ACJC 2026 Prelim P1

This document consists of 2 printed pages. GP 8881_1 ACJC 2026 Anglo-Chinese Junior College General Paper Department [Turn over ANGLO-CHINESE JUNIOR COLLEGE JC2 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2026 GENERAL PAPER Paper 1 Additional Materials: Cover Page and Answer Paper 8881/01 August 2026 1 hour 30 minutes READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your index number and name on all the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper. Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid. Answer one question. Note that up to 20 marks out of 50 will be awarded for your use of language. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together. All questions in this paper carry equal marks.

2 Answer one question. Answers should be between 500 and 800 words in length. 1 ‘The fear of migrants is exaggerated.’ Comment. 2 In today’s world, should there be any restrictions on access to military technology? 3 How far do you agree that museums are more important than ever in your society? 4 ‘There are no heroes in politics today, only villains.’ Discuss. 5 To what extent should the media shape public opinion rather than reflect it? 6 In a world that is rapidly changing, how far can companies afford to be loyal to their employees? 7 Assess the view that it does not matter why people exercise, as long as they do. 8 ‘Recent trends have made the raising of children an overwhelming task.’ How far is this true in your society?

1 2026 ACJC Preliminary Exam Paper 1 Essay Outlines Prelim Paper 1 Feedback Content Questions 5 and 8 were the most popular questions, while Question 6 was the least popular. Many students would have benefited from more thorough preparation, particularly in selecting strong and relevant examples to support their arguments. Some responses also contained factual inaccuracies. Students are reminded that every essay question is deliberately worded in a specific way. Thus, the analysis of keywords is critical in figuring out the debatable issue of the question. Many students failed to appreciate the specific nuances and implications of keywords, and c onsequently fulfilled the question requirements only partially or, in some cases, not at all. For the purpose of clarity and effective argumentation, students are reminded that having a clear and well- reasoned topic sentence is essential in preventing unnecessary rambling that results in long paragraphs that lack a clear focus. Many responses lapsed into a general discussion of the topic and failed to angle their examples in a way that catered to the logic of their argument, as well as the debatable issue of the question. As a result, examples were often descriptively written, and while some of these examples were apt and well-chosen for the question, the narrative approach adopted by students led to these examples losing its effectiveness in driving arguments. Several students devoted an excessive amount of time and space to crafting a very lengthy hook for their introductions, neglecting other important parts of what the introduction paragraph should raise , such as giving a definition of key terms and a preview of the main points. In other cases, such an approach came at the expense of the students’ conclusion, as they wrote a very short, underdeveloped one or omitted it altogether. Language Several scripts contained grammatical inaccuracies. In particular, some students struggled to deploy the comma effectively – they either do not use commas when needed or use commas when not needed. Informal register such as contractions and the use of second-person address (the use of ‘you’) persists. Students are reminded of the need to maintain a formal register in argumentative writing. Dangling modifiers, along with subject-verb agreement errors, were common grammatical errors exhibited by many students. In addition, coherence and cohesion at the inter -paragraph and intra-paragraph levels were problematic. Students are reminded to signpost their paragraphs, as well as to signpost from one sentence to the next within a paragraph.

2 1. ‘The fear of migrants is exaggerated.’ Comment. Question Type: Simple Polarity Debatable Issue: is exaggerated vs is not exaggerated Keywords: ‘fear of migrants ’: a feeling of anxiety / distrust based on a perceived threat from foreigners living in one’s country . Migrants can include those who move for economic, personal (family) and cultural reasons, and they can be living there on a short or long-term basis ‘exaggerated’: (a claim of something) being more than what it actually is/ beyond what it ‘should be’ or what is reasonable Context: Modern society: globalisation and the cross-national movement and settlement of people, latent xenophobia and nationalism which can be taken to extremes, economies in need of foreign labour, intercultural exchanges, mis / disinformation and conspiracy theories heightened by social media and the Internet. Recommended/ possible approaches: • Students should first establish what people fear about migrants and then evaluate whether that fear (perception) is unfounded or has a valid basis, justifying their opinions. • Students may also consider the various aspects (cultural, political, economic, etc) in which migrants are perceived as a threat to cover a wider scope of issues. Pitfalls: • Students fail to weigh the perception (fear) against the actuality, giving only a one-sided description of either side. • Students merely describe what the pros and cons of having migrants in one’s country are. • Students fixate on Singapore, even though this is not a ‘your society’ question. • Students discuss whether a fear of migrants exists, rather than whether that fear is exaggerated. Possible Stand 1: The fear of migrants is exaggerated. (The reality is not as bad). A. Given that xenophobia usually stems from a lack of familiarity or is stoked by mis/disinformation propagated by ignorant or malicious others in today’s climate of cultural anxiety and algorithm -driven misinformation, these fears are usually not well-founded. E.g. Far-Right movements across Europe, as well as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, led by provocateurs such as Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump have painted migrants from Africa, Asia and South America as criminals, rapists and there to replace the local majority race population . In truth, data from the American Immigration Council confirms that immigrants in the United States —both documented and undocumented —have significantly lower incarceration and violent crime arrest rates than native-born U.S. citizens. Comprehensive studies from Texas show that undocumented immigrants have violent crime arrest rates roughly half that of native -born citizens (e.g., 96 per 100,000 vs. 213 per 100,000 in 2025). B. Not everyone, and in fact , a large proportion of society, have benefited from globalisation; as such, those who are disenfranchised and face economic insecurity often seek a scapegoat to pin their troubles on . Migrants are a convenient and politically/ socially vulnerable group who become victimised by locals, even though they are not the true source of their woes. E.g. CECA (the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement ) is a bilateral free trade pact signed in 2005 to reduce trade tariffs, eliminate double taxation, and boost commercial partnerships between the two nations. There is a common misconception amongst Singaporeans that CECA gives Indian nationals unfettered, ‘free pass’ access to Singapore's job market despite the government repeatedly clarifying that foreign nationals must still pass the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) work pass requirements, which include stringent baseline sa