[1184/02] AHS 2026 4E5N Prelims INS

1 Anglican High School/Prelim/2026/Sec4/EL/Paper 2 Name ___________________________________ ( ) Class 4 _______ ENGLISH LANGUAGE 1184/02 Paper 2 Comprehension INSERT Monday 17 August 2026 1 hour 50 minutes READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST This INSERT contains Text 1, Text 2, Text 3 and Text 4. This INSERT consists of 7 printed pages S4 ANGLICAN HIGH SCHOOL PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2026 SECONDARY FOUR

2 Anglican High School/Prelim/2026/Sec4/EL/Paper 2 Section A Study the poster (Text 1) and the online testimonial (Text 2) and answer Questions 1-4 in the Question Paper. Text 1 is taken from a poster about SkillsFuture, a national movement to provide Singaporeans with the opportunities to develop their fullest potential throughout life.

3 Anglican High School/Prelim/2026/Sec4/EL/Paper 2 Text 2 is taken from an online testimonial about SkillsFuture. In 2021, the pandemic severely impacted the travel industry, where I had built my career as a tour leader and travel consultant. Faced with a shrinking job market, a pay cut and the responsibility of supporting my young daughter, I knew I needed to explore new opportunities.

4 Anglican High School/Prelim/2026/Sec4/EL/Paper 2 Through SkillsFuture -supported training offered by Generation Singapore, I enrolled in a Microsoft Cloud Support and DevOps programme although I had no technological background. After completing the programme, I secured a role as a DevOps Engineer at a lea ding international gaming company. Today, I can say with confidence that SkillsFuture showed me that I could succeed in roles beyond the industry I had always known. I am grateful for the opportunity and often encourage others to take advantage of such programmes. As I always say, “Just tr y – you won't lose anything. It's an investment in yourself.” Mr. Mark T

5 Anglican High School/Prelim/2026/Sec4/EL/Paper 2 Section B Text 3 In the text below, a cave diver John Volanthen recounts how he and Rick Stanton were involved in the rescue expedition of the Wild Boars soccer team trapped in the Tham Luang cave. Read the text carefully and answer Questions 5-15 in the Question Paper. 1 I have long learnt that flooded caves have moods, depending on the weather and precipitation outside. During our first peek at Tham Luang the previous evening, the floodwaters had been rising steadily, but in a way that felt escapable. In the time since our last visit, the cave’s mood had darkened considerably thanks to twelve hours of relentless rain. The entrance floor and some of the chambers beyond were now submerged to a considerable depth and the water inside them whirlpooled and frothed like the rapids of some ferocious river. Anybody wading through the churn was at risk of being swept away and smashed against the rocks or sucked underneath and drowned. Psychologically it was tough going, too. Beneath the thrash and roar of the flood, there was an ominous feel to our situation, and my senses were on high alert whenever I moved under the surface. 5 10 2 Fighting against heavy currents inside the initial pools and submerged tunnels, I felt I was in an underwater playground, overcoming all sorts of obstacles before I could proceed to the next section. We scrambled over jagged rock or along perilous muddy b anks that were so slippery, it would have been quite easy to skid, lose footing and fall. I kept my mask on to save time but was also saddled with lead weights in my belt, air cylinders attached to my waist and a helmet and a hood. 15 3 Suddenly, coming towards us from the back of the cavern, I saw a light moving unsteadily. Then another. And another. Until finally, four were visible. We weren’t alone. They were people and at first, I imagined the impossible was happening. The shapes drew nearer, and I recognised the faces as adults, not children. They were workers sent into the tunnels to pump water and lay electric cables. They had taken a nap, and in the meantime, torrents of water surged through the tunnels, cutting off their exit route. No one had any idea of their predicament and pinned inside Tham Luang without breathing apparatus, they were likely to drown within hours if something wasn’t done to help. 20 4 Our focus changed. Suddenly we had to rescue the workers and there was little time to lose – the waters around us were rising rapidly and the chamber was likely to flood to the roof. We needed to evacuate them. After a quick discussion, we agreed that we should dive them out in a relay system, moving them one by one, from chamber to chamber, until we had made it to the entrance. Neither Rick nor I spoke much Thai, but we were able to communicate our plan through a series of hand gestures. What followed resembled an underwater wrestling match as we dragged the thrashing workers in the submerged blackness. Eventually, somehow, we managed to shepherd them back through four separate flooded sections to the entrance. 25 30 5 With the workers back on land, Rick and I continued with our dive. This time, we pushed into a swirl chamber. This was unknown territory; neither of us had been this deep into the tunnels before, and our plan was to look for Pattaya Beach, an area locate d somewhere around the eighth chamber in the cave system and a spot where the authorities believed the boys might 35

6 Anglican High School/Prelim/2026/Sec4/EL/Paper 2 have found shelter. By now, we were dependent on one another and the strong currents on the way back to make a speedy exit before our air supply expired. The clock was ticking. Swimming on into the blackness, we followed an ascending cave roof into a ne w space, passing what turned out to be the largest flooded section of the Tham Luang. There was a very good reason for navigating a search dive by looking up and directly ahead rather than simply following the floor: we didn’t want to miss any air pockets . The passage roof was opening up ahead of us and I could tell there was an air pocket above. We had made our way into the ninth chamber. Rick was sniffing the air; I was too. Was that the smell of rotting flesh? I sensed movement in my peripheral vision. There was a noise. When I turned, everything changed in an instant. The Wild Boars were alive. 40 45

7 Anglican High School/Prelim/2026/Sec4/EL/Paper 2 Section C Text 4 In the text below, the writer discusses the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on learning and thinking. Read the text carefully and answer Questions 16-21 in the Question Paper. 1 Artificial intelligence has transformed the way people learn, work and solve problems. In the past, learning was like scaling a peak – it involved researching, debating, losing one's way, meandering and eventually earning the panorama at the summit. Today, information arrives instantly, packaged in fluent paragraphs, bullet points and step-by-step solutions. The ascent takes a split second, but the struggle is missing. While AI has undoubtedly made learning more efficient, many people are beginning to wond er whether this convenience comes at a cost. 5 2 Education rests on two enduring pillars: learning and thinking. Learning gives us new facts, frameworks, vocabulary, methods and mental models, but acquiring knowledge is incomplete without critical thinking – the ability to question, analyse and challenge what we learn before forming new ideas and theories. Today, however, these pillars are no longer progressing in step. While AI takes over much of the work of gathering and transmitting know