[1184/02] ACS(BR) 2026 4E5N Prelims INS

Full Name Index No. Class Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2026 SECONDARY 4 EXPRESS / 5 NORMAL (ACADEMIC) ENGLISH LANGUAGE 1184/02 1 HOUR 50 MINUTES 18 August 2026 INSERT This document consists of 7 printed pages and 1 blank page. [Turn over

2 BLANK PAGE 1184/02/PRELIM/2026

3 Section A Study the poster ( Text 1 ) and the extract from a social media post ( Text 2 ) and answer Questions 1 – 4 in the Question Booklet. Text 1 is taken from a poster about self-help in the face of climate change. What We Can Do to Mitigate Climate Change What Children Can Do What Adults Can Do AT HOME AT HOME ● Switch off lights, fans and screens when not in use ● Use a fan when possible; set air-con to 25 degrees Celsius ● Turn off taps properly and take shorter showers ● Finish meals to reduce food waste ● Choose energy-efficient appliances ● Wash full loads of laundry ● Pick local suppliers for low-carbon, affordable food ● Install blackout curtains to reduce daytime heat OUTSIDE HOME AT WORK ● Bring reusable bottles, lunchboxes and cutlery ● Choose outdoor, shaded spaces for low-carbon leisure ● Walk, cycle or take public transport for short trips ● Join green activities in the community ● Choose linen workwear with loose cuts ● Use digital files instead of printing ● Open windows on both sides to lower indoor temperature ● Use filter stickers on glass windows OUR SHARED COMMITMENT Mini Actions, Mega Climate Control Start your ground-up projects! Tap on SG Eco Fund $5M Climate Adaptation Package Do your part for SG’s 1 st National Adaptation Plan www.mse.gov.sg/yoca Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment SINGAPORE 1184/02/PRELIM/2026 [Turn over

4 Text 2 is taken from a transcript of a social media interview. Quote from an interview with a 70-year-old senior citizen: “Recently, I joined a Telegram group that called out to residents in the Pek Kio community to indicate their need for grocery runs on their behalf. Youth volunteers collated high demand wet market items on our daily wish list so that we always have fresh produce and meat to consume. To make these procurement runs price-accessible, they also negotiated lower prices for bulk buy of the top 10 items. Now, I am certain I have agency in reducing my daily carbon footprint. However, for my weekly hospital visits to consult a doctor for my chronic ailment, I need to use Grab Car services on my own. I wish someone would help me with this.” 1184/02/PRELIM/2026

5 Section B Text 3 In the text below, the writer describes a group of fugitive British students who travel back to their Oxford school accommodation, after a violent altercation with a Professor. Read the text carefully and answer Questions 5 – 13. 1 Their return to Oxford the next morning quickly spiralled into a comedy of errors, much of which could have been avoided if they hadn’t been too debilitated or irritated with each other to communicate. Their purses were running low, so they spent an hour arguing over whether it was prudent to borrow Mrs Clemen’s carriage to get to Paddington Station in London until they gave up and forked over the fare for cabs. But cabs in Hampstead were hard to come by on Sunday mornings, which meant they didn’t reach the station until ten minutes after the Oxford train had departed. The next train was fully booked, and the one after that was delayed by a cow that had wandered onto the tracks, which meant they would not arrive at Oxford until after midnight. A whole day, wasted. 5 10 2 They whittled away the hours in London, migrating from coffee house to coffee house so as not to attract suspicion, growing ever more twitchy from the absurd amounts of coffee and sweets they bought to justify keeping their table. Every now and then, one of them would bring up Professor Lovell – with whom they had a violent altercation just before arriving in London – only to be shushed viciously by the others; they didn’t know who could be listening, and the whole of London felt full of hostile eavesdroppers. It felt bad to be shushed, but no one had the heart for lighter conversation, and so none of them were speaking to each other by the time they dragged their trunks onto the crowded late train. 15 3 They passed the ride in resentful silence. They were ten minutes out from Oxford Station when Letty suddenly sat up and began hyperventilating. ‘Oh gosh,’ she whispered. ‘Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh—’ She was attracting looks. Letty grabbed Ramy’s shoulder in some appeal for comfort, but Ramy, jerked his arm from her grasp. ‘Letty, shut up.’ 20 4 That was cruel, but Robin sympathised. Letty was wearing on him as well; she’d spent most of the day in hysterics, and he was sick of it. All of their nerves were shot, he thought nastily, and Letty should just chin up and keep it together like the rest of them. Astounded, Letty fell silent. 25 5 At last, their train creaked into Oxford Station. Yawning and shivering, they lugged their trunks over bumpy cobblestones for the twenty minutes it took to walk back to college. The emotionless stone face of University College emerged from the dark, and Robin felt a sharp pang of nostalgia at the sight of this magical and tainted place which, despite everything, still felt like home. 30 1184/02/PRELIM/2026 [Turn over

6 6 Upon unbolting the door, Billings, the head porter, took in their weary faces after their journey from the Orient in another continent, to London and finally Oxford. He turned and waved for them to follow. ‘Come with me.’ Fifteen minutes later they were seated around a table in the hall, huddled over cups of strong black tea while Billings fussed around in the kitchen. They’d protested they didn’t want to put him out of the way, but he’d insisted on cooking them a proper fry-up. Soon he emerged with plates of sizzling eggs, sausages, potatoes and toast. The smell of food reminded them they hadn’t eaten for hours. They fell on the spread like wolves. Billings watched them, amused, as they continued chewing in frantic silence. 35 40 7 ‘So,’ he said, ‘tell me about this exciting voyage, eh? Canton, was it? Did they feed you anything funny?’ They glanced at each other, unsure of what to say. Letty began to cry. ‘Oh, come now,’ Billings nudged the mug of warm milk closer to her, ‘it can’t have been that bad.’ 45 8 Letty shook her head. She bit her lip, but a whining noise burst out. It was not a mere sniffle but a stormy, full-body cry. She clamped her hands over her face and sobbed heartily, shoulders quaking, incoherent words leaking through her fingers. 50 9 ‘She was homesick,’ Victoire said lamely. ‘She was,