and even buildings; researchers are working on making the materials more robust and streamlining production. BioHAB, a