SKSS Sec 2 English 2024 EOY (INSERT)

[Turn Over Name and Register Number: ( ) Class: SENG KANG SECONDARY SCHOOL END-OF-YEAR EXAMINATION ENGLISH LANGUAGE SECONDARY TWO EXPRESS 23 September 2024 Paper 2 Comprehension 1 hour 50 minutes INSERT READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST This Insert contains Text 1, Text 2, Text 3 and Text 4. This document consists of 6 printed pages.

2 [Turn Over Section A Study the infographic (Text 1) and the extract from a blog (Text 2) and answer Questions 1–3 in the Question Paper. Text 1 is taken from an infographic published by the Health Promotion Board. Text 2 is taken from a social media post about a Netizen’s experience with the flu bug. Absolutely fed up with this flu bug! I caught it after a crowded event where no one was following basic hygiene practices. People were sneezing and coughing without covering up, and the ventilation was terrible. Now, it's spreading like wildfire because so many are ignoring health advice and not taking simple precautions. It's frustrating to see how easily things could be avoided with a little common sense and basic care. Can’t believe how quickly it’s all spiraled out of control. This needs to be nipped in the bud. Frequent hand washing Wash your hands with soap and water or use a hand sanitizer. Influenza vaccination Ask your doctor about flu vaccination. Go to the doctor early If you experience flu- like symptoms, seek treatment. Stay Home If you are unwell, rest at home and avoid school, work and crowded places. Use tissues or masks Cough or sneeze into a tissue. Always wear a mask if you are unwell.

3 [Turn Over Section B Text 3 In the text below, the writer describes the search for his sister-in-law’s missing dog, and its effect on him. Read the text carefully and answer Questions 4 – 11 in the Question Paper. 1 I wasn’t at my sister -in-law’s in Sri Lanka at the time her dog Siri died, but the peculiar circumstances of his passing, from a Westerner’s perspective, anyway, have haunted me ever since. To be honest, I have never really been very fond of dogs as a species. They drool too much. They stink. Many of them have a kind of permanent bad breath. And if they haven’t been well trained or trained at all, they’re nothing short of a nuisance: pawing you, jumping on you, sniffing you in places you’d rather not be sniffed. So it is all the more strange that I should have grown to love Siri. 5 2 Our experiences with Siri had been limited to our holidays in Sri Lanka, but nevertheless we’d developed a deep connection with him. He was the runt of the litter and so was only two-thirds the size of the average juvenile Labrador Retriever. Yet he had that unmistakable muscular build unique to his breed. He loved the water and at heart, if not in practice, was a retriever. I remember how at the word ‘ball’, he would bolt from Sonali’s bungalow and run a circuit from one end of the yard to the other until someone threw the ball. 10 3 Shortly before Siri’s death, my wife and I arrived in Colombo for our annual summer holiday in Sri Lanka. On our itinerary was a few days at my sister -in-law’s bungalow located on the outskirts of Colombo. Whenever we’re in Sri Lanka, a stay at Sonali’s place is always a welcome respite from the diesel exhaust and garbage-ridden streets of Colombo. Her bungalow sits on a two -acre strip of land overlooking a small lake, or vava. The vava attracts wildlife from all over the area, including elephants from the park. We sometimes sit for hours on Sonali’s verandah training our binoculars on the scrub jungle just north of the vava. If we’re lucky, we can see an entire he rd of elephants from calves to matriarch steal from the jungle, make their way cautiously to the water’s edge, and then drink and play and bathe with an air of contentment not even a Buddhist monk could attain. 15 20 4 We arrived late in the afternoon. The old caretaker greeted us, took our bags, and we settled into the guestroom. He informed us that Sonali had been out searching for one of her two dogs since early morning. Apparently Siri had gone missing the day before w hile Sonali was away on a camping trip upcountry. The signs were not auspicious, he explained, as the dog had not been seen by anyone for over twenty -four hours. Also, something had spooked Tunza, Sonali’s German shepherd; he had been hiding under the picnic table on the verandah for approximately the duration of Siri’s absence and had refused to come out even when tempted with his favourite food. 25 5 Sonali did not return for dinner. My wife and I waited at the picnic table until our meal of curry, lentils, and roti grew cold. Not that the cold food mattered, for we had long since lost our appetites. The Siri affair weighed heavily on everyone. We sat at the table for a while in silence, picking at our food with our fingers. The sun had already set, and the geckos had begun to gather about the electric lanterns, feeding on mosquitoes and other insects and making their incessant squawking sounds. Every now and then Tunza shifted his position at our feet. 30 6 Not until well after dinner did Sonali finally return home. Her search for Siri had been unsuccessful, and now she feared the worst. Earlier that day one of the park rangers had noticed a crocodile circling a spot in the vava, about twenty feet from shore. It could mean only one thing, Sonali said. The crocodile was guarding a kill, which it had lodged in the lakebed. Sonali and the park ranger had decided that before dredging the vava they would first exhaust the search for Siri on land. That had been done, so the next step was to turn to the water. At first light tomorrow, they would search the vava. I lay in bed that night, thinking with dread about the possibility that a crocodile had taken Siri. I couldn’t think of a worse way of dying. 35 40

4 [Turn Over 7 The next morning, at my wife’s suggestion, I offered to act as lookout for Sonali and the park ranger while they searched the vava. I climbed the nearest palu tree, where I positioned myself with the binoculars at the best vantage point. With the binoculars, I scanned the vava for any signs of danger. The two of them waded in slowly. The water was up to their chests by the time they reached the spot the crocodile had been circling the day before. Together they searched the lakebed with their feet, moving in tight concentric circles. Sonali stopped, as if she’d found something, took a deep breath and disappeared beneath the water. A few seconds later she emerged from the water, a black mass in her arms. I took a closer look with the binoculars. The black mass was Siri’s remains. I lowered the binoculars; I’d seen enough. 45 50 8 From my perch, I had the sudden urge to rage against crocodiles, to voice what Tunza could not. It struck me that crocodiles and their kind were nothing but brutal killing machines. What redeeming qualities did they have? I could think of none. They were cold-blooded in every sense of the word, and they preyed indiscriminately on both the weak and the strong. Siri was proof of that. A crocodile took him not because he was weak or unfit but because he had the misfortune of not being jungle- wise, and of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 55 Adapted from The Water’s Edge by Jason Zeitler https://outofprintmagazine.co.in/2024/03/29/the-waters-edge/ Accessed 11 August 2024

5 [Turn Over Section C Text 4 The article below is about slum tourism. Read it carefully and answer Que