ASRJC 2026 Prelim P2

ANDERSON SERANGOON JUNIOR COLLEGE JC2 Preliminary Examination 2026 ______________________________________________________________________________ GENERAL PAPER 8881/02 PAPER 2 20 August 2026 INSERT 1 hour 30 minutes ______________________________________________________________________________ READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST This Insert contains the passages for comprehension. ______________________________________________________________________________ This document consists of 4 printed pages. [Turn over

2 Passage 1. An author discusses society’s obsession with wellness. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 From kilometre-long lines of runners strutting the Bondi promenade at 6am to a surge in sauna and ice bath studios – looking well is so hot right now. Being seen to be well has become the social currency of our times. If you have spent even a little time on social media in recent years, you have no doubt come across a swathe of wellness content. Wellness culture is indeed an intoxicating cocktail, blending evolved social preferences for health, fertility and social status with millions of likes on social media. Historically, health cues like glowing skin, healthy body composition and facial symmetry served as natural indicators of reproductive potential. However, modern technology has decoupled these appearances from biological reality. While these traits once si gnalled reproductive viability, they have shifted in the modern era to function as markers of social status and wealth. With collagen powders, LED light treatments and skin serums, individuals can now strategically manufacture an appearance that they may n ot inherently possess. People who have access to tools such as makeup, cosmetic procedures and wellness culture have arrived. Spend a little time on Strava, the social media platform where endurance athletes post their activities, and you can see status games being played in real-time. People are avid copiers of status signals, and this is especially true in teens and young adults. What is a run club, or a gym culture, or a diet fad, if not an in-group? Wellness is a smart rebrand of a lot of things rich people already do. A weekend trip to a spa might be seen as self-indulgent. But a weekend trip to a wellness retreat has the whiff of virtue about it — something to improve one’s mental health. It might even be a narrative conveniently wielded to distinguish what the elite and the plebeian both do. Walking to work was recently lauded as part of billionaire Jack Dorsey’s “wellness” routine. But if a poor person walks to work, it is rarely seen as a lifestyle choice. While the core idea of seeking improved health and happiness is commendable, the “wellness cult” distorts this pursuit, turning it into a commercialized, often elitist, and sometimes dangerous ideology. This appeal is amplified by the pervasive influence o f social media, where influencers, often with little to no medical or scientific training, disseminate highly curated and aspirational lifestyles. These digital gurus become the new high priests and priestesses, their carefully constructed images of glowing skin, lean bodies, and serene dispositions serving as powerful ideals to be emulated without scrutiny. The wellness cult often fosters an environment of moral superiority and exclusion. Adherents may develop a sense of righteousness based on dietary choices and exercise routines. However, this emphasis on individual responsibility for health ignores systemic factors like socioeconomic status, access to healthy food, and environmental conditions, placing undue blame on individuals for their health struggles. This creates a privileged echo chamber where wellness is perceived as a commodity accessible primarily to those with the financial means and leisure time to pursue it, alienating those who cannot maintain the purity of their bodies. This obsession with individual “purity” eventually moves beyond social signalling and into the realm of medical defiance, where the most insidious part of the business model emerges: the monetary incentive to promote anti-vaccine rhetoric. Why get one vaccine, comped by insurance, when you can buy all of these things instead? This is all standard marketing and business practice. The more people buy into wellness, the less likely they seem to be to take traditional medicine seriously. But all the downsides of social media signalling still apply, even when the topic is ostensibly about health. Ice baths can result in cold shock or hypothermia, overtraining causes injuries, and much of the advice and recommendations from wellness influencers are not just nonsense – they can be actively harmful. Wellness culture doesn’t just reflect evolved preferences for health and status; it can exploit and distort them. The obsession with wellness can pose long-term health risks. Beware the urge to signal wellness, as it could be leading you astray. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

3 Passage 2. An author writes about the wellness revolution in the modern day. 1 2 3 4 5 For decades, our collective approach to health was defined by a hollow, reactive model: we waited for the gears of the human body to grind to a halt before seeking a mechanic. However, we are currently witnessing a global wellness revolution. The catalyst for this change was, undeniably, the shock of the COVID -19 pandemic. It served as a global wake-up call, stripping away the comfort of the illusion that our medical systems were invincible. We realized, quite abruptly, that we could no longer outsource our survival to overstretched hospitals. This sparked a burgeoning desire to fortify our own biological defences, a trend fuelled further by a digital age that has democratised health literacy. Today, with the sum of human medical knowledge available at a thumb -swipe, the average citizen is more empowered to reclaim agency over their physical well-being. Consumers are driven by a deep -seated need for safety in an era of ultra -processed foods. The global organic food market is experiencing sustained high -growth popularity. The UK organic food and drink market grew nearly 8% in 2025, with sales of organic chicken up by 13% year on year. Our eagerness to extend our lifespan has turned health into a communal pursuit. This collective awareness has turned the tables on big industry. Consumers are forcing corporations to prioritise public well -being over raw pro fit. This scrutiny has led to more companies adopting transparent food labelling. By prioritising proactive prevention, we are effectively reducing the future burden on our medical infrastructure. In high-pressure hubs like Seoul and New York where burnout is a norm, wellness has become a vital pressure -release valve for stresses that previously sent rates of anxiety and depression skyrocketing. The outcomes of this shift are profoundly encouraging. We are actively addressing mental health and chronic symptoms to gradually dismantle the deep-rooted stigmas which once kept people — particularly men — suffering in silence. We are finally moving toward a state of complete physical and mental well-being, proving that a healthy citizenry is no longer a secondary consideration, but the very foundation of a society. 5 10 15 20 25 [Turn over

4 Passage 3. A health expert talks about the impact of the wellness industry on public wellbeing. 1 2 3